Criterion Volume 38, 2020

N T I O CR E RI a

y r a r e l i t

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© 2020 Criterion. All rights reserved.

Criterion, a journal of literary criticism by students, is published each spring by the Loyola Marymount University English Department through the support of the Denise L. Scott Memorial Fund. Edited by undergraduate and graduate English majors, Criterion seeks contributions representative of undergraduate and graduate writing spaced pages. No material may be reproduced in any form, except by the author, without written consent from the editor(s).

Please address correspondence to: Criterion Loyola Marymount University Department of English 1 LMU Drive, Suite 3800 Senior Editors Éva Enriquez Reviewers Eva Baudler Éva Enriquez Nick Herman Megan Loreto Christina Martinez Veronica Uribe Elizabeth McCoy Alex Paradzik Comer Wadzek Faculty Advisors Graphic Designer

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CRITERION a l i t er ar y j our n a l

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SENIOR EDITORS Éva Enriquez

REVIEWERS Eva Baudler Éva Enriquez Nick Herman Megan Loreto Christina Martinez Veronica Uribe Elizabeth McCoy Alex Paradzik Comer Wadzek

FACULTY ADVISORS

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

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World

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Gillian Ebersole

Edge Taran Drummond

Comer Wadzek

Éva Enriquez

Charlie Martin

Antigua Eva Baudler

Sophie Jonsson

Steve Buccallatto 13

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Dear Readers, When we began work in the Fall on this year’s Criterion, the notion of a global pandemic was far from our minds, relegated to dystopian novels. And yet, here we are: in isolation, wearing masks, afraid to go outside. The apocalypses and disasters that our writers analyzed in their pieces for this years issue are now our thoughts. However, despite the bleakness of this moment, it is important to products of imagination.

It is nothing new for creatives to turn to literature and writing during times of struggle. Storytelling is fundamental to being human. Whether it be creating a world in which to escape or retelling a story of hardship and sorrow, we turn to and captured, unwittingly, the zeitgeist of this moment. Throughout these pages, essays grapple with apocalyptic scenarios and oppression, presenting a as a reminder that everyone has the power to create something beautiful, to make an impact. Especially in this tumultuous time where it is easy to feel helpless, turning to creativity and imagination can pull us through. We must push ourselves to produce works that help build our vision of the future. As writers and artists, the imagination is our most powerful tool and must be used to cultivate the resurgence of our communities, one pen at a time.

We sincerely thank all the talented writers and the wonderful team of student steadfast guidance in the production of this year’s issue (as she has given every year), and to the English Department for the continuing opportunity to create Criterion. We extend our gratitude to family, friends, and to those who have supported the journal from the start.

Without further ado, we proudly present Criterion 2020!

All the best, Éva Enriquez & Rena McInerney-Olk Senior Editors of Criterion LMU Class of 2020

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SURVIVAL IS INSUFFICIENT: EMBODIMENT AND VIOLENCE IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD GILLIAN EBERSOLE

Gillian Ebersole is senior Dance and English dual degree and public transportation. Gillian writes poetry, dance and feminism. She has performed on stages in Paris, Los Angeles, and Denver, and is moving to New York City after graduation to pursue a career performing, teaching, choreographing, and writing about dance.

Gillian wrote this paper for Dr. Alexandra Neel’s Honors Literary Analysis as an attempt to justify her career choice in the face of impending societal collapse.

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fails to focus on the lives—the bodies—of narrative occupy a liminal space, nearing

the characters themselves. By looking

death as quickly as they move into spaces

at the varied use of body as object and

with the potential for new life. The urgent

subject in Oryx and Crake and Station

need for resources forces characters to

Eleven, the artful embodiment of the

adapt to bare minimum energy use, which

body as subject becomes vital to human

to neglect the experience of embodiment found especially in the performing arts.

In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, the human experience of artful embodiment, or lack thereof, becomes

The dichotomy of the body as object versus the body as subject emerges

a critical force for the characters as they navigate art, language, and cultural

study of science and that of the arts. In his article about sharing political messages

apocalyptic worlds. The art versus science

through dance performance, Eric Mullis

dichotomy renders divisiveness in Oryx and Crake, presenting the body as an

a subject versus the body as object,

object that hinders, while the artistic celebration in Station Eleven allows the

(73). The latter occurs in many dystopian

characters to reclaim the body as the

novels, where the body inhibits the

subject of their existence. In general,

character from achieving that which he

there is little scholarship on the role of the body as a vehicle for the experience of setting. Furthermore, the existing

human existence, allowing it to occupy a

scholarship on both novels analyzes the failure of technology and the role of

making (Mullis 73). Mullis makes no

literature in cultural preservation, but

mention of Oryx and Crake or Station

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Eleven, but his deeply embodied language connects the human body with language,

of modern dance technique, Martha

culture, and stability during turmoil (71).

Graham shaped the formation of the

Artistic expression tends to view the body

feminist dance wave and much of today’s contemporary dance styles. However, this description reduces her to a radical feminist icon with little meaning beyond

artist to become both agent and object

a vandalized statue of her body. As a fading icon, Martha Graham radiates through the school practices and studies,

dichotomy of the body as object and

evident when Atwood states, “So a lot of

subject, evident in the art versus science

what went on at Martha Graham was like

dichotomy found in Oryx and Crake.

Margaret Atwood’s character, Crake, sets up the art versus science

pleasant to contemplate in its way, but no longer central to anything” (187). When

dichotomy with his statement, “Female artists are biologically confused” (Atwood

causes communities to lose an alley for the freedom of expression, which further

and artistry exist in a binary, and this

negates the thoughts and emotions of

stereotype echoes through the Oryx and

both individuals and groups.

Crake narrative. Crake construes art

When bodily freedom of

and femininity in a way that reduces the

expression loses its value, art and

agency of female artists, rendering their

performance quickly follow suit. In her

bodies useful only as objects. This echoes

article looking at the new beginning in

in Jimmy’s studies at the considerably

Oryx and Crake, Danette DiMarco asserts

less heralded Martha Graham Academy,

that the capitalistic and individualistic

“named after some gory old dance goddess of the twentieth century who’d

the fall of civilization and a subsequent

apparently mowed quite a swath in

disinterest in “humanistic tendencies”

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(171). This disinterest manifests in

performances exist purely for

the attitude of the students at Martha

sentimentality. Even before the

Graham Academy, carrying forward the

apocalyptic event, what little art remains

idea that the arts do not matter:

is distilled and devalued. In turn, when

The students of song and dance continued to sing and dance, although the energy had gone out

their potency, as the body is viewed as a

of these activities and the classes

roadblock rather than a vehicle. DiMarco

were small. Live performance had

comments: “The instrumentalism once integral to producing good citizens and committed to the ideals of technological

no one during those decades had

innovation evolved into a form of

wanted to form part of a large group at a public event in a dark, easily destructible walled space,

ones” (175). The abandonment of

or no one with any cool or status.

Theatrical events had dwindled

correlates to the fall of art, and the

into versions of the singalong or the tomato bombardment or the

aging focused society. Here, DiMarco’s

various older forms had dragged

breakdown of Oryx and Crake seems

on – the TV sitcom, the rock video

to purport the divisive science versus

– their audience was ancient and

art archetype Atwood comments on so

their appeal mostly nostalgic.

(Atwood 187) Atwood cleverly manipulates negatively

out the detrimental “ceaseless cycle of ‘means’ and ‘ends’” perpetrated by the

connotated words to show the downfall of art; students have lost their energy, audience members fear congregating, and

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community, DiMarco neglects the arts

the narrative (175).

physicalism present in the materialist society and the idealistic views of Crake’s The binary of this duality puts the body

Emerging out of the science

at odds with the soul, just as science is at odds with art.

viewpoint places more value on idealism,

Similarly, the prophet in Station

while allowing humans to disrespect

Eleven

the physical state of existence. In Oryx

duality between the body and soul when

and Crake

he says, “I’m not speaking of the tedious variations on physical death. There’s the

pornography place the human body

death of the body, and there’s the death of

solely in the category of body as object. deaths of the body and soul in such a way wreaks havoc on the psyche of Jimmy/

that suggests he values the soul more than the body. In this way, the prophet

internal struggle to come to terms with

also treats the body as object, with the

his aging body and his past sexualized

same destructive nature present in

experiences comes out in his monologue:

Oryx and Crake

own adventures? ... after having ditched

mentality haunts Snowman. When he

its old travelling companions, the mind and the soul, for whom it had once been considered a mere corrupt vessel or else a puppet acting out their dramas for them,

twenty years older than he is” (Atwood

or else bad company, leading the other

231). Atwood mirrors this description in

two astray” (Atwood 85). Philosophically, he struggles with the idea of personal

“liked to dress up, change her appearance,

identity, wrestling with the destructive

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strut around the room, do a little strip,

pornography, the participants often lack

wiggle and pose” (231). Jimmy watches

agency, making the body’s place in these narratives convoluted and hypocritical.

her to a body, and, as she pretends in each and performs, a consequence of her upbringing in which she entered child to honor her personhood. Perpetrated

pornography out of necessity, unable to

by capitalist aims at the preservation

give consent or accept true agency. By the

becomes so inherent in society that both

believes, “Everything has a price,” for she has not ever engaged in a relationship that did not require her to objectify herself (Atwood 139). Instead, focalized but her performance always arises out of

The twisted view of the body as

necessity as a method of exchange, not as a method of expression.

view of the body as subject in Oryx and Crake. Atwood suggests the existence

The attitude toward the body, especially the body in performance,

of a body as subject, pointing toward an artful existence when she says,

apocalyptic society of Station Eleven.

“But the body had its own cultural forms. It had its own art. Executions

Symphony rehearsal, Mandel describes:

were its tragedies, pornography was its romance” (85). Yet, this body as

years earlier, in a life she mostly

subject existence ends in destruction

couldn’t remember. She had had a

of the body as an object, through execution and pornography. Beyond the violent tendencies of executions and

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Lear. Now she walked in sandals

whose soles had been cut from

various female bodies. Stepping into an

an automobile tire, three knives in her belt. She was carrying a paperback version of the play,

world where she lacks control over

the stage directions highlighted

many elements. Her performance adds

in yellow. “Mad,” she said, continuing, “fantastically dress

body and existence with the parallelism

subject embodiment.

Performance capitalizes on the agency of the body as subject, lending to a dynamic relationship between the

experienced in the twenty years since her

physical body and human expression: an artful embodiment. False artful embodiment occurs in the creation

as she carries the script, preserving an

and expression of the Crakers. Genetic

element of culture while allowing for a Jimmy’s desperate attempts to thwart the

even the Crakers appear artful. Early on, Snowman describes them as “amazingly attractive, these children – each one

in body or existence. Instead, she walks

naked, each one perfect, each one a

in makeshift sandals with weapons on hand, physically journeying into agency

tea, butter, cream, honey –but each with green eyes. Crake’s aesthetic” (Atwood

explicit choice to embody a character

8). The admiration of beauty points toward artful embodiment, but the

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themed adjectives thwarts the attempt, objectifying the Crakers with language

Even though Earl Ingersoll notes in his been the generator of some great art,” he acknowledges the gendered implications of this discussion, as men traditionally

toward a discussion of this destruction of artful embodiment in an analysis of

he diverges to discuss the gendered language of art, Ingersoll narrowly misses discussing the connection between

the idea of the sense of art in any form

embodiment and art. Indeed, art and

of embodiment (185). Even the body as

sexuality often coincide, but it is the

subject view in Oryx and Crake always

agency of the artist that is so important;

exists toward the consumable end of the spectrum, leaning toward the perfection

artful embodiment because she lacks agency. Conversely, in his autonomous

The artfulness of embodiment appears to occur when the relationship

certain immortality in his creation of the

between the body as subject and object

Crakers. Though he carries the agency of artful embodiment, he imposes himself on his proteges in a way that violates the

as an object brings up ethical andmoral questions, while the overarching subjective agency of Crake seems to allude

subject in performance.

Crake’s creation of the genetically

to similar moral and ethical questions.

The characters represent two sides of the

of art and cultural preservation.

However, when compared to the cultural

Crake acting as an autonomous subject.

preservation that manifests in the immortality of acting and performing, it

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motives violate the dynamic relationship

in which Shakespeare’s works grapple

required of artful embodiment.

not only with the fragility of civilization

Shakespeare and other artists live on

but also with the fragility of text and

through the Travelling Symphony’s

performance” (Smith 295). With this

performance of “classical, jazz, orchestral

sentence, Smith dances around the sense of embodiment the characters

and Shakespeare” (Mandel 37). Unlike Crake and his Crakers, the Symphony

He continues to discuss the cultural

adapts and adjusts according to the

preservation of Shakespeare as a means

changing environment, incorporating

to maintain the power of text, in order to

physical and artistic elements to honor

“bridge historical and cultural gaps—to unite past and future—because he speaks

subject during a given performance

directly to the essence of that which is

(Mandel 44). The Travelling Symphony

human” (Smith 298). Smith touches on

integrates Shakespeare as a method of

the human, imperfect attribute of artful

cultural preservation and expression,

embodiment, but he does not move

continuing to cross perceived binaries to

beyond the importance of the literature that is Shakespeare to discuss the

world.

importance of performing Shakespeare.

Phillip Smith examines this

In the taking on of Shakespearean

preservation of art and culture in his

characters, the Travelling Symphony

article “Shakespeare, Survival, and the

physically bridges the gap between the

Seeds of Civilization in Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven,” by discussing

a path for growth and societal ascent.

the use of Shakespeare as text in the

As such, there is a sense of nobility in the work of the Traveling Symphony, in

apocalyptic tones of Shakespeare to the

its authenticity and humanness, that is

circumstances of Station Eleven (290).

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Perhaps then, the art of embodiment

process with the survival process in a way

nestles in human imperfection, and the

that underscores the raw, artful beauty of

unsettling nature of the Crakers arises in

human nature and its struggle to survive

their perfection. The humanity of the

in even the most hostile of circumstances.

Traveling Symphony emerges in Mandel’s

She admits to the philosophical value of

description:

art, arising in midnight conversations

Sometimes the Travelling Symphony thought that what they

the artist works toward a higher goal

were doing was noble. There were

in the pursuit of art, of performance, of perfection. Following the natural artistic

someone would say something

struggle, Mandel also acknowledges

invigorating about the importance

the frustrations of an artistic career; the impending complications of the

easier to sleep that night. At other

apocalypse and wet feet certainly put a damper on any artistic aspirations,

and dangerous way to survive and

no matter how noble. The Travelling

hardly worth it, especially at times

Symphony prevails, living and performing

when they had to camp between

through the inspiration and the

towns, when they were turned

desperation to achieve artful

away by gunpoint from hostile

embodiment.

places, when they were travelling in snow or rain through dangerous

SURVIVAL IS INSUFFICIENT

territory, actors and musicians carrying guns and crossbows, the horses exhaling great clouds of

In an interview with National Public Radio, Mandel highlights the

steam, times when they were cold and afraid and their feet were wet.

as the thesis of her novel, insisting that

(119)

humanity will do more than merely clamber to outlast the apocalypse—but

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that a greater purpose is the creativity

abounds. Mandel goes so far as to use the

taht comes with play (“Survival Is

word “transcendent” to describe moments of their artful embodiment, and this

emerges when Mandel describes the community coalescence of the Traveling

apocalyptic survival. Indeed, Mandel

Symphony:

asserts the need to survive and the

This collection of petty jealousies,

struggle that exists in the process, but

neuroses, undiagnosed PTSD

at the end, she reveals that art and the

cases, and simmering resentments

pursuit of beauty, allow the Travelling

lived together, traveled together,

Symphony to continue in the face of

rehearsed together, performed

potential despair.

