The things that Prince depicts in his artwork pertain to mature subjects but looking at his work also reminds me of my childhood. I used to play these “I Spy” games on the family computer in which the player simply tried to find and click on all of the items that were listed for the player to find. I’m not sure why 6-year-old me was so entertained by this, but I used to play for hours—just how I feel like one could view Prince’s artwork for hours and still make new discoveries.
Commodity Fetishism in Big Machine
A recurring motif in Victor Lavalle’s Big Machine is immense amount of detail and narrative space given to clothing and particularly the clothing of the scholars as it is described by Ricky Rice, the narrator. I read The Talented Mr. Ripley last semester and noticed Patricia Highsmith also described clothing through her narrator Tom Ripley, in a painstakingly descriptive way. Continue reading “Commodity Fetishism in Big Machine”
Learning Without Knowing It
My last post was about Big Machine, by Victor LaValle, and I had written about my experience reading the novel as one that is very different from past novels I’ve read in aspects related to plot, theme, and general timing of the release of information. You can read it here. The reply I got from Dr. McCoy with my grade for the post mentioned how the book calls back to some of our base course concepts, such as Snead, Eglash, Barkley Brown and Parks, to name a few. When I read this comment I felt like I was physically turned from the cave wall to the light, and this post is me walking fully out of the cave, so to speak (thanks to Plato for the Allegory of the Cave, by the way). Continue reading “Learning Without Knowing It”
We’ve been there… We’re returning
In the documentary “The Last Angel of History,” the statement is made that “black existence and science fiction are one in the same… we’re not believed… people don’t believe us.” I wrote this down immediately because it felt like an idea that held a lot of possibilities within it. I was reminded first of the uncertainty of our language during Bloodchild when we spoke about T’Gatoi. Was T’Gatoi a person, a being, a creature? Was T’Gatoi the alien or were the humans alien? The other presence in my mind while watching “The Last Angel of History” were the first photographs of a black hole, released recently. I’m currently enrolled in an Astronomy class, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the language and color we assign to the less-understood phenomena of the galaxy: black holes, brown dwarfs, dark matter, dark energy. I can’t help but see a pattern of language which associates darkness or blackness with uncertainty or unknowability. “The Last Angel of History” features a series of artists who seem to find inspiration and power in that nebulous, uncertain identity. “We live estrangement,” one artist said. Another, “We’ve been there [to space]… We’re returning.” Continue reading “We’ve been there… We’re returning”
The Interdependence of Form and Content
In her work “Elements of Style,” writer Suzan-Lori Parks discusses the intricate relationship between form and content both in writing and in life. Parks states that “content determines form and form determines content; that form and content are interdependent.” (Parks, 7) This chiasmus creatively asserts that form and content are dependent on each other. This complex concept is difficult to comprehend at first, however, Parks relates this concept to entities outside of writing. Interestingly, Parks uses her physical body as an example of a form and how the content of her life is dependent on her physical form. She writes, “It’s like this: I am an African-American woman – this is the form I take, my content predicates this form, and this form is inseparable from my content. No way I could be me otherwise.” (Parks, 8) By explaining the relationship between form and content in this way, Parks allows her audience to connect this idea to their own lives. Continue reading “The Interdependence of Form and Content”
Part of the Story
As we have discussed in class, Toni Morrison’s Jazz ends with a line that reads, “Look where your hands are. Now.” By ending her book in such a way, Morrison is acknowledging the reader, letting them know the uncomfortable reality that they are not as far removed from the narrative as they may believe. Usually, when one reads a book watches a play or engages in any other form of media they are observing it through the eyes of the protagonist, a safe, comfortable lens, where they are just out of reach of the events taking place. Continue reading “Part of the Story”
What’s in a name?
The other day when discussing Suzan-Lori Parks’ Imperceptible Mutabilities, Dr. McCoy gave us a Latin phrase to help us understand the name change that occurs in the characters. This phrase is mutato nomine de te fabula narratur which means with the name changed, the story applies to everyone. I have been noticing things in Big Machine regarding the character’s names and once receiving this phrase I decided it was finally time to unpack the significance behind all these names. Continue reading “What’s in a name?”
Philosophy Pt. 1
Progress can be defined as a “forward or onward movement toward a destination,” or as an “advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern condition.” This definition is easily understood, however our experiences with the word are often tricky to navigate. Continue reading “Philosophy Pt. 1”
How often do you judge a book by its cover?
As a child, one of the first things I was taught was, don’t judge a book by its cover. It is one of those metaphorical phrases, that has been engraved in my mind my whole life, which provoked me to do some research on why humans judge in the first place. Continue reading “How often do you judge a book by its cover?”
How Do Institutions Fail You?
Throughout the semester, we talked about how institutions fail us, whether it is related to academia or something on a larger scale. This concept came up again on Friday as we were discussing as a group what our favorite quote from Big Machine was. Personally, I had said that my favorite quote was “AND YET, no matter how earthshaking a moment is, there’s that minute right afterward when you return to the unconcerned world” (page 246). The reason I had chosen this quote was that as a college student, my world can feel like its collapsing with every poor grade, overcommitment, and constant pressure to succeed. However, things always seem to pan out, and if it doesn’t, life isn’t over and we return to reality….failure is inevitable and we must keep moving forward. As we went around the seminar circle I formed a liking for a quote that Courtney Statt had delivered to the class as her favorite from Big Machine, “The dread you feel when institutions fail you” (page 290). I fell in love with this quote at that moment, it was like love at first sight. I began to think about our discussion earlier this semester when we discussed how much we trust our institution to take care of us, and I decided to turn to my peers for more input on this discussion.