When Edward Said informed the academy that “ideas, cultures, and histories cannot be seriously understood or studied without their force, or more precisely their configurations of power” he advanced an important point of consideration in understanding the historical context of marginality of any given age. Scholarly study devoted to examining the lives of marginalized people … Continue reading Notes on Rival Geographies, 19th Century Womanhood, and Agency
Month: August 2017
Artist Kara Walker is FED UP
Read more here *featured image is artwork by Kara Walker
To Disparage John Brown and Quash the New Negro: Troubled Confederate Commemoration 1920
For Confederate Memorial Associations maintaining the distinctive social arrangements based on race was central to their survival. These values and beliefs protected the power of the dominant class (patrician southern whites) by infusing the Lost Cause into the minds of the public. In periods of social change their presence would amplify with commemoration activities. Amidst … Continue reading To Disparage John Brown and Quash the New Negro: Troubled Confederate Commemoration 1920
Eurocentrism within Epigraphy- Notes on Coe’s “Breaking the Maya Code”
According to Michael Coe in his book titled, “Breaking the Maya Code” several obstacles arise for scholars endeavoring to understand and decipher the meanings in non-alphabetic scripts across world history. The study of this form of analysis in trying to understand Mayan symbols is the focus of the book. Early in the text Coe describes … Continue reading Eurocentrism within Epigraphy- Notes on Coe’s “Breaking the Maya Code”
Art/Cinema Break: Ousmane Sembène’s “Black Girl”
"The Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, habitually described as the father of African cinema, was a lifelong critic of patriarchy. An avowedly political artist — he had been a labor organizer and a novelist before turning to filmmaking — Mr. Sembène grounded his attacks on colonial oppression and post-independence corruption and compromise in a feminism that could … Continue reading Art/Cinema Break: Ousmane Sembène’s “Black Girl”
Notes on the 19th Century: The Functions of Victorian Manners
The functions of Victorian manners during the 19th century rested on its investment in creating a genteel populace. In this way Victorian manners can be seen as an “investment” of the body. Michel Foucault reminds that, “…the body is directly involved in a political field, power relations have an immediate hold upon it, they invest … Continue reading Notes on the 19th Century: The Functions of Victorian Manners