While discussing Jimmy’s reaction

permanent company, permanent tour. But what made it bearable were the friendships of course, the

of the narrator and his unique perspective

camaraderie and the music and the Shakespeare, the moments of transcendent beauty and joy when

art and altruism have become obsolete,

it didn’t matter who’d used the last

and ethics have disappeared altogether”

of the rosin on their bow or who anyone had slept with. (Mandel

an examination of Jimmy’s relationship to space, which moves toward the

Performance does not solve the problems

importance of art more than the other

of the apocalypse or heal brokenness of the members of the Symphony,

Jimmy as Snowman experiences a “lack of

but it provides a common goal for the

ethical engagement,” thus rendering

characters. United by their passion

his theological and lingual fallacies

for artful embodiment, the Travelling

meaningless (37). Yet, a discussion of the body and embodiment still lacks

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from this analysis, and I would argue

and Juliet

that art, ethics, and altruism take on a

artful embodiment allows performance

new form in the changing landscape of

to become a coping device, yet it does not

Oryx and Crake

merely gloss over the reality of death and

maintenance of performative qualities

the acts of killing. The very use of Romeo

through repeating words, telling stories,

and Juliet speaks to the distressing

and creating meaning where there is

tone of the experiences of the Travelling

none acts both as cultural preservation

Symphony, providing a channel for the expression of the raw grief and numbness

Perhaps the ethics here do not matter, as defense. What would have been a moment take on priority. Snowman does not do

of pure survival becomes something more

the Crakers a disservice when he misleads

meaningful through the performance of

them about toast, for toast exists in a

Shakespeare, and the practice of artful

reality they will most likely not experience

embodiment allows the characters to truly

(Atwood 98). Instead, he subconsciously

process their feelings of grief and loss as

steps into the agency of performance in despair by creating a sense of purpose in

apocalypse devaluation of the body and

the process of cultural preservation.

the performing arts in Oryx and Crake

The Travelling Symphony uses performance not only to make survival

embodiment, as Snowman retains the

an artful experience, but to survive the other hand, the Travelling Symphony in Station Eleven builds on the performing second man she killed, the narration moves on from the death to describe how

society to maintain the view that the body

the Travelling Symphony “continued on

functions as a vehicle for performance

into Mackinaw City to perform Romeo

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event; it gives purpose and meaning to intention.

life by proving that survival is indeed

Oryx and Crake neglects bodily agency

society. This lends to a false sense of individualism that haunts Snowman when he is forced to live alone after the apocalypse. The characters of Station Eleven also wrestle with the need for bodily agency, but the rise of artistic expression through the presence of the Travelling Symphony provides an outlet to share their emotions and join together as a community. In this sense of community, the artful embodiment of Shakespeare channels the survivors’ while cultivating hope for what is to come. The rising hope allows the characters of Station Eleven to live with intentionality, avoiding mere survival according to their motto, driving them toward a new formation of society. Art, especially performative arts, plays a key role in societal ascent after an apocalyptic

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Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. Anchor Books, 2003.

DiMarco, Danette. “Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: Homo Faber and the Makings of a New Beginning in Oryx and Crake.” Papers on Language & Literature, no.

2, 2005. edsglr, EBSCOhost, http://electra.lmu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.133280082&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Evans, Shari. “‘Not Unmarked’: From Themed Space to a Feminist Ethics of Engagement in Atwood’s ‘Oryx and Crake’.” Femspec, vol. 10, no. 2, Mar. 2010, pp. 35–58.

Hft. Ingersoll, Earl G. “Survival in Margaret Atwood’s Novel Oryx and Crake.” Extrapolation, no. 2, 2004, p. 162. Edsglr.

Mandel, Emily St. John. Station Eleven. Penguin Random House LLC, 2014.

Mullis, Eric C. “Ought I Make Political Dance?” Dance Research Journal, vol. 47, no.

3, Dec. 2015, pp. 71–83. Ibh. Smith, Philip. “Shakespeare, Survival, and the Seeds of Civilization in Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven.” Extrapolation.; Liverpool, vol. 57, no. 3, 2016, p. 289–VI. ProQuest, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/extr.2016.16. survival-is2017.

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RESISTANCE AS DOMESTICATION: ILYA KAMINSKY TARAN DRUMMOND

My name is Taran Drummond. I’m an aspiring writer of novels and to Los Angeles with dreams of one day contributing to the city’s great literary history. It is my hope to use the lens of a creative writer in especially suited to this process. My paper seeks to observe undertones of domestic solace that provide peaceful refrain throughout the piece, explaining how they serve the deeper thematic purpose of emphasizing family values and domesticity during times of war and hardship. I wrote the piece for Sarah Maclay’s Introduction to Poetry course, constantly inspired by the texts assigned, her lessons, and especially the way she read each work with impeccable delivery and tone, opening new understanding to texts based on how she presented them. I strongly recommend Deaf Republic to all interested in poetry, and especially to those who aren’t sure if they are.

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Resistance narratives are characterized thematically by the ways

his books of poetry lynchpins in modern literature to both war and immigration.

oppressed people preserve hope to emphasis of domestic sanctity – its in spite of the force that weighs them

preservation – in Deaf Republic,

down, acting against the wishes of their oppressors by way of agency, maintaining

a personal perspective prove insightful

personal rituals and everyday life with

in informing the work. Penning the

Deaf

introduction to a Ukrainian War Poetry

Republic

anthology entitled Words of War:

how this hope is born, nurtured, and

New Poems from Ukraine hand accounts of war seeping into the

Sonya, who represents in her maternal

nation’s domestic livelihood reveal the

femininity the mother of resistance – she who gives sound by her physicality, her actions, and symbol as future beyond

He recounts, in this introduction, two

the soldiers’ occupation. Through her knocking on his family’s door at 4:00am articulates the narrative of hope: its

from Pridnestovie, seeking refuge or

attempted destruction, and its legacy after

war stepped its shoeless foot into my

the physical.

childhood two decades ago, under the

In the modern landscape of literature, Ukrainian War Poetry turns observation that the war continues and pedestaled – held as essential, even

but becomes an intrusion in the domestic

– in circles of the genre’s contributors,

livelihood of everyday civilians, and

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therefore home becomes a front for the

resisting the temptation of speech and

war itself. The second story happens as the poet’s most powerful space: the time of its happening, returning to

“This refusal manifests itself in silence

Ukraine as an American citizen. Going

illuminated by the meaning of poetic lexis – the meanings not of what the word says, but what it withholds” (Loc 304). By

had been destroyed – bombed by “fake humanitarian aid campaigns” facilitated

believes a poet says more with a lot less, and, in the case of wartime in the Ukraine, no medium is better for creating

like this. They’re often shared in short, hurried sentences, and then the subject

profound commentary.

The pervading theme of creating home through language punctuates the

sentiment of this statement reveals a commonality of terse hopelessness in the

ties the notions of hope, domestic

discussion of Ukraine’s domestic defense against Russia, and the nature of these

language that it is potentially the only

discussions lend themselves perfectly

human home” (Loc 304). Following this

to the voice of Ilya’s poetry, which is

sentiment, Claire Armistead’s interview

similarly shorthand and intermittent – snippets of short, hurried sentences.

explicit thematic insight into Deaf

It can be inferred that, through this

Republic in tandem with claims of

similarity, Ilya believes poetry the best

language and home: Deaf Republic is

way to discuss matters of wartime in

about “what happens to language in a

an honest, human, evaluative fashion

time of crisis, how we carry on and how

– tersely so the heaviness can be bared

we try to remain human” (Armistead,

it, “the onslaught of language”. It is

in the language of poetry that domesticity

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is created and preserved, spoken about and documented, for language is “the only dwelling place that cannot be hostile to

world. Hope’s thematic consistency in literature is expected for academic

interview that this is why the poetry of

scholarship, but social sciences and psychological approaches have observed

loses himself again in the question of

its prevalence in more prescriptive terms,

way out of the impasse. ‘I’m trying to

of hope in Deaf Republic; indeed, it lives

show the private lives, and not just the

still in Alfonso and the townspeople after

constant public violence. It’s not always

Sonya has been taken from them – after

doom, doom, doom, there are moments

the vessel of hope has been stripped and

of kindness and tenderness always”

degraded – and this proves that it is not hope that lives through Sonya, but hope

tenderness are just as worthy of poetic

represented in behavior exhibited by

rendering as moments of violence – for

her and absorbed by the townspeople – agency, silence. Published in History and Anthropology vol. 27

is in the curative safe space of language

Stef Jansen explain this phenomenon in their article “Introduction: Hope over

accurate summation of life for those who write it – a barometer – that “cannot change the weather. But it shows us

Making”. They state: Hope is detected in the very fact that people do not succumb to

creation of linguistic home is detailed in

oppression and that their lives

Deaf Republic, and scenes of domestic

and dreams are not as determined

tranquility display the way hope is

by “structural” factors as certain

nourished from the walls of home.

other conceptual frameworks

Although the concept of hope

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might lead us to think. This

often entails a focus on “agency”,

commands” – but Alfonso states that “Love is not enough –// the heart needs

And “agency” is then implicitly 3). Here we see the action of resistance behaviour or thought, that is, as

allegorized in the everyday – the normal

resistance (378).

– when Alfonso makes his daughter a newspaper hat, and he “pretends to

through behavior – how Sonya’s very

Sonya that I am the greatest poet/and

personality seizes even more of an and his actions as resistance escalate to

situation; Alfonso is pretending to his

compensate for her energy now absent.

child, while also pretending to perform

Not only does Alfonso want to make her

for Sonya – an act in her honor – with her

proud, but he understood what Sonya’s agency meant, what silence meant from

herself to be alive. It can be inferred that

the piano player, the music for the

Alfonso’s attempt to restore normality

voiceless and the unhearing which gave

is an act of hope against the soldiers in

them agency, and Alfonso realizes in

honor of his late wife, characterizing the

the poem “To Live” the true magnitude of upholding the responsibility of her

“the great book commands” (1) – or of

legacy. He does not realize it when

the highest authority. The apparition of

rallying the demoralized townsfolk or

Alfonso’s wife created by his memories

making physical oppositions against

bring back more memories – “her

the soldiers, but does so while living

stories and her eloquent legs,/her legs and stories that open other stories”

playing with his infant and living without

(7,8) – and, as the poem progresses,

attention to the soldier’s occupation. “To

Alfonso dwells in nostalgia from happier times, in memories of he and Sonya. He

half of hope – “to love, the great book

remembers a time where Sonya said “Stop

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talking while we are kissing!” where he

Sleeps, Sonya Undresses” on page 29,

saw himself in “a yellow raincoat” (9,10).

which is set as an intimate bath scene between Alfonso and his wife. Tonally,

and reality, glued by hopeful binding in Sonya’s imagined frame, linked together

atmospheric tones of the prior book,

structurally in the poem by the ambiguous

intentionally being wholesome and warm

sandwich line, which is not tied to the

with impressions that events of the scene

memory of Sonya and the raincoat or the

are happening separate from the dark

newspaper hat situation, but can connect seamlessly to either, can be an image

me until I spit/soapy water” the poem

from either moment, literally sandwiched

begins, and Sonya says “A man should smell better than his country” (1,2, and

sandwhich, a piece of tomato between

4). Indeed, while the world around them

my teeth,/I hoist our infant Anushka to

in entangled in war and resistance, Sonya

the sky—//(Old fool, my wife might have

and Alfonso must continue to support

laughed)/I am singing as she pisses// on

their family and relationship – an act that both separates them from the storm

The imagery of being bathed in urine

outside and cleans them from it. Hope is kept through these rituals and others

time of normality and simplicity – and

like them. The next lines of the poem are

the immersion of memory into reality creates hope for Alfonso. In this scene, hope comes from the circumstances of

through his expert use of repetition. He

restoring normality – both by action and

writes, “such is the silence/of a woman

in feeling.

who speaks against silence, knowing//

In many cases of the book, resistance functions as domestic solitude

this triplet of lines, silence takes three

in times of occupation. This value is highlighted in the poem “While the Child

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personal peace, the peace she feels in the

bath; second, complacency, relative to the

Undresses” is a testament to hopeful

townsfolk and their oppression; the third,

routine in bleak backdrop.

what is buried and cannot be spoken of, such as the death of Petya in the square.

31 shows a deep contrast in the domestic and occupational qualities of wartime

and active on the resistance front, but

poetry, exhibiting the philosophy that

here, in the bath with her husband, is her true silence – a sort of peace without action in normality. The poem continues

life at home and in one’s country, is more

to make a distinction between life at home and life in the resistance when,

constant; while the plight of resistance

straight from Sonya’s mouth, “I am of

rages in the streets, behind closed doors

deaf people/and I have/no country but

does life have a sense of normality, and

a bathtub and an infant and a marriage

worlds of language can help maintain

bed!

these homes even after they have been

the messages of hope as it relates to the book, surmising that the continuation

arrest of Sonya and the night before, the

of domestic life is of the highest value in uncertain times, even so much that these

ladder how life continues during it. The

domestic values become the reason one opens when Ilya characterizes how war poem concludes on lines that resonate

has torn the streets outside of domestic

with the notion of sacred, hopeful familiarity: “You can fuck/anyone – but

the lips of a politician on a poster” (31).

18). Hope is something greater than mere

language is true home, the streets are

opportunity, but the prospect of keeping

speechless; instead, the politician who

what is known and maintaining what is

represents the people’s interest is spoken

expected. “While the Child Sleeps, Sonya

for by the physicality of the tattered

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streets, for that is all the evidence for

streets instead of in, “in search of bread”

struggle and dislocation needed for a

(32). The passage is already characterized

just articulation. Despite this, “Inside,

with dark undertones in the act of

the child Sonya named Anushka suckles.

scavenging – a necessary but unwanted

Not sleeping, Alfonso touches his wifes

separation from the tranquility of his

nipple, pulls to his lips a pearl of milk”

wife to the uncertainness of the streets.

(31). There is something to note about the

A further testament is how “the wind brittles his body” (31). Sure enough, the

Sonya and resistance and maternity

ominous tones turn foreshadowing as

as one in context of the book; Sonya

“Sonya is stolen into a jeep as Anushka

named Anushka, a physical testament

cries, left behind as the convoy rattles

to future hope, the child she created. It

away” (31). While ‘stolen’ emphasizes

is also of note that the sentence begins

an unjust nature in Sonya’s arrest, ‘left

with inside, further making a distinction

behind’ implies a dark sentiment that

between the lives of the occupied in the

relates to Alfonso as much as Anushka:

streets and at home. Alfonso tastes the pearl of milk. It is valuable, but not only

with her, for, without her, they are lost

that, it represents the sustenance that

of the hope she provides and the home

maintains the future – the hope Sonya

she creates. The surrounding townsfolk,

provides. In this sequence, the familial

the neighbors, “peek from behind

bond is characterized as a precious,

curtains” (31); behind their walls of

invaluable interlude from the war outside.

domestic solitude, problems of the war are unconcerning to them, even as one of

poetry before, it is never long before the

their leaders is taken. There is no home in the silence outside, that which “like a dog

of the domestic.

The Evening section of the poem starts the opposite way than the prior section, with Alfonso on the outside

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When one has abandoned language, they have abandoned hope.

seldom about the battle itself. He quotes

punctual silence of the unsaid, their pain.

that war takes on a nation’s populous, poetry, it must, for poetry, according to but it shows the changes within us” (Loc so sacred to Alfonso because they are so this reason, held scarce and invaluable in the eyes of the character, for they do not know how occupation may change the possibility of those moments reoccurring.

The home provides hope for the occupied, a life away from dangers on the streets, and, for hope to continue, existence must proceed in some normality. War is an but still he seeks it as the apex for poetic backyard, what right do I have to write about this war?—and yet I cannot stop is a silence I cannot control” (Loc 355).

When Ilya reads poetry of his country, he feels it’s true intention – he feels it in the

41

Armistead, Claire. “‘I Will Never Hear My Father’s Voice’: Kaminsky on deafness and escaping the Soviet Union”. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media,19 July 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/19/ilya-kaminsky-interview.

Kaminsky, Ilya. “Introduction”. Words of War: New Poems from Ukraine. Ed. Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky. Kindle ed. Academic Studies Press, 2019. Loc 284-355. Digital.

Kliest, Nauja and Stef Jansen. “Introduction: Hope over Time – Crisis, Immobility and Future Making”. History and Anthropology, vol. 27. Routledge, 2017.

Kaminsky, Ilya. “While the Child Sleeps, Sonya Undresses”. Deaf Republic, Graywolf, 2019. pp. 29 Kaminsky, Ilya. “To Live”. Deaf Republic, Graywolf, 2019. pp. 42

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MONSTER OR VICTIM? COMER WADZECK

Comer Wadzeck is a Sophomore English and History double major at Loyola Marymount University. This essay was written for Professor Judy Park’s British Literature class, which analyzed major works in the British literary canon in its social historical contexts.

43

“If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!”

-

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

It is commonly said that “history

attacking the Danes comes instead from

is written by the victors.” Historians

his feelings of isolation and bitterness

and researchers view historical accounts

as an outcast, forcing him to strike

of feuds with the understanding that

against a culture that sees violence as a primary means of redress for wrongdoing.

in the Epic Beowulf is that although

Although Grendel made the choice to kill by his own volition, he was strongly

voice in the narrative. Beowulf was likely

values; the deaths that Grendel causes

written between the eighth and tenth

are comparable to “heroic” acts elsewhere

centuries by a Christian living through

in Beowulf’s early Scandinavian culture.

Grendel is responsible for his actions,

Most likely an admirer of his ancestors

but in the context of his era and his

of antiquity, the setting is a romanticized ancient Scandinavia. As a result of this

a monster or scourge.

perspective, the reader experiences this remote Danish world only through the

there are multiple explanations given for Grendel’s hatred of the Danes. “It

part of the book mainly focuses on the

harrowed him to hear the loud din of the banquet… telling with mastery of Man’s Beowulf author

and the warrior from across the seas for whom the poem is named. Grendel

celebration and praise of “the Almighty”

is depicted in the epic as a force of evil

which raised his ire. Indeed, he hints that

incarnate. His motivations, however, for

Grendel was jealous that God created

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even the sun and moon as “lanterns for men” (95). Grendel’s feelings become

frenzy.

