Cistercian Mysticism

Edited by Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen, University of Greenland et al.

Since mysticism deals with the ultimate ideals and purposes of human existence, it is one of the most significant phenomena in Western cultural history. Mysticism had a significant role in the medieval monastic environment and, along with many other things, had a profound impact on Western intellectual culture. The history of mysticism in the West... , is a history of the greatest and most significant aspirations and potentialities of the individual regarding the understanding of oneself and the divine. 'Cistercian Mysticism' is an outstanding example. The anthology’s chapters explore key aspects of Cistercian spirituality, including William of Saint-Thierry’s 'visio Dei' (the vision of God), a transformative encounter with the divine that is central to his mysticism, as well as the concept of 'sensus amoris.' 'Cistercian Mysticism' also explores Bernard of Clairvaux’s writings on the Song of Songs and the relation between contemplation and action, demonstrating how action service and contemplative love can coexist. Tradition is further enhanced by Aelred of Rievaulx’s thoughts on spiritual friendship, which highlight how human relationships based on love and introspection mirror the soul’s path toward divine union. By examining the writings of these influential figures, this volume offers a way to comprehend the close connection between the divine and the human soul, highlighting the importance of their contributions to the mystical and theological landscape of the Middle Ages. A book which will undoubtedly be highly enjoyed by scholars and students of all ages and religious communities.   Show more

Affecting the Conflict: Mediations of the Colombian War in Contemporary Art and Film

Rubén Darío Yepes Muñoz, Georgia College and State University

This book focuses on the art and films produced between the years 2002 and 2017 in relation to the Colombian armed conflict. It asks the following questions: How have contemporary art and film addressed the Colombian conflict? What are the contributions of these forms of visual culture to the memorialization of the armed conflict and the overcomin... g of its negative legacies? The main goal is to understand the ways in which contemporary art and film contribute to the historical and social transformations that Colombian society needs to undertake if it is to move beyond the violence and trauma of an internal war that has gone on for over fifty years and produced at least six million victims. The main claim is that the artworks and films in question mediate the conflict rather than represent it. In other words, they bridge the distance between their urban audiences and the predominantly rural conflict. Paying heed to the “affective turn” of the humanities and social sciences, the book also claims that this mediation consists, first and foremost, an affective engagement with the conflict’s history, events, and victims. This affective engagement counters the apathy toward and removal from the conflict that has predominated in Colombian urban sectors. Thus, the singularity of this book lies in the fact that it studies a topic that has not been adequately addressed within English-speaking academia, as well as in its cross-media and interdisciplinary scope. Moreover, it is noteworthy for the originality of its approach and, especially, its attention to affect.   Show more

The Media Reader on Representations of Race, Gender, Disability, Body Size, Age, and Sexuality

Caroline Heldman, Occidental College and Rebecca Bargiachi, University of California, Berkeley

This reader is the first comprehensive look at representations of race, gender, disability, body size, age, and sexuality in US entertainment media. The “bible” of media representation, it weaves contemporary media examples together with quantitative data and qualitative case studies in a way that is accessible to students, industry insiders, and ... media advocates. Using over twenty publicly available reports and datasets, the authors provide the most detailed picture to date of how different groups have historically been erased and misrepresented in film and television. This book should be on the shelf of every person who seeks to understand the significance of media inclusion for the advancement of traditionally marginalized groups in the US.   Show more

Transglobal Humanities: Meeting the Moment

Edited by Mark K. Warford, SUNY Buffalo State University

As the world turns toward increased cultural and commercial integration, it is not clear that humanities programs are sufficiently equipped to engage a global turn in higher education. Furthermore, though “global engagement” has emerged as a buzzword with cache across campus and community organizational missions, the current humanities canon may l... ikewise be ill-equipped to meet the moment. Accordingly, the chapters contained in this volume, which reflect a richly global diversity of authors, themes, and disciplines, critically examine structures that determine the what and how of humanities dissemination worldwide, including technological innovation as well as the dominance of English (-translated) works in the curriculum and the global humanities market. Additionally, we examine blendings of the local and the global, the particular and the universal, the many faces of the cultural other, and possibilities for un-othering in humanities arts and letters, curriculum, and pedagogies.   Show more

Cultural History of the Guitar in Latin America: News from Argentina, Guatemala, México, and Perú

Edited by Luis Diaz-Santana Garza, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico

