"LeAvE iT tO Me"

"Leave it to me" is a novel written by Bharati Mukerjee. Topics such as multiculturalism, adoption, seek for identity, hippie movement, Hinduism, ... are developed in the novel.
Clear Water Iris Daughter, Faustine, Debbi di Martino and Devi Dee are the names the protagonist has had in her span life, each name assigned by a different person and the last one by herself.
Devi Dee is a girl in her twenties trying to find out who her bio-parents are. She was raised in an Italian-American family that adopted her at age of two. After high school she leaves New York city and moves to San Francisco in order to track her parents.
Once in San Francisco, she assumes a hippie lifestyle, lives in her car, lives for the day, uses drugs and has sex without major prejudices. She finds her bio-mother and bio-father. She, American and he, Indian. She has been a hippie, and he has been a serial killer.

The novel presents features of Hinduism and Easter beliefs througout the novel and there is an explicit analogy between Devi de goddess and Devi the main character of the novel.
"Leave it to me" is a contemporary novel, not only because of its date of publication but also because of the topics mentioned there.

Not everything is a turd

The title of this post is dedicated to Prof. Fernández. Thank God not everything is a turd for us! And you know why? Because we all had a nice, quiet and safe childhood. Otherwise, we would have thought that evrything was a turd. As in the short story presented by Prof. Guevara in which the main character deals with a turd because of his drug addiction.
Other short stories were presented in our last session. The presenters focused on Reader Response theory and on Carter & long's model in order to analyze "the last sunset" and "tackakahannakeana" After that we discussed the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and whether the short story " For the life of Sheila Morgan" was science fiction or fantasy. So we all agreed, the short story deals with magic rather than science or technology.

Before last

Before last session, we had the chance to hear Prof Vielma's oral prsentation which was called Blue, blue, blue pictures of you. This story presented a great contemporary issue which it was drug abuse, once again! Through the story the author showed the two main characters' lifestyles and the way they wanted to change eachother's life. But why would they want to change their life? Why don't they like their lives? The author author attempts to answer these questions through the whole story. As we can see not only drug abuse is present in the story a lot of contradiction about life itself is present as well. Definitely contemporary aspects from contemporary writers. After the presentation, we discussed the story called Fermi and Frost. This story is how technology is used, and if we, human beings, should trust technology or not. The short story also has "gaps" in order for the reader to have his or her own interpretation.

Leave it to me...

Is everything a turd?

Last class session, we had the chance to hear about "the tale of the turd". A quite different experience in which the allegorical narration of a middle-age man dealing with a turd reflects his own life as a product of drug-use, loss of sel-control, weak personality, etc. This story was discussed by prof. Guevara whose explanations and comments pointed to a very accurate interpretation of the text and and a description within the framework of cultural studies.
On the same session, two other short stories were presented: "the last sunset" and "haka...."
Both stories were approached from two different perspectives: reader response critiscism and Carter and Long's model respectively.
As if it hadn't been enough, we had a glance to the story: "For the life of Sheila Morgan". This story uses elements of technology to portray a mere fantastic story. A good message we can get from it: Even the silliest thought may bring its consquences, so be responsible for your deeds.

Our last session consisted of four short stories, three as student presentations and a last one we all had to read. Once again, as it has been mentioned in previous posts, all of these stories, regardless of whether they are SF, Fiction, or Fantasy deal with created alternative realities that one way or another reflect the current actual reality we are living in. The reader may relate to the contemporary issues discussed in these stories, such as seizing the moment, respecting identity, acknowledgement of one's actions and their implications, meeting deadlines, the sacrifices on behalf of keeping up with our social engagements, among others.

Prof. María Teresa Fernández began with The Last Sunset, by Geoffrey A. Landis. In this SF short story some scientists get about and hour and a half's warning of the end of the world. One of them decides to invite a woman whom he likes, and who works nearby, on a date. They spend their last minutes holding hands, as they watch the beautiful luminosity that in a few seconds would destroy the planet. The story seems to invite us to take advantage of our finite time and to take action before it may be too late.

Prof. Lusvic followed with a story (Name needed) about a situation in which a man helps out an Amerindian family by giving them some food when they were in need. Their baby had no name at the time, and the stranger insisted a name should be given to the creature. He was named after this man as a gesture of gratitude and following their beliefs. The man finds out about this and asks them to change the baby's name, for that was his and should not be anyone else's. The family changes the name, to suit the purpose of both respecting their beliefs and the man's request, as well.

Prof. Cipdeg Guevara conducted Hanif Kureishi's The Tale of the Turd's presentation.
It is the story of an addict who, while in a dinner party at his in-laws', is unable to get rid of a stool in the bathroom. The dread in his life is compared to the stool and the fact that he cannot put either of them behind. In the end, he fetches the stool and throws it out the window, as he has he seems to have done with his own life.

Finally, For the Life of Sheila Morgan, by Dennis Lester McKiernan, was discussed as a group. It is the story of a freelance writer who buys a computer in order to meet a deadline for her piece. A magical software which could grant any spell in exchange for part of the remaining time of the user's life came in the CD-ROM unit of the machine. She misses her deadline and incidentally takes it out on the rude fat man who sold her the machine. Her financial situation gets tight, and the story leaves an open ending from which one may assume she would wish for money or something else to avoid being evicted, for it is implied by the footsteps she hears approaching her apartment, as her car is being towed away.

SELF DESTRUCTION!

Blue, blue, blue pictures of you... That is the name of the story presented by prof. Vielma. In the story, contemporary issues were developed by the author when he presents the middle-age crisis. He portrays through two different characters, different lifestyle which are linked by something in common: drugs. After a series of conflicts, both men ended up envying each other's lifestyles and pitying because of their own one. That as a typical human behavior, human beings sometimes do not treasure what they have and want to have what others do.

We also read a story written by the SF writer Frederick Pohl, this story is called Fermi and Frost. It questions the use or better the misuse of technology against humanity. The setting is the world, specifically USA and Iceland during and after World War III. The narrator presents two possible endings giving the chance to the reader to select the ending he wants for the story.
In both texts, the destruction of the human being as a consequences of his own decisions is stated.