It is important to note as well

even clearer when it is revealed that he is

that Grendel was a part of a social group

descended from “Cain’s clan, whom the

completely excommunicated from Danish

Creator had outlawed and condemned

life, and found himself at odds with

as outcasts” (107). Thus, the cultural

an exceptionally warlike people with

division between Grendel and Danish

tight bonds based on primarily blood

society was decided long before his

ties. The Geat hero Beowulf is often

birth, providing no hope for a mending

described through an appositive as “son

between the clans. Grendel lived “in misery among the banished monsters”

way that personal identity was linked

(105), isolated and forced to struggle for

closely to relationships and the history

survival on “the desolate fens” (104).

of one’s family, while Grendel and his

It may come as no surprise, then, that

kin are “fatherless creatures” (1355).

laws” (85). However, the author presents an inconsistency when he describes

the nameless ghosts that haunt the

Grendel’s bloodlust. Grendel is depicted

fens is another way in which Grendel

as “malignant by nature” (137), not only

represents a mirror image of the epic’s

the descendant of a cursed line but “a

hero. Later, Beowulf tells of a childhood spent with Breca competing, boasting

The author explains that Grendel was an outcast who took a personal grievance

in Hrothgar’s hall is secured by the old

against those who were favored by God

bonds of friendship between Ecgtheow

but attributes the ferocity of his attacks to an innate evil. This paradox presents a

aspect of this culture’s social fabric. Close

major ambiguity in Grendel’s character,

bonds were necessary so that “when

but provides clear motive for the animosity that prompted the monster’s

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critical to the structure of a working

Grendel’s attack was not the random act

society. So Cain’s sin, the murder of his

of a hungry beast. Heorot was “a great

brother and betrayal against God, is an archetypal example of an unfathomable crime for the people of Beowulf. When

a symbol of community and kinship but

Beowulf berates Unferth before his

a monument to their glory as a people.

battle with Grendel, he tells him, “you killed your own kith and kin, so for all

and a focal point of his hate. Grendel

your cleverness and quick tongue, you

sought to right a perceived inequality by attacking the hall alone, denied by ancient divine intervention the support

life for Danes, but to kill a brother was

of a clan. The author describes the

despicable. It is for this reason that Grendel’s very existence is “anathema”

the kenning to link Heorot to Grendel’s

(110) to the Danes. Compare such a

identity. Such an appellation also

community with Grendel’s milieu: and literally, that separates Grendel and elves and evil phantoms and the

from the full, communal lives of the Danes. Furthermore, Grendel attacked with the intention to demoralize. He

his banishment, “misbegotten spirits” consequences of their forbearers. Grendel is denied the comforts of civilized life

understatement highlights Grendel’s rage

even as he watched the degeneration of

against celebrations and the trappings of

his people. Grendel’s personal isolation

community activity. The next morning

comes as a byproduct of his place in the

the “wassail was over” and “Grendel ruled

With that in mind, it is certain that

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the hall, and the community was hopeless

and crumpled. By this targeted attack on Danish culture Grendel rebels against an

Beowulf about his father, “With his own

ordained order in which he comprises the

hands he had killed Heatholaf, who was

lowest, most untouchable class. Thus, it is clear that Grendel was not acting on

banished. Hrothgar “healed the feud by

a primeval bloodlust but engaging in a premeditated act of retribution.

Grendel’s actions were also Grendel measure in gold the damnation organization of Hrothgar’s rule was

of his kin? The Beowulf author explains that Grendel “would never parlay or make

“friends and kinsmen…that grew to be even if he had such an inclination his brutality are not only accepted in Danish

place in the social order lends no access

society, but often celebrated. “There was

to material wealth. Beowulf hunts trolls

Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,

with impunity because Grendel’s doomed kin have no value in the social hierarchy.

Quite literally, the Danes see their warped, distant cousins as valueless.

troops” who was born orphaned and

Beowulf’s culture, and by

alone. In some ways Grendel and Shield

extension Grendel’s, strongly encouraged

are similar; but one was elevated to

the suppression of outer signs of weakness and a reliance on vengeance

Grendel sees around him a fallen clan,

before acceptance. The Beowulf author claims that Grendel “never showed remorse” (137). In a Christian society

he places blame one clan of the Danes.

where mercy and compassion are prized

In order to seek redress for grievances in live within society, but Danish culture was

47

This double standard reaches its Hrothgar is “stricken and helpless” (130)

pinnacle when Beowulf must once again

at the extent of the damage, and for

do battle, this time against Grendel’s mother. Grendel lost his arm in the battle and returned to his lair to await his

recognition of grief is associated with

death. At the hall “His fatal departure was

personal weakness, there is no room

regretted by no one” (841). This use of

for feelings such as remorse. Beowulf

litotes underscores the hatred that existed

reinforces action over grief by saying, “Do

between the Danes and Grendel, but also

not grieve. It is always better to avenge

curiously ignores the grief of Grendel’s

dear ones than to indulge in mourning”

mother. Her emotions and perspectives

(1385). Beowulf minimizes the role of

are ignored because the Beowulf author sees members of that cursed race as

to act and obtain vengeance. Beowulf himself boasts about his ambivalence

(1257) came in retribution for her son’s

“avenged the Geats,” saying, “their enemies brought it upon themselves, I

again, Beowulf faces an opponent seeking to protect her kin. Grendel’s mother is

epitome of heroism, cares nothing for the

motivated by the same grief that Hrothgar

enemies of his clan because such killing was natural. Their society sees killing and death in war as a matter of course,

of these situations, Grendel’s unnamed mother is relegated to nothing more

was the highest honor. When Grendel

than a “force for evil” (1339) seeking to disrupt the peace of Hrothgar’s kingdom.

Shieldings, he was acting in the warrior

This example proves that Grendel and

tradition of the very culture he was

his kin are not denigrated because

excluded from and demonized by.

their actions are outrageous. Beowulf’s

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people hate Cain’s line simply because

should be beyond moral responsibility.

Grendel was caught in a web of religion,

involved in a Biblical feud and they are

politics, and social norms. He had the

in opposition to the world of men. By

strength to grapple with the mightiest

archaic Scandinavian standards, Grendel

hero and the ferocity to attack an

and his mother are not outliers.

inequality that he found terrible. Legend

In conclusion, the Beowulf author writes about Grendel with inconsistency.

has made Grendel a byword for evil, the quintessential stalker in the night.

But he may have been only the victim

fate as a survivor in a blighted land and

of restrictive society, martyred when he

highlights his jealousy of the Danes. author as a demon, a source of natural evil doing the Devil’s work. Upon closer analysis, Grendel’s actions are even comparable to acts of heroes like Beowulf and Shield Sheafson. The culture that the Epic presents is structured around blood ties. Grendel, as the descendant of a cursed clan, was exiled and forced to live in the wild. He saw the Danes as an outlet for his rage and a means of changing his place in the social order by way of violence and seized his vengeance.

Although Grendel certainly has blood on his hands, that violence was no crueler than the wars which wage constantly between the human clans and Grendel

49

Armistead, Claire. “‘I Will Never Hear My Father’s Voice’: Kaminsky on deafness and escaping the Soviet Union”. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media,19 July 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/19/ilya-kaminsky-interview.

Kaminsky, Ilya. “Introduction”. Words of War: New Poems from Ukraine. Ed. Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky. Kindle ed. Academic Studies Press, 2019. Loc 284-355. Digital.

Kliest, Nauja and Stef Jansen. “Introduction: Hope over Time – Crisis, Immobility and Future Making”. History and Anthropology, vol. 27. Routledge, 2017.

Kaminsky, Ilya. “While the Child Sleeps, Sonya Undresses”. Deaf Republic, Graywolf, 2019. pp. 29 Kaminsky, Ilya. “To Live”. Deaf Republic, Graywolf, 2019. pp. 42

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POETRY AFTER AUSCHWITZ: CELAN AND ADORNO BRIAN KOSEWIC

Marymount University. He enjoys comic books, bus rides, and very angry music. He lives in Los Angeles.

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“Whether or why one should live in a world in which one is beaten until one’s bones are smashed…I would think that any thought which is not measured by this standard, which does not assimilate it theoretically, simply pushes aside at the outset that which thought should address - so that it really cannot be called a thought at all.” - T.W. Adorno, Lecture Fourteen “Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night” - Paul Celan, “Todesfugue”

The philosopher T.W. Adorno

Holocaust. To construct or support any

argued that “there can be no one, whose

sort of metaphysics now would mean

organ of experience has not entirely

a metaphysics that incorporated the

atrophied, for whom the world after

Holocaust and Auschwitz, and to do so

Auschwitz, that is, the world in which

would be to spit on the graves of the victims. Adorno was highly critical of

world as it was before” (Metaphysics

the culture industry and intellectual conservatism that continued to advance

to think in world that had seen the

art and ideas that failed to reckon with

Holocaust, and his struggle against the

the fact of the Holocaust, and that

same systems of belief and meaning that had made such widespread industrial

total culture. Perhaps the most notorious

murder and yet continued to be

expression of his anger and frustration

celebrated as right and good. For Adorno, to try to orient or order the world in any

attacked statement that “To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric” (Adorno,

was an overarching positive structure

Prisms 34). Misread and misunderstood,

to life and the human experience, to say

this was not a ban but a challenge, as well

that all things happened for a reason,

as a condemnation of all who failed to

was wrong in the light of the fact of the

meet that challenge. For poetry continued

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to be written, for barbarous reasons

poetry, free of the need to engage with

but also, as was the case for Paul Celan,

the Holocaust. Rather, I feel that Celan’s

because “There is nothing in the world for

writing, borne of his drive for truth, is

which a poet will give up writing, not even

representative of the sort of real thought

when he is a Jew and the language of his poems touch on many aspects of life, and This essay engages the poetry of

they need not be set in a camp, but they are all in world where there is a shadow of

Sprachgitter as well as his acclaimed

death. The result is that when Celan does

and widely popular poem “Todesfugue”

look directly at the Holocaust, it rings not as a ‘Holocaust poem’ but a more painful

of culture and metaphysics in the wake of Auschwitz. It is simultaneously a close

engagement with the truth of the world.

The Holocaust touched all facets

reading of several of Celan’s works and

of Paul Celan’s life. Celan was born Paul

a disentangling of Adorno’s polemics

Antschel. Raised in a Jewish family in

of the full complexity of the verboten

of Romania, he was given not only a

on poetry in the after. I argue that the

Hebrew education according to the desire of his Zionist father, but also was

straightforward verse to increasingly

introduced to German by his mother,

radical breakdowns and bricolaging of

who was a committed reader of German literature. Celan secretly began to write

that answers Adorno’s call for what

poetry while in school. In Cernowitz

poetry might look like after Auschwitz, if

he studied literature and the Romance

we are not to be barbarians. Some have

languages. When the fascist Romanian

pointed to Celan’s writing as a refutation

regime, collaborating with the Nazis, began to establish ghettos, internment,

Celan’s work negates Adorno’s stricture

and forced labour, Celan’s parents were sent to an internment camp. They both

53

died there. Celan himself was later taken

of daybreak we drink it at nightfall”, and those sections contain many of the same

and was imprisoned until 1944, when the

falls in Germany”, “a man in the house”,

Soviet army liberated the camp. Celan

“your golden hair Margarete”, “he gives

relocated to Paris in 1948, and became

us a grave.” In each section the elements

active in the literary community there.

are reordered, split and recombined,

Der Sand aus den

or slightly altered in some way, so that

Urnen (“Sand from the Urns”), was published that year, and by 1952 his

same tune recur throughout the poem,

writing had begun to garner attention,

and new sides to the reader’s discomfort

particularly the poem “Todesfugue.”

and fear are refracted each time. This

He continued to write and publish.

is the music of the dance, the fugue, the

Following an earlier failed attempt, Celan

death tango of the poem’s title.

committed suicide in 1970 by diving into

“Todesfugue” engages with the

the Seine.

Holocaust directly, to the extent that it is

work, “Todesfugue” deals explicitly

known throughout the country as a crucial

with the Holocaust, its victims, and

text of remembrance and guilt. Yet in a

its perpertrators. The poem uses both

way it also seems to verge on the territory

rhythm and repetition to achieve a

of the “barbaric” warned about by

haunting quality as it weaves together known and widely lauded when much of Celan’s other work is deemed inaccessible “Black milk of daybreak we drink you at

or esoteric. In the essay, “Cultural

nightfall” to the coldly pointed “death

Criticism and Society”, Adorno warns

comes as a master from Germany”. Each

that “The more total society becomes, the

of the poem’s four section begin with a variation on the opening line: “Black milk

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extreme consciousness of doom threatens

make it more easily available to mass

to degenerate into idle chatter” (Prisms 34). For Adorno, mass culture produces

“Holocaust poem” that one can read and shake one’s head at the horrible things

meaning until all thoughts and ideas,

described, because the horror stays

even the revolutionary or the apocalyptic,

packaged up in the poem’s form. It stays

are stripped of the capacity to disturb or

a poem on the page, it does not bring the

overthrow the existing social order and

camps into the world of the reader, into

power structure, and are instead neatly

their day job and family life and leisure

compartmentalized into hegemonic

time. None of this is to deny the power or

systems of meaning. So that, in other words, the language of apocalypse

but rather to identify the strengths and

is no longer truly destructive, but

limitations of its form, and what it tells

simply a certain niche idea within an

us about the possibility of writing poetry

established and inevitable system of

after Auschwitz.

meaning. Likewise, the mass appeal of

If we consider the role the

“Todesfugue” lies in its aesthetic of dance

Holocaust played in driving and

and attractive rhythmic qualities, which

challenging Celan’s work, then we must

imbue the imagery with a disturbing,

also consider the way that the Holocaust

sinister gloss, but which draw upon conventions and ideas that precede the Holocaust, and thus fail to truly grapple

theorist and musicologist – was one of

with its reality and horror, and the way in which it has made a world that is

School of Critical Theory – which brought

not the same as before. “Todesfugue’s”

together the strains of thought introduced

energy and symbolism rely on the music

by Hegel, Marx, and Freud and applied

and culture of the world that produced

them to modern social criticism. Faced with the chilling disillusionment of

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political developments in the early

the English translator, describes this as “an often fragmentary and rebarbative

contradictions in capitalism were not

world, where poetry and even beauty are

igniting into revolutions of true socialism

possible only when they do not refuse the

but were rather being reordered and

melancholy recognition of all the dead,

resolved under ascendant fascist regimes

of all that has been lost to the world” (Sprachgitter

Marx had gone wrong, why industrial

the new formations of language Celan

development was not leading to a

is trying to weld into being. Wrestling

‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ but simply

with the legacy of the Holocaust and the

to dictatorship, and a constant increase in the state’s control over individual’s lives.

When the Nazi regime forced Adorno

in German, the language of the culture that produced this particular horror.

then to New York, then to Los Angeles.

In Sprachgitter, Celan is looking for

In California, Adorno worked with Max

that range of expression and meaning

Horkheimer – another mind from the

that can be found in the limitations and

Frankfurt school – on crafting one of

contradictions of writing in modern

Dialectic of Enlightenment. Enlightenment,

the German is guilty here) of culture

eventually published in 1947, argued

complicit in murder. In Sprachgitter he

that the Holocaust was the end result of

is concerned with the incoherent and

the fetishization of logic and reason that

the unsaid, with absence and silence. As

began with the Enlightenment.

Corbet Stewart argues:

The collection Sprachgitter

it is the realm extending from

marks a point in Celan’s career in which his poetry was becoming increasingly

word to the territory of silence

experimental and fractured. David Young,

that Celan’s poems have it as

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explore. The word is the product

humanity’s pursuit of Enlightenment and

of the living, silence that of the

reason has led to the concentration camps and in that act humanity has exceeded any ultimate Good.

Adorno argues a similar point in

presses heavily upon the poet’s

his “Lecture Fourteen,” given later, after

consciousness, acting, indeed, as a

the war, when he had returned to Europe

kind of challenge. It seems, in fact,

and was teaching again in Frankfurt.

Identifying metaphysics as being

and hence language, at the very point where its limitations become

happen for a (ultimately good) reason, he

most perceptible, may, precisely in

states that

those limitations, be expressive of

In face of the experiences we have had, not only through Auschwitz

The title speaks to these interests of

but through the introduction of

Celan’s: the Gitter

torture as a permanent institution

an obstacle and an impediment, it blocks

and through the atomic bomb – all these things form a kind of

are new things to be seen—as Stewart

coherence, a hellish unity – in face

notes: “ one can look out from between

of these experiences the assertion

the bars” (130).

that what is has meaning, and the

For example, the poem “Tenebrae”, in Sprach-Gitter. Structured

been attributed to metaphysic

as a prayer, but one that instructs God to

almost without exception, become

“pray to us” (Line 8), “Tenebrae”’s shape

a mockery; and in the face of the

draws attention to an absence of God the

victims it becomes downright

same way that Auschwitz does. If there

immoral (Adorno 104).

is a God he cannot be the Great one of

To say that anything has meaning after

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Auschwitz, is, for Adorno, barbaric. To exist, to be, after Auschwitz, is barbaric.

