In the early days of search engines, one of Google’s main competitors in helping everyone know ev... more In the early days of search engines, one of Google’s main competitors in helping everyone know everything was a website now known as Ask.com. However, before 2006, this website had a slightly different name that played on the cultural trop of a virtually omniscient, remarkably competent, ever ready to assist butler—AskJeeves.com. Even those completely unaware of P.G. Wodehouse’s writings often still have some recognition of the Jeeves character. And while P.G. Wodehouse’s writings are vast and his characters universally interesting, his brilliant takes on the game of golf and the motley crew with which he filled Blanding’s Castle take a back seat to his greatest creations-bumbling socialite Bertie Wooster and his man, Jeeves. Both characters shine in The Code of the Woosters as Bertie stumbles and bumbles his way to greater and greater peril until Jeeves steps in as savior. Hijinks and hilarity fill the pages. However, beyond the wordplay and comedy, Wodehouse offers the reader something more. Writing in the shadows of the First World War, P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters is representative of a Modernism that avoids the literary experimentation prevalent in Woolfe, Joyce, etc. but embraces the undermining of assumed cultural truths, namely the superiority of the ruling class and the presence of a transcendent divine being.
Contemporary American culture emphasizes the individual. Logically, this fact makes sense. The Am... more Contemporary American culture emphasizes the individual. Logically, this fact makes sense. The American ethos has long been that of rugged individualism, but this hyper individuality has significant drawbacks. With great harm to everything relational, the elevation of the one separates that which should be joined together. People are divorced from each other, from shared history, and from communal land. Many authors have highlighted the interconnectedness of people and place, and how that connection persists through time. One of the great tragedies of African-American history is how this tearing apart has separated people of color: from their family by slave practices and beyond, from their culture by denigration and forced assimilation, and from their history by way of marginalizing African American voices and perspectives. Through rewriting the stories of slaves, neo-slave narratives allow authors and readers the opportunity to reclaim their history and reconnect with both people and land through the medium of story told. Rather than being a mere recollection or reconstruction of historical facts, neo-slave narratives serve as a medium for remembering a reconnection with ancestral past that illustrates the interconnectedness of people and place through time. Two preliminary issues should be addressed before proceeding to the main argument of this paper. First, both the importance to culture and the difficulty in classification of neo-slave narratives have to be mentioned. Then, the idea of membership as it relates to the interconnected, metatemporal existence of the individual within the whole should be briefly
Contrary to what it might seem like, Stella Gibbons does not create a world. While Cold Comfort F... more Contrary to what it might seem like, Stella Gibbons does not create a world. While Cold Comfort Farm is definitely a place like no other, it is actually a place like many others. Entering into the universe of rural fiction so prevalent and popular during her time, Gibbons borrows and exaggerates many of the prevailing motifs made popular by writers long since forgotten. Gibbons's choice to set her novel in the oversexed and animalistic realm of rural Britain between the wars is on the surface an effort to lampoon and satirize novels that offered the reader little more than base entertainment. Her acerbic wit sets the stage for an outright lampooning. However, Gibbons provides the readers more, but certainly not less, than brilliant one-liners and hilarious descriptions of people and places in service of a satire. The heavy-handed symbolism, overt allusions, caricatured character presentations, and excessively overt foreshadowing lead up to an ending that has been described, somewhat accurately, as saccharine. What is easy to miss, however, is the sheer satisfaction the last chapters provide when the reader is open to the role of Robert Poste's child as an alternative lense through which to view the world of Cold Comfort Farm. Gibbons gleefully guides her audience from expectations of a farm filled with animalistic people guided solely by reproductive impulse to an understanding of rural people as fully and genuinely human, worthy of respect and affection.
