Last post, I wrote about the unease individuals feel when they study their own history and how they feel comfortable learning about this history of others because it removes their own actions from the equation. There, I focused on Zakir in Inzitar Husain’s Basti. Today, I want to continue that discussion; however, I want to shift it a little by looking at the ways that Yuasa Katsuei … Read More The Transmission of Virulent Ideologies: Part II
+ basti, india, intizar husain, pakistan
In my last post, I wrote about the spreading disease and the creation of monsters, specifically the ways that virulent ideologies spread throughout a society. I’ve thought about this a lot over the past few years, and it is a theme that keeps coming up, again and again, in novels I’ve been reading, specifically two novels I am teaching in my Reverberations of World War II … Read More The Transmission of Virulent Ideologies: Part I
+ african american literature, catherine carmier, ernest j gaines, louisiana literature, of love and dust
This years marks some major anniversaries for some of my favorite writers. Earlier in the year I wrote about the 75th anniversary of Lillian Smith’s memoir Killers of the Dream, and she also has two other major anniversaries this year: the 80th of her debut novel Strange Fruit and the 70th of her next memoir The Journey. Along with these milestones, 2024 also marks the 60th anniversary of Ernest … Read More Ernest Gaines’ “Catherine Carmier” at 60
+ killers of the dream, lillian e smith, racism, ruby bridges, solomon northup, twelve years a slave, white supremacy
On my social media feeds over the past year, I have seen individuals post about the fact that the individuals who screamed at students outside schools in Little Rock, Memphis, New Orleans, and elsewhere don’t want history taught because it will illuminate their actions. I understand this argument; however, what I’m more interested in the ways that white supremacy, patriarchy, and other ideoligies get … Read More The Spreading Disease and the Creation of Monsters
Interminable Rambling 