And in “Tenebrae” Celan gives “It was blood, it was / what you shed, Lord. / It shone. / It cast your likeness into our eyes, Lord. / Eyes open, mouth open, open and empty, Lord. / We have drunk, Lord. / The blood and the likeness that was in the blood, Lord.” (Lines paints humanity as barbaric, captures the violence of a godless world where in the pursuit of technology we have become capable of monstrous acts on a godlike scale and chosen to carry them out. “Tenebrae” is the only sort of prayer Adorno would tell us could be written after Auschwitz.

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Adorno, Theodor W. Metaphysics : Concept and Problems. Cambridge, Polity Press, 2001.

Adorno, Theodor W. Prisms. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press, 2007.

Celan, Paul, and Michael Hamburger. Paul Celan : Poems, a Bilingual Edition. New York, Persea Books, 1980.

Celan, Paul, and David Young. Language behind Bars : Paul Celan’s Sprachgitter.

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Marick Press, Berkeley, California, 2012.

Felstiner, John. Paul Celan : Poet, Survivor, Jew. New Haven ; London, Yale University Press, 2001.

Michel, Andreas, and Peter Uwe Hohendahl. “Prismatic Thought: Theodor W. Adorno.” The German Quarterly, vol. 70, no. 2, 1997, p. 184, 10.2307/407554. Accessed 28 Apr. 2019.

Shaw, Beau. “The Image That Was in the Blood.” Philosophy Today, vol. 61, no. 1, 2017, pp. 233–248, 10.5840/philtoday2017322155. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

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STRADDLING THE LINE: DISPLACEMENT AND THE OTHER FOUND THE “IN-BETWEEN” EVA ENRIQUEZ

Éva Enriquez is a senior Animation major and an English and Classics & Archeology Minor at Loyola Marymount University, and is pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at LMU following her graduation. Her many academic studies have inspired her to pursue a career in diverse and traditions, such as those based in cultural mythology and folklore.

Inspired by the magic of the mediums of animation and writing alike, Éva is currently following a career telling these stories both as a story artist in animation, and through creative writing in areas such as

centered around the analysis and discourse of her many works.

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describe the lens through which her many works, she has crafted a certain

characters view the divides of the world.

kind of character that shapes not only an outer theme constructed of social and historical oppositions, but also an inner divide between personal identities.

What is most distinctive about repetitive: it moves metrically like

between”, and the displacement of those

clockwork, establishing a rhythm to her realities. Parallels of life and death are

writes about people living life between two absolutes, resulting in several of her characters across the span of her works

absolutes. In an instance of this, she establishes her home of Antigua as death,

of identity and belonging. In a style

where she experiences death most vividly, and the demise of a future she never had,

and centered on the alternation of two

converse to the rest of the living world.

realities, the act of singling out characters

Similarly, the past is also connected

that defy both variables and exist without

to death, and the future serves as the only living thing that continues to go on

manifests itself most tangibly through

outside of the island for her. The scales

the character of Devon from My Brother (1988) shifting between life and death, the mixed race experience of the father The Autobiography of My

are held in a rhythmic balance that Devon My Brother by regressing, then progressing, and regressing again; he

Mother

is ultimately characterized by dying

Annie John (1985) caught in the throes of

in life and living in death. As an early establishment of his role in the crosshairs

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see him in the place in which he was then living. He lived in death. Perhaps

of nature.

More than once, Devon is

everyone is living in death, I actually do believe that, but usually it can’t be seen;

only creating an outer ostracization from friends and family, but he is also prescribed lack of identity by comparing

from AIDS as an entity as of death or life

him to nature’s dispossession. The

and the “other” becomes a recurring

tree is a mystery to the outside, and

theme in the novel, such as in the book’s

thus, so becomes Devon in his state of

continuing comparison of inverse debilitation. Continuing with botanical was... only a tree, and it was either just emerging from a complete

brother’s plants had borne fruit and were dying and were sending up new shoots

My brother and I became obsessed with

... all the other things that he might have

this tree, its bark, its leaves, its shape; we

been in his life have died; but inside

wondered where it was really from, what sort of tree it was. If it crossed his mind that this tree, coming out of a dormancy,

nothing seems able to satisfy and stop”

a natural sleep, a temporary death, or

(17). In this instance, she directly calls to the inverse nature of his character as

to him right then and there, he did not

breaking the cyclical pattern of nature and rebirth. She represents him as not fully alive, relating the past to death once more with the loss of future, existing in Devon and so existing in life.

Furthermore, Devon’s existence

of the tree that suits no clear identity between life and death, the two absolutes

highlights the realities of the novel

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can also be read in the form of biblical

and the living aspect of life as death and

and Eve picking fruit in the Garden of

akin to both Antigua and the Garden of

Eden, depicting the following: “... the botanical gardens, and we came upon

life that thrived within it, Adam. Tracing

some tamarind trees with ripe tamarinds on them; the tamarinds were hanging

as “life in death” and vice versa, she

very high up on the trees and so my brother picked up stones and threw them at the fruits, hoping to knock some

The rhetoric present in My Brother

down, the way we would have done if we

further highlights this biblical reading in

had been schoolchildren. He succeeded,

subtle ways of describing his relation to

we ate the tamarinds; they were not

the creationary myth. In the start of the

good, they were not bad, they were just

novel, Devon is attacked as a child by the dangerous creatures in the garden, his

a scene close to the imagery of a man

character is wrought with temptation of

and woman in the Garden, this excerpt

bodily pleasures even as he is recovering, and there are several instances in which

use of absolutes with the description of the tamarinds as neither good nor bad, but somewhere in between. The subtle

evil. She writes, “His face was sharp like

opposites continues to build her brother

a carving, like an image embossed on beyond regrets or pleadings for a second

by his absence of a single identity, and

chance. It was the face of someone who

whether it be from biblical analogy or

had lived in extremes, sometimes a

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rejection from life and death alike. takes the utmost pride in his bright red hair from his Caucasian father and the desire of passing it down to his he becomes warped and is, despite his depiction of maternal characters in her novels is well documented, father

mold of the colonial world that he was born into, becoming himself an

Richardson in The Autobiography of

oxymoron. We are given a very real look

My Mother

at a mixed experience, and the kind

Never quite nailed down as either a good that develops from being built on two opposing parts, manifesting itself into a harmful rhetoric that is in reality prevalent in a number of immigrant and background. He is described recurrently

mixed communities. Alfred is given an

as half Caucasian and half of African himself, and longing for another. This colonizer and half oppressed.

In Autobiography, he is represented as a literal mixture of his two identities, physically characterized

outward acceptance to either group, but

time and again by the color gray, neither

also a tearing of internal identity and its

white nor black, and forced into a choice of choosing privilege over oppression, and becoming cruel and opportunistic because

and the progression of time outside of it,

of it. In several iterations of the character,

much as how time continues to advance

we as an audience are handed a man with

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between” characters, but also many

ongoing romanticization of England and the colonial powers that be. In

He remains archaic and solidly in a place

Autobiography

of antiquated notions and behaviors as

aggressive colonial role Alfred assumes,

the world develops around him.

writing:

Similarly, the Antiguan

“The personality they were

relationship with time is much the same,

observing was like a suit of clothes

showing how the stripping of a history

my father had made for himself,

or a culture to identify oneself by as a

and eventually he wore it so long that it became impossible to

or lack thereof, into modernity. For

remove, it covered completely who

instance, read most plainly as an

he really was; who he really might

internalized displacement of people from

have been became unknown,

A Small

even to himself. My father was

Place

a thief, he was a jailer, he spoke

colonialism on the island, with its title

falsehoods, he took advantage of

even serving as referential to how Antigua

the weak; that was who was he was at heart; he acted in these ways at all times in his life, but by

antiquity, capitalism and elitism as a

the end of his life, the jailer, the

replacement for colonialism, and the

thief, the liar, the coward—all were

continual romanticization of England and conquering forces despite criticism, as has

This experience of taking on, and eventually falling prey to, a completely

in the wake of oppressive rule. Almost

distorted identity is summed up by the

only adopts colonialistic mindsets and his face grew” (40). This idea of “the of a sense of colonialist elitism and has an

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mask” and the adoption of a colonial

identity is not only recurring in describing

internally torn and mixed race to his

Alfred, but also is prevalent in the

daughter, the central character of the

academic rhetoric of race, even more so

novel, Xuela Claudette Richardson.

in the mixed race experience. Several

Xuela’s manifestation of the destructive

Autobiography cite

colonial presence pulling apart her outer

Frantz Fanon’s study “Black Skin, White

and inner worlds results not in oppressive

Masks” as an inspiration for the novel

behavior like her father, but rather in her refusal to love and to have children. In

assumes. The study speaks to internalized

opposite parallels of dissociation, Alfred is

racism of the self as the basis for the

proud of his colonial heritage procreates

creation of the mask that is featured so

often and as frequently as possible, and as

heavily in the novel and works to create a

mentioned before, is pleased by passing

dissociation of identity.

on his red, caucasian hair as a symbol of

work in similar way, setting the person

by the thought of bringing children into

apart from all that make up the realities ongoing outside of them and their lives,

to abort any children she might have.

Xuela’s form of disassociation manifests itself as taking everything she is given

as zombies, half dead, half alive, walking

by the outside world and rejecting it

in a trance, no longer in their own minds” experience of being between life and

writes, “Whatever I was told to hate I

death. Forced into a mindset that remains

loved and loved the most. I loved the smell of the thin dirt behind my ears, the

character is displaced from all else in

smell of my unwashed mouth, the smell that came from between my legs, the

between” of identities. Alfred Richardson

smell in the pit of my arm, the smell of

goes on to pass this experience of being

my unwashed feet. Whatever was native

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to me, whatever I could not help and

opposing stages in life development.

was not a moral failing I loved with the

The entire novel is written in a series of

fervor of the devoted (33). By depicting

run on and disjointed fragments, with

two extreme reactions to existence in an

no indication of dates, months or times,

Autobiography highlights

giving the entire book a timelessness that feels strung up in a limbo without

construction of hyphenated identities.

ever really being tied down to concrete periods in Annie’s life, making it feel transitionary.

In one of the earliest instances of separation of identity, Annie John highlights the titular character’s

Annie John, the world is composed of

displacement at losing a place of a

sureties. She either hated or loved her

parental union and the subsequent rejection she experiences. Annie enters

school either worshipped or despised Annie, switching often between the two

herself to a relationship in replacement

strong emotions, and Annie herself fell

of her mother’s growing neglect to her

into and out of infatuation and repulsion

encroaching maturity, bookended by her

on a whim. Love and hatred become

incredible feeling of being lost without the stability of a maternal relationship in her

and strongly divided. For Annie John, this

every relationship she has, and as a result,

back and forth is seen in her development

Annie disassociates herself from the

between childhood and maturity, in which

strong absolutes of love and hatred that

every area of her life is dictated by her novel. She jumps from interest to interest main thematic elements of the story are

without real commitment of emotion,

in direct relation to her being torn betwixt

and grows bored with what once brought

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(124), and “I looked at my mother. She provides to her audience the repeating

seemed tired and old and broken. Seeing

theme of Annie’s lamenting over the tear

that, I felt happy and sad at the same

in her reality, often referencing, “the great

time” (138). Finally, Annie grows to

thing I had had once and then lost

lose fascination in being adored by and terrorizing her classmates, wondering

As Annie begins her transitioning stage, we are given a clear look into her regression towards disinterest and

why she was ever so enraptured by the feeling.

As she advances in life and classes, everything once wonderful to

aligns itself with thinly veiled depressive tendencies, Annie’s reaction to rejection

in things such as the mixed sensation of

or being overlooked is to displace herself

pain and pleasure, further cementing her

within her family and her friends alike.

existence as one intrinsically linked with

accompaniment grows old in her eyes where she once treasured a future with her as a replacement for her mother’s

unhappy than I had ever imagined anyone

fondness (71). The novel states, “I felt

could be. My unhappiness was something

so alone; the last person left on earth

deep inside me” (115). In a testament to

couldn’t feel more alone than I. It was

Annie’s lack of placement and subsequent

then that I began avoiding Gwen and her mother’s once youthful and strong

wrought with symbolism of time dilation

presence is dulled to the point of Annie’s

depicted in a period of her mysterious

disinterest and complete avoidance of

illness. While physically she is of a certain age, Annie’s “illness” reduces her to the

did what was fast becoming a habit when

functions of a very young child, and

we were together: I started to daydream”

ultimately results in her appearing more

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grown than she had ever been; while she

as how we as a people connect and

is rendered helpless and needy, coming

identify with characters and viewpoints

back to school she no longer resembles a young girl anymore, but rather a woman.

characters sympathetic is the tearing of

The entire height of this event forces

their beings between opposing forces, a

Annie into a state of who she used to be while inhabiting a much older body, embodying quite physically how caught

themselves with no voice. She depicts

in between phases of her life and

striking divisions of identity that color the

mental state her character truly is. This

overwhelming, and oftentimes oppressive,

manifestation sees itself ending her

social and cultural forces of the worlds

transition, and ultimately feeding an even

within her novels, providing a context to the development of intense cognitive

before this time in her life. The conclusion

dissonance. In what can be interpreted as

of the novel ends not only with the actual

a call to action, these novels support the

acknowledgement from Annie that she has been displaced in her place of living

as a fault of systemic social and cultural

due to her transmutative state, but more importantly, that her undertaking a

themselves inhabiting such a space. By

journey to the next part of her life

putting words to Devon’s disease, Alfred’s

highlights the transitory nature of the

biracial identity, and Annie’s isolationism,

entire novel. It encapsulates a time of intense movement between realities, and

autonomy to, the contradictory existence and view of the world that comes with

both an incredible external and internal enforced displacement. character into a tangible “other”.

The insertion of an internal

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Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press, 1952.

Reserve University.

Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991.

Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Daunt Books, 2018.

Kincaid, Jamaica. My Brother. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2011.

Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press, 1952.

Reserve University.

Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991.

Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Daunt Books, 2018.

Kincaid, Jamaica. My Brother. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2011.

Kincaid, Jamaica. The Autobiography of My Mother. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2013.

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READING THE RASCISM BETWEEN THE LINES CHARLIE MARTIN

While I wrote this piece for my Genres: Poetry course, I truly believe it is a piece that I would have written, or at least analyzed, anyway. The intricacies inside the collection of poems is astounding: the rawness, the strength, the helplessness. As an Intercultural Facilitator, as well as part of the African American studies department, I am familiar with addressing and encouraging talks about race and other marginalized hand accounts from friends) with the encounters Black students, and their communities as a whole, have with both the blatant racism and of his identity, his community’s identities, and the identities of the oppressor. His book is a challenge and an awareness of the systematic

73

form of art, with its words and images relating to the woes and troubles of culture by ways of microaggressions,

a singular person’s identity. Sonnets

stereotypes, and blatant disregard for the

are generalized to focus on love and,

Black person. Terrance Hayes’s American

particularly, the positive and exaggerated

Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin

goodness of love. Black men are largely

navigates these acts of racism through

associated with violence, anger, and

his sonnets by cultivating depictions

a masculinity that lacks the depth to engage in conversations about emotions.

which race plays a part. Through form

Terrance Hayes begins to demolish these

and tone, Hayes’s vivid imagery and powerful diction demands attention to

interwoven book of poems that addresses

colonialism and racism that plays a part

the stereotypes and breaks them all in

in each stereotype that is forced upon

one space. Hayes begins to dismantle

him. Terrance Hayes concocts the Black

these stereotypes through addressing

experience into poetry, with everything from the lack of titles to the information embedded in each sonnet. He shows the

1

fear, hopelessness, anger, and hope that a Black person goes through in order to

a brother or sister says N***a because

live. Through his poetry, he grapples with these stereotypes, shines light on them,

and the way he is “glad someone shot

and attempts to break them through each word choice, image, and decision he

of these phrases showcase the vast range

makes in his poetry collection.

and depth of bottled up, cultivated, and

The act of creating a poetry

intense emotions sonnets and Black men

1 Since the poems do not have names, if I

are capable of feeling, while proving to the as a Black man challenges stereotypes.

audience that this book will enhance the

quoting it I will be citing it as (page number,

Poetry is seen as a passive and feminine

movement to eradicate such stereotypes

line number) for accuracy.