J.G. Ballard's decision to reimagine Robinson Crusoe was a risky endeavor. Quite easily, this str... more J.G. Ballard's decision to reimagine Robinson Crusoe was a risky endeavor. Quite easily, this stranded-on-an-island motif could have fallen flat. Whether the premise of life on a traffic island evoked incredulity or the introduction of native characters mimimized the survival aspects, Concrete Island certainly could have left the reader dissastified, confused, or just too reminded of Robinson Crusoe. However, this is not the case. The surface-level connections between Ballard's work and Defoe's are insignificant when the reader considers the similiarities found at greater depth. The exploration of the human psyche that makes Defoe's volume worth revisiting is what makes Ballard's especially compelling, and it is what makes the implausibility of isolated life on a traffic island worth overlooking. To create the psychological backdrop, Ballard transitions his narrative from small, enclosed place to small, enclosed space-using the contracting spaces to evoke a greater and greater sense of isolation. As the setting becomes more and more contracted, Ballard drives the reader deeper and deeper into the mind of his protagonist-a man who is simultaneously much less civilized and much more emblematic of human nature than he, or the reader, is initially willing to admit. Maitland is stranded on an island, but he is trapped by the person he is. From the outset of the novel, Ballard sets the tone of claustrophobic chaos that continues to build throughout the narrative. Nestled tightly in his Jaguar, the 35-year-old
Diversity in popular representation is far greater today than it has been in
Western culture even... more Diversity in popular representation is far greater today than it has been in Western culture even in the recent past. But the overwhelming homogeneity of literary characters, especially main characters, is still great. This flaw is also prevalent in film and TV, as well. Works like Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia go against this trend by presenting people outside of the mainstream as main characters and, more importantly, as genuine, non-caricatured representations. Junot Diaz has said that there is an idea that “monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but that he has always felt that it “isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but rather that “if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves” (“Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz tells students his story”). People fear what they do not know because the temptation exists to view others as utterly other. Kureishi’s work does not minimize the differences between peoples and groups, but it does a brilliant job in highlighting the common experiences of self-doubt, familial conflict, and societal expectations that affect people of all races, sexualities, and religions.
Crusoe While heralded by many as the first novel of the English language, Defoe's Robinson Cruso... more Crusoe While heralded by many as the first novel of the English language, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe also warrants praise as a novel in which the evolution of the protagonist shapes the entire story. Unwilling to allow his Crusoe to travel from cover to cover statically immutable, Defoe instead presents a character whose initially fear-filled, fatalistic colonialism gives way to a Christian understanding of providential kindness. Beyond the surface-level narrative of a castaway merely seeking survival, Robinson Crusoe is a story of a man working to learn how to live in both his immediate environment and that which lies beyond what he can physically see. Although the ethos of the protagonist, and the novel as a whole, is still significantly encumbered by imperialistic tendencies, Defoe's narrative unfolds his Crusoe's transformation into a relatively sympathetic representation of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Christian faith and a drastically different protagonist than the one who opened the novel. Critics of the Protestant view of providence often equate that doctrine with the broader idea of fatalism. While surface level similarities certainly exist and many who claim a belief in providence often express it in attitude and terminology more akin to a belief in Fate, the two ideas are distinct and in many ways contradictory. Far from being the result of an impersonal force, the Protestant view of providence argues that a personal deity exists in sovereign control of every second of every day and of every atom of every molecule. How this is manifest in the ebb and flow of everyday life is debated, but the personal nature of providence distinguishes it from fate. Robinson
Literary journalism presents difficulties and considerations that, while common across multiple g... more Literary journalism presents difficulties and considerations that, while common across multiple genres of writing, are especially significant for the journalist who chooses to write in the vein of what Truman Capote called the “factual novel.” Chief amongst these considerations is the issue of objectivity and those related issues like honesty, integrity, ethics, and the influence of the journalist over the events reports. However, these aspirations at disengagement typically serve to demonstrate that objectivity is much more of an ideal to which reporters aspire than it is an achievable, or even desirous, end. All journalistic endeavors test the objectivity of the journalist, and narrative or literary journalism does so to a high degree. Dissatisfied with the mere facts, literary journalism lends itself to filling in the gaps. Where facts-only reporting leaves key facts uninvestigated, literary journalism ventures into educated speculation. Furthermore, literary journalism opens itself up to the reporter directing the directing the story in a didactic or preachy manner as it lends itself to both to authorial interjection and actual involvement.
Civic Writing is a concept that is exceptionally difficult to define. Some concepts are easier to... more Civic Writing is a concept that is exceptionally difficult to define. Some concepts are easier to see as examples than they are to give a definition. So, instead of working towards a definition of civic writing, this paper will use James Paul Gee’s essay “What is Literacy?” to examine two essays representing, and maybe representative of, civic writing: Jasmine Villa and Taylor Figueroa’s “Youth Activism and Community Writing by Latina Youth” and Susan Kates’s “Literacy, Voting Rights, and the Citizenship Schools in the South, 1957-1970.” In seeing how these examples relate to each other and to Gee’s discussion of literacy, hopefully a broader of understanding of civic writing will emerge.