Reality Thought Out of the Box

Last week's session of our seminar began with a look in the life like happenings of the fictional short story Blue, Blue Pictures of You, by Hanif Kureishi, from his collection Love in a Blue Time. This story was discussed in one of the students' presentations I had to conduct. The rebellious,
irresponsible youth of England and issues of the middle aged share the topic focus of this collection. It is not surprising then to come across sex, drugs, music (rock 'n' roll) and the situations these create with an interesting touch of black humor. But more seriously, identity in postcolonial world and the struggles in small community of imigrants give the literary work an autobiographical feature, since Kureishi is the son of a Pakistani father and a British mother.

The plot is common place, but the characters and implications for the social stereotypes of London at the time give it an interesting twist, portraying reality in a very simple, yet appealing, way. A middle aged married (apparently not happily) photographer meets a drug dealer in his thirties who is dating a beautiful woman, around the same age. They ask the photographer to take some pictures of them naked, making love, fornicating... When it is done, the woman asks the artist to burn them. She wants him to be her guide in life for whatever is coming next. He needs the freshness of her naivety. An open ending makes us wonder whether they became lovers, or if maybe he just mentored her, or maybe even both of the above.

For last week's post we were to discuss Frederik Pohl's Science Fiction story Fermi and Frost, as well. It is a futuristic prophetic-like account of what could happen if, hypothetically, someone pressed the button for a nuclear bomb to go off. A reference to Fermi, an Italian scientist is given. His theory of the possible reasons other intelligent life forms from a distant planet might have not contacted us, assuming they could exist, include respect for our privacy, fear of our violence, or the fact that they themselves might have made the same mistakes humans did with the mishandling of technology and power, making them extinct as well. Reflection on the part of the reader is induced through the use of strategies such as self-reflexivity. The implications of these kind of texts include an unconventional presentation of narrative and a greater commitment on the part of the reader. In this case the author offers two ending possibilities that lead to the same course of events, although each with a different attitude towards them. It is up to the reader to take a stand and contribute to make either one of them happen in real life.

Finally, a song was to be selected, any song as long as it dealt with fantasy, magic and the like. Due to a silly grammar mistake on my part due mainly to distraction, a line in the aforementioned story, "we singed the carpet", was misinterpreted as sang the carpet (fortunatelly the misunderstanding was noticed before the presentation). This led to research on any song that had anything similar in the tittle or the lyrics, and that would belong to psychodelic rock, for this is what the characters in the story listened to. I came across Magic Carpet Ride (http://www.steppenwolf.com/lyr/magcca.html) recorded by Steppenwolf . The song is about a well around man who invites a girl to join him in an adventure of discovery, on a magic carpet. The magic carpet is an allusion to Persian carpets that were loaded with a hallucinogenic substance, and that made those "on it" trip away into fantastic adventures.

One of the verses of the song reads, "Fantasy will set you free", and in fact, all of these literary works we have discussed deal with created alternative realities. The use of Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Fiction for that matter, allows authors to devise creative ways to convey their self-reflexive messages. "Setting us free" from the stressful and sometimes cornering reality we are living in is contemporary authors' contribution to "thinking out of the box" for a better living.

Flying high!

One flies high because of magic and the other flies high because of chemical substances. In both cases, the point is similar, getting away from reality. I'm talking of two valuable pieces of literature: "The spatter of later stars" by Nina Kriki Hoffman and "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" by The Beatles (McCartney).
These readings may lead us to ask ourselves some questions: Why is the human being interested in escaping reality? Why are there so many ways of alienation? Is that what makes us human, imagination, that capacity of abstraction?
We see how literature, as a reflection of reality and culture, touches human's inner problems and circumstances.
Both texts allow us to see referents in reality. However, it is the reader the one that will decide what to do with the info. provided by the texts. In the case of the short story, there seems to be a clear message of good and evil, what we should do and the consequences of our deeds. The song, on the other side, presents a social reality as one of the many human manifestations of a decade, take it or leave it appears to be the hidden message of the song but if you took it, you would for sure go away from reality.
Alienation is then another piece of this puzzle of these contemporary topics. If you don't believe me, ask techoaddicts.

Interesting facts of life!

Last class discussion was about analyzing songs. It is so interesting to read and understand that there are facts of life hidden in the messages of some songs. For example, Beatle's song Lusy in the Sky with Diamond. After analyzing the song, it turned out to be that this song was a REAL SURPRISE! A suprise for me because it states a fact of life, or I would say a contemporary issue, which is drug addiction. I can honestly say that I had not heard that song before. So it was schocking, amazing and I may say facsinating to vizualize what a person thinks, does, or reacts when using drugs. The lyrics of the song clearly show that the person, within the song, is living another life in another unique place for him/ her, perhaps for us a stange place. This person has another perception of reality because of drug abuse. I agree with Prof. Vielma when he claims that perception of reality is a topic addressed by contemporary writers. I can end this posting by saying that drugs, as a fact of life, is a topic addressed by contemporary singers.

Alternative Realities, to Each its Own!

This week’s discussion was mostly based on the fact that some songs, particularly those belonging to Rock genre, may be considered poetry. Written in verses that make up stanzas, these words, or lyrics, are meant to be heard rather than read. They express feelings in a creative and aesthetic way that touch the listeners’ fibers, as they enjoy rhythmic and melodic arrangements that aid in the effectiveness of conveying suprasegmental or prosodic meaning. Being recorded, these art works maintain a consistent intonation in the singers’ performance, which, along with the instrumental execution, may account for consensual semantic implications for an interpretative community. Reader response theory or why not “listener response” comes very handy in song interpretation.

