For research yesterday I went to a talk and bought a book. Today I thought about it. An implication of 2012 and 2013 publications on plaçage, which is a myth, for my work is that Cuba’s national novel really is about the white fear of the mulata who will undermine the “restraint” required of white men … More Al cavilar…
Why is it that when I think I am having some sort of grammatical, stylistic or diction problem in Spanish and I look it up, I always discover that what I had said originally was right? (I do not have the same kind of luck with English.) Axé.
Here is a portfolio of references for The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Do you like this book? I see why one should like it and that it is admirable but it reminds me of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love which was, once again, interesting but not lasting. I am much, much more … More Junot Díaz
So, when I start to dissociate slightly, lose my ability to concentrate and tener muy presentes past manipulative situations, it means I am actually in one now and do not see it. Now I see what it is. Should I quit this university level committee? It is important to stay on because ideally one could … More Front lines
1) What do you think of going to a conference that would put you out of class for an entire week? The conference is W-F and I would have to travel on the Tuesday, which means missing four weekdays. On the one hand, it is research. On the other, that is a week of class. … More Planning
Those Brazilian scholars and their acolytes, who defend against any hint that racial inequality in Brazil might be an aspect of the racial state by saying that at least they do not classify races by hypo-descent as we truly unfair Americans do, really miss the point. There really are not only differences in ways of … More The darker side of mestizaje
I like my classes this semester because I have programs for them I can believe in. We have current theory and criticism, and engaging, authentic materials; we are not classifying texts according to movements, nor authors according to generations. Memorable courses I took in college include: –Calculus with a Buddhist T.A. Theoretical and wiggy. –Denmark’s … More On college classes
The history of Arizona. This is a key topic for alleged Hispanists. An interesting paper on intertextuality in María: the problems are reading Napoleon’s diary and mimetic desire. Thomas Ward’s bibliography on María. ♦ On racism and the racial divide in Venezuela. On gentrification and the “new urbanism”– the next racial project. Adolph Reed on … More Catch of the day
Literary histories were created in the nineteenth century as part of the nation-formation process but did literary works produced in this period really participate in that in such a self-aware way? What if some of them work against it — intentionally or not? Also, literature is taught to teach language and culture, but also aesthetics, … More What are literary studies?
A book by Michael Hanchard has apparently now been listed in Brazil as one of the top 10 on racism, but he got into all this trouble there earlier because of it. He was really trashed by Brazilian scholars, that weak-minded lackey of the white elites Peter Fry, and the unsophisticated and supercilious pseudo-scholar Loïc Wacquant. John … More Hypothesis
coldhearted scientist وداد 