Civic writing is a broad discipline, and examples of it show up in odd, obscure, and surprising ... more Civic writing is a broad discipline, and examples of it show up in odd, obscure, and surprising places. Far from obscure but oftentimes odd and surprising is a good way to classify the Twitter timeline of President Trump, and it was from his tweets that an interesting form of civic writing and hashtag activism was born. Shortly after midnight on May 31st, 2017, President Trump sent an especially cryptic tweet: “"Despite the constant negative press covfefe" (Hunt). After sending the tweet, Trump was absent from social media for hours following, fueling the rampant speculation that attends his every word. Trump’s tweet and especially the term covfefe, as is often the case in the realm of social media and 24-hour news cycles, took on a life of its own. Beyond being a typo (probably) or insiders-only code (Trump’s claim), covfefe became a linchpin term that many used to actively, creatively, and passionately criticize the Trump administration, policies, and the man himself.
The relationship of Christianity to literary production and criticism historically has been one o... more The relationship of Christianity to literary production and criticism historically has been one of ebb and flow. For centuries, Christians created paintings, music, architecture, sculptures, plays, poetry, and literature, and felt that by doing so they were honoring God. Artistic and academic endeavors were, as a whole, not seen as opposed to faith. However, the modernist movement of the early twentieth century capped a period of waning credibility for religious thought and experience, and faith fell out of favor with the academy while academics and artistry seemed to fall out of favor with many people of faith. Postmodernism’s skepticism towards the modernist exaltation of rationalism and empiricism re-opened the door for more metaphysical perspectives in artistry and academia, including religious engagements with literary texts. Overcoming the temptations to moralize and proselytize, modern Christian theory has developed as a way to engage literature from a Christian perspective and offer readings of texts that aid Christians and non-Christians alike in fruitfully examining a written work.
The manner in which people speak says much about them. Speech patterns can indicate everything fr... more The manner in which people speak says much about them. Speech patterns can indicate everything from age to region of origin, level of education and socio-economic status to religious ideology, and much more. People’s choices of words are referred to as diction and how they order these words is known as syntax. Diction and syntax combine to give a person a unique voice. Authors utilize this fact to create literature that is incisive and lasting, and Wendell Berry is a perfect example. In his Port William writings, Berry utilizes the tools of diction and syntax in order to explore the inherent tensions in and vast opportunities of living in human community.
The anonymous author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” produced a work that many have enjoyed ... more The anonymous author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” produced a work that many have enjoyed for centuries, both for its content and style. The alliterative format of the work in its original language makes it a poem that is a pleasure to hear, even if the hearer cannot understand the language and the beauty is often lost, or at least diminished, in translation. The content, however, is just as engaging, and it is in the content where its medievalism shines brightest. Most prevalent, especially when set in contrast with modernity, is the chivalric emphasis present throughout the poem.
In the early days of search engines, one of Google’s main competitors in helping everyone know ev... more In the early days of search engines, one of Google’s main competitors in helping everyone know everything was a website now known as Ask.com. However, before 2006, this website had a slightly different name that played on the cultural trop of a virtually omniscient, remarkably competent, ever ready to assist butler—AskJeeves.com. Even those completely unaware of P.G. Wodehouse’s writings often still have some recognition of the Jeeves character. And while P.G. Wodehouse’s writings are vast and his characters universally interesting, his brilliant takes on the game of golf and the motley crew with which he filled Blanding’s Castle take a back seat to his greatest creations-bumbling socialite Bertie Wooster and his man, Jeeves. Both characters shine in The Code of the Woosters as Bertie stumbles and bumbles his way to greater and greater peril until Jeeves steps in as savior. Hijinks and hilarity fill the pages. However, beyond the wordplay and comedy, Wodehouse offers the reader something more. Writing in the shadows of the First World War, P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters is representative of a Modernism that avoids the literary experimentation prevalent in Woolfe, Joyce, etc. but embraces the undermining of assumed cultural truths, namely the superiority of the ruling class and the presence of a transcendent divine being.