The objective of this book is to disseminate the rich history of the guitar in Latin America, with special emphasis on Mexico, covering a period that goes from the viceregal age to the present day. The collaborators are some of the most outstanding guitarists and researchers of the instrument from Chile, Mexico, Guatemala and the United States. Th... e chapters aim to explore the composers, performers, repertoire and construction of the guitar since the sixteenth century in Latin America and the US, but also to comprehend the social role and economic ecosystem of the instrument. Due to the long chronology proposed, the book not only deals with the modern guitar, but also with the baroque guitar, and there is even a chapter dedicated to the traditional instruments that have historically been heirs to the Spanish guitar. The originality of this work resides in the use of historical and humanistic tools. It is based on a current bibliography, and it is one of the first books published in English on the history of the guitar in Latin America.   Show more

Tiempo de amistad. Representaciones de su práctica en el cine español contemporáneo (2000-2022)

Edited by Irene Domingo Sancho, University of St. Thomas

'Tiempo de amistad' es el primer volumen colectivo en español que se centra en la representación cinematográfica en la España del siglo veintiuno de una relación que históricamente se ha conceptualizado como modelo de la buena vida en colectividad: la amistad. Sus páginas recogen los capítulos de nueve académicos cuyos análisis dan cuenta de esta ... relación interpersonal y su práctica contemporánea, expanden nociones clásicas y a veces anquilosadas acerca de la amistad y ayudan a entender por qué atender a las representaciones audiovisuales este vínculo puede tener efectos revulsivos y positivos en la sociedad neoliberal actual. Sus páginas contienen exámenes de 'Las razones de mis amigos' (Gerardo Herrero, 2000), 'A cambio de nada' (Daniel Guzmán, 2015), 'Truman' (Cesc Gay, 2015), 'Carmen y Lola' (Arantxa Echevarría, 2018), 'Diecisiete' (Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, 2019), 'Madres paralelas' (Pedro Almodóvar, 2021), 'Chavalas' (Carol Rodríguez Colás, 2021) y 'Tenéis que venir a verla' (Jonás Trueba, 2022). Entrando en debates vinculados con cuestiones de género y clase, de orientación sexual, de etnia, de raza, de especies, e incluso de política, de economía y de nación, las investigaciones realizadas en los capítulos aquí contenidos permiten entender mejor los cambios sociales, económicos, políticos, ideológicos y culturales que han tenido lugar en la España actual, que se dice democrática y es neoliberal. Lo hacen proveyendo alternativas a su lógica, a sus tendencias, a los sujetos que esta construye y a las relaciones que esta favorece. En este sentido, todos los estudios subrayan hasta qué punto la amistad es hoy una práctica clave para pensar la democracia y la contemporaneidad.   Show more

Casas Tomadas: Monsters and Metaphors on the Periphery of Latin American Literature and Media

Edited by Carlos A. González, Harvard University

'Casas Tomadas: Monsters and Metaphors on the Periphery of Latin American Literature and Media' examines how Latin American writers, filmmakers, and artists use monstrosity to reflect on marginalization, identity, and social trauma. This volume brings together close analyses of literature, film, and visual art from across Latin America, exploring ... how the monstrous symbolizes resistance to cultural, political, and historical oppression. Organized into four sections—Night Lights, In the Grip of Monsters, Echoes in the Darkness, and Sinister Spaces—the book offers case studies on works by Mariana Enríquez, Samanta Schweblin, Issa López, and others. Each chapter reveals how monsters, from mythic figures to supernatural landscapes, serve as potent metaphors for issues like queer and feminist activism, postcolonial haunting, and socio-political violence. Contributors engage with genres from horror and the Gothic to speculative fiction, situating monstrosity within Latin American experiences of violence, trauma, and resilience. Distinct for its interdisciplinary approach, 'Casas Tomadas' will serve as a key resource for students and researchers in Latin American Studies, Cultural Studies, and Gothic and Horror Studies. Its focused structure makes it ideal for classroom adoption, while its fresh perspectives on Latin American Gothic and the politics of monstrosity offer new insights for scholars in queer and postcolonial theory.   Show more

