One of the first things that struck me about Morrison’s Paradise when I first held it in my hands was the sticker on the front referencing Oprah’s book club. While we have had incredible discussions on Paradise this semester, it led me to wonder how the book was received by non-academic readers–people reading Morrison’s work for fun, outside of the classroom atmosphere we have grown used to. Continue reading “Morrison’s Paradise: Online, and Beyond”
Relationship Violence in a Culture Obsessed with Property
This weekend, Geneseo’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee–of which I am a member–received training on relationship violence prevention through the One Love Foundation. That this seminar took place the very weekend following our completion of Jazz was purely coincidental–but my recent analysis of Violet and Joe’s possessive dynamic added greater depth and context to the seminar.
The theme of the seminar was escalation, and it generally focused on a more reactive approach: recognizing the warning signs of an emotionally abusive relationship and preventing it from intensifying to the point where it could be dangerous. In this regard, I felt it was an appropriate response to the fact that many college students might not know exactly what signs of domestic violence look like. However, a large component I felt was missing from the session was the entire cultural aspect of it: the idea that relationship violence is, to an extent, normalized in a culture obsessed with property–something we have discussed in depth with regard to Morrison’s Jazz. Continue reading “Relationship Violence in a Culture Obsessed with Property”
The Single Story of the “Flawless” Feminist Icon
I must say that this timing is rather uncanny, given our class’s recent discussion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story,” but just yesterday, Dutch paper De Volkskrant published an interview with the feminist icon. In this interview, Adichie responds to the media coverage she has experienced since the release of Beyoncé’s “Flawless,” and her desire to separate her own work from that of Beyoncé. She makes it clear that she respects Beyoncé as both an artist, and a fellow feminist icon, but would prefer that the public appreciated her work as its own entity–a pretty reasonable request, coming from a novelist already famous prior to being featured by another high-profile artist. Continue reading “The Single Story of the “Flawless” Feminist Icon”
Virginia’s Verger: Sexual Politics of Race in the New World
After Dr. McCoy’s brief mention of “Virginia’s Verger” in class last week, I decided to search a little for the original document–Purchas his Pilgrimes–which, written by Samuel Purchas, a settler in the New World, turned to out be brimming with intertwined racism and sexism. Can you guess how shocked I am (hint: not at all)? Continue reading “Virginia’s Verger: Sexual Politics of Race in the New World”
A Response to “How to Read Texts Not Written For You?”
I’ve never publicly blogged before. Growing up as a rather shy person–in both my personal life and my writing–the idea of other people reading my work was enough to reduce me to a puddle. But as I’ve begun to find my voice as a writer in college, I’ve grown more comfortable with the idea of sharing my ideas on a public forum–and when I found out that a component of this course was public blogging, I was surprised to find myself more excited than nervous.
However, every time I sit down to actually begin to write, fear seems to keep creeping back in. But this time, it isn’t because I’m uncomfortable with my voice as a writer; it’s because, as a white person, I’m terrified I might do violence to the black community that Toni Morrison’s work was actually written for. Continue reading “A Response to “How to Read Texts Not Written For You?””