Postagens

Pós-Modernos (Rui Reininho, 1986)

Imagem
...Depois da V2 DDT PBX Ketchup K/7 Kleenex Kitchnet Duplex Twist again colourfull wonderfull Chegou o T2-T4 com garagem pró P2 turbo sound disco sound discussão? Video-Club joy stick midi high-tech squash e sauna Compact D (compre aqui?)... Ser Mãe era a aspiração natural de todo o homem moderno [Being a mother was the natural aspiration of every modern man] ser o melhor é normal para os novos pobres deste colégio [being the best is normal for the new poor of this boarding school] ter medo é a pulsão fundamental do criador e [to have fear is the fundamental impulse of the creator and] estar sóbrio é continuar permanecer [to be sober is to continue endure] ---E dantes as máquinas estavam sempre a [... And once upon a time the machines were always derailing...] Mas com uns pós modernos nada complicados [But with the post-moderns, who do not complicate at all] sentimo-nos realizados [we are fulfilled] Ah! Os pós modernos agarram a angústia [oh the postmoderns take anguis

December 5 - Katherine Vaz, "The Mandarin Question"

Imagem
Choose either. 1. What is the function of the Mandarin Question in this story? 2. Pick up your favorite turn of phrase or rhetoric device. Try to explain honestly why it resonates with you. 3. We have studied plenty of stories about masculinity. To what extent can this be considered a story about feminitiy?

Questions for Jennifer Fink

Imagem
1. The book is extremely ethnic. Do you think this limits your outreach to a specific audience or is it a heartwarming contribution to cross-cultural literature? 2. Are gerbils metaphoric? Are they allusions to previous literature? 3. What did you have in mind by putting Tanya in a crib at camp? 4. How do you see the role of autobiography in literature and in your work in particular? 5. What are you trying to achieve in terms of style? 6. Once a psychiatrist told the student who is asking this question: "the closer you align your concept of yourself with your actual age at the time the saner you are". Is your work in any way a challenge or reaction to this? 7. How did you conceive of the structure for "Fabrications"? Does it mirror the "fugues" throughout the book? Are the sections supposed to trigger intimate memories that give us a perception of the public psyche?

Postmodernism - some key concepts

a) According to  Linda Hutcheon ,  Postmodernity  is the condition in which we now live, and it should be distinguished from  Postmodernism , which refers to the cultural production and reflection that might embody its  critique  (the abovementioned questioning). b) According to  Fredric Jameson ,  Postmodernism  itself belongs to the "cultural logic of late capitalism", and as such there is no distinction between the critique and the condition (the critique, obeying to the laws of the production of culture, which rest on immateriality and profit, might annull itself). Even if Postmodernism  somehow blurs the distinctions between the high and the low  - the idea of equality in Postmodernism risks being overweighed by 1.  Relativism : the first of the important keywords, as it is the conterpart to 2.  Mistrust of grand narratives  (religion, politics, scientific positivism) 3.  De-differentiation  (namely of economics and culture), leading to the indecidability of cor

Native American Renaissance, Chicano Civil Rights Movement, Xicana Theory

Imagem
Native American Renaissance and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement are more or less contemporary and gained strength with the allegiance to civil rights protesters, and with the multiculturalist turn in US ideology. In the 1970s, the Chicana Feminists felt the need to assert and separate themselves as "new mestizas".

For the class of Nov. 22 - Sandra Cisneros, "Woman Hollering Creek".

Imagem
Think and write of either or more 1. Choose a passage of 1-2 sentences of your particular liking. Explain why it strikes you and what you think are its implications for the text. 2. Do some research on the Mexican legend of "La Llorona" and speculate on it as an intertext for the story. 3. In some instances, there seem to be breaks of syntax or logic in the stenteces. Identify one or more of these, and comment on its textual effect(s).