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against this. While his goal is to challenge

way he looks that is who he is, he is him

the stereotypes about Black Americans,

because of his name––this allows him an

choosing the sonnet form to do this

individuality apart from his race. Each

carefully articulates a conversation on how all stereotypes are rooted in the privileged and passive act of ignoring

perfect: interesting enough to keep the

facts you can simply study and learn.

attention and allow the presence of it,

The lack of names in the book is very telling. Each sonnet’s identity lies

but passive enough that it doesn’t pose a threat. This is especially true at the beginning of the book, wherein later in the collection Hayes plays with word

name. Normally, poems are given names

choice and tonal shifts in his poems,

for people to attach to, so that people can address the poem by a name rather than a snapshot judgement. The meaning of this is not lost on me, and it is directly tied to race issues. The lack of naming

look and something much more complex.

the sonnets signify how Black men are

The entirety of these sonnets represent men, encompassing a certain aspect of the Black experience into sonnets.

poem, rather than a name – which is also,

Not only does Hayes create an

perhaps, why the table of contents are in the back of the book, because it is there

and tone in his poetry to showcase

we get the “names” of the poem: in the

life as a Black American, but he does

back when the judgement has already

so by creating articulate images and

been made. A white man is generally

comparisons to convey seemingly clashing feelings of love, hate, fear, and resilience,

understanding about how it is not the

while incorporating them to show how

75

these emotions make a person whole. His

ages,” which only continues to harbor a

sonnet on page 42, “Because he cannot

warped sense of self by battling between

distinguish a blackbird,” confesses his

individualism and group behavior

feelings on discovering identity in the

(280). However, Hayes notes how the

midst of learning what society brands

Black man must also look at himself in

him as. By struggling to “distinguish a

the mirror to know who he is, so that he can

he admits that although these birds are in order to see his own body, not just them apart because they are all black:

the body that the stereotype sees. He

black like his skin, black because he and

expresses the angry and hopeless feeling

other Black men are stereotyped to have

of having to think about where you begin,

the same identity while being radically

where the community expectations ends, and how the stereotypes against you are

Hayes explains how often times “he [or

embedded inside both identities.

“From now on I will do my laundry early Sunday” on page 59

sentence holds a complex duality in it

continues to explore how he discovers

that exuberates the struggle of identity

himself away from the stereotypes, and learns how to love and grow. He grapples

who he is without the mirror, without

with the attempt to love others, because

the stereotypes that are given to him.

“it’s departure that makes company / hard

He must look in a mirror, or at another Black man, in order to understand who he Harris’s study on Black men and how feeling of loneliness is an attempt to show men tend to “show greater dependence on

the range and gentleness of Black men.

peers for support and approval at earlier

There is more than just “money & pussy”

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(9) that Black men are attracted too,

or in the vicinity, not as a result of the

there are small pleasures that they can be

color of his skin. “Black anger” became a stereotype against Black men that dates back to slavery, and how “black Americans lied to white Americans” for

begins to place Black men in more spaces

the needs of survival, according The End

than just the angry, violent criminal that

of Anger by Ellis Cose. This “lie” was how

uses women for sex. He creates a space

non-angry the slaves were towards their

where the Black man is caring, soft, and

masters, as “slaves did not speak to their

functional, where he chooses a day to

masters” so their “rage was generally

do laundry through consideration, and

held deep within.” Because of this, many white Americans believed that they were content in their life. It was when they began to speak up and start rebelling that

These poems encapsulate the

their anger became the key emotion of

range of emotions Black men are capable

their personhood, and thus became the

of having besides anger and violence. It

identifying factor of them. This is crucial,

would be missing the point, however, to

since Black individuals felt empowered

ignore the poems that include anger and

enough to start acting on their anger,

violence, because if this poetry collection

white Americans needed another way

is about viewing Black individuals as

to belittle and control them. It is the

whole beings with depth and range in emotional intellect, we must also

that creates a complex relationship

take a look at how anger is included in

between Black Americans and rage.

that. Terrance Hayes knows this and

Hayes owns the anger he feels,

addresses the anger he feels, because

expressing all of his emotions rather

he knows anger is a universal emotion

than hiding them. This is a key element in breaking the stereotype, because it is

other actions or words done/said to him

allowing the emotional freedom to feel

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and express all emotions, rather than

Americans, an oppression that often

limit them to certain ones out of fear of

reveals itself through direct or underlying

perpetuating stereotypes. In suppressing

racism. Hayes channels his anger into

emotions, it degrades Black men to people

addressing threats to Black Americans,

who lack the ability to have full emotional

and, by proxy, Americans. By directly

range, thus continuing the dehumanizing

accusing the president of being “the color

stereotypes of Black men. Because “there

of this country’s current threat / advisory”

is not a N***o alive who does not have this rage in his blood,” according to James

towards the president and everyone who

Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, “one

voted for him, implicating them, too, as

has the choice, merely, of living with it

a threat to this country, to his race, and

consciously or surrendering to it,” which addresses how consciously being aware of anger promotes the healthy expression

2). Additionally, he implicitly accuses

of it. Expressing anger allows one’s self to change the circumstances of why one

murder of Black Americans, as addressing

is angry, while also exhibiting a range of

the lack of recitations for the Emmett

expression. Furthermore, the ability to

Till murder, because, really, “How much

address and express anger in a healthy

have black people been paid for naming

why one expresses anger – and also what

This direct question is an aggressive tactic

is not anger. It is only through addressing the feeling of each emotion, including anger, that the Black man can be awarded

explicit anger continues throughout the

the decency of personhood.

collection, as he begins one poem with

Hayes expresses his anger in

“Glad someone shot deserved to be shot

multiple poems, which follow a theme of either direct or underlying animosity

feelings towards violence against Black

towards the oppression of Black

individuals, as well as his anger for white

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Americans to continuously allow this

This book burdens America with

abuse. Thusly, those who actually deserve

the truth of what is happening, through

to be shot, and who are white, he is glad

the eyes of who it is happening to. The

for.

powerful imagery of a Black man writing Terrance Hayes’s book “lock[s

poetry to showcase the world’s troubles is not lost on me, as it is very poignant.

Breaking stereotypes and understanding

and wholly Black. It is both an accusatory

the complexity at play here is a key

and informational collection that draws in

element in unraveling Hayes’s book. It is

the reader through imagery and diction,

a target of “look at me and listen.” It is a

using a powerful and almost omnipresent voice that demands attention. His poem

attempting to break through the winds

on page eleven encapsulates what his sonnets are about. Placing it so early in

fashioned, unwavering, racist America—

the collection is almost a forewarning about what is about to happen: which racial conversations will immerse and which words he is about to use. He entices sleeper hold” (5): a reality that might fetched reality that Hayes drags them into and forces them to be a part of and to understand. While we do that, our “better selves watch from the bleachers” undergoing our “beautiful catharsis” (8) that might never happen. It is up to the reader what change they cultivate.

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Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. 1955. Web. Cose, Ellis. The End of Anger. 2011. Print.

Harris, Shanette M. “Psychosocial development and Black male masculinity: Implications for counseling economically disadvantaged African American male adolescents.” Journal of Counseling & Development 73.3 (1995): 279-287.

Hayes, Terrance. “Are you not the color of this country’s current threat.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 10. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. “Because he cannot distinguish a blackbird.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 42. Print.

Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 49. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. “From now on I will do my laundry early Sunday.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 59. Print.

for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 69. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 11. Print.

and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 34. Print.

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Hayes, Terrance. “It feels sadder when a black person says [N-word].” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 44. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. “The earth of my [n-word] eyes are assassinated.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 17. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. “Seven of the ten things I love in the face.” American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. 2018. Pg. 16. Print. Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. 1955. Web.

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THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN THE VITALITY OF COLONIZATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON ANTIGUA EVA BAUDLER

Eva Baudler is an English and History double major with a German minor. She Germany over winter break changed her life for the better and encouraged her include resistance writing, mass atrocities, and family history. She has launched a number of digital public history projects about topics such as disability in Nazi Germany and Tibetan sovereignty. Her creative works explore growing up going include: boba, loved ones, Li Ziqi, and the song “you were good to me” by Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler.

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An individual’s identity is often

means to communicate their identities

contingent on their access to and use

and recognize themselves in the larger

of language. Words carry with them

context of history.

Before understanding the ways

and can determine not only the ways in which the world views a person, but also their circumstances and status in

rely on and cannot separate themselves from English; in fact, they often can only

essay A Small Place, she explores how

perceive their condition through the lens

the English language shapes the lives of

of colonization. In conversation with an

Antiguans and others of African or West Indian descent and how they continue

herself and her people as orphans with

to experience colonization through their

nothing to their name, not even their

mode of communication. Though English

own language. She divulges how odd it is

is their predominant language, it belongs

that “the only language I have in which

to the British, or as the author prescribes,

to speak of this crime is the language of

the criminal who colonized the native

the criminal who committed the crime”

people and their lands. As such, the

and how “the language of the criminal

Antiguans’ words are inherently working

can contain only the goodness of the

against them and render them dependent

criminal’s deed… from the criminal’s

upon the very force that oppressed them

point of view” (31). Here, one can see

insidious role of language in maintaining

to convey how her people have been

colonial rule through the criminalization

displaced and brutalized, but she must

of Antiguans and destabilization of

speak the criminal language in order

educational resources. As a result, the

to do so. The language fails her, for it

youth especially lose their literacy and

belongs to the colonizer and is limited to

thus cannot carry on their people’s

their perspective. Even while spoken by

heritage, having been stripped of their

a Black person, English carries the voice

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of the criminal and renders the speaker

but must be processed in tandem with the

a colonial subject, whose ancestors were

colonizer.

understood as having no tongue before

While those of African and

British rule and were thus speechless.

Their descendants continue to struggle

inextricable from English, language also maintains a colonial hold over them

that “I met the world through England,

through its criminalization of native

and if the world wanted to meet me it would have to do so through England”

Antigua, “we lived on a street named after

(33). She makes the case that in order

an English maritime criminal, Horatio

to hear her personal story, one would

Nelson, and all the other streets around us were named after some other English

England and how it marked her people.

maritime criminals” (24). The writer and

understand themselves as victims of a

the names of these “maritime criminals,”

crime, but also as having their identities

whose reputations for contributing to

inextricable from the colonizer. In

the imperial expansion of the British empire precede them. As such, there is an

generally unlivable for the criminal,” the

implication that not only are Antiguans

author asks “is my life not unlivable, too”

another conquest, but also that their

(32). In taking her rage to the criminal

island is criminalized, far removed from

and making their life miserable, she

the motherland and thus, a place of exile.

renders her own life as a person of color

Additionally, in terms of direct legality,

wretched, arguably more so than those

Antiguans were penalized through

of her colonizing counterparts. In this Since we were ruled by the the local people experience depends on

English, we also had their laws.

the criminal’s understanding; even their

There was a law against using

own anger does not fully belong to them,

abusive language. Can you

85

imagine such a law among people for whom making a spectacle

of colonization, the locals are unable to

of yourself through speech is

defy the authority of the island, as it is

everything? When West Indians

protected by a literal barrier of whiteness

went to England, the police

and thus privilege. Antiguans cannot use

there had to get a glossary of bad

any language to rebel against the real

West Indian words so they could

criminals, likely risking incarceration

understand whether they were

if they dared to tarnish the pristine

hearing abusive language or not.

government walls.

(25)

Alongside the criminal

Here, she observes that as a product of

characterization of Antiguans, the

being an English colony, Antigua also

destabilization of educational resources

had to abide by English laws. Not only

such as the library demonstrates the

is the island treated as a punitive realm, but through speaking, the people are

explains to the reader, the assuming

understood as specimen to be monitored.

tourist, that Antigua used to have

Their use of language becomes a misuse

a marvelous library until the 1974

in the eyes of the colonizer. Even when

Earthquake. After this disaster, a sign

the natives do not speak pure English

outside the building perpetually read

and instead rely on West Indian creole,

“REPAIRS ARE PENDING” and would “hang there more than a decade later,

will evidently criminalize the person of the library “one of those splendid old that, unmarked by Horatio Nelsons and

buildings from colonial times, and the

criminality, the Antiguan Government

sign telling of the repairs ... a splendid old

House “was surrounded by a high white

sign from colonial times” (9). Libraries

wall—and to show how cowed we must

are centers of culture and language, where

have been, no one ever wrote bad things

the documents and artifacts of a society

on it; it remained clean and white and

are safely archived and passed down for

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generations to come. However, unlike

Not only is the semblance of a new library

those coveted in Western civilizations,

threatened by a haphazardly chosen

the single library of Antigua is in a state

location, its books left to general decay inside meager cardboard containers, but

that of the colonial era, as well as its texts

the librarians are also unable to make

glorifying the English and their feats, but

sense of the space. The impermanence

ultimately, like the Antiguans themselves,

of the Antiguan library as an educational

this library remains caught in a fragile

structure tampers with the learning of these young people, who have only

By putting the library on hold and making

been exposed to a decrepit archive of

it virtually inaccessible, those in power

knowledge and literacy divvied by and

keep the people unstable and uneducated

for colonial forces. Undoubtedly, this undermining of the library contributes

The place where the library is now,

to the dissolution of language and information among the Antiguan youth, who lose more and more of the resources

is too small to hold all the books from the old building, and so

meant to prepare them for the world.

Because young people serve as the

most of the books instead of being

ones to uphold and continue culture, it

on their nice shelves, resting

stands as unfortunate and even tragic that

comfortably, waiting to acquaint

their growing illiteracy complicates how

me with you in all your greatness,

they communicate identity and situate

are in cardboard boxes in a room,

themselves in history. Criminalization

gathering mildew, or dust, or ruin.

and a lack of educational support appear

In this place, the young librarians

to have tangible consequences on the Antiguan youth, who are presented as an embarrassment in their extracurricular

education the young librarians have received. (43)

attend public events. Whether during

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a broadcast or at a Carnival Teenage

is the implication that the more these young people lose the English language,

In Antigua today, most young

the more they lose themselves and their grasp on culture and history. So long as

the airwaves, where they work as

they remain on this island of exile and

news personalities, they speak

disenfranchisement, they continue to

English as if it were their sixth language … [When singing and reciting poetry about slavery,

small place cannot see themselves in a larger picture, they cannot see that they

of themselves. What surprised

might be a part of a chain of something,

me most about them was …

anything. … The people in a small place

how stupid they seemed, how

cannot give an exact account, a complete

unable they were to answer in a

account, of themselves” (53). As a

straightforward way, and in their

consequence of living in a small place,

native tongue of English, simple

one is unable to tell history in a way that is most representative of them and their

44) lived their entire life restricted to a single, no longer comes naturally to this new generation, revealing both a learning

place in the chain remains closely tied to

gap and the performative aspect of

English as a criminal language and how it

language. It seems inevitable for them

distributes information.

to be made into a spectacle, like in the

As it stands, language and one’s

aforementioned tradition of Antiguans being criminalized; they have almost been set up to fail and be understood

to operate. English may provide the

as ridiculous, “unable to answer in a

opportunity to speak on colonial

straightforward way.” Even more ironic

discourse, but also robs marginalized

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groups of their autonomy, often inadequate in its transmission of trauma and history. However, despite these complications, A Small Place itself can be interpreted as a form of resistance.

By putting the institution of tourism and the British on trial, and by extension the reader, who might be complicit in colonization and exposes the limitations and corruption of criminal language.

She uses English itself to reverse power dynamics, forcing audiences to be the white tourist, regardless of who one is. In her discourse.

89

Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

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AS WE GO ALONG: THE INTERSECTION OF LITERARY MOVELADY BIRD SOPHIE JONSSON

Sophie is a sophomore English major at LMU. Her piece, “As We Go Along: The Intersection of Literary Movements and the New West’s Meditation on Identity in Lady Bird” was written for her Histories: Literature of the Frontier class in conjunction with discussions of what the frontier really means and the the American frontier are illustrated and interpreted in a modern story, as well Pastoral, and Mythical Regionalism play a role in the telling of New West stories.

91

“When boys and girls are growing up, life can’t stand still, not even in the quietest of country towns; and they have to grow up, whether they will or no. That is what their elders are always forgetting.”

- Willa Cather, My Ántonia If you replace the composing

material substance and immaterial, often

elements of a ship, is it fundamentally the

unexplainable qualities. The physical

same ship? This is the essential question

construction on its own is not what

of the philosophical concept known as

constitutes the identity of a person or

The Ship of Theseus. The puzzle seeks to

thing, rather it is the incorporeal elements

explore ideas of Athenians who “replaced

such as the soul or the ideas brought forth

each plank in the original ship of Theseus

that make the object or being what it is

as it decayed, thereby keeping it in good

(The Ship).

repair. Eventually, there was not a single

While American Western Frontier

plank left of the original ship” (Cohen).

literature was staunchly “dominated by

Many have debated whether or not these

the rigidity of geographical place” for

incremental changes mean that the ship

years, the emergence of a New West

remained the same or that it became an entirely new object. Comparably, this

part of the Western narrative (Varner).

same logic can be applied to human’s

Rather than tie themselves to Frederick

physical bodies, as well as our thoughts

Jackson Turner’s notion that the Western

and souls.

