Category: new orleans
+ african american literature, american literature, charles chesnutt, Literature, new orleans, paul marchand, southern literature
Charles Chesnutt’s “Paul Marchand” and the Social Construction of Race: Part II
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. In the last post, I spoke some about the “legal fictions” that Charles Chesnutt highlights in Paul Marchand, F.M.C., specifically with the relationship between Paul and Julie and with the terms that the narrator deploys throughout the novel. Today, I want to continue this discussion … Read More Charles Chesnutt’s “Paul Marchand” and the Social Construction of Race: Part II
+ african american literature, american literature, charles chesnutt, Literature, louisiana literature, new orleans, paul marchand, southern literature
Charles Chesnutt’s “Paul Marchand” and the Social Construction of Race: Part I
If you enjoy what you read here at Interminable Rambling, think about making a contribution on our Patreon page. Charles Chesnutt’s Paul Marchand, F.M.C. highlights the legal fictions constructing race in America and the absolute absurdity of such constructions. Today, I want to look at some of the ways that Chesnutt illuminates the construction of race through legal fictions in the novel. Chesnutt explores … Read More Charles Chesnutt’s “Paul Marchand” and the Social Construction of Race: Part I
+ africa, african american literature, african americans, american literature, frank yerby, louisiana literature, new orleans, southern literature, the foxes of harrow, the saracen blade
Multicultural Cities in Frank Yerby
Throughout his oeuvre, Frank Yerby works to deconstruct myths of the Old South and historical misinformation. Along with these goals, he also dismantles the dichotomy of Black and White; instead, he populates his works with individuals and scenes that defy a simplistic characterization. In this manner, Yerby shows that race is not a biological fact; rather, it is a social construct. One of the … Read More Multicultural Cities in Frank Yerby
+ a lesson before dying, african american literature, alabama, alabama literature, alabama memorial preservation act, american literature, bryan stevenson, confederate memorial day, confederate monuments, early american literature, enslaved, ernest j gaines, ezra klein, jefferson davis, kayla warner, Literature, louisiana literature, mitch landreau, new orleans, robert e lee, southern history, southern literature, southern studies, Uncategorized, whitney plantation
The Smoldering Embers in Our Presence
Today, I want to conclude the discussion from the previous two posts over the ways that we create memorials and remember the past, particularly in the South. In an interview with Ezra Klein, executive director of the Equal Justice Commission Bryan Stevenson commented, “What we do in the memorial spaces says a lot about who we are.” There is a lot of truth in … Read More The Smoldering Embers in Our Presence
+ http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, louisiana literature, lyle saxon, mardi gras, new orleans, robert h decoy, southern literature, the nigger bible
Freedom and Restrictions in Lyle Saxon’s Description of Mardi Gras
Recently, I posted on Robert H. deCoy’s description of Mardi Gras in The Nigger Bible (1967). In that post, I discussed the carnivalesque of the Mardi Gras season and the inversion of reality. With that inversion though, comes the realization that things will return to normal once the carnival season ends and the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. deCoy describes the effects … Read More Freedom and Restrictions in Lyle Saxon’s Description of Mardi Gras
+ carnivalesque, holloway house, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, iceberg slim, king zulu, mardi gras, mikhail bakhtin, new orleans, robert h decoy
Robert H. deCoy, Mardi Gras, and the Carnivalesque
Last Tuesday, we celebrated Mardi Gras here in South Louisiana, and as usual, the beads flew, the King Cake appeared, and the revelry commenced. Each year, as we party before the beginning of the Easter season, I think back to a class I had during my PhD coursework. The class was on folklore and the carnivalesque in literature. We read Walker Percy’s The … Read More Robert H. deCoy, Mardi Gras, and the Carnivalesque
+ a confederacy of dunces, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, john kennedy toole, louisiana literature, lsu press, new orleans, southern literature, the moviegoer, walker percy
James Wilcox’s "Modern Baptists": Bobby Pickens, Ignatius Reilly, and Binx Bolling
Toni Morrison, in a 1998 US News and World Report article, called James Wilcox’s Modern Baptists (1983) one of her three “favorite works by unsung writers.” This, of course, is high praise coming from such a luminary in American letters, and one read through Wilcox’s novel will more than live up to Morrison’s claim. Last week, I reread Wilcox’s first novel in preparation for … Read More James Wilcox’s "Modern Baptists": Bobby Pickens, Ignatius Reilly, and Binx Bolling