Hannes Meyer: Soviet Architect. Life and Work in the USSR, 1930–1936

Tatiana Efrussi

Swiss architect and urban planner, the second director of the Bauhaus Dessau, Hannes Meyer, spent about six years in the USSR—from 1930 to 1936. This book presents the first in-depth study of Hannes Meyer's activities during the years of early Stalinism. There is a global interest in this architect’s legacy today, but his work can hardly be unders... tood without a closer examination of the key chapter in his career. This book is an attempt to challenge the usual Western-centered perspective and explore not only what Meyer could bring to the Soviet Union but also what he sought to learn there and how this interaction influenced his work and thinking. The somewhat provocative title underscores this thesis. A detailed reconstruction of his professional activities during this period was made possible through archival research in several countries (Russia, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) and field trips across Russia. In the end, the narrative offers a glimpse into the Soviet architectural context of the 1930s—networks, hierarchies, behavioral strategies, theories, and interpretations of major polemical concepts such as "proletarian architecture" and "socialist realism." Among the projects for "socialist cities," Meyer was commissioned to create the urban plan for the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region in the USSR—Birobidzhan. The dedicated book chapter explores his involvement in the search for a distinct Soviet "Jewish style." Hannes Meyer, the most controversial of the architects associated with the Bauhaus, was passionately involved in politics, and available documents indicate his desire to become a "Soviet architect" at all costs. The research allows us to view Meyer not only as a victim but also as an actor in the early Stalinist system based on violence.   Show more

Migration, Capitalism and Media

Edited by Kazım Tolga Gürel and Nalan Ova, The Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey

This study explores the intricate arrangements that serve the power and profit interests of the ruling classes. It examines how capital-driven approaches and life-colonizing construction goals form the backdrop to the events and analyses presented in these articles. Each contribution, regardless of its conclusion, begins with real-life experiences... , interpreting specific theories and data through the lens of historical context. At the heart of the book lies the notion that all practices and elements of life are subject to colonization. Whether in the form of a nation-state or a party-state, the state functions as a power center shaping migration policies to serve ruling-class interests. The articles included were carefully selected by the editor. While some emphasize the concept of identity—an approach the editor may not fully endorse—these pieces were chosen to reflect a diversity of thought and to model the kind of genuine democracy that remains absent in today’s world. It is important to note that the book rejects any ideologies that violate human rights, such as fascism, racism, homophobia, misogyny, and xenophobia. This collection offers a compelling examination of themes including immigration, capitalism, and the media.   Show more

Political Breakout: Situation, Need, Action

Tony Fry

The book is totally preoccupied with thinking beyond existing political thought and institutions. It recognizes that irrespective of who or where we are, and no matter if we know it or not, “we” now all live in “the end times.” Most explicitly, this moment is expressed by evolutionary biology, making clear that planetary life is at the start of th... e sixth extinction event – a situation indivisible from climate change impacts. The already unstable geopolitical “state of the world” and its dangers will amplify the coming eco-environmental conditions, resulting in population displacement, resource stress, critical conditions of food security, and conflict. Globally, across all political ideologies, existing institutional politics demonstrate an incapability of responding to these situations. There is an evident temporal disjuncture between how extant politics is positioned in time and the moment of an ever-accelerating end times. Effectively, political institutions, their theory and practice, are out-of-step with terminal speeding “defuturing” events. As the book makes clear, this situation needs to be fully recognised. At the same time, there are visions and political positions presenting themselves as directing what will come after the end times. Viewing these positions indicates that the future will be plural and contested. In one direction, technology and corporations will become even more powerful (as a critique of the literature on “accelerationism” shows). But at the other extreme, a huge swathe of displaced humanity is almost certain to be abandoned. In the face of these prospects, new political thinking and practices are essential. But this will not come from the existing political paradigm. Such change needs a new political imagination. Responding to this need is a primary focus of the book. To do this, the influence of Spinoza on political imagination provides a key point of engagement and departure.   Show more

Cultivating Dialogue, Language, and Literacy for Social Justice in Teacher Education

Edited by Adam Devitt, California State University

Within sociocultural traditions, language, dialogue, and social literacies play an institutional role in learning and human development. Discourse practices, however, go far beyond the traditional focus of using speaking and listening to support the learning of content knowledge. Teacher discourse practices ought to promote critical literacies and...  linguistic practices, and promote anti-racism and social and environmental justice. Classroom discourse, however, is missing from teacher education programs on a large scale in these significant ways. Teacher educators need to understand the social and political policies, pedagogical role, and multitude of practices for helping pre-service teachers and teacher practitioners learn to acquire and facilitate quality discursive practices in K-12 schools and understand related pedagogy. This book, ‘Cultivating Dialogue, Language, and Literacy for Social Justice in Teacher Education’, offers a variety of models for integrating discourse practices and pedagogies into the field of teacher education, including pre-service teaching, professional development, and even critiques on policy and subsequent affordances and consequences that inhibit or promote the quality of teacher discourse and the purposes for which teachers utilize classroom discourse. I would recommend this book for teacher education programs as well as professional developers who work with pre- and in-service teachers. Additionally, I recommend this book for researchers committed not only to classroom discourse analysis, but to promote speaking and listening among teachers and students in ways that enhance learning and development.   Show more

