What to Expect in 2018!

by Matthew Teutsch

Welcome to 2018! Back in August 2015, I started Interminable Rambling as a space for me to flesh out thoughts I had concerning texts I was reading, pedagogy, and culture. Since that first post, I have published 236 posts for this site on a myriad of topics such as Mary Rowlandson and Sarah Kemble Knight to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and court cases such … Read More What to Expect in 2018!

December 5, 2017 + american literature, early american literature, edgar allan poe, enslaved, gothic literature, hop-frog, nat turner, slavery, solomon northup, southern gothic, Uncategorized

Edgar Allan Poe’s “Hop-Frog” and Slave Rebellion

by Matthew Teutsch

Ever since I first encountered Edgar Allan Poe’s “Hop-Frog, or the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs,” I became intrigued by the issues Poe addressed through this Gothic story that takes place far away from American soil. The story first appeared in 1849, and we can read the story in an autobiographical manner, as some scholars have done. However, I would argue that we must also read … Read More Edgar Allan Poe’s “Hop-Frog” and Slave Rebellion

November 16, 2017 + african american literature, alabama literature, alice dunbar-nelson, alice walker, american literature, arna bontemps, charles chesnutt, claude mckay, early american literature, ernest j gaines, frank yerby, Genarao Kỳ Lý Smith, james baldwin, jesmyn ward, kiese laymon, Literature, louisiana literature, mississippi literature, octavia butler, paul laurence dunbar, richard wright, southern gothic, southern history, southern literature, southern studies, syllabus, t geronimo johnson, uncle tom's children. afircan american literature, william melvin kelley, zora neale hurston

“African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus

by Matthew Teutsch

Occasionally, I post syllabi ideas here on the blog. Today, I want to share a syllabus I have been thinking about recently entitled “African American Literature and the American South.” The South, as a geographic and imaginary space, looms large in the works of not just African American authors but in writers of all ethnic backgrounds from the United States. Maryemma Graham discusses the … Read More “African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus

April 6, 2017 + american literature, august wilson, cat on a hot tin roof, colorblind casting, douglas turner ward, gothic literature, james earl jones, Literature, mississippi literature, phylicia rashad, race, southern gothic, southern literature, tennessee williams, terrence howard, Uncategorized

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”

April 5, 2017 + american literature, cat on a hot tin roof, mississippi literature, playing in the dark, race, southern gothic, southern literature, tennessee williams, toni morrison, Uncategorized

The Undercurrents of Race in Tennessee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

by Matthew Teutsch

Recently, I taught Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and noticed, as I reread it, the undercurrents of race that appear throughout. Over the next couple of posts, I want to explore these aspects of “playing in the dark” that buttress the story of the Politt family’s decline as Big Daddy and everyone else comes face to face with his mortality. … Read More The Undercurrents of Race in Tennessee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

Interminable Rambling

What to Expect in 2018!

Category: southern gothic