Summer Reading
I am currently reading two books: John Edgar Wideman's The Island: Martinique (2003) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus (2003).
My full intention this summer was to read possible books that I might include in a Ethnic Literature course that I must teach Spring 2007, which led me to Purple Hibiscus. The plot of the story is moving very slowly, but is a fairly okay read. I will update on my reactions after I finish.
I was also excited to read more of Wideman's fiction and begin drawing more parallels and similarities with Philadelphia Fire. I included Philadelphia Fire in my masters thesis and looked at how he chose to discuss language and loss and to what end. The Island has many similarities with that work, in that it discusses the ramifications that the history of slavery has in the production of the roles that we play and even in the changes that occur on ecological levels. He also makes numerous references to Shakespeare's The Tempest, which also shows up in PF. Although Philadelphia Fire does not directly discuss slavery, it does comment on the explosive possibilities of difference meeting the standards of nationhood. Same thing, different setting. Which brings me to the question of how Wideman falls into the debates/contacts of modernity, modernism, and race. I clearly see that race is central in understanding the demands of modernism and the common characteristics associated it with literary realm. I hope to delve into this more and maybe finally understand how Wideman achieves modernistic goals through postmodernistic strategies. Is that at all possible?
New Books added to my must read list:
Maryse Conde--Who Slashed Celanire's Throat
Andrea Levy--Small Island
Zadie Smith--On Beauty
Martha Southgate--Third Girl From the Left
Danyel Smith--Bliss
Gloria Naylor--1996
(Its obvious that I am attempting to get into speculative fiction).
Happy Reading :-)
My full intention this summer was to read possible books that I might include in a Ethnic Literature course that I must teach Spring 2007, which led me to Purple Hibiscus. The plot of the story is moving very slowly, but is a fairly okay read. I will update on my reactions after I finish.
I was also excited to read more of Wideman's fiction and begin drawing more parallels and similarities with Philadelphia Fire. I included Philadelphia Fire in my masters thesis and looked at how he chose to discuss language and loss and to what end. The Island has many similarities with that work, in that it discusses the ramifications that the history of slavery has in the production of the roles that we play and even in the changes that occur on ecological levels. He also makes numerous references to Shakespeare's The Tempest, which also shows up in PF. Although Philadelphia Fire does not directly discuss slavery, it does comment on the explosive possibilities of difference meeting the standards of nationhood. Same thing, different setting. Which brings me to the question of how Wideman falls into the debates/contacts of modernity, modernism, and race. I clearly see that race is central in understanding the demands of modernism and the common characteristics associated it with literary realm. I hope to delve into this more and maybe finally understand how Wideman achieves modernistic goals through postmodernistic strategies. Is that at all possible?
New Books added to my must read list:
Maryse Conde--Who Slashed Celanire's Throat
Andrea Levy--Small Island
Zadie Smith--On Beauty
Martha Southgate--Third Girl From the Left
Danyel Smith--Bliss
Gloria Naylor--1996
(Its obvious that I am attempting to get into speculative fiction).
Happy Reading :-)
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