As to exemplify the above mentioned, The Beatle’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was analyzed, and a general agreement was reached on the fact that it deals with drug use and its main effect on the user, the distorted perception of reality. What each and every one of us perceives as “what is really happening” may, in many cases, be very different. Such is the case of the experience drug users undergo, which makes each LSD trip, or that of any other drug for that matter be quite unique. The initials of the words in the song’s title and those of the acronym that names this hallucinogenic drug clearly match, and the words in the lyrics give support to this association. Though considered speculative by its performers, this interpretation seems to satisfy a vast interpretative community mostly due to the fact that it was released during a time in which experimentation with drugs was a widely accepted practice that was carried out by an important number of youths who made up the band’s public.

Perception of reality is definitely a topic addressed by contemporary writers, be it in terms of diversity in point of view, or change or distortion in the perception of reality. "A Spatter of Later Stars" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, is a short story about a girl who just turned 14 and paints faces at a carnival. She has been given the gift to, in a way, read her customer’s minds and through her art make people feel beautiful or anything else she wants; just as rock bands do with their songs in the way that was previously discussed. Artist such as writers also have the power to influence their audience. Showing sensibility by appealing to the readers’ feelings, and by achieving the conveyance of their own through writing, authors can make their audience feel, reflect upon, and enjoy art.

True Trash & Red Anger

True Trash is a short story written by Margaret Atwood. In this short story, we can see there are topics such as youth, sexual attraction, abortion and behavior, among others that are been discussed and always will be. Nowadays, there are famous writers that have centered their attention in these social issues. Red Anger is a poem which can be analyzed by the Postcolonial Approach because. This poem deals with the anger some native Americans aborigins feel. Both short story and poem have topics that describe social issues; therefore they also describe reality.

Changes

We are always exposed to changes. Sometimes those changes are for good but others are not. When we realized that things and people we have left behind change, there is a profound sadness within our hearts. Why is there a change? Why does it hurt so much to see what we love change? Sometimes we do not want our life to change, but it does, and, unfortunately, it changes in the best moment. The poems The Return and Another Fool's Day Touches Down portray changes. The first one is about a man that comes back to his hometown, and realizes everything has changed. The place where he used to live and the people who he used to be with changed. besides being surprised of the changes, he was really sad because nothing was the way he left it. In this case the changes have been for good. In the second poem the one who changes is the person that comes back to his hometown. This person is the "fool" who consideres, that just because he has been away for long time, has the guts to show off what he has gained and what he has become. In this case, the people who love "the fool" are sad because he changed a lot! Of course life changes, definitively peolpe change. But let's try to change this world for good, not to hurt others!

True Trash

True Trash is a short story written by the famous Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. Although, she is very famous because of her science fiction stories, this story is quite far from SF; Instead, it portrays contemporary social issues by describing them just as they are seen in reality.
In this story, behavior of youth is described from both perspectives: girls and boys. Age, sexual attraction, sex, abortion, love are topics developed in the story and are considered very contemporary.
Red Anger is a poem in which, according to professor Vielma, a group of native American aborigins manifests anger. In professor Vielma's words these two texts (True Trash and red anger) are related in the sense that they portray realities of ethnic groups. However, I would say that the topics developed in both texts are not limited to a specific ethnic group but they can be experienced by many ethnic groups if not all.

Unresolved Issues that Need Attention...

Cultural diversity is an issue that contemporary writers address constantly in their literary works. The speakers in poetry, the characters of fictional narrative and even the narrators' persona adopt the customs, traditional practices, ideology, idiomatic expressions, jargon and slang of the cultural context of the literary work. Contemporary writers often portray real situations in their fictional works and poems as the context in which their main story lines or ideas develop.

The literary works that were to be analyzed in our seminar this past week look into the cultural context that works as the setting. Margaret Atwood's True Trash is a short story in which some teens who go to a summer camp and then get on with their lives. The outcome of these characters' lives is the product of how they deal with unresolved issues and the taboo of the time in the white Canadian society. Though it is set between the fifties and the sixties, the topic remains relevant, for our current society still holds prejudice and taboo in many areas of human interaction. Moreover, the poem Red Anger deals with the current situation of the American Indians. Left aside in their own reserves, these people feel hatred, anger. The responsibility for this situation is suggested to fall upon the Indians, as well as the White. The Whites inflicted their ideas and power over the Indians, but it is also suggested that the Indians, in a way, allowed them to take it to the utmost extent.

Even though the discussed writings are seemingly unrelated, reactions towards unsolved situations could be considered as common ground. These authors seem to be encouraging the reader to consider all the problems that may arise due to the perpetuation of "dead-end" situations. Though parochial in their setting, they have a universal span, since social taboo, unfair and persistent situations, growing anger or nursed resentment, resignation or the need to protest about them are a part of most societies of the current world in which contemporary writers dwell.

Coming Back!

Three rich literary texts have given us the chance to observe another topic: the dilemma between preserving our roots or becoming a global citizen. The Return by Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Another fools' day touches down: shush and These too are our elders by Jack Mapanje.

In The Return, the sensation that everything changes is vivid when we see the main character coming back after a five-year absence. He, attached to his roots, expected everything remains the same but, to his surprise, nothing was the same in his hometown. Human beings change everyday and nobody can stop that. That is why, it seems absurd to see people who are stubborn and pretend nothing changes around them. These people are condemned to failure. In the poem, Another fool's day touches down, the return of one person is portrayed and this return is also marked by changes. But in this case, the person that is coming back is the one who has changed, we are talking of an individual whose distance has affected his point of view, his values, his beliefs, his customs and habits. He has adopted exotic ways and people from his own group react against these changes. It is again this fight against what is ours and what is external; and this person, has become an external element of this community. In the poem These too are our elders, this confrontation between the original roots and the external factors is presented, between the traditional and the new, between the parochial and the global is presented.

It is interesting that the setting of the three literary texts are presumably Africa in relative recent times. However, the ideas presented in the three texts may be seen in any other part of the world since no people of the world escapes today from these conflicts.

Coming to Terms with Heritage and Self.

