As World War II progressed, concentration camps such as Dachau, which opened in March 1933 and could accommodate 5,000 people, ballooned in size and no one could escape the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. By the end of the war, when the Americans liberated Dachau in 1945, Konnilyn Feig points out the camp held 30,000 prisoners, six times what it could accommodate, and “8,000 unburied corpses.” … Read More Who do you want to be?
+ african american literature, banjo, caribbean literature, claude mckay, france, harlem renaissance, Literature, patriotism, united states
For my “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” course this semester, I’m teaching Claude McKay’s Romance in Marseille, a book that builds upon the action in his 1929 novel Banjo: A Story Without a Plot. I plan to teach Banjo in my study travel class, where we will travel to Marseille and Nice. Because of this, I chose to read Banjo recently in preparation for Romance in Marseille and for the study travel trip. As … Read More The Dangers of Unquestioned Patriotism
As I was finishing up my graduate studies and mailing out countless applications in the hopes of attaining that needle in a haystack tenure track position, I would always think about the possibility of leading a study travel trip. This year, we planned a trip to Poland; however, due to various circumstances, the trip will not take place. However, that has not deterred my … Read More African American Writers in France Syllabus
+ african american literature, banana bottom, bita plant, caribbean literature, claude mckay, frank yerby, the little black boy, william blake
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. In the last post, I wrote some about how Frank Yerby and Claude McKay each challenge western ideals of beauty. Today, I want to continue that discussion by looking at how Bita Plant interrogates these ideals in Banana Bottom, specifically when she looks at William … Read More Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom” and William Blake
+ african american literature, banana bottom, bita plant, caribbean literature, claude mckay, frank yerby, speak now, william blake
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. In many ways, I cannot help but think about Charles Chesnutt’s Paul Marchand, F.M.C. and Frank Yerby’s Speak Now when reading Claude McKay’s Banana Bottom. Specifically, I think about the experiment that the Craigs conduct on Bita Plant in relation to Pierre Beaurepas’ unexplained “experiment” … Read More Countering White Ideals of Beauty in Claude McKay’s “Banana Bottom”
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