Frontier line is the celebration of “the true

Physically, humans have evolved

essence of the national character,” New

and been able to survive the replacement

West scholars pushed aside the idea that

of atoms and molecules, the very entities

the Frontier moved strictly West while

that make up the human body. Related

denying nostalgic Frontier mythology,

to identity, Stoics would argue that a ship

and instead subscribed to an idea related

(or human) is made up of both a physical

to the common theme of the Frontier

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being something related to a “challenge

geographically and mentally, and “calling

to the human spirit and the ingenuity of

into question the ways in which [the

humanity to adapt so that ‘the essentials of the familiar may live on in the fresh

(Rio & Hestetun). While the notion of

atmosphere’” (Baym, 814 and Handy, 44).

exploring and discovering oneself was

Much like a ship that has new parts being

one that always paired nicely with the

added to it, New West writers built upon

crossing of the Frontier, New West

the ideas that came before them in order

writers took the soulful concept and turned the Frontier into a road to take

audience, all while maintaining a common

along such a psychological process, thus such literature extensively contributed “to

and perhaps location.

In a 1990 essay, novelist Larry McMurtry wrote, “To the great extent that this was the West that most Americans

the development of an alternative to the Frontier mentality” (Rio & Hestetun).

This revitalization of the West amongst the old or focus on searching for something that drives new meaning.

who created it” (Miller, 4). For many members of the New West era, the

since further developed the concept of

question became one that involved how

the New West, taking its roots and letting

writers of the time would surpass the old

them grow in new places. The Western

Western Frontier and the writing that

Frontier ideas of freedom, power, and

shaped it. Since the contiguous United States had already been explored and

into a variety of genres and writing styles,

inhabited, traditional Frontier stories

and for some, in complete amalgamation

of people moving West began to mold

with several literary movements, as is

into stories of people experiencing that life in the West for themselves, as

Lady Bird. Lady Bird chronicles the life

well as exploring new frontiers, both

of Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson as she

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navigates her senior year of high school

work versus labor in connection to the

and her relationships and connections

New West’s pursuit of a new dream that

with her hometown of Sacramento,

is in contrast to old mythology or ways of life and thinking, and stories of Mythical

boyfriends, and family, particularly her

Regionalism and how they relate to the

mother, Marion McPherson. All such things play varying roles in Lady Bird’s

maintaining a unique identity within

life, while many also stand to represent

society.

or illustrate elements of various literary

Lady Bird opens with a quote

of adolescent growth and discovery,

that reads: “Anyone who talks about

Lady Bird’s New West representations

Californian hedonism has never spent

and aspirations are not fully developed,

a Christmas in Sacramento.” The quote

and are still very much intertwined with

poignantly sets up Lady Bird’s ensuing

that of previous literary movements and

feelings about her hometown. “I have

ideologies. While Lady Bird’s guiding

to get out of Sacramento,” she later

modern take on New Western ideas, it

of California” (Gerwig, 51.00). This

is built upon and grounded in elements

repulsion that Lady Bird has for her

of Romanticism, Realism, Pastoral, and

hometown is most often portrayed in the

Mythical Regionalism. Lady Bird explores

two places she spends the majority of her

the Romantic portrayal of the Ideal versus

time, her school and home. It is in those

the New West advocation for the inclusion

two locations that she witnesses and

of new narratives, characteristics of

experiences the idealized and real lives of people, each of which mirror qualities of

characters, and class in conjunction with the New West’s rejection of tradition,

literary Romanticism and Realism.

Lady Bird attends Immaculate

Pastoral tensions such as rural versus urban, simple versus complicated, and

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It is there that she is taught lessons

of ideality and morality, both of

cannot uphold the same wealthy image as

which are characteristics of Romantic

her classmates, or the “ideal life” that she

literature. While many Catholics greeted

sees them living, she also refuses to follow

the teachings of Romanticism with

the Catholic teachings on morals and

skepticism because of the movement’s

ideals.

“religious redirection of Christ into the immanent domain of Hellenic

impart the Catholic tradition, Lady Bird spends her school days concocting and

real savior,” Catholicism, as well as Lady

committing acts of rebellion or otherwise

Bird’s experiences at school, possess

inappropriate behavior, from stealing the

similar values, ideas, and characteristics

communion wafers to throwing away her

of Romanticism, particularly the search for and illustration of the Ideal

life speaker “If your mother had had the

(Drahos). Though both Romanticism

abortion we wouldn’t have to sit through

and Catholicism viewed Rationalism and

this stupid assembly” (Gerwig, 53.48).

corruption, each also viewed itself as a

economic standing, she could practice

vehicle whose purpose it was to teach its

the lessons of grace and goodness that

listeners how to be good people. To do

much of her school teaching professes.

this, their stories often depicted life in its

However, she does not, and is instead

ideal form, the way one would wish it to

consumed by her desire to escape her

be. At school, Lady Bird is substantially

current life through a somewhat obsessive

less wealthy than many of her classmates.

quest for popularity, which includes

She and her best friend Julie continually

leaving her family to spend Thanksgiving

gaze upon the expensive cars and houses

with her boyfriend’s wealthy family and

of their fellow students, reinforcing the

abandoning Julie to join the popular

Romantic importance of social class and

clique at school.

the girl’s dreams of what they wished their lives would be. While Lady Bird

Though Lady Bird is a zealot for anything she believes, a part of

95

for herself that includes pieces of the particularly amongst her peers, is her

moral ideals that are a part of something

brief period of conformity. Early in pursuing, while also bringing her to an priest tells the students, “We’re afraid

understanding that life is not always ideal

that we will never escape our past, and

and that one does not have to be perfect

we’re afraid of what the future will bring.

or follow every lesson to be considered a

We’re afraid that we will not get into

good person. In the way that New West

the college of our choice. We’re afraid

stories sought to expose the imperfections

that we won’t be loved, that we won’t be

of the West and the stories of those

liked, that we won’t succeed” (Gerwig,

who were not heard before, Lady Bird’s

4.10). In her quest for her cultural ideal,

eventual understanding that life does not

and to assuage these fears, Lady Bird

operate in ideals allows her to create a

changes the way she wears her hair,

new narrative for herself that celebrates

talks poorly about teachers she actually

her unique qualities and imperfections,

likes, lies about where she lives, and

things that she had previously tried to

quits the theatre program, all further

conceal. Her identity becomes a fusion of

distancing herself from the moral lessons

the moral lessons she has learned and her

of goodness, honesty, and respect that

initial “do it your own way” attitude.

she knows deep down to be the right

Although the religious West

thing. While Lady Bird never really

stemmed from traditional and national

embodies the Catholic belief system, as

trends, Westerns have “bent these trends

the social choices she’s made leave her

along their own trajectories,” with many

feeling unheard and alone, Lady Bird

people altering their religious “roots

realizes that she cannot turn her back

to meet their changing socioeconomic

on the values of trying to be a moral

and cultural needs” (Collins, 185, 184).

and just person. After reconciling with

Similarly, the Catholicism that Lady Bird

several of those she has hurt, Lady Bird

is exposed to at school is rarely brought

is able to begin to form a new narrative

up in her home life in the same way.

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Though Lady Bird’s family works hard to

part of everyone’s life’” (Wardley, 199 and

get by, scrimping and saving so that she

Sharistanian, xxiv). Such is the case with

can attend Immaculate Heart, it is not

Lady Bird and the McPherson family

necessarily for religious purposes, rather it is because Lady Bird’s older brother

house on “the wrong side of the tracks”

“saw somebody knifed in front of him

with her mother Marion, father Larry,

at the public school” (Gerwig, 54.09).

adopted brother Miguel, and Miguel’s

Regardless, Lady Bird’s homelife and its

girlfriend Shelly. Their collective life is

portrayal remain in contrast to that of comprehensive detail, with the stress of her life and personality in greater reality

their life being shown through the quick

and detail, with those who inhabit the

escalation of an argument about making

home appearing with real complexity and

something as small as “your own fuckin’

temperament and the family’s social class

eggs” or small references to Marion’s

being important not because of the image

own childhood and her abusive alcoholic mother as reasoning for how she treats

implications, all characteristics of literary Realism.

As a response to the ideals of

details often involve the house itself, such as Larry playing solitaire on the

Romanticism, the movement of Realism

computer, a reference to his depression,

sought to portray life as it really was

or the contents of Lady Bird’s bedroom,

by people who were looking for stories

particularly the wall, where she displays a variety of personal chattels, including

longer dependent on a stable notion

“Vote Lady Bird” campaign posters and

of ‘character’ but on the ‘cultivation of

the names of her crushes that she has

the modem art of personality,” Realist

written, all of which she eventually paints

narrative works were often constructed

over before going to college. All such

and occurrences that form the greatest

rounded, real depiction of each of the

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characters.

a spat with one of them making the

With such detail and attention paid to the members of the McPherson

though obviously hurt by her daughter’s

family, Lady Bird embodies the Realist

choice to celebrate somewhere else,

notion of stories being about individuals

Marion comments, “I just think it’s such a shame that you’re spending your last

tells a poignant adolescent story, it is

Thanksgiving with a family you’ve never

built out of little moments, proving the

met instead of us, but I guess you want it

concept that “the act of ‘coming of age’ is a lot more complicated than surviving

tell because you were dragging your feet”

from one milestone to the next” (Hundert,

(Gerwig, 25.47). The little digs visibly bother Lady Bird, who seethes that her

to her mother that she wishes she “could live through something” (Gerwig, 1.35).

Months later in the same store, as Lady Bird tries on a dress she says she loves, Marion responds with the comment “is it too pink?” (Gerwig, 1.07.20). Their

moments, rather its overall tone takes a

following conversation demonstrates

more Realistic approach, celebrating and

the subtleties and complexities of their

delving deep into the moments that make

relationship, many of which arise from

up people’s everyday lives (Loughrey).

the way each thinks about the other and

To do this, the characters appear in their

their inability to convey their feelings honestly.

particularly Lady Bird and Marion. In preparation of both Thanksgiving at her

Lady Bird

boyfriend’s house and her senior prom,

Why can’t you say I look nice?

Marion and Lady Bird go shopping at a local thrift store. Both scenes depict a

Marion I thought you didn’t even care what I

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think.

understand, or help her is one all too real and familiar to anyone who has

Lady Bird

held either role of mother or daughter.

I still want you to think I look good.

The scene underscores the notion that neither person is right or wrong and that

Marion I’m sorry, I was you telling you the truth.

concept similarly related to the Realist

Do you want me to lie? characters and dialogue. While Lady Bird Lady Bird No, I just… I just wish that you liked me.

Lady Bird’s realistic portrayal of their life illustrates

Marion

that much of Marion’s personality circumstances and social standing.

Lady Bird

Though Lady Bird is concerned with their

But do you like me? she wants and can’t have, for Marion, Marion

it is a real issue that forces her to lead

… I want you to be the very best version

the family while taking extra shifts at

of yourself that you can be.

work after Larry loses his job and spirals into a depressive state. While Lady Bird

Lady Bird What if this is the best version?

is concerned with the thought that her mother doesn’t like her, Marion obsesses over class and the family’s image because she knows it has real implications in her

The push and pull of a daughter seeking approval from a mother who

So when she learns that Lady Bird has

doesn’t know how to connect to,

been telling people she’s from “the wrong

99

side of the tracks,” Marion’s heart breaks

often resulting in multiple facets of

in the belief that her daughter thinks that what they have provided her with is not enough. Though this is not what Lady

meanings” (Sharistanian, xxiii). This

Bird intended, as she was blinded by her

search for sovereignty begins with the

attempt to say something cool in order

Lady Bird. In her

to inch closer to her ideal life, Marion’s

audition for the school musical, director

interpretation and reaction illustrate the

Father Leviatch asks Lady Bird why she has put “Lady Bird” in quotes and if it

that has been put upon her family in the

is her given name. She replies, “Yes, I

most Realist sense.

gave it to myself. It’s given to me by me”

Lady Bird and what she does is described by one of her boyfriends as

(Gerwig, 12.07). Lady Bird’s insistence that everyone call her by this new name

“very baller, very anarchist” (Gerwig, 42.14). To Julie, she “can’t do anything

and liberate herself from what has been given to her. While she questions

(Gerwig, 52.25). To Marion, Lady

institutions and big ideas around her in

Bird isn’t “even worth state tuition”

an attempt to dig herself out of learned

(Gerwig, 2.52). While Lady Bird’s

falsehoods, it is only after she leaves

around, her New Western aura of

of declaring her own values independent

rejecting tradition and refusing to listen

of those of her home, that she accepts her

to others’ opinions about her choices

given name. Surrounded by new people in

remains constant. Lady Bird’s rejection

a drunken haze, Lady Bird observes that

of tradition is seen throughout her

“people will call each other by names that

exploration and realization of herself

their parents made up for them but they

in her attempt to test her own human

won’t believe in God” (Gerwig, 1.23.09).

individualism and live a life that is alive,

She then proceeds to introduce herself

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as Christine, shedding her Lady Bird persona in recognition of the fact that

get into an argument about Lady Bird’s

she does not need to fully reject what has

college plans. Lady Bird declares, “I don’t

been given to her in order to be a unique,

even want to go to school in this state

Though Lady Bird and Marion’s tenuous relationship is brought on

go to the East Coast. I want to go where culture is like New York, or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire” (Gerwig,

as Larry puts it, they “both have such

1.57). In direct opposition to Lady Bird’s

strong personalities” which are often at

urban aspirations, Marion interjects that

odds with each other, causing tensions

she should stay in rural Sacramento and

that mirror that of the Pastoral. While the

“just go to city college, and then to jail,

Pastoral is an idealized portrayal of rural

and then back to city college,” prompting an irate Lady Bird to throw herself out of

of love, time, and nature, its tension

the moving car to escape the conversation

between rural and urban life play a

(Gerwig, 3.03). Lady Bird and Marion’s

central role in Lady Bird and Marion’s

opposing views of her future continue to be an unsaid barrier between them,

Lady Bird and Marion drive through the California landscape listening to John

Pastoral tensions that their relationship

Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath on tape.

mirrors.

While a connection is made between

While Lady Bird dreams of life on

Steinbeck’s California and the California

the East Coast, Marion is bogged down

their divergent attitudes. In The Grapes

psych hospital, her depressed husband,

of Wrath, California holds the promise

and taking care of her children. While

of a brighter future. In Lady Bird,

“trapped” in Sacramento, Lady Bird feels stagnant and as if nothing is happening, yet, in reality, she is largely blind to the

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struggles and happenings of her mother

treat our clothes like this. I don’t know

and family, thereby showing her simple,

what your wealthy friends do...” (Gerwig, 20.57). While Marion’s disparagement

her mother’s complicated view that

of Lady Bird is a job in and of itself, her

must always extend beyond herself. As

necessary labor often coincides with an

Marion struggles to hold everything

opposition to Lady Bird’s work ethic.

Believing that in order for her and

with Lady Bird with regard to their

Larry’s labor to result in some sort of

attitudes toward work and labor. Though

compensation, she explains to Lady Bird

in certain instances Lady Bird embodies

that she “can’t look like a rag because

the common teenage “too cool for that” attitude, she works hard at things that

if she looked more presentable “some of

bring her joy, such as her school’s theatre program or working to pay and complete her college applications. Despite such

looks like his family is trash” (Gerwig,

work, Lady Bird believes her mother

21.39). Lady Bird’s tossing aside of her

thinks little of her, yet fails to recognize

school uniform and Marion’s aggravation

that Marion does not have the luxury to work on things simply because she wants

of working and processing, with Lady

to. Instead, Marion’s labor provides for

Bird more focused on the ways the work

the family and is often at odds with Lady Bird’s free spirit. Upon returning from her homecoming dance, Lady Bird is

working toward something that will result

berated by her mother for how she has left her room and clothes unkempt. “You

As Lady Bird is at constant odds

can’t leave your room like this,” Marion

with her mother over the direction of

says. “None of these things were put way

her life, her views and sensibilities on the subject are stationed in the pursuit

trash on Monday, this isn’t right. We can’t

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of her own dream. In Walden Pond,

Henry David Thoreau argues that “if one

idea of going away and pursuing her own dream is evident in the choices she makes, the nature of her story being one of adolescence also ties it back to the

will meet with a success unexpected in

Pastoral and the tensions of the genre.

common hours” (Thoreau). The idea of going to the West, or to the woods as

own frontier, untamed by anything she

Thoreau did, in order to “live deliberately”

once knew, yet, she ultimately comes

is a common theme in Frontier Literature,

back to it and realizes that the rural,

and one that Lady Bird’s motivation to get

complicated lessons of life that her mother worked so hard to teach her are

wanted to “live deep and suck out all the

still important elements of who she is,

marrow of life,” Lady Bird “wants to go

regardless of where she goes.

where culture is” (Thoreau and Gerwig,

Though Lady Bird’s attitude

2.38). To her, the pursuit involves a sense

and behavior may indicate that she is

of importance and accomplishment, a

oblivious to the struggles and needs

sense of genuine drive that is invisible

of those around her, and despite her

to others, including Marion. However,

professed hatred of Sacramento, her growth as an individual is heavily

of expectation, she discovers that the wildness of life in New York City is not

to detail. In a meeting with her favorite

exactly what she’d envisioned it to be.

teacher, Sister Sarah Joan, she tells Lady Bird that she has read her college essay and that based on her writing, Lady Bird

alone and without a place within it

“clearly loves Sacramento” (Gerwig, 1.05.54). She tells a confused Lady

of home within her new environment,

Bird that she writes “about Sacramento

a church or calling her family, that she feels tranquil. While Lady Bird’s Western

(Gerwig, 1.05.58). Lady Bird then tells

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her that she was just describing it, which

story of Mythical Regionalism mirrors

Sister Sarah Joan infers to be love.

the life of Lady Bird, as she cannot wait

Begrudgingly, Lady Bird admits that

to leave her home for the remarkable

she just pays attention, to which Sister

and wondrous East Coast. Lady Bird

Sarah Joan remarks, “Don’t you think

believes that she will be truly happy in the

they are maybe the same thing, love and possibly ever be in Sacramento. Yet, to leave the nest, and the problems that

realization that she is alone and free to

such a desire causes in many of her relationships, it is her eventual discovery

called to a church and moved by the

of her love for her home that display

beautiful singing she hears within it. The

stories of Mythical Regionalism.