Postcolonial literature is an important part of contemporary literature. A great diversity of colonized peoples accounts for differences in their nature and in their traditions. Their individual and cultural identities are still being developed. Having a mixture of customs, languages and other cultural aspects from the colonizing and the colonized, their culture is considered Hybrid. Their literature conveys their search towards understanding their cultural and self identity.

The literary works that were to be discussed this week in our seminar address issues related to cultural hybridity. Jack Mapanje's poems are true examples of this feature. In Another Fools's Day touches down: shush , the speaker returns from from graduate school to his village, noticing the changes he has gone through. He acknowledges the cultural differences that now exist between his people and himself. Moving on to the next poem, in These Too Are Our Elders, the speaker seems to be haunted by an ancestral spirit who questions his hybrid cultural practice, as the speaker, most likely male, now works in a position once owned by the White, and which originally would have been the function of the elder; the guidance of his people. The speaker's schooling, along with other alien ways is criticized by the haunting spirit. The latter, could be said to symbolize the speaker's own conscience, influenced by his people's cultural heritage, which makes him ponder about his deeds in relation to his people's beliefs. In a similar line of thought, The Return, by Ngugi Wa' Thiong'o, narrates the story of a boy who had become a political prisoner and returned to his village, now as a man, only to find out that his wife had left him and that he was not even expected back. Life, customs, and even the location of the village had changed while he had been away. The idea of dynamic cultural development is suggested in this, as well as the previous texts.

In the literary works that are considered postcolonial, the individual judges society and its beliefs, and at the same time society judges the individual in relation to his or her commitment to cultural traditions. Changes from what these Peoples were, what they became and what they are now will surely be present in most of these works. The difficulties that arise for both society and the individual in a climate of cultural hybridity make up an important part of the issues addressed by postcolonial literature.

BeInG a WoMaN

What does being a woman mean? Why so much noise? A woman is, just like any other living entity. Why are women special?
Womanhood is definitely one of the contemporary topics. There are historical, social and cultural reasons for it to be a still ongoing topic. The explanation of those reasons would take too long so we will focus directly on what we have. Three literary texts, one point in common. Phenomenal Woman, Sex without Love and Burn Sugar. In these three texts, the authors developed the idea of portraying a woman as she is, looking at essence rather than appearance. What is a woman made of?. Phenomenal Woman is a poem that shows a powerful and attractive woman, not because she fits in the stereotyping image of a woman (body without brain) but because she is worthy in herself. In Sex without Love, the author criticizes people (men and women) who use their body as an instrument of pleasure for the sake of pleasure, not for the sake of love. In the short story Burn Sugar the essence is revealed. How women's traditions pass from one generation to the next one. Things, that seem meaningless, are valuable in a woman's heart. For some women, the kitchen becomes a school of life.
We may conclude of the three literary texts that there is at least one clear message: Being a woman goes beyond physical appearance and superficialities, it is rather what we have in essence.

Proud of Who We Are, Indeed!

We should always be proud of being a woman. Although some men think, we cannot be considered as equals, we should prove them wrong. Sorry! we can´t say, we should prove them wrong, because we have already proven them who we really are. No matter where we are, no matter where we come from, we will always be "phenomenal woman" In her poem Maya Angelou´s speaker talks about the beauty she has. Although she is not beautiful on the outside, she says men, actually, swarn around her, a hive of honey bees, she says. She broadly expresses that sometimes men wonder what they see in her, but one thing is for sure they won´t get to her inner mystery. That is what makes a woman PHENOMENAL, her inner side. Angela Angelou Marlene Noubese Philip and Sharon Olds are contemporary writers trying to express,through their literary texts, the beauty, the free female sexuality and the struggle of a phenomenal woman. So, we, women, must be proud of ourselves indeed!

Proud of Who They Are!

Throughout history women have had to endure great struggle to be acknowledged as equal to men. With the development of human rights and the feminist movements of the 60's they started to gain a somewhat of a better treatment.

The literary works that were to be discussed this week in our seminar are of a strong feminist nature. In her poem Phenomenal Woman, Maya Angelou's speaker is a woman who without fitting in the current cannons of beauty drives men to her feet. Neither men nor other women seem to understand how she does it, but she explains that she is just BEING a woman. Criticism of society's view of women can be seen as this character explains the fact that she is proud of being one, certain of it as part of her identity as a human being who is no lower than any other, and who is more than flesh and bones. Moving on to Sex Without Love, in this poem Sharon Olds resorts to a rhetorical question that is, nevertheless, answered with an explanation that supports ideas of a free female sexuality that may not be love binding, as it may have been traditionally believed. Finally, Marlene Noubese Philip's short story Burn Sugar, deals with the mother-daughter relation, the struggle for keeping some traditional patterns while breaking with others, nostalgia, parental approval, generation gap, becoming a woman, communication, meaning of traditions, cultural identity, purpose and independence. When the cake the main character got from her mother every year failed to arrive one day, she herself makes some, and this triggers memories of a protective parent, advising her not to be so uptight and not to "try and find the meaning of everything", for cake was meant to be enjoyed. The daughter acknowledges the differences that exist between them. She also recognizes how useful some of her advice has been, but stoutly continues to think her mother is wrong about dropping inquiry of the meaning of things. The latter idea suggests that in the long run the character may end up thinking her mother was right about this too.

Although society has come a long way, much is still to be done to successfully accomplish equal rights for all. Many contemporary writers celebrate the joy and burden of being women in a world that has seriously undermined them. Sexual liberation, criticism towards the way women have handled their recently acquired freedom, the struggle for power and control, society's view of them, traditional roles, motherhood, the couple relation, and even female homosexuality are among the main topics discussed by these authors.