Amplifying Student and Youth Voices in Education Research

Edited by Erika Abarca Millán, New York University

When trying to figure out a solution to a problem, wouldn’t you involve in the process those affected by the issue? For the longest time, education research didn’t —the voices of those most affected by educational disparities and inequities were not part of the solution to the very issues which they faced. By including students’ and youth’s persp... ectives, education researchers can now begin to identify and understand the issues that pervade students’ contexts under a more nuanced light, and thus, embrace the notion that students and youth are not passive recipients of change, but rightful architects of the solutions to the critical challenges affecting them. This edited volume aims to showcase the value that can be created by amplifying the voices of marginalized and minoritized students and youth, and examining their experiences through various qualitative methods. The chapters in this volume include projects conducted in different settings and countries and address important issues concerning students and youth, including post-secondary education, special education, learning disabilities, the juvenile justice system, among others. This volume is for you if you are interested in equity and education research and it will serve you as a reference for research that has actively and consciously included student and youth voices. Whether it be through instruction, research or policy, this volume aims to inspire you to put in motion the work that remains to be done, so that we can provide all students and youth, regardless of their characteristics and context, with the specific resources they need to thrive in their personal and academic journeys.   Show more

Puerto Rican Spanish, Reggaetón Style! The (Socio)Linguistics of Urban Music

Edited by Wilfredo Valentín-Márquez, Millersville University et al.

Featuring in-depth studies of iconic reggaetón artists from Ivy Queen to Karol G, 'Puerto Rican Spanish, Reggaetón Style: The (Socio)Linguistics of Urban Music' is a groundbreaking collection that delves into the sociolinguistic intricacies of reggaetón. This volume offers innovative examinations of the genre through a linguistic lens, featuring a...  diverse range of methodologies and subdisciplines, including phonology, lexicography, semantics, and discourse analysis. The chapters explore the stylistic elements that define reggaetón, shedding light on the unique indexical value of sibilant and liquid consonants, the distinctive lexicon of reggaetón lyrics, and the ways in which artists use language to navigate—and challenge—racial and gender stereotypes in the construction of their performative identities. By bridging the gap between linguistic theory and popular music, this cutting-edge volume offers a fresh perspective on reggaetón’s cultural power. It is an invaluable resource for anyone working in fields like language, sociolinguistic analysis, performance studies, popular music, and Puerto Rican culture. 'Puerto Rican Spanish, Reggaetón Style: The (Socio)Linguistics of Urban Music' will not only resonate with researchers, but it will also captivate fans of reggaetón—from cultural and media critics to the everyday listener. With its thorough exploration of how language drives the global expansion and cultural significance of reggaetón, this text is essential for anyone interested in the intersections of language, music, and sociocultural identity.   Show more

Making of the Popular: Production of Culture and Discourses in Bangladesh

Manosh Chowdhury

This book aims to illustrate how the 'popular' is not an arbitrary outcome as it is claimed to be, and how the project of constructing the popular functions as a web composed of different agents - governmental and state agencies, the media, corporate groups, development agencies, and the military with subtle nuances. Different agencies overlap in ... many aspects but work as a pact for making a national-popular. With specific references to Bangladesh, this book tends to illuminate how these agencies share similar missions and objectives, create spaces to collaborate with each other, and, regardless of specific disputes among them, maintain and manifest an oligarchic relationship. This is the flexible, yet definitive, location of the popularizing project - a 'cultural mission' of the ruling systems. It would deny a simplistic understanding of popular culture and posit the question of the popular within a complex web of social agencies in a particular space, at a specific historical juncture. Making popular here is integral to claiming populist credibility both as a cultural and political mission. It is cultural in the way the projects are launched and manifested and seek to reveal certain meanings. It is political in terms of configuring indoctrination over its subjects, mostly in the form of nationalist exhibitions. The project is becoming even more important for the corporate groups as it does not necessarily contest the state machinery but rather takes it as a 'de facto' ally.   Show more

Liberation through destruction / Liberación a través de la destrucción

From fantastic creatures to marginalized social groups / De criaturas fantásticas a grupos sociales marginados

Edited by Ekaterina Kagan, Russell Sage College, New York and Gabriela Schiappacasse, University of Pittsburgh

