I was asked to suggest exactly five books for the college honors program reading list and listed the first five which came to mind. Call it another of my self-tagging memes, if you wish, and revise it as you see fit. 1. Weatherford, Jack. Savages and Civilization. New York: Random House, 1995. 978-0-449-90957-7 (0-449-90957-3); $19. … More Five Books (Another Self-Tagging Meme)
Mychal Bell is back in jail, and I have just read for the first time Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which is brilliant. The rationalizations of Bell’s new incarceration quite resemble nineteenth century rationalizations of slavery generally and of slaveholders’ behavior specifically. I do not point this out for tendentious … More Harriet Jacobs
People often complain about this novel that they do not understand it because the characters suffer and express pain. Then the music rises and the mountains come into view; they feel exalted and feel the world to be pure and beautiful. The deep rivers to which the title alludes represent and lead toward the non-Western, … More Deep Rivers
On How Using Power Means Being Responsible. In one of my departments I have an administrative role. Nobody understands how I accomplish so much with such little trouble. It is because I inform myself well, assert power in a useful way, look ahead, and keep up with things. I do this because I am working … More Courtney Martin
We now quote from Antonio Núñez’ Amazon.com review of Paul Fussell’s Class: A Guide Through the American Status System (Touchstone, 1983). It is true that the traditional lower (rather than the underclass) and the higher classes have many things in common, among them a deeply ingrained conservatism and a fierce pride in their way of … More Paul Fussell on Class
I Z: What are the characteristics of “Our America” in the famous essay by the same title? Student: Well, I understand that the author is referring to the multicultural, intellectual and spiritual Latin America as opposed to the industrial, utilitarian, and Anglo-Saxon United States. But when you actually read the essay this is not so … More Illuminations
In her article on the semiotics of guilt in Garro’s work, Ana Bundgard asserts that falling into guilt is transgression and rupture, a necessary evil for anyone who aspires to status as subject. By taking on the role of writer, Lelinca carries a burden of guilt that represents rupture from the paradise of the patriarchal … More Ana Bundgard
Cross posted at Seminario Permanente de Teoría y Crítica: In [a book] [a critic] distinguishes between silencing, a condition imposed from outside, and silence freely chosen. She further suggests that the latter can take two forms: using silence as a weapon or breaking silence with hipocrisy. The interplay between silencing and silence . . . … More Elena Garro
Read these stories and definitions: FREIKORPS 1 – FREIKORPS 2 – STURM ABTEILUNG – SCHUTZSTAFFEL – BLACKWATER. Draw the logical conclusion. And while we are on the general topic of terrorism, visit Elaine Vigneault for the best post on web harrassment I have seen to date. I, meanwhile, have gotten back to reading Virginia Woolf, … More Freikorps
Cross-posted at my other blog, Seminario Permanente de Teoría y Crítica: In her Declarations of Whiteness: The Non-Performativity of Anti-Racism, Sara Ahmed argues that while race may be performative (being an effect of racialization), anti-racism may not be. That is, saying in the case of anti-racism may not be equivalent to doing. I am glad … More Declarations of Whiteness
coldhearted scientist وداد 