“Untangling Whiteness: Reflection and Action”

Category: lillian e smith

In May, I had a conversation with a colleague about possible events to host at the Lillian E. Smith Center, especially during a pandemic with limited travel. He suggested a symposium focused on whiteness since Smith’s work explores both the construction and deconstruction of whiteness. We had this conversation after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. After the murder of Breonna Taylor. Before the murder … Read More “Untangling Whiteness: Reflection and Action”

September 17, 2020 + aaron campbell, comics, graphic novels, infidel, jose villarrubia, lillian e smith, pornsak pichetshote, the right way is not the moderate way

Reflections of the Self in “Infidel”

by Matthew Teutsch

As I prepared to teach Pornsak Pichetshote, Aaron Campbell, and Jose Villarrubia’s Infidel, a lot of things stuck out. However, when I reread the haunted house story where the monsters that terrorize the characters are the manifestations of racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, I became intrigued by a few specific scenes where the monsters appear in the reflections of objects such as knives and mirrors. … Read More Reflections of the Self in “Infidel”

September 10, 2020 + jim demonakos, koko kondo, lillian e smith, mark long, nate powell, Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, Nguyễn Văn Lém, the silence of our friends

Building Bridges in “The Silence of Our Friends”

by Matthew Teutsch

Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell’s The Silence of Our Friends opens with Mark playing war in 1968 in Houston, TX. He crawls through the front yard pretending to be an American soldier as he searches for Vietcong soldiers before engaging them. His sister Michelle wants to join him, and Mark gets angry because he doesn’t “wanna play with no girls.” Eventually, after … Read More Building Bridges in “The Silence of Our Friends”

September 7, 2020 + a visitation of spirits, black panther, chadwick boseman, emmett till, jack kirby, jackie ormes, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, randall kenan

August 28, 2020

by Matthew Teutsch

On Saturday August 29, 2020, I awoke and checked my phone. The notification from one of the news services told me that Chadwick Boseman had passes away of cancer at the age of 43. In 2016, he was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. He did not speak publicly about the diagnosis, and over the course of the next four years he filmed various … Read More August 28, 2020

August 13, 2020 + ernest j gaines, incognegro, killers of the dream, lillian e smith, mat johnson, of love and dust, southern gothic, the autobiography of miss jane pittman, warren pleece

Haunting in Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s “Incognegro”

by Matthew Teutsch

In preparation for my fall literature class, I reread Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery. There are a lot of aspects of the book I could discuss, and that I want to discuss with students. One of these will definitely be looking at Incognergo in relation to themes that James Baldwin discusses in his essay “Stranger in the Village.” As well, … Read More Haunting in Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s “Incognegro”

Interminable Rambling

“Untangling Whiteness: Reflection and Action”

Category: lillian e smith