I wake up feeling I have thrown my life away. I did it when I moved here. I regret it, and I am only waiting to die now. There are forty years left, if I can work long enough to have savings for my old age. If there is not enough to eat, I will … More La douleur, ou bien, a gender trap
Era su tipo el de las vírgenes de los más célebres pintores. Porque a una frente alta, coronada de cabellos negros y copiosos, naturalmente ondeados, unía facciones muy regulares, nariz recta que arrancaba desde el entrecejo, y por quedarse algo corta alzaba un si es no es el labio superior, como para dejar ver dos … More The paragraphs in question
They are fascinating and addictive. The best so far is of Abraham Jones, who was born in 1825 and was therefore 112 when interviewed in 1937. He seemed half his age, it was said. He remembered the 1833 meteor shower, when “stars fell on Alabama.” There is also an interesting story of one Louis, who … More WPA slave narratives
This title uses, in English, my modified translation of a phrase from a 19th century text. That phrase is “un ojo conocedor” and my title is “That Discerning Eye: …”. I discovered by chance (well, by reading U.S. slave narratives) that slaves and, I assume others, referred to the “discerning eye” as one that could … More There might be a problem with my title
I did not know, and do not want to know, and my father was always kind to his workers, who did not need to unionize. This kind of statement, especially from an adult in this day and age, is not a sweet excuse but actually a refusal to look at reality and to change it. … More On defenses of the Confederacy and Jim Crow
A speech by the Mayor of New Orleans yesterday on the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee, at what was formerly known as Tivoli Circle. Thank you for coming. The soul of our beloved City is deeply rooted in a history that has evolved over thousands of years; rooted in a diverse people … More Mitch Landrieu
The practical reason I did not go out with professors when I was in graduate school was concern about possible future damage to my career. However, that appears to be the reason people say yes, not no. What am I missing here? Axé.
On Heart of Darkness and Moby-Dick as examples of salvage capitalism: Moby-Dick tells of a ship of whalers whose rowdy cosmopolitanism contrasts sharply with our stereotypes of factory discipline; yet the oil they obtain from killing whales around the world enters a U.S.-based capitalist supply chain. Strangely, all the harpooners on the Pequod are unassimilated … More Anna Tsing
One of my students has been working in queer theory and there is far more of it than I had realized. This piece on “gay shame” seems important for a number of reasons, having to do in part with some people I once knew. Axé.
For my course on representations of the other, I need this article I have never read and also the important Mulvey text on the gaze from 1975. I want handmade medieval boots. They are less expensive and better than many modern shoes, and not unfashionable, and I could wear them with academic robes. I am … More Des lectures