Contemporary American culture emphasizes the individual. Logically, this fact makes sense. The Am... more Contemporary American culture emphasizes the individual. Logically, this fact makes sense. The American ethos has long been that of rugged individualism, but this hyper individuality has significant drawbacks. With great harm to everything relational, the elevation of the one separates that which should be joined together. People are divorced from each other, from shared history, and from communal land. Many authors have highlighted the interconnectedness of people and place, and how that connection persists through time. One of the great tragedies of African-American history is how this tearing apart has separated people of color: from their family by slave practices and beyond, from their culture by denigration and forced assimilation, and from their history by way of marginalizing African American voices and perspectives. Through rewriting the stories of slaves, neo-slave narratives allow authors and readers the opportunity to reclaim their history and reconnect with both people and land through the medium of story told. Rather than being a mere recollection or reconstruction of historical facts, neo-slave narratives serve as a medium for remembering a reconnection with ancestral past that illustrates the interconnectedness of people and place through time. Two preliminary issues should be addressed before proceeding to the main argument of this paper. First, both the importance to culture and the difficulty in classification of neo-slave narratives have to be mentioned. Then, the idea of membership as it relates to the interconnected, metatemporal existence of the individual within the whole should be briefly
Contrary to what it might seem like, Stella Gibbons does not create a world. While Cold Comfort F... more Contrary to what it might seem like, Stella Gibbons does not create a world. While Cold Comfort Farm is definitely a place like no other, it is actually a place like many others. Entering into the universe of rural fiction so prevalent and popular during her time, Gibbons borrows and exaggerates many of the prevailing motifs made popular by writers long since forgotten. Gibbons's choice to set her novel in the oversexed and animalistic realm of rural Britain between the wars is on the surface an effort to lampoon and satirize novels that offered the reader little more than base entertainment. Her acerbic wit sets the stage for an outright lampooning. However, Gibbons provides the readers more, but certainly not less, than brilliant one-liners and hilarious descriptions of people and places in service of a satire. The heavy-handed symbolism, overt allusions, caricatured character presentations, and excessively overt foreshadowing lead up to an ending that has been described, somewhat accurately, as saccharine. What is easy to miss, however, is the sheer satisfaction the last chapters provide when the reader is open to the role of Robert Poste's child as an alternative lense through which to view the world of Cold Comfort Farm. Gibbons gleefully guides her audience from expectations of a farm filled with animalistic people guided solely by reproductive impulse to an understanding of rural people as fully and genuinely human, worthy of respect and affection.
J.G. Ballard's decision to reimagine Robinson Crusoe was a risky endeavor. Quite easily, this str... more J.G. Ballard's decision to reimagine Robinson Crusoe was a risky endeavor. Quite easily, this stranded-on-an-island motif could have fallen flat. Whether the premise of life on a traffic island evoked incredulity or the introduction of native characters mimimized the survival aspects, Concrete Island certainly could have left the reader dissastified, confused, or just too reminded of Robinson Crusoe. However, this is not the case. The surface-level connections between Ballard's work and Defoe's are insignificant when the reader considers the similiarities found at greater depth. The exploration of the human psyche that makes Defoe's volume worth revisiting is what makes Ballard's especially compelling, and it is what makes the implausibility of isolated life on a traffic island worth overlooking. To create the psychological backdrop, Ballard transitions his narrative from small, enclosed place to small, enclosed space-using the contracting spaces to evoke a greater and greater sense of isolation. As the setting becomes more and more contracted, Ballard drives the reader deeper and deeper into the mind of his protagonist-a man who is simultaneously much less civilized and much more emblematic of human nature than he, or the reader, is initially willing to admit. Maitland is stranded on an island, but he is trapped by the person he is. From the outset of the novel, Ballard sets the tone of claustrophobic chaos that continues to build throughout the narrative. Nestled tightly in his Jaguar, the 35-year-old
Diversity in popular representation is far greater today than it has been in
Western culture even... more Diversity in popular representation is far greater today than it has been in Western culture even in the recent past. But the overwhelming homogeneity of literary characters, especially main characters, is still great. This flaw is also prevalent in film and TV, as well. Works like Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia go against this trend by presenting people outside of the mainstream as main characters and, more importantly, as genuine, non-caricatured representations. Junot Diaz has said that there is an idea that “monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but that he has always felt that it “isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but rather that “if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves” (“Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz tells students his story”). People fear what they do not know because the temptation exists to view others as utterly other. Kureishi’s work does not minimize the differences between peoples and groups, but it does a brilliant job in highlighting the common experiences of self-doubt, familial conflict, and societal expectations that affect people of all races, sexualities, and religions.