Caribbean Writers II

As it has been said before, Caribbean writers share and will always share the struggle of having a mixture of culture. Through poems and essays, they express the way they preserve their own culture, and the way they manage to live with two cultures. In the poem Patriot, the author Cyril Dabydeen writes about the mixture of two cultures. Although he wants to be part of the new culture, which is the Canadian one, he clearly states and keeps in mind that he will always be "tropical to the bones". No matter where he is, he will be faithful to his Caribbean culture. No matter what he plays with or the cold country where he is, he will always preserve his own culture. Being Always is also a poem that deals with Caribbean culture, but most of all how people try to arrange themselves to a new world or new culture, and how that new world or new culture is arranged within people. This poem also tells the reader that time arranges time, and that we do not live forever. So stop arranging yourself to a new world or new culture. JUST LIVE and learn how to manage two cultures. Identity, exintense, struggle no matter what the topics are, Caribbean writers, through literary texts, will always show the audience the way they preserve their own culture and of course the way they have mange to live with two cultures.

Identity and Existence

As Maria T said in her entry, the human being has been always worried about its existence in the world. The human beings are always searching for something that builds their identity and give sense to their existence. Everyday of our lives, we are struggling with ourselves, facing with the most terrible fears, emotions, and feelings inside, and dreams trying to find ourselves in a world that sometimes seems to be opposed to us and most of the times we should learn to live in if we want to survive. We need something to base our existence on, an idea or a belief. That worry about existence is portrayed in the three poems discussed in class on Monday 14. The caribbean authors expose the main human being conflict between what I want, my will and what the world around allow me to do like in "Bein g Always". They show how our human existence is limited by the circumstances, normally, external factors that escape from our hands, as in the case of the "Patriot" in which the speaker lives in Canada, and his/her wish is to be part of that foreign culture, but at the same time keeping their own identity, values, customs and beliefs from his/her country of origin making designs in the snow. The same thing happens in "Give T'anks"; The speaker has his lover in another country and the love he feels for this lady is affected by the distance because he is far away from her. The only thing he has is to pray God and thanking for the love that none of us possess. Time and distance in this case, are the enemies for that love.
In other situations, culture conditiones the human existence as in the case of the essay "The Media's image of Arabs" where the author explains how the stereotypes, especifically the negative ones, divulged through the media-mass, has affected the vission and our perception towards Arabs and others in our society. The author claims respect towards individual differences. Everyone is different, unique. No matter the skin, race, religion, social condition, and nationality. The most important thing is TO BE.

To be!

The Human being is always in constant search of transcending mere physical existence. From Greek philosophers to the latest academic trends of thought, death has been a prevailing topic in literature, and in English this was no exception. Fear of death has driven Man to ponder on human existence turning Man towards philosophy, religion. The struggle humans go through finding themselves in the world, beseeching identity and purpose in life has been, still is and will continue to be an important issue for writers to develop in their literary works. Thus, finding sense to the question "what are we here for", attaining a fulfilling existence, feeling that we belong to one or more cultures that may or may not share ideas and/or religious beliefs is a universal issue that may appeal to anyone in the world.

As it has been mentioned in previous posts, Caribbean writers share the struggle of having a mixture of customs, languages and other cultural aspects as a substantial part of their heritage. Their literature reflects their search towards understanding their incidental cultural identity and what is to be their purpose of existence. In his poem Patriot, Cyril Dabydeen writes about what could be interpreted as a cultural encounter between North America and his own Caribbean culture, specifically the Guyanese. He addresses the need to stay true to his roots as he invites the Canadian to join him in a practice that could be more likely theirs than his own, playing with the snow. Martin Carter, also from Guyana, deals with aspects of the nature of existence in his poem Being Always as a compound of aspects that the speaker may take into his or her own hands and those that fall out of them. On the other hand, the Jamaican Mervyn Morris has preferred to Give T'anks for what has been granted to the speaker, celebrating another year of grateful existence.

But not only Caribbean writers tackle the existential dilemma humanity is going through. Jack G. Shaheen calls attention towards the fact that religious and political leaders, people in power who are in control of the media may sometimes inflict a false image of people who do not share the same ideas or beliefs as their own. In his essay The Media's Image of Arabs, he points out the difficulties that Arab Americans face due to the stereotyping they have undergone in films, TV programs and the media in general. Another Jamaican, Christine Craig addresses the issue relating it to that which has consistently been discussed in previous posts: choice. In her short sotry In the Hills, the political and ecomomic situation of a city affects the life of its inhabbitants making them desperarate to "find a way out"; it shows how leaders may influence masses of people who want to make changes in their life, or how ideas may change people. A growing interest in issues related to existential aspects in a world that, if not already such, tends to be globalized is taking over many contemporary writers who address this matter in their literary works. The universality of the topic allows for an enormous amount of possibilities in this area that will surely attract readers attention, granting the authors of today's literature what could be an infallible deal for effectiveness, given that they have mastered the crafts of developing a distinct writing style.

Restricted Existence

One of the universal issues, the human being has always worried about is that of the existence, and we found that worry portrayed in contemporary writing in English. The poem “Being Always” by Martin Carter posits the question: Do I live my life or is it my life that lives me? This question is a way to summarize the conflict between my will, what I want to do and what circumstances allow me to do. In a way, this poem becomes a criticism to the religious dogma which states that the human being has free will, he has freedom to choose what he/she is and wants to be. However, the poem proposes a wider perception of reality which includes that freedom is limited by reality and; although it is true that people have freedom, it is also true that the choices are limited by external factors. And from this reality emerges Ortega y Gasset’s famous maxim "I am myself and my circumstance".

The same idea of limited set of opportunities is reinforced by the poems: “Patriot” by Ciryl Dabydeen and “Give T’anks” by Mervyn Morris. In this poem, the idea of existence conditioned by circumstances is presented as in the verses: “I am tropical to the bones” the problem of identity that will determine who and how you are. This limitation can be either voluntary as in the example above or not-voluntary as it is expressed in the essay: “The Media’s image of Arabs” in which the author explains how the perception of the world about Arabs has been affected by the negative stereotypes divulged through mass-media.

Human existence is delimited or conditioned by culture. People either conditioned their being to their culture because of a sense of identity (voluntary) or are being conditioned and determined by their culture because of stereotypes (not-voluntary). There are other reasons to condition the existence like resources, time, etc. In any case, Christine Craig gives us a hope in this dilemma through her short story: “In the Hills”. She lets us know that although circumstances get us trapped, culture exerts pressure on us, or any other restriction, there is always a way out.