The ideology of Mythical

identity, taking her from her roots, yet

Regionalism expresses the belief that

she ultimately discovers contentment and

“region is more important than a

a richer understanding of herself when

physical or economic phenomenon, but

she intertwines those roots of her home

regions are also constructs of the mind,

with her new life, rather than completely

as informed by culture, art, myths,

abandoning her past.

images, poems, and values of the region”

While Lady Bird’s story illustrates

(Peters). Concerning the individual,

the voluntary pull away and eventual

Mythical Regionalism maintains that

acceptance of Mythical Regionalism,

one’s identity is a product of their region,

Marion represents a story of Mythical

just as the region is a construct of those

Regionalism involving the act of staying

who have lived there. Though examples of Mythical Regionalism often assume

no one else can. As Lady Bird aspires

a rural or agrarian environment, it is

to greater things beyond Sacramento,

often contrasted with the tempting pull

Marion has cultivated a life in a place her

of a city, technology, or money. Such a

daughter cannot understand the point of

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staying in and living. Lady Bird’s identity

escaping the idea of who she was and

represents one that is a product of their

where she came from. It is only after she

home while Marion’s illustrates someone

leaves Sacramento that she realizes and

who has constructed the place in which she lives. From her work at the psychiatric

reliance: being able to think your own

hospital to her heartbreaking gift of socks

thoughts and building upon ideas already

she gives to her children for Christmas

out there through your own experiences.

It is here too that she realizes that her life

faults, Marion works tirelessly to take

can go beyond, yet still stay connected to

care of others, trying to make the best home she can. For all of their quarrels mom: of connection to their homeland that drives much of Marion and Lady Bird’s

Hi Mom and Dad, it’s me.

relationship.

Christine. It’s the name

The human culture is shaped by

you gave me. It’s a good one. Dad, this is more for

society. While degrees of conformity may be inescapable, Ralph Waldo Emerson argues that “the great man is he who

time that you drove in

in the midst of the crowd keeps with

Sacramento? I did and I

perfect sweetness the independence

wanted to tell you, but we weren’t really talking

Mythical Regionalistic pulls away from

when it happened. All those bends

Sacramento, Lady Bird attempts to

I’ve known my

completely reject the society she comes

whole life, and stores, and the

from and what those who love her have

whole thing. But I

given her. Lady Bird’s strong desire to

wanted to tell you. I love you.

Thank you, I’m…

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thank you.

As she speaks, pastoral scenes of the

Though Lady Bird embodies

Sacramento landscape move across

New Western ideologies and elements

the screen as if those watching them

of Romanticism, Realism, Pastoral, and

were in the car going by it all. First at

Mythical Regionalism, the story is about a

the wheel of the car is Lady Bird, who

young woman from the West hoping to go

tearfully gazes across the bridge toward

to the East. However, despite where Lady

the setting sun. As she looks around

Bird’s aspirations lie, Lady Bird does not

her, she is instantly replaced with her

center around those Eastern ambitions,

mother, who holds the same stare and

but instead around Lady Bird’s discovery

location. The edit jumps between the

of her love for the West she’s from. Her

mother and daughter each driving the

goal of moving away helps to illustrate the Frontier theme of being disinterested

look upon the home they have shared.

in a place and wanting to go and discover

It is in this moment that Lady Bird fully

something she’s never seen before, but

becomes a story about coming home to

it is the elements of the aforementioned literary movements that help her to

age story is “a process of learning how to

explore a New Western relationship

position one’s self in relation to others,”

with land and identity and the linkage

both Lady Bird and Marion’s love and attention to the space around them allow

illustrates that as we go along to new

each to recognize that coming home to

places, meet new people, and experience

yourself is recognizing the sharing of

new things, we realize that who we are is

one’s past with another person (Hundert,

what we’re built on, and that no matter

2). With this understanding, Lady Bird

where we go, the people we were before

may live an independent life outside of

are always a part of us. Though life is

her hometown, always knowing that she

always in transition, in the way that a ship

holds a “precious, incommunicable past”

that gets new pieces does not become a

with the land and people of Sacramento

completely new ship, neglectful of its old

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elements, our unique truths move with us, adding to the ships we helm. Similarly to how Lady Bird is a product of her environments and relationships, the New West is the product of a fusion of a variety and ways of thinking. In these personal and literary ways, Lady Bird exhibits the telling of a modern Western story while also absorbing a variety of styles of storytelling, emphasizing the sentiment that while Lady Bird may become more or less than who she was in Sacramento, the spirit of her home will everlastingly guide her in whatever she may live through.

107

Baym, Nina. “Old West, New West, Postwest, Real West.” American Literary History, vol. 18, no. 4, 2006, p. 814. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.4123623&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Cather, Willa. My Ántonia. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Cohen, Marc. “Identity, Persistence, and the Ship of Theseus.” University of Washington, University of Washington, 6 Oct. 2004, faculty. washington.edu/smcohen/320/theseus.html.

Collins, Sandra. “Religion in the Modern American West.” Library Journal, no.

15, 2000. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db =edsglr&AN=edsgcl.66111435&site=eds-live&scope=site.

David Rio, and Øyunn Hestetun. “Introduction : Storying the West in Postfrontier Literature.” European Journal of American Studies, no. 3, 2011. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4000/ejas.9249.

Drahos, Kristen. “Reason’s Shadow: Romanticism’s Impact on Catholic Thought.” Church Life Journal, University of Notre Dame, 11 June 2018, churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/reasons-shadow-romanticismsimpact-on-catholic-thought/.

Gerwig, Greta. Lady Bird. Film Script, Daily Script, 2017, http://dailyscript. com/scripts/LADY_BIRD_shooting_script.pdf.

Handy, Robert T. “American Methodism and Its Historical Frontier: Interpreting Methodism on the Western Frontier: Between Romanticism and Realism.” Methodist History, vol. 23, no. 1, Oct. 1984, pp. 44–53. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true& db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000925187&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Hundert, Anna. “‘Lady Bird’ and the Art of the In-Between.” The Ploughshares Blog, Emerson College, 23 Jan. 2018, blog.pshares.org/index.php/ladybird-and-the-art-of-the-in-between/.

Lady Bird. Directed by Greta Gerwig, performances by Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Tracy Letts, A24, 2017.

Hypable, 21 Nov. 2017, www.hypable.com/pop-culture-in-lady-bird/.

Loughrey, Clarisse. “Saoirse Ronan on Lady Bird: ‘Everyone’s Dealing with The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 23 Feb. 2018, ronan-lady-bird-interview-greta-gerwig-oscar-nomination-rolemodel-directing-a8225026.html.

Miller, Cheryl. “Creating the American West.” Policy Review, no.141,

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2007, p. 88. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di rect=true&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.160110001&site=eds-live& scope=site.

Peters, KJ. “New West Writing W9D3 Lecture.” Histories: Literature of the Frontier.

English 2297, 2019.

“Self-Reliance.” The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Modern Library, 2000, pp. 132–153.

Sharistanian, Janet. “My Ántonia.” My Ántonia, Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. vii-xxiv.

“The Ship of Theseus.” The Metaphysicist, Information Philosophy, metaphysicist. com/puzzles/ship_theseus/.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden Pond. Commonwealth Editions, 2004.

Varner, Paul. New Wests and Post-Wests: Literature and Film of the American West. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Wardley, Lynn. “Realist Writers and Social Struggle.” NOVEL: A Fo rum on Fiction, vol. 24, no. 2, 1991, pp. 199–201. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/ stable/1345563.

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NERUDA: MAN OF SONG ISABELA CASTRO-PENATE

Hello! This is currently my second year as an English major, History minor and I am quite happy about it. “Neruda: Man of Song” was written for my Genres: Poetry course in the fall. I had the pleasure of working with one of LMU’s visiting professors, Michelle Bitting.

While the majority of the coursework focused on workshopping the established poet’s body of work. Pablo Neruda’s poetry and political writings immediately impressed me with their absolute passion and candor. Following a semester of artistic and analytical engagement with poetry, I developed a deeper respect for creative writing and now hope to assemble my own collection of poetry.

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Pablo Neruda, a Chilean born

him on the rails. According to Eisner,

Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto,

spending time in the Chilean forest and

has been described as one of the most

Mapuche villages provided Neruda with the realization, included in his memoir,

Neruda devoted his life to his craft

that he had “come out of that earth, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go singing

would combine these two passions as

throughout the world” (Eisner 30). He

a way of elevating the messages he felt compelled to share with the public. His

people he encountered, which he included

career served to heighten the socialist

in much of his writing. The poet wrote

movement that arose in response to the

about how thrilling and fascinating it felt

militant oppression over Chile’s working

to be amongst the rain and the forest,

class. Neruda understood that poetry

all the while observing local workers.

becomes necessary when prose fails to

To Neruda, the dirt and rough scars on

capture the full depth of one’s thoughts

the Chilean workers’ faces possessed as

and intentions. Upon recognizing Chile’s

much magic as a brilliant storm. Eisner

need for peace and justice, he used his

lists images of Neruda’s childhood town:

political and poetic prowess to promote the liberties of his people. Neruda’s bleeding heart poured onto his pages,

and a general lack of happiness” (Eisner

leaving the world with a collection of work committed to the expression of love and

life, which is described as being dark

righteousness.

and lonely. Meeting Juvencio Valle,

Mark Eisner’s biography, Neruda:

who would become his lifelong friend,

The Poet’s Calling, details the events that

sparked new curiosity within Neruda. The

led Neruda to throw himself into his art.

young men spent their time exploring the

Following the early death of his mother,

natural world together, leading Neruda to experiment with poetry to satiate his

mannered father, a railroader, by joining

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hunger for the earth’s beauty. Eisner

burgeoning romantic and sexual desires. poetry, right before the age of eleven, was

For instance, at thirteen, Neruda used

born from a need to release the emotions

poetry as a healing tool after he was

toiling within him. The poem is dedicated

forbidden from being with Amelia Alviso

to his stepmother and translated by

due to her parents’ classist distaste of his

Eisner: “From a landscape of aureate

father’s common profession. Neruda also

/ regions / I chose / to give you, dear

spent this time fostering relationships

mamá, / this humble postcard. Neftalí.”

with more experienced writers in

An analysis of the poem reveals the poet’s natural understanding of prosody and

encouraged him to continue writing. He

structure. The original Spanish version

was particularly attached to mentors

of this poem is rich with internal rhyme

who shared his instincts for social

despite its brevity. Neruda’s natural talent for the craft of poetry only fueled

a distinguished poet and journalist,

his interest in it as an emotional outlet.

provided Neruda with the professional

Neruda’s poems and prose alike are

blueprint necessary for pursuing his

rooted in his observations and emotional

passion for both art and politics. Neruda

responses. This is especially apparent

admired Mason’s unabashed approach

when looking at the development of

to writing about social justice. Mason

Neruda’s writing during his adolescence.

used his small paper, La Mañana (The

His language had to grow as he braved

Morning), as a platform to speak out against social injustices, including the plunder of indigenous Mapuche land

harsh father’s home and the hard weather

and the law enforcement’s abuse of

and poverty of the frontier” (Eisner

power. Mason’s revolutionary nature

41). Poetry not only served as a coping

inspired Neruda to remain steadfast in

mechanism meant to ease the pain or

his support of the common man while

confusion of the past, but it also became

striving to make his poetry more available

the medium in which he presented his

to the public. Being able to articulate

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the complexities of human nature and

After publishing Crepusculario at

behavior is what initially attracted

nineteen, Neruda fell into a period of

Neruda to poetry and he soon came to

depression and anxiety about being

view it as his truest calling. Practicing

publicly recognized. Neruda was unable

poetry became a necessary part of life

to begin working on his second book, the critically acclaimed Veinte poemas

to carry the weight of his passions and

de amor y una canción desesperada

frustrations.

(Twenty Love Poems and a Song of

Neruda’s venture into the world

Despair) until he received what he

of publication grew from publishing his poems and essays in local magazines to Crepusculario (The Book of Twilights) was completely magazine he worked with, Claridad (Clarity). The featured poems dealt with

dazzling sky in Temuco. Just as in his youth, Neruda’s connection to nature is what provided the spark for his artistic Veinte poemas detailed Neruda’s most profound sexual and romantic fantasies and has continued to be his

generation: “coming of age during the destruction and inhumanity of World War

some criticism from the conservative population for its display of eroticism,

movements of socialist anarchism, and

especially considering the poet’s young

communism around the world” (Eisner

age. Veinte poemas opening poem, “Poema I Cuerpo de mujer” (Poem I Body

induced by the sociopolitical turmoil

of a Woman), is an unadulterated cry for

plaguing the world resonated with people

sex. The third stanza includes the explicit

across the globe. Chilean youth were

statement, “Ah los vasos del pecho! Ah los

particularly touched by this work as

ojos de ausencia! / Ah las rosas del pubis!

they could relate to the social paralysis brought about by their country’s crises.

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Neruda’s use of the word itself, “y te pareces a la palabra melancolía” [and you the speaker’s pathetic plea for a woman’s physical body. Neruda’s muse for the

XV), is presented in such a way that it

majority of the poems was a woman he

surpasses being an emotional state and

met at the Pedagogy Institute named Albertina Rosa Azócar. Albertina was romantically involved with him and

the embodiment of melancholy as a way

became an object of sexual desire for a

of highlighting how the speaker’s entire perception of her is now coated in despair

fueling his poetry. Their relationship

due to their separation. While Neruda

became bitter after Albertina recovered

had several lovers over the throughout

from a serious illness only to be ordered

his life he would eventually meet his

by her family to make the trip back home

most documented wife, Matilde Urrutia.

for good (Eisner 101). This separation

Alexandra Giardino penned the preface to

pained Neruda so deeply and honestly

Matilde Urrutia’s memoir, My Life with Pablo Neruda, and attributed some of his

famed poem, “Poema XV Me gustas

most developed and mature writing to

cuando callas” (Poem XV I Like For

his experiences with her (The Captain’s

You To Be Still). He opens the poem by

Verses, One Hundred Love Sonnets, and

describing his love for his partner when

Canto general).

she is “still” and “absent,” implying that although it is a sorrowful separation

Neruda’s later work contained more multilayered themes in comparison

he remains enamored with the poem’s subject, Albertina. Amado Alonso’s book

the poet’s individual claims of catharsis.

of poetry analysis, Poesía y Estilo de

Neruda’s Ekphrastic Experience:

Pablo Neruda, explains how Neruda

Mural Art and Canto general written

incorporates the theme of melancholy in how Neruda worked with artists beyond

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the writing world to cultivate political

for the book’s poems about the injustices

messages condemning the subjugation of

facing all of Latin America. By making

indigenous peoples. The author upholds

visual representations of socialist ideals even more explicit, Neruda established

“since its inception, modern poetry has

awareness for and combatting militant

engaged in a dialogue with the other

and oppressive systems of power.

arts, especially with music and painting”

Neruda’s political involvement went beyond his writing, as he assumed

line of thinking, Neruda’s political poetry

several diplomatic posts to create

inspired by Diego Rivera’s socialist mural

substantial change for the people he

imagery is a true artistic feat. Similar to

loved. As the special consul for Spanish

what drew a young Neruda to poetry as a

emigrants in Paris, Neruda was able to

genre, linguistic articulation advances and

help transport Spanish refugees to Chile

expands on whatever message an artist

so that they could escape the destruction of the Spanish Civil War (Eisner 294).

involved with native Chilean visual

He held a diplomatic post in Bueno Aires

artists and other Latin American painters

and was appointed to the position of Consul General in Mexico City. The poet of his political career and repeatedly

of Canto general, one of Neruda’s most

worked on projects meant to aid the lower class. Neruda’s intellectual side greatly

done by several of Latin America’s most

admired Joseph Stalin’s management of

celebrated painters. The work as a whole

the Soviet Union and adhered to Marxist

includes Mexican mural art promoting

teachings. Neruda wrote the poem

national pride and shedding light on

“Nuevo canto de amor a Stalingrado” [A

population, which serves as a reference

to the media’s harsh criticism of Soviet

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sympathizers. The poem’s speaker likens

should be taken as fact. Neruda’s political

Stalingrad to a blushing bride and a

writings are anything but sheepish. His

lively sunrise (“Nuevo canto...”). To the

poems reached the status of tour de force

speaker, Stalingrad can be considered

by being written forcefully and skillfully.

a saving grace to those who believed

The Chilean government’s

in the value of the working class of laborers. By connecting a polarizing

uprisings included targeting prominent

is establishing himself as an ardent

The poet was forced to hide in the 1940s

supporter of Stalin’s political agenda. As a

and was even removed from his position

member of the Chilean Communist Party

on the Chilean senate (Eisner 422).

himself, Neruda included clear praises

Neruda was able to escape persecution

of communism in Canto general (Eisner refuge in Buenos Aires and Mexico. While the poem “Recabarren (1921).” Neruda

in hiding, the poet continued to write in

gives communism the right to identity

opposition to the corrupt government

by giving it multiple names: “se hizo

in Chile. He was unable to return until

nombre, se llamó Pueblo, / Proletariado,

the nomination and ultimate election

Sindication, / tuvo persona y apostura”

of leftist president Salvador Allende.