Crusoe While heralded by many as the first novel of the English language, Defoe's Robinson Cruso... more Crusoe While heralded by many as the first novel of the English language, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe also warrants praise as a novel in which the evolution of the protagonist shapes the entire story. Unwilling to allow his Crusoe to travel from cover to cover statically immutable, Defoe instead presents a character whose initially fear-filled, fatalistic colonialism gives way to a Christian understanding of providential kindness. Beyond the surface-level narrative of a castaway merely seeking survival, Robinson Crusoe is a story of a man working to learn how to live in both his immediate environment and that which lies beyond what he can physically see. Although the ethos of the protagonist, and the novel as a whole, is still significantly encumbered by imperialistic tendencies, Defoe's narrative unfolds his Crusoe's transformation into a relatively sympathetic representation of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Christian faith and a drastically different protagonist than the one who opened the novel. Critics of the Protestant view of providence often equate that doctrine with the broader idea of fatalism. While surface level similarities certainly exist and many who claim a belief in providence often express it in attitude and terminology more akin to a belief in Fate, the two ideas are distinct and in many ways contradictory. Far from being the result of an impersonal force, the Protestant view of providence argues that a personal deity exists in sovereign control of every second of every day and of every atom of every molecule. How this is manifest in the ebb and flow of everyday life is debated, but the personal nature of providence distinguishes it from fate. Robinson
Literary journalism presents difficulties and considerations that, while common across multiple g... more Literary journalism presents difficulties and considerations that, while common across multiple genres of writing, are especially significant for the journalist who chooses to write in the vein of what Truman Capote called the “factual novel.” Chief amongst these considerations is the issue of objectivity and those related issues like honesty, integrity, ethics, and the influence of the journalist over the events reports. However, these aspirations at disengagement typically serve to demonstrate that objectivity is much more of an ideal to which reporters aspire than it is an achievable, or even desirous, end. All journalistic endeavors test the objectivity of the journalist, and narrative or literary journalism does so to a high degree. Dissatisfied with the mere facts, literary journalism lends itself to filling in the gaps. Where facts-only reporting leaves key facts uninvestigated, literary journalism ventures into educated speculation. Furthermore, literary journalism opens itself up to the reporter directing the directing the story in a didactic or preachy manner as it lends itself to both to authorial interjection and actual involvement.
Civic Writing is a concept that is exceptionally difficult to define. Some concepts are easier to... more Civic Writing is a concept that is exceptionally difficult to define. Some concepts are easier to see as examples than they are to give a definition. So, instead of working towards a definition of civic writing, this paper will use James Paul Gee’s essay “What is Literacy?” to examine two essays representing, and maybe representative of, civic writing: Jasmine Villa and Taylor Figueroa’s “Youth Activism and Community Writing by Latina Youth” and Susan Kates’s “Literacy, Voting Rights, and the Citizenship Schools in the South, 1957-1970.” In seeing how these examples relate to each other and to Gee’s discussion of literacy, hopefully a broader of understanding of civic writing will emerge.
Civic writing is a broad discipline, and examples of it show up in odd, obscure, and surprising ... more Civic writing is a broad discipline, and examples of it show up in odd, obscure, and surprising places. Far from obscure but oftentimes odd and surprising is a good way to classify the Twitter timeline of President Trump, and it was from his tweets that an interesting form of civic writing and hashtag activism was born. Shortly after midnight on May 31st, 2017, President Trump sent an especially cryptic tweet: “"Despite the constant negative press covfefe" (Hunt). After sending the tweet, Trump was absent from social media for hours following, fueling the rampant speculation that attends his every word. Trump’s tweet and especially the term covfefe, as is often the case in the realm of social media and 24-hour news cycles, took on a life of its own. Beyond being a typo (probably) or insiders-only code (Trump’s claim), covfefe became a linchpin term that many used to actively, creatively, and passionately criticize the Trump administration, policies, and the man himself.
The relationship of Christianity to literary production and criticism historically has been one o... more The relationship of Christianity to literary production and criticism historically has been one of ebb and flow. For centuries, Christians created paintings, music, architecture, sculptures, plays, poetry, and literature, and felt that by doing so they were honoring God. Artistic and academic endeavors were, as a whole, not seen as opposed to faith. However, the modernist movement of the early twentieth century capped a period of waning credibility for religious thought and experience, and faith fell out of favor with the academy while academics and artistry seemed to fall out of favor with many people of faith. Postmodernism’s skepticism towards the modernist exaltation of rationalism and empiricism re-opened the door for more metaphysical perspectives in artistry and academia, including religious engagements with literary texts. Overcoming the temptations to moralize and proselytize, modern Christian theory has developed as a way to engage literature from a Christian perspective and offer readings of texts that aid Christians and non-Christians alike in fruitfully examining a written work.
