Some argue that magical realism is inherently democratic and point to the carnival qualities of “100 Years of Solitude.” But carnival populism can push right as well as left.
Monthly Archives: January 2018
On the Carnivalesque in Magic Realism
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 100 Years of Solitude, Donald Trump, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, magical realism, Mikhail Bakhtin Comments closed
Telling Your Name the Livelong Day
Insecure people like Trump claim that they know everything whereas poets embrace the words “I don’t know.” Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody” captures the difference between poets and people like Trump.
Atwood’s Jezebels at the Presidents Club
The Presidents Club scandal bears much resemblance to “the Club” in “Handmaid’s Tale” to which the Commander takes Offred.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, MeToo, Presidents Club Charitable Trust Comments closed
Lit for Survivors Lost in a Dark Wood
Monday Commonweal recently published a heartfelt article by West Point visiting English professor Cassandra Nelson on how literature can help trauma survivors recover. Nelson begins with an angry comment about a University of Chicago dean’s facile dismissal of trigger warnings, even though she herself opposes them. She, however, speaks from the vantage point of one […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bluest Eye, Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Child Abuse, Dante, Inferno, Junot Diaz, PTSD, Toni Morrison, trauma, trigger warnings Comments closed
How To Find a Paradise Within, Happier Far
Milton would have called those white evangelicals promoting Trumpism “grievous wolves.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Trumpism, white evangelicals Comments closed
Wordsworth Changed How We See Nature
Writer Margaret Drabble explains how Wordsworth changed the way we see the world.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Prelude", Nature, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Marquez: How GOP Can Regain Its Soul
What has happened to the GOP is what happens to Col. Aureliano Buendia in “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Fortunately, Garcia Marquez assures us there is a way back.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 100 Years of Solitude, Donald Trump, Dreamers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, GOP, politics Comments closed
How Atwood Rescued This Single Mom
In an inspiring story, single mom Ashley found Atwood’s novels helped her turn her life around.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Edible Woman, Feminism, low self esteem, Margaret Atwood, Robber Bride, self-empowerment, Surfacing Comments closed
