Colorblind Casting and Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

by Matthew Teutsch

Last post, I wrote about the racial undercurrents that populate Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). Today, I want to briefly discuss the 2008 Broadway performance of the play with an all black cast starring James Earl Jones, Phyilcia Rashad, Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, and others. While all of the actors in the Broadway performance are phenomenal across the board, … Read More Colorblind Casting and Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

March 28, 2017 + african american literature, american literature, arna bontemps, chris washington, film, get out, invisible man, jordan peele, lion, Literature, movie, mr kelso's lion, ralph ellison, rose armitage, the old south, Uncategorized

Stuffed Lion in “Get Out”?

by Matthew Teutsch

Finally, during its third week in theaters, I saw Get Out (2017). Plenty of people have commented on the film; however, there are two aspects of the film that I have not found anyone discussing: the stuffed lion that sits on the nightstand next to Rose Armitage’s bed and the use of Childish Gambino’s “Redbone”playing over the audience’s first introduction to Chris Washington as … Read More Stuffed Lion in “Get Out”?

March 21, 2017 + african american literature, african americans, american literature, Literature, mississippi literature, richard wright, Uncategorized, uncle tom's children, uncle tom's children. afircan american literature, when the roll in called up yonder

“When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” in Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song”

by Matthew Teutsch

As I reread Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song” from Uncle Tom’s Children (1938), I again thought about the role of music in Wright’s work. I have written about this before in relation to the epigraph for Wright’s collection and in relation to the song that appears in “Big Boy Leaves Home.” Today, I want to briefly look at the way that the hymn “When … Read More “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” in Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song”

February 16, 2017 + african american literature, american literature, charles chesnutt, folks from dixie, Literature, nelse hatton's vengeance, paul laurence dunbar, southern literature, the sheriff's children, the sport of the gods, Uncategorized

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Nelse Hatton’s Vengeance” and the Plantation Tradition

by Matthew Teutsch

In Tuesday’s post, I wrote about Charles Chesnutt’s “The Sheriff’s Children” and the plantation tradition. Today, I want to extend that conversation to include Paul Laurence Dunbar, an author who many have painted as an accomadationist that perpetuated African American stereotypes and played to the plantation tradition. However, as I argue elsewhere on this blog, Dunbar worked to subvert that tradition through his writing. … Read More Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Nelse Hatton’s Vengeance” and the Plantation Tradition

February 7, 2017 + 'tite poulette, american literature, Literature, louisiana, louisiana literature, old creole days, race, sui sin far, Uncategorized

George Washington Cable’s “‘Tite Poulette” and Race

by Matthew Teutsch

Last week, I wrote about Sui Sin Far and her discussion of nationality and nationhood in Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of a Eurasian. Far highlights the arbitrary nature of of the term “nation,” and rather than holding “nationality” up for honor, she lifts individuality in its place. In a similar manner, George Washington Cable, throughout his works, illuminates the social constructions of race … Read More George Washington Cable’s “‘Tite Poulette” and Race

Interminable Rambling

Colorblind Casting and Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

Category: Literature