The entirety of this course on African American Literature put an emphasis on the concept of “looping back” to previous ideas. While, at a glance, that may seem redundant, I have come to value the methodology of implementing fractals within the course outline. At the beginning of the semester, I favored storytelling that thrived on formulas because I felt that there needed to be a sense of clarity of characters and plot; this was incapsulated by the method of practicing “order, disorder, order restored”. However, after visiting literature that focused on repetition, a lack of that clarity, and abrupt changes in modes of storytelling, I have a newfound appreciation for the unpredictability of prose. One piece that emulated that unpredictability was “The Water Cure” By Percival Everrett, which follows a grieving father through the aftermath of the loss of his child. The novel relies on the reader’s sense of the unknown; we are not to know the truth or reliability of the narrator’s story. Everrett’s main character, Ishmael Kidder, is written in a way that gives the reader a feeling of chaos, as though Kidder’s mind may not be considered “sound”. There are continual shifts in language, events, and even in Kidder’s personality, and though it was, at times, uncomfortable, it was fascinating. I longed for more literature that gave me that irregularity. This course’s practicing of the methodology of continuously referencing itself and prior topics emulated the concept of recursion offered in Ron Eglash’s, “African Fractals”, which was then further employed in “The Water Cure”.
“African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design” by Ron Eglash reviews the concept of geometric fractals and connects the idea of repetition to culture and anthropology. Within his work, Eglash describes recursion, specifically “self-reference” recursion: referring to one thing by saying another (Eglash, 110). Author Percival Everett features this idea of recursion within his own work; in ‘The Water Cure”, where he utilizes a fluid method of language. The entirety of the book relies upon the fact that there are no absolute answers. The author names his main character Ishmael Kidder, using the play on language as a surname as an indicator for the unreliability of the narrator’s narrative, as well as reminding us of his parenthood. Later, after a potential act of revenge, which results in the kidnapping of a perceived perpetrator of his daughter’s death, Kidder names his victim “Art”. Understanding the backstory of Everett, Kidder, and black authors, allows the nuance of Everett’s reference to the war on black art to be recognized. Percival Everett, among other black authors, have been targeted by a history of stereotyping, as popularized by Thomas Jefferson in his “Query XIV” piece (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, “Query XIV”). He believed that these writers suffered from “plain narration”, an innate simplicity due to racist bias. Jefferson’s claim that doubted the value of black art appears to be both contested and gratified by Ishamel Kidder; throughout the novel, there are pieces of art that may have been Kidder’s own work. They hold no astounding talent within the works, and as Jefferson said, were of “elementary trait” and seem to align with his theory. However, taking into account both Everett’s and Kidder’s interactions with Jefferson, there is a complexity drawn out by recursion within “The Water Cure” that rejects that bias. Kidder calling his victim “Art” reflects the intracity of his, and Everett’s relationship with art. Everett writes, “Naming functions as a device for distancing as much as a emblem of connection. Name. Naming. Named.” (Water, 44) Naming the fragments of environment around him, including his victim, portray significance in the specifics of his actions. His torture of Art as a human being reflects his torture of art as a concept, how it taunted him, hurt him, caused him pain as he struggled to find his foothold writing stories and drawing. His freeing of Art represents his freeing of art, of letting go. Kidder’s referencing of Art was also Everett’s reference of art, an example of Eglash’s process of recursion appearing in the text. It is these conversations between author and Jefferson, as well as narrator and Jefferson, that pulled me into the type of story which may lack a more popularized, or basic, storytelling formula, and had me immersed in the irregularity of the novel. “Looping back” to prior content, such as “Query XIV”, allowed for a fuller understanding and immersive experience of each piece read; the connecting of works read at vastly different times was made possible only though the process of engaging with those works in a more in-depth way and thinking with a depth otherwise untouched by another method.
The concept of “looping back” to previously covered topics creates links between works and ideas that would be otherwise left untouched. It creates a more effective learning environment as well as a better understanding of each piece. Prior to taking this class, I was not actively practicing the steps of looking back on earlier matters covered and applying them to new material. Now, however, it is routine to consciously think about how one or more subjects apply to seemingly unconnected work and linking them together. Without exercising this with “The Water Cure” by Percival Everrett, I would not have been able to fully understand the complexities nor enjoy the content. With the learning process of looping back, I now see how it could be correlated to a myriad of works, including Jefferson’s “Query XIV” and Eglash’s “African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design”, and by engaging in conversation with more than one piece at a time, I felt that I had a more thorough understanding of the intricacy presented within the book and course, overall.