Caribbean writers

One of the main reasons for Carribean writers to write is to show or to let the world know about their real identity. The identity they have lost for many years. Through poems, essays and short stories, they can express what their culture really is, which is the richness of their language, the exaltation of their customs and the beauty of the Caribbean people. Although they say they "feel multicultural" they keep on struggling for preserving something that is and will always be important to them, their "real culture." Grace Nichol´s essay "The Battle of the Language" criticizes the way black people are treated and are being treated, it is also mention the way she uses language in order to create a world of her own, because in the world that she lives in is full racial discrimination. When Grace Nichol writes, she feels she has the control of the world, she can recreate a world that she really likes, perhaps a world where black women or just women are not invisible. Besides Nichol´s essay, there is a short story from Marie G. Lee " My two Dads" This short story is also related to culture, the rescue of the Korean culture. Within the story the narrator experienced two different cultures, two different worlds, two different dads and of course two different narrators as well. Even though Marie Lee is not a Caribbean writer, her short story fits perfectly here, because through her writings, she struggles for her own culture and for her own indentity, the identity she had lost just for being Korean- American. People can say many things of Caribbean writers, but one thing is for sure they are going to continue, through literary texts, to prove the world that they have their own identity, their own culture. To end this session about Caribbean writers and to highlight their struggle for being themselves, it is important to write this: "I was always being told I should be something, and then my whole upbringing was something I was not: it was English." Jamaica Kincaid ( a Caribbean writer).

Adresser + Message + Receiver / Context =

Contemporary writers deal with current world wide concern issues. In the midst of globalization multicultural influence falls upon writers, their readers and in fact every single human being that has access to the everyday more easily available free information found in the internet , or anyone in contact with someone who does. An issue such as identity in a climate of cultural alienation continues to be relevant and has been discussed by authors of the former and present century in their literary works.

In the literary works assigned for discussion in the last session of our seminar, aspects of the immediate culture and physical context the authors belong to are highlighted, which is consistent with what seems to be a trend in the Caribbean writers. However, Anthony Kellman's poem Bajan and Kendel Hippolyte's a caribbean exorcism poem, do not portray the spoken language variety's sonorant quality as those of many of their fellow writers do. In this sense, Grace Nichols experiences a dilemma that she puts into print in her essay The Battle with Language. Acknowledging the multicultural influence of the culture she feels part of, the Caribbean, she is driven to use Creole over standard English, or rather a combination of both. However, there are times when she as a poet had preferred to use the standard English; that was the case when the poem had an intended audience with which she would communicate more effectively by using standard English. Parochial aspects that either considered Creole as being of lower social status or which assign value to it based on political and national identity implications utterly influenced the language choices made in her literary works.

The idea of granting the audience its significant importance in the achievement of effective communication is also considered in Mary Lee's My Two Dads. This short story gives a narrative account of how a child became aware of the existing differences between the North American culture she had been exposed to all of her life and that from the country which her parents had come from, Korea. What she found curious about her father in particular was that he behaved differently in Korea and was able to easily get by in a context that was so different from the one she knew. The man not only spoke the language fluently, but also managed to communicate proficiently by embracing their customs and traditions and acting accordingly. Even though she had learned the rudiments of the language, she noticed that there was more to effective communication than just the acquisition of a few functional utterances. In agreement with this thought, I will point out that her father was not only bi-lingual, but actually bi-cultural. As the work's title explains, two dads, practically two different persons communicated differently to meet the ways of the addressees to utterly enable a better understanding of the intended message.

Contemporary issues in different literary forms

The poem “Third World Views (for Grenada)” written by Jean Binta Breeze in 1988 collects feelings regarding 1980’s invasion led by USA and other countries to Grenada. The voice in the poem states his/her rejection to war. The author plays with deictic referents (I - they), relating the use of “I” with nature and the use of “they” with war. Lots of metaphorical expressions to represent the sadness and suffering of the local (I) by comparing these feelings to nature. This poem, unlike “Language” by Marc Mathews, is written with Standard English. The reference to the Caribbean is not given by the way language is used but rather by the images presented in the poem.

But Do Caribbean writers MUST use Caribbean English? Or standard English? There is not any written rule to these questions but, to this respect, Grace Nichols in her essay “The Battle with Language” criticizes the problem with stereotypes. She presents, in this essay and through her poems in general, an opposition towards caging people because of their ethnicity, gender, social class, etc. Actually, she says that people who belong to a group do have the right to be creative and produce different things. Being black or being a woman, for instance, does not have to limit a person’s production. Nichols, being both black and woman, pronounces against the victimization of minorities.

The short story: “My two dads” by Mary Lee deals with culture and ethnicity. The narrator of this story experienced a different world and a different father when she travels to Korea (her parents’ country of origin). She being American and discovering this new world recognizes the cultural diversity, so common in this globalized era.

Finally, we closed our session with a couple of poems by Caribbean writers: Anthony Kellman and Kendel Hippolyte (“Bajan” and “a Caribbean exorcism poem” respectively). The former dealing with the paradoxes of an island (Barbados) reflected in the beauty of its nature; and the latter poem expresses, through a veil of religiosity, certain rejection to stereotypes and it states the importance of accepting and recognizing the existence and coexistence of good and evil.

Feelings and Literature.

