Latest reading material: The Kiss, by Kathryn Harrison.
I can understand why this book raised controversy when it was first published in the 1990s. I suppose one could invoke that rather hackneyed phrase “it was a different world”, or “things were different then”, or some similar expression. I further venture to argue that this is probably true; I believe that, in many respects, the world has changed considerably since the publication of Kathryn Harrison’s autobiographical account (which relates her adult incestuous relationship with her biological father, absent for the vast majority of her childhood years, as well as her relationship with her mother and maternal grandparents). However, a truth is often susceptible to becoming a truism, and I cannot help but to remember the old French proverb, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (or “the more it changes, the more it’s the same thing”). Has the world really changed all that much?
Harrison was praised but also condemned at the time for telling her story, raising such questions as Did her memoir go too far? or Did she really need to tell what happened to her? I can also understand or appreciate the duality of attitudes at work here (anterior to or without entering into the literary merits of her book). The questions are not easily answered, because the issues are deeply complex, and one senses a polarity between a culture that advocates silence and one that encourages revelation. Does Harrison have the right to “tell her story”? And, if she does, should she tell her story? Once again, difficult questions, with arguments to be made for both sides. Though one may reason, on the one hand, that Harrison’s account could have devastating consequences not just for her biological father, but also for his three younger children (Harrison’s half-siblings), one also ought to consider if she should be somehow compelled to keep silent about a critical part of her life, with the concomitant implications such “self-censorship” may have not just on a personal level, but also on a broader scale. In short: does one tell or does one not? I feel that, ultimately, this is a question that each person concerned must ask themselves and answer for themselves, with all of the ramifications that may derive from the decision that they make.
I am reminded of two phrases that perhaps encapsulate the particular dilemma at the heart of the matter: 1) the truth will set you free, and 2) what price truth?
