Goddamn Lyotard!

Octavia Butler's Kindred might not appear as startlingly postmodernist as other novels we've read ( Mumbo Jumbo, for example) but her writing presents a powerful challenge to the kind of unilateral, hegemonic narrative that postmodern texts sought to deconstruct.  The story unfolds on a Maryland plantation decades before emancipation, grounding Dana's experience in a time when slavery would have felt virtually inescapeable. Dana realizes that the rift between her time and Rufus' time is more than temporal or spatial, but the two environments she's pulled between demonstrate completely different assumptions about humanity. She and Kevin first seek to understand their new environment through their history books from back home, which provide essential information about past laws and regulations. However, the knowledge found in history books can't capture the real experience of living as a slave on Weylin's plantation. Recounting facts about such a brutal era...

In our first class discussion of Slaugherhouse-Five we explicated the novel’s three titles and their relationship to Vonnegut’s writing style and political opinions. Vonnegut exemplifies the idea that all art is necessarily political, so every aspect of his text serves to push against nationalistic and hegemonic norms. Mary O’Hare, the wife of Vonnegut’s war buddy, suggests the secondary title The Children’s Crusade in order to focus his work around the real and terrible experiences of the young boys who suffered under the guise of American ideals. During discussion, someone (Mr. Mitchell?) mentioned that Vonnegut’s conscious inclusion of a woman’s perspective on war exposes another side to the great WW2 narrative we expect. The kinds of John Wayne war movies that Vonnegut despises are centered around men, masculinity, and dramatized violence. Mary’s reminder that wars are fought by children refutes all the glorified portrayals of war perpetuated by blockbuster movies and patriotic n...

Mumbo Jumbo immerses readers in a web of alternative historical narratives that challenge the Atonist status quo and promote critical reflection on the role of history, mythology, and art in our world today. The world Reed creates seems both confusing and fundamentally equivalent to the one we've been taught about, and this duality can be seen in the story of Warren G. Harding. I've tried to dig up "real" historical information regarding this unpopular president and his untimely death in order to expose exactly how compelling Reed's theories can be. First of all, nobody likes Warren G. Harding. Most sources rank Harding as the nation's fourth or fifth-worst president due to his tax reforms favoring corporations, restrictive immigration policies, multiple bribery scandals, illegal drinking during Prohibition, and extramarital affairs with much (31 years!) younger women. Harding is also known for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, during which his administra...