The material about Poetry by Bright discussed in class last Monday was just an example of the way poetry can be used in an EFL classroom. However, every teacher or professor must be aware about the purpose, the objectives and the type of material he/she is going to work on with the students. Not only to select a text because "I like it" but to consider it appropriate for the students and the goal courses. At this point, it is important to establish a clear difference between teaching literature and teaching language through literature. The Bright's material was focused on teaching language by using poetry as a resource to work on areas such as vocabulary, grammar neglecting culture and other important literary elements involved in the poem. When teaching literature, not only the language and the poem itself are the focused of attention but also another elements that are close related to literature such as culture, personal experiences, literary terms (rhythm, rhyme, literary devices, speaker, tone, setting and so on), and the reader response of the audience. It means, how readers react when they read a poem; what they feel inside; what the poem transmits us in its verses; what is the real purpose of the poem; what it is the message portrayed; how the audience interpret the text.
Feelings are part of literature and we cannot deny their existence when reading a piece of literary text and producing it. Literature is art and art is part of the human creation. Thus, feelings, emotions and creativity are the main ingredients when writing something no matter if it is a poem, an essay, a short story, whatever.
In fact, in the poetry writing exercise done in class, our experiences in life, the sensations, feelings, thoughts and emotions experienced once, guided us on writing a short poem. It was not an easy task because this is one of the most terrible fears human being has: to face his/her own feelings, the inner part of us that it is our pure human existence. However, I enjoyed the activity a lot because our creativity was the power that pushed us to build something by our own.

Poetry for pleasure?

In my opinion, poetry can be for pleasure depending on the purpose of the class. I agree with Prof. María T. Fernández that says that when bringing a poem to class there should be objectives+pleasure. Teachers have to keep in mind the objectives they want their students to achieve. Poetry cannot be only just for asking and answering simple questions. What about going through language? What about the culture within every literay text? Carter & Long (1991) claim that there are three reasons for the teaching of literature these are: the language model, the cultural model and the personal growth. These main reasons allow students to achieve culture and idiology from an English speaking country. Students can go deep on the language; they can study how language has changed over the years. And of course, while knowing or going through the language and culture, students grow in a second language. We, as teachers, when bringing a poem to class have to take into account the objectives, then poetry would be for pleasure.

Feeling Vs Technique

The academic world has gradually come to understand that pragmatics prevail over rules. In arts, this has been acknowledged, as art is widely known for bending, flouting and even breaking the rules; in my opinion, going beyond them for a higher purpose. This is true for literature, as well, given that it is a form of art that uses language to express ideas, feelings, opinions in a creative way. It implies a manipulation of the conventional use of the language to create new arrangements that produce an impact on the audience, but that is yet understandable. Some authors on language teaching, such as Bright and Mc Gregor (1970) as they mention in their chapter on 'Poetry', believe one must be careful in the selection of written material, particularly poems, making sure that the audience understands the content. Feeling is stressed as the most important aspect to take into account, and it is closely connected to the understanding of texts. These authors deal with the use of such material in language teaching, never disregarding what they believe is the purpose of reading poetry: to enjoy it! Hence, poetry seems to be intended for a purpose other than its very valid use in language and literature teaching.
Any use of the language is intended to communicate and it definitely has a particular intention; such is the case of literature. Reception theory acknowledges that the context in which a literary text is decoded accounts for multiple interpretations. The audience is not to be forced to interpret exactly what the author intended to communicate. However, in order for a text to be effective, specially poetry, the author has to get in touch with his or her own feelings and use the language to express them in a way others can understand. Appealing to feelings, which are common to every human being, authors may widen their audience to the point of reaching universality, which could be considered one of the most important aims of literature and a full proof of effectiveness in the conveyance of a message.
Many contemporary poets are use colloquial language in their work, appealing to a wider audience than other former poets. Rules of spelling and punctuation and capitalization are tampered with to accomplish a desired effect. Although the topics they deal with are of a parochial nature, the feelings discussed are universal. Such is the case of the poems discussed this past week in our seminar, Jean Binta Breeze's third world views and Marc Matthews's Language. To get a better understanding of the process these authors have to go through in order to accomplish a condensed expression of feelings in a creative and aesthetic way, an exercise on poetry writing was carried out in our last seminar session and this is what I came up with... after being reminded that it was not a rational exercise, but rather one to get in touch with my feelings! I hope you can enjoy it...

Funnel of Fun?

So many colors
for maybe just once
making uneasy
dry winds of desserts,
wild herds around
no one to guide me
so unfulfilled
flavor is too.

Sounds are just crazy
Who is it?
It’s you…

Know that it’s last time
Feel it’s not true
Ask for a bad one
It’s just for you.

The information presented in the chapter “Poetry” by Bright is intended to serve as guidance for teachers of English as a foreign language. Along the chapter, there are several examples of the use of literary texts in class.
It is important to remark that this material is just a guidance that can or cannot be useful depending on the purpose of the class. It is then, the role of the teacher to decide whether this information may be of help to accomplish the objectives of the course or not.
The poem “language” by Marc Matthews seems to prioritize the use of language for the sake of communication. The dramatic personae in this poem explains, in a very particular way, that his necessities overcome the way in which he uses the language. The use of informal language transcribing words as they sound, so typical from the Caribbean English, accompanies his argument: communication prevails over language purism.

knsnsus

Semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics… These are all aspects that Gloria Naylor deals with in her essay “MOMMY, WHAT DOES ‘NIGGER’ MEAN?” Questioning meaning and concluding that it is nothing (or something else, something unknown) beyond consensus makes one wonder if the set of definitions we come across on a daily basis is only valid within a particular context. She favors oral communication for its suprasegmental aspects and their involvement in the conveyance of meaning; an inflection, a pause, an intonation in a specific situation, may be more engaged with the actual meaning of the message than the words themselves. However, the importance of context is emphasized and with it the idea of audience, intended reader, actual reader and even reception theory may come to mind. It is the choice the word user makes and the exposure to such constructions in the ongoing situation that will be responsible for the effectiveness of communication, focusing particularly on the decoding process. Contemporary writers are compelled to take these aspects into account, whether intuitively or conscientiously to succeed in their task of getting their message across.

