African American poet Rita Dove talks about the importance of poetry in resisting tyranny, especially its attack on language. In “American Smooth,” she expresses a foundational optimism about America.
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Tag Archives: Barack Obama
Poetry as a Check against Tyranny
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "American Smooth", Donald Trump, poetry and politics, Rita Dove | Comments closed
The President Who Loved Literature
In a remarkable interview with “The New York Times,” Barack Obama spoke about the importance of literature in his life. The range of his reading and the sensitivity of his responses is astounding.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Bend in the River, Colson Whitehead, Doris Lessing, Ernest Hemingway, Fates and Furies, Garcia Gabriel Marquez, Gilead, Gillian Flynn, Golden Notebook, Gone Girl, Jack Kerouac, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, Lauren Goff, Liu Cixin, Marilynne Robinson, Martha Nussbaum, Maxine Hong Kingston, Moveable Feast, Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Philip Roth, Road, Saul Bellow, Song of Solomon, Tempest, Three Body Problem, Toni Morrison, Underground Railroad, V.S. Naipaul, Warrior Woman, William Shakespeare | Comments closed
Obama’s Problematic Allusion to Atticus
In his farewell speech, Obama quoted Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In light of the white backlash against having had a black president, however, the Atticus Finch of “Go Set a Watchman comes to mind, making Obama’s allusion seem a bit weak.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, racism, To Kill a Mockingbird | Comments closed
Obama Calls Upon Us To Be Wiglaf
Putting the president’s farewell address last night in terms of Beowulf, Obama was calling upon us to be Wiglaf. Wiglaf is Beowulf’s nephew who, after having lived a comfortable life during Beowulf’s reign, realizes that Beowulf can’t solve all his problems. He must step up himself to save the country from the dragon.
Good Readers Make Good Presidents
Continuing with the favorite literature of our presidents, here is Eisenhower through Obama.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged American presidents, Bill Clinton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan | Comments closed
Wishing Hillary Godspeed
What are we to make of these charismatic men like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama supporting Hillary? I offer up Thomas Hardy and James Baldwin references to advance different interpretations.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton, James Baldwin, Jude the Obscure, Sonny's Blues, Thomas Hardy | Comments closed
We Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again
Obama’s speech passing the baton to Hillary Clinton last night brings to mind a passage from “Hamlet.”
Bringing an End to Bernie’s Romance
The Democratic Party has been striving to let Bernie Sanders down slowly, even as it separates him from his dream. It is like the way upper crust society in Edith Wharton’s “Age of Innocence” separates the protagonist for the scandalous woman he has fallen in love with.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Age of Innocence, Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party, Edith Wharton, Hillary Clinton, Presidential Primaries | Comments closed
Resisting the Witchery of Nuclear Warfare
Today Barack Obama will be the first American president to visit Hiroshima. Laguna Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko has an explanation for the development of the bomb: witches.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Ceremony, Hiroshima, Leslie Marmon Silko, nuclear bomb, nuclear warfare, witchery | Comments closed