
Tolkien Snubs a German Publisher Asking for Proof of His “Aryan Descent” (1938) - arnauddri
http://www.openculture.com/2014/04/j-r-r-tolkien-snubs-a-german-publisher.html
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jordan0day
It seems we're often confronted with the job of separating the artist from
their work, because of distasteful personal failings of the artist.

It's awfully nice when it's not necessary, and the artist turns out to be a
decent human being.

~~~
tedks
Do you need to separate Tolkien from his work? I like consuming Tolkien-
related media as much as anyone on HN, but there's little denying its racist
and sexist overtones.

~~~
RexRollman
You should try reading Robert E Howard. His writings can be uncomfortable, at
times.

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leorocky
I wish people still wrote so eloquently in their everyday correspondence. It
seems like the further you go back in time the more beautiful the language
used to be. Some of the letters back and forth during the American Revolution
were very nice, like between John and Abigail Adams. Going back further the
letters between Erasmus and Thomas Moore were also very nicely written. Now
it's all emoticons and lol.

~~~
jmilkbal
Language was also less ambiguous because they didn't leave out important
punctuation or relative pronouns. I expected Tolkien to be a on Hitler's side
because I interpreted the title as "Tolkien Snubs a German Publisher, Asking
for Proof of His “Aryan Descent", but the author means "Tolkien Snubs a German
Publisher Who Asked for Proof of His “Aryan Descent". Writing ain't what it
used to be, even if only the clergy and royalty could do it!

~~~
stormbrew
It's a headline. Take a look at some newspaper headlines from 1938:

[https://www.google.ca/search?q=1938+newspaper+headlines&espv...](https://www.google.ca/search?q=1938+newspaper+headlines&espv=2&es_sm=91&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6YxeU9HTIM2RyASwuoDoDQ&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1916&bih=881)

Not really any different.

~~~
R_Edward
I have a clipping from a small regional daily newspaper from the 60s. The
headline reads, "U.S., Canada Rear Warning Staveal Sites of Radtions" which
sounds ominous indeed. It took me several tries to realize that someone most
have dropped the line of type, breaking it, and reassembling it in the wrong
order. It _should_ have read, "U.S., Canada Reveal Sites of Radar Warning
Stations"

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acheron
My favorite part of this letter is where Tolkien pretends to not understand
what the Germans mean by "Aryan", and initially answers as if they are
referring to what we now call the Indo-Iranian language family[1]. Obviously
he knows quite well what they really are asking, as the rest of his letter
makes clear.

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-
Iranian_languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Iranian_languages)

~~~
zerohm
Tolkien: "Let's get one thing clear, I'm the smartest guy in the room".

~~~
cm2012
Tolkien was a professor and student of linguistics, so I think he's allowed a
little fluffing of his tails feathers here :)

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zerohm
Somewhat related, my favorite letter from Kurt Vonnegut:

[http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-am-very-
real.html](http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-am-very-real.html)

~~~
TimFogarty
That's a beautiful letter. I found a bit more information about the event
here:
[http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/519549....](http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/519549.html?nav=5576)

What the English teacher said about the matter can be read there and it is
also a nice sentiment. It seems in the end the school allowed the books to be
read and the teacher (whom I believe was forced to resign) was given $5000 as
a settlement.

I always find it very peculiar how people can be so offended by curse words
and at the same time have such an under-developed sense of morality with
regards to things like censorship or war.

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jrochkind1
Nice.

"The author drafted two replies, the less civil of which reads as follows:"

So, which one did he actually send, if either, then?

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maw
Consensus is that his publisher sent the other one. As far as I'm aware it has
never been published (and probably was lost long ago).

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macavity23
As someone commented last time I saw this posted: 'Dude can't even say Fuck
Off in fewer than 200 words'.

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qwerta
I had interview with an american company recently, and they asked for my
racial profile as well.

~~~
mhurron
They can ask, but it is not required for you to give. It is used for hitting
affirmative action requirements.

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TazeTSchnitzel
Of course; Tolkien would only care if the author was male!

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batmansbelt
That's pretty cool I guess.

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lifeisstillgood
Would you be so kind as to change the title, which is ambiguous now I come to
read it again, rather than misleading, to something like

    
    
      Tolkien verbally pistol-whips Nazi publisher who wanted
      proof of Tolkien's Aryan ancestry before publishing `The 
      Hobbit`.
    

The thing that worries me, and that Tolkien conceded, is that these were
probably not bad people, just people obeying the law. Problem was they were
not good people, willing to disobey the law.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Or they were good people who didn't think that the deaths of their families
was a fair price to pay to get a book published. It's easy to demand heroism
from the comfort of your home, but by 1938 there were plenty of examples of
what happened to people who tried to stand up to the Nazis in Germany.

~~~
colechristensen
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

~~~
estel
It's not clear if a corollary of this is that good people who do nothing cease
to be good people.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
yes they (we) do.