Among the aspects that determine meaning, gender, race and social status are highlighted in Naylor’s discussion, as she points out that her factory, laundry and shipyard working family would use the word “nigger” in different situations and with different meaning. As she was called a “nigger” when she was in the third grade, gender had been most predominant, since she had never heard the word addressed to a female ever before, finally that being what confused her and made her feel somehow insulted, sparking her curiosity into finally asking her mother about the meaning of the word. This confusion is a consequence of the multiple meaning interpretation possibilities that a text, be it spoken or written, may have. The relevance of such possibilities for anyone who is interested in contemporary writing lies on the fact that a text may be decoded in multiple levels and the mastering of conveying a cohesive message in all of these levels is what will utterly make the author’s work effective.

"Mommy what does Nigger mean?"

Gloria Naylor´s essay "Mommy what does Nigger mean?" Explains indirectly the complex phenomenom known as language, and how language, in this case a simple word, can have certain meanings in ceratin contexts. The author emphasizes this quite well when she mentions, "... words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power." Although Gloria Naylor claims that she is not going to go deep on the studies of language, she realizes, and, of course by her essay the reader can also realize, that she has known the word before, but the way the word has been said has changed her life for ever.

"Mommy, what does 'nigger' mean?"

The Naylor's essay is an explanation about the meaning of nigger for some communities, in this case for black and white people. But in a serious tone, the main aim of the essay is to examine the ways in which words can take on meaning depending on who uses them and to what purpose. She states the importance of language as oral as written one in social contexts. Words in isolation are "innouous", it means, they do not have any effect or meaning until they are produced and the consensus gives them true power. As the consensus governs our society because of the power it holds and states what it is right or wrong. The oral language depends on the tone of voice, the intention which words are said and the who. Gloria Naylor shows that African-American minorities can reclaim the power of the consensus and give new, equal meanings to words that have plagued African Americans for ages.
The author's thesis is explained later on when she narrates her experiences at school. Although she had heard the word "nigger" many times, in her family context, she was shocked for the first time when the white boy told her "nigger". Maybe the white boy had learned the word nigger as a mode of humiliation, probably from his parents, showing how white America views the meaning of the word nigger. The oral language is powerfull because of the malicious manner in which the words are used, in this case, nigger. On the other hand, the author establishes an implicit comparison between how black community gives the word nigger another meaning; a positive view of the meaning of the word.
Instead of using nigger as a term of humiliation, her family uses the word as a term of distinction. It is clearly exemplified when she explains her family origins and some other examples
The age, social groups and the rules imposed by the majority are crucial elements that build the meaning of the words in certain contexts.
Degrading words can have a profound impact, but the true power comes from a person that can withstand such remarks and render them worthless.

On "Mommy, what does 'Nigger' mean?"

Gloria Naylor in her essay “Mommy, what does ‘Nigger’ mean?” emphasizes implicitly or explicitly some characteristics of Modern Linguistics, specifically the one concerning the view of language “…as a dynamic, changing system that varies with time and according to social, geographical and even individual contexts…” (Antonini, 1987, p.8) The other characteristic states the primacy of spoken language over written language.

Besides, this essay shows clearly one of the characteristics of language: arbitrariness. As Naylor says when she introduces the essay, words are innocuous; consensus is what gives power to them. The conflict in the essay is given by the fact that the girl is alien to a consensus out of her world. That is why she cannot understand the meaning of the word in a context different from her family’s.

In this particular case, two social groups have established different consensus toward the same word, one opposing the other. In a way, we are dealing with semantic and pragmatic constructions of the same word, one to attack and the other to react.

MT

This Blog is aimed at sharing views and ideas discussed at "Seminario de Escritores Contemporáneos en Inglés" taught at Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador - Instituto Pedagógico de Caracas. Participants in the seminar will be contributing with entries dealing with what has been discussed during the seminar sessions. The contents of the seminar are given below in the activities calendar. Feel free to leave comments!

Course Calendar2008-I

DATE Activity

WK1
10-03 · Introduction to the seminar
· English in its global context
· The role of Literature

WK2
24-03 · Poetry:
· Janet Anthony Hinkson
· Villager’s Independence James Berry
· Prose:
· Short Story: “Mommy, What Does ‘Nigger’ Mean?” Gloria Naylor
WK4
31-03 · Poetry:
· Third world views (for Grenada) Jean Binta Breeze
· Language Marc Mathews
· Prose:
· Poetry T.A. Bright & G.P. Morgan
Exercise on poetry writing

WK5
07-04 · Poetry:
· Bajan Anthony Kellman
· a caribbean exorcism poem Kendel Hippolyte
· Prose:
· Essay: The Battle With Language Grace Nichols
· Short Story: My two Dads Marie G. Lee

WK6
14-04 · Poetry:
· Patriot Cyril Dabydeen
· Being Always Martin Carter
· Give T’anks Mevyn Morris
· Prose:
· Essay: The Media’s Image of Arabs Jack Shaheen
· Short Story: In the Hills Christine Craig

WK7
21-04 · Poetry:
· Phenomenal Woman Maya Angelou
· Sex Without Love Sharon Olds
· Prose:
· Burn Sugar Marlene Nourbese Philip

WK8
28-04 · Poetry:
· Another Fools’s Day touches down: shush Jack Mapanje
· These Too Are Our Elders Jack Mapanje
· Prose:
· Short Story: The Return Ngugi Wa’ Thiong’o
Paper due (Analysis of short story chosen by participant)


WK9
05-05 · Poetry:
· Red Anger R.T. Smith
· Prose:
· Short story: True Trash Margaret Atwood
Individual Presentations

WK10
12-05 · Poetry:
· Songs: various artists
· Prose:
· Short story: A Spatter of Later Stars Nina Kriki Hoffman
Individual Presentations

WK11
19-05 · Poetry:
· Songs: various artists
· Prose:
Short story:Fermi and Frost Frederick Pohl
Individual Presentations
WK12
26-05 · Poetry:
· Songs: various artists
· Prose:
Short story:For The Life Of Sheila Morgan Dennis L. McKierman
Individual Presentations
WK13
16-06 Individual Presentations
· Prose: Discussion on Leave It To Me
Paper due (Analysis of Novel Leave It To Me Bharati Mukherjee)
WK14
23-06 Closing
Discussion of papers
Evaluation of seminar