The manner in which people speak says much about them. Speech patterns can indicate everything fr... more The manner in which people speak says much about them. Speech patterns can indicate everything from age to region of origin, level of education and socio-economic status to religious ideology, and much more. People’s choices of words are referred to as diction and how they order these words is known as syntax. Diction and syntax combine to give a person a unique voice. Authors utilize this fact to create literature that is incisive and lasting, and Wendell Berry is a perfect example. In his Port William writings, Berry utilizes the tools of diction and syntax in order to explore the inherent tensions in and vast opportunities of living in human community.
The anonymous author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” produced a work that many have enjoyed ... more The anonymous author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” produced a work that many have enjoyed for centuries, both for its content and style. The alliterative format of the work in its original language makes it a poem that is a pleasure to hear, even if the hearer cannot understand the language and the beauty is often lost, or at least diminished, in translation. The content, however, is just as engaging, and it is in the content where its medievalism shines brightest. Most prevalent, especially when set in contrast with modernity, is the chivalric emphasis present throughout the poem.
Quentin Compson hates the South. Over and against persistent protestations to the contrary, the f... more Quentin Compson hates the South. Over and against persistent protestations to the contrary, the fact of Quentin’s loathsome disposition towards his cultural roots is difficult for Faulkner’s readers to avoid. Quentin passionately rejects the premise of the accusatory question on the final page of Absalom, Absalom!, but his roommate Shreve remains unconvinced. Beyond that, if Shakespeare’s famed Queen of Denmark is to be trusted, Quentin’s excessive protestations may just be a testimony to the fact that he, himself, remains unconvinced of his own benevolent feelings towards his ancestral homeland. Faulkner’s masterpiece is ambiguous throughout and confounding at times, but it is clear that the young Compson abhors any land where a Henry Sutpen can exist, even if this means repudiating the land from which he sprang. Beyond being a complex character who sheds great light on the rise and fall of Henry Sutpen as well as the fall of the antebellum South, Quentin Compson’s destructive self-loathing fueled by his contempt of his ancestral land and people serve as an illustrative indictment of much of 20th century Western Christianity and a warning sign to the church moving forward.
Telling the Stories Right: Wendell Berry’s Imagination of
Port William ed. by Jack R. Baker and J... more Telling the Stories Right: Wendell Berry’s Imagination of Port William ed. by Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro, and: Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms by Jeffrey Bilbro (review)
Relatively few works of literary criticism have been published covering Wendell Berry’s Port Will... more Relatively few works of literary criticism have been published covering Wendell Berry’s Port William fiction. Beyond the complexity of addressing a living author’s still growing fictional world, Berry’s essays and poetry lure many scholars away from exclusively examining his fiction. Some may also be reticent due to Berry’s less-than-veiled, Twain-like threat in the opening of Jayber Crow to any who would seek the literary within his work. Regardless of why many remain hesitant to engage in extensive literary criticism of Berry’s fiction, Joseph Wiebe has proven himself more than willing to do his fair share.
Uploads
Western culture even in the recent past. But the overwhelming homogeneity of literary
characters, especially main characters, is still great. This flaw is also prevalent in film
and TV, as well. Works like Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia go against this
trend by presenting people outside of the mainstream as main characters and, more
importantly, as genuine, non-caricatured representations. Junot Diaz has said that there
is an idea that “monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but that he has always felt
that it “isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but rather that “if you want
to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of
themselves” (“Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz tells students his story”). People
fear what they do not know because the temptation exists to view others as utterly
other. Kureishi’s work does not minimize the differences between peoples and groups,
but it does a brilliant job in highlighting the common experiences of self-doubt, familial
conflict, and societal expectations that affect people of all races, sexualities, and
religions.
Western culture even in the recent past. But the overwhelming homogeneity of literary
characters, especially main characters, is still great. This flaw is also prevalent in film
and TV, as well. Works like Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia go against this
trend by presenting people outside of the mainstream as main characters and, more
importantly, as genuine, non-caricatured representations. Junot Diaz has said that there
is an idea that “monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but that he has always felt
that it “isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror” but rather that “if you want
to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of
themselves” (“Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz tells students his story”). People
fear what they do not know because the temptation exists to view others as utterly
other. Kureishi’s work does not minimize the differences between peoples and groups,
but it does a brilliant job in highlighting the common experiences of self-doubt, familial
conflict, and societal expectations that affect people of all races, sexualities, and
religions.
Port William ed. by Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro, and:
Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms by
Jeffrey Bilbro (review)