[was named, it was called Pueblo /

Upon his return, Neruda remained a

Proletariat, Union, / it took on a persona

prominent writer for the communist

Canto general 159). The

movement and continued his public

poet’s use of parallelism, the inclusion

support of communist revolutionaries,

of two names per line, creates a strong

including Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

rhythm within the poem meant to

Because of his continued devotion to

maintain the reader’s interest. These

socialist progress, Neruda was watched

three lines read like a list and convey a

and targeted by Chilean government

practical tone, which reinforces the notion that the speaker’s individual opinion

The poet was pronounced dead on 23

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September 1973, after spending several

loneliness, yet in doing so also provided solace to those who felt his words as much as he did.

Although medical professionals reported that the artist’s cause of death was heart failure, recent research suggests he was a victim of politically motivated murder. A contemporary viewpoint would support these suspicions, as art such as Neruda’s political musings has proven to have a At the core of Neruda’s work lies his greatest passion: feeling. Every word ever written by the poet can be attributed to his exceptional ability to feel. Although this might be viewed as a universal talent, Neruda was especially intuitive. From his life according to how enthralled he was by it. Whether it was the wonder he felt walking in the forests of his home or how he empathized with his people, Neruda was unable to contain these sensations within himself. Neruda’s political musings have proven concrete both historical and contemporary. The poet communicated his range of being

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Addonizo, Kim, and Dorianne Laux. The Poet’s Companion: a Guide to the Pleasure of Writing Poetry. W.W. Norton, 1997.

Alonso, Amado. Poesía y Estilo de Pablo Neruda. Pocket Edhasa, 1951.

Méndez-Ramírez, Hugo. Neruda’s Ekphrastic Experience: Mural Art and Canto general. Bucknell University Presses, 1999.

Eisner, Mark. Neruda: The Poet’s Calling. HarperCollins Publishers, 2018. Neruda, Pablo. Canto general. Editorial Seix Barral, 1994.

Neruda, Pablo. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Penguin Books, 1969.

Urrutia, Matilde. My Life with Pablo Neruda. Stanford General Books, 2004.

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THE POWER OF HOMECOMING: USING JOSEPH MOBILITY IN FAREWELL TO MANZANAR STEVE BUCCELLATO

Steve Buccellato is a recent transfer student working towards his BA in English at LMU, with the goal of pursuing an MA in Creative Writing after. When he isn’t studying, he works as a graphic novel illustrator and Creative Director for projects in advertising and all kinds of media, from print publishing to career as a teenager at Marvel Comics, he has lived right next door to LMU in the Westchester neighborhood with his wife and son for almost 20 years. His lifelong passion for the intersection of art and storytelling has been greatly enhanced by his recent foray into academia; he loves every minute of it! Steve wrote this essay for Dr. Ching’s Children’s Literature class.

121

In her defense of Joseph

the detainees at Manzanar, even while

Campbell’s hero’s journey, author Natalie

daily clashes, forced indignities, and a

Babbitt emphasizes homecoming as a

collective sense of shame threatened to tear their already fractured community

argues that the protagonist’s return to a place of safety is critical for a satisfying

apart.

How does the hero’s journey

conclusion. It is simple enough for writers

inform such a complex personal

to adhere to Campbell’s template when

narrative? Can one trace elements of the

creating imaginary stories, but trying

hero’s journey in the lives of this real family? More importantly, what can we learn by doing so? Looking at Farewell to

stories do not necessarily resolve with

Manzanar through the lens of Campbell’s

all loose ends neatly tied, and human

mythic structure, we may discern three

lives do not typically follow the contrived

distinct character arcs that resolve

character arcs of literary heroes. This

in homecomings of a sort. The most surprising of which occurs in one of the

the case of the complex memoir Farewell to Manzanar, which chronicles the

altering the reader’s perception of

Wakatsuki family when they, and ten

comparison between him and a curiously

thousand other Japanese Americans were

American archetype.This crucial chapter

forcibly relocated to an internment camp following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

journey, is placed out of sequence in the

and the United States’ entry into World

narrative in order to provide the satisfying

War II. The book, by Jeanne Wakatsuki

closure that his actual life lacked in the

Houston and James D. Houston, is

end. By deliberately structuring the tale in

in equal parts a bildungsroman and

this way, the authors accomplish several

a historical exposition on the cultural

things: they give young readers of all

moorings that kept life tolerable for

cultures an easy way into the story with

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the inclusion of familiar patterns, they

shows that the fantasy hero and his adventures are universal to

the hard historical realities depicted in

all cultures; and the ancient path

the story, and they provide a meaningful

he follows...is mainly unalterable and inescapable. In Campbell’s

from, and provides an alternative to, the

own words: “The standard path of

trope of immobility permeating much of

the mythological adventure of the

Asian American literature.

hero is... separation–initiation–

Joseph Campbell’s work on the psychological underpinnings embedded

pattern, you see it everywhere...

in world mythology has been long discussed, debated, and championed

This pattern of “separation–initiation–

by anthropologists, psychologists, and

return” aligns with the Wakatsuki’s

storytellers working in all kinds of

narrative in an obvious, literal sense;

media, including writers of literature,

they are separated from their community in Southern California, painfully forced

His 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand

to adapt to a new way of life, and must

Faces outlines a story structure which

reconsider their understanding of how

has been repeated again and again throughout history, commonly referred

returning to it. Yet, beyond that very

to as the “Hero’s Journey.” The genius of

basic framework, the experiences and the lessons learned by each of the

correlation to human development and growth is what makes it resonate. While

disparate ages and life experiences, each

applying the pattern to her own work

of the main characters must follow a

in children’s literature, author Natalie Babbitt explains the concept succinctly, using Campbell’s own words: The Hero with a Thousand Faces

forms. By examining these details through the lens of the hero’s journey, familiar

123

patterns and character types emerge and

Jeanne a traditional Japanese

reveal the authors’ intent: to give young

dance. Jeanne faces many obstacles both

readers from all backgrounds a glimpse

within the camp, and later when her

into the Japanese American experience

family attempts to reintegrate with life

that is relatable, and breaks away from

outside. In both environments she must

expected tropes or stereotypes.

deal with the injustices of poor living conditions and racism. After leaving the camp, Jeanne’s challenges continue as she

the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

enters high school and navigates her path toward adulthood.

internment of more than 110,000

In the book, Jeanne’s story

Japanese Americans living on America’s

suddenly leaps from an incident in high

West Coast (Nakano 558). The abrupt

school to many years later, when she

segregation upends her family’s life, and

returns to the ruins of Manzanar as an

her experience growing up at Manzanar

adult with her own family. The conclusion of her heroic journey had been stunted

Campbell’s terms, when Jeanne and her

for the years passing in between chapters,

family are taken to Manzanar, they cross a

and the quest back to the camp represents

threshold into a strange new world, with

her return, long overdue. This subverts

new rules to which they must adapt. To

the hero’s journey in a profound way— if the return is supposed to be back to a

in the camp (Campbell’s “protective

place of safety, what does it mean when your homecoming is to a place where

her the tools she needs to survive. These

you were once a prisoner? This reality comes to Jeanne as an epiphany while

as well as teachers and missionary volunteers working in the camp, such as

walking through the dust of the former

the young Quaker woman Lois and the

camp, and she sees a vision of herself:

mysterious old geisha who tries to teach

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Until this trip I had not been able

to admit that my own life really began there. The times I thought

having been imprisoned at the age

I had dreamed it were one way of

she was, without understanding it

getting rid of it, part of wanting to lose it, part of what you might call

Jeanne’s epiphany marks her

a whole Manzanar mentality I had

homecoming, and her new insights about her life and her relationship to Manzanar

Now, having seen it, I no longer

is her “boon.” Babbitt writes, “In classical

wanted to lose it or to have those

myth, this knowledge, what the hero has

years erased. Having found it, I

learned in that other place, may be used

could say what you can only say

to enlighten the world” (27). This is

when you’ve truly come to know a

precisely what Jeanne achieves in the cathartic act of writing her book.

As an aside, it is worth noting

childhood home for what it is: a symbol

that this kind of cathartic exorcism has

of systemic racism, and the source of

been explored by several other authors

bad feelings she had spent her whole life

who have been compelled to educate

trying to repress. As Jeanne’s husband

readers about the Japanese internment experience through autobiography,

The “farewell” in the title, refers

including Monica Sone’s Nisei Daughter

not so much to the physical place

(1953), Yoshiko Uchida’s Desert Exile

of Manzanar but to the state of

(1982), and George Takei’s To the Stars

mind that it engendered, to the

(1994). The number of such books

kind of psychological set that

“illustrate the imperative of life writing in

Jeanne came away with, and

its intersection with the politics of identity

reaching the point where she could say farewell to that, to...

deploy narratives of their childhood years

the sense of shame, the sense of

in internment camps to represent their

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and negotiation of cultural and/or

drunk who abdicates all responsibilities.

He abuses his wife, and tries to subjugate

insights into this disruptive historical and

his daughter. His peers believe he is a

cultural experience” (Davis 355). It would

traitor and a coward. Most of what we

be interesting to apply Campbell’s mythic design to these other stories to see if and

Farewell to Manzanar paints a depressing picture of a man who is broken by his circumstances, and who

ways home. As we will see, the rest of the

is never able to move past the humiliation he endured to recover his lost dignity.

paths than Jeanne.

It is challenging to apply

Japanese man emasculated by the

Campbell’s structure onto the story of

internment experience is sadly not

Jeanne’s father, because he does not

unique. In his article about issues of power in multicultural children’s literature, Stuart Ching tackles similar themes present in Eve Bunting’s memoir,

and contradictory character. He is

So Far From the Sea. In that story,

paradoxically described as a both strict

the characters are able to move on and

patriarch with traditional values, and also as a rebel. He is both an ambitious

and accepting their captivity as an

entrepreneur with lofty goals, and a man

inexplicable historical anomaly. Ching believes this placating attitude only

He literally burns all his remaining ties to

contributes to the emotional and cultural

Japan after Pearl Harbor as an expression

paralysis experienced by those living

of loyalty to the United States, but he is

with the legacy of internment: “While

treated with suspicion and denied by his

forgiveness is noble, when it subordinates

adopted home, and thus is set adrift, a

or erases reparation, the book’s Japanese

man without a country. He is prideful

American characters cannot fully mature.

Instead... they are erased by dominant

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ideology... Within this ideology, critical

prove his loyalty to the United States

awareness remains infantile” (130). For our purposes, “infantile” means being

serving with the occupying forces, Woody

unable to mature past the separation and initiation phases of Campbell’s hero’s

learns that their family in Japan had

journey. Robbed of a homecoming, these visits his father’s empty grave. Later, the goals of their quest. Joseph Campbell

alone in his room, he closes his eyes and

describes the hero as being “The man

conjures an image of his father, feeling

or woman who has been able to battle

connected to him in a new way. “He

past his personal and local historical limitations to the generally valid, normal

eyes and his own. He’d never seen it

human forms... His second solemn task

before, never thought to compare himself

and deed therefore is to return to us,

with Papa, never dared...there is still a hill outside of town that Papa used to climb.

Tomorrow I will climb it and see what his eyes used to see” (133). This poignant

he remains an “infantile” character who is

scene acts as a homecoming for both

not able to battle past his limitations. Nor

Woody and his father, in that the son is

is he willing to forgive and forget like the characters in So Far from the Sea.

impossible for him to do himself.

It is interesting to note that Jeanne includes an interluding chapter

to be dead because he had cut all ties

in which her brother, Woody, travels to Japan after the war and reconnects with

settled in the U.S., he entertains no plans

his extended family there. His escape

to return. Based on how his character is

from Manzanar happens when he decides

portrayed in the book, it appears that he would have liked to fully assimilate into

nisei 442nd Regiment. He does this to

American society, if such a thing were

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detached and withdrawn, making little walks a line between the two worlds, describing himself as a child of both

family. He’d become stuck, exemplifying

countries. When an interrogator asks him

a common theme in Asian American literature: one of immobility. As much

“When your mother and father are having

as he may identify with his adopted homeland, at his core he is Japanese and indignities in stagnant silence. “Shikata ga nai” — it can not be helped.

American lifestyle, choosing to make a home for his family in a neighborhood

from Manzanar is a return to normalcy,

where few Asians lived and continually

but it is an unsatisfying return, and he is never able to regain his footing in society.

He attempts to start new businesses, but achieves no success. Financially dependent on his wife, he returns to

name” (48). His deep investment in

heavy drinking and his feelings of

his version of the American Dream is

emasculation, until he almost kills himself

precisely why he felt so betrayed when he

with “a combination of whisky and some

and his family became labeled as “enemy

red wine” (155). Babbitt writes: “...when

aliens,” and viewed as potential threats.

It was a blow he would never fully recover

completion...and a feeling of satisfaction.

from, and in his years of detention, he

And where there is a refusal to return,

would be forced to swallow many other

there is a suggestion that...reality is not

indignities, including accusations of being an informer, or “inu,” which means “dog”

story is unsatisfying because he never really has an opportunity to go home, and

in Manzanar drunk and abusive, but

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the reality he inhabits is not worth

living in. This is why the authors chose to

scowl” that they all are swept along with

end Farewell to Manzanar not with an

him in the moment (180). He guns the

account of what happened to everyone

engine, tossing his family around, and

this part of the story out of sequence, the

sequence is rife with bombastic language

authors are able to end the book with an

unlike anything the authors have written

incident that has tension and excitement, “rams” the gear shift, and “stomps” the provides his character an opportunity for

gas pedal. He “laughs” and “growls,” as he

a “homecoming” with more meaning.

speeds past the other families, mocking them as they climb onto their bus. Finally,

journey comes on the day when the

he swerves the car into an open clearing of dust, tumbleweeds and rattlesnakes, and he shouts “Hyah! Hyah!” For a

Refusing to ride the crowded bus back to

hero. Ironically, the heroic archetype he most resembles in this setting is

of the camp, returning some time later,

not the stoic samurai, but arguably the most American character of all: the

Beaming with pride, “his hat cocked,” and with “a half empty quart bottle of whisky”

into the sunset.

By studying Farewell to Manzanar through the lens of

and demands to drive his family around

Campbell’s heroic journey, and by

the camp (180). When his wife tries to

identifying this “homecoming moment,” we are able to discern the “true” story of

engine...and with such a terrible samurai

129

Wakatsuki really wants to share with

will come away with a more nuanced understanding of the Japanese American

broken man with an unhappy ending, but a story about a rebel, a story that rejects negative Asian American stereotypes, and a story that concludes with a hopeful image that “reinforces the impending freedom of the family by celebrating their mobility” (Cheung 144).Furthermore, by able to elevate her father to a position that history would not allow him to occupy in reality: that of an iconic American hero.

This historical revisionism is Jeanne’s way of shedding the last of her “Manzanar mentality,” and forgiving her father for his many weaknesses: “it was not only a forgiving of him; it was

that iconography and categorically stating: “Hey! We are American, too!”

For young readers with Asian American backgrounds, this is a powerful and empowering image to take away. By following the Wakatsukis on their Heroic Journeys, and by recognizing those universal elements that transcend cultures, readers of all backgrounds

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experience.

Babbitt, Natalie. “Fantasy and the Classic Hero.” School Library Journal, Oct. 1987, pp.

25–29.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New World Library, 2008.

Cheung, Floyd. “Reclaiming Mobility: Japanese American Travel Writing after the Internment.” Studies in Travel Writing, vol. 12, no. 2, July 2008, pp. 136–165.

Ching, Stuart H.D. “Multicultural Children’s Literature as an Instrument of Power.”

Language Arts, vol. 83, no. 2, Nov. 2005, pp. 128–136.

Childhood by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and George Takei.” Amerikastudien/American Studies, vol. 51, no. 3, 2006, pp. 355–368.

Friedson, Anthony. “No More Farewells: An Interview with Jeanne and John Houston.”

Biography, vol. 7, no. 1, 1984, p.50.

Nakano, Dana Y. “Japanese Immigration.” Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia, 2014.

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