In the literature of Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean, countless acts of redefinition emerge through destruction, a powerful symbol of breaking free from oppressive forces and embracing independence. Within these narratives, characters undergo a process of redefinition, enabling them to assert themselves and advocate for their own rights, u... ltimately generating a sense of empowerment. But this transformation isn’t confined to human beings alone, it also extends to magical creatures, demonstrating that all entities, human or otherwise, have the power to reshape their destinies through the redefinition of their identities. 'Liberation through destruction: From fantastic creatures to marginalized social groups' portrays literary worlds in which a rich tapestry unfolds, where witches, sorcerers, demons, and other fantastical beings coexist within contemporary, modern, and even colonial settings. These characters breathe life into these narratives, giving voice to those marginalized, alienated, or rejected by society. However, the presence of these diverse and extraordinary characters challenges the established hierarchies. When women are seen as witches or portrayed as autonomous figures, fear often follows. The dissident woman becomes a target simply for refusing to conform. Her defiance against masculine subjugation, and her pursuit of feminine liberation and economic autonomy, forces her into a liminal space between what is accepted and what is repudiated, between what is considered “normal” and what is “terrifying.” This “woman,” who breaks the rules and challenges societal norms, who evokes the heroines who took action, like Antigone and La Llorona, heroines who act decisively to navigate the blurred line between what is “fair” and what is “unfair,” between what is “right” and what is “wrong.” In doing so, they enter a space where they are both feared and revered, they embody a liminality that gives them the ability to rewrite the stories they occupy and enter a realm where they are both feared and revered. En la literatura española, latinoamericana y caribeña, son frecuentes los actos de redefinición que, a través de la destrucción, se presentan como un poderoso símbolo de liberación de las fuerzas opresivas y de la adopción de la independencia. Dentro de estas narrativas, los personajes a menudo atraviesan un proceso de redefinición que les permite afirmarse y abogar por sus propios derechos, acompañado de un proceso de empoderamiento. Sin embargo, esta transformación no se limita solo a los seres humanos, sino que también se extiende a criaturas mágicas, demostrando que todas las entidades, sean humanas o no, tienen el poder de redefinir su identidad y, por tanto, transformar su destino. 'Liberación a través de la destrucción: De criaturas fantásticas a grupos sociales marginados', despliega un rico tapiz de mundos literarios donde brujas, hechiceros, demonios y otros seres fantásticos coexisten en escenarios contemporáneos, modernos y coloniales. A través de estos personajes, se consigue dar voz a aquellos que han sido marginados, alienados o rechazados por la sociedad. Sin embargo, la presencia de estos personajes no pasa de largo, sino que desafía el status quo. La aparición en estas obras de mujeres que son (o son vistas) como brujas o figuras autónomas suele causar miedo a su paso. La mujer disidente no pasa de largo, sino que se convierte en objetivo simplemente por no conformarse con lo que le viene impuesto. Su búsqueda de la liberación femenina y la autonomía económica la obliga a ocupar un espacio ambiguo entre lo aceptado y lo repudiado, entre lo que se considera “normal” y lo que se considera “terrorífico”. Esta “mujer” que rompe las reglas y desafía las normas sociales, evoca a heroínas como Antígona y La Llorona; heroínas que actúan de manera autónoma, fijando sus propias normas y situándose en una línea difusa entre lo “justo” y lo “injusto”, entre lo “correcto” y lo “incorrecto”. Al hacerlo, entran en un espacio donde son tanto temidas como veneradas, un espacio donde tienen la capacidad de reescribir sus propias historias.   Show more

Vagabondage: A Timeless Reaction to the Malignancy of Western Civilization

Ian Cutler

This book concerns why the writers featured sought to exile themselves from mainstream society, not least by embracing the ‘natural’ world and an ascetic lifestyle. With the help of generous references from the 30-plus vagabond writers featured (plus many more contributions from secondary texts), Cutler has identified what he regards as the key fe... atures of the temperament and philosophy of those who rejected mannered, conventional society for a vagabond life. Each chapter addresses a different aspect of vagabondage under such themes as: wanderlust; the compulsion not to live a settled existence; asceticism; affinity with nature; the desire to retain the innocence (and mischief) of childhood; aloofness yet compassion for the rest of human-kind; and the rejection of formal education for knowledge experienced via their own senses. Refusing to be compromised by the grand narratives of religion, politics, law, nationalism, and convention, they regarded themselves as ‘citizens of the universe’ rather than slaves of what they regarded as geographical and political states artificially created by humans. Cutler attempts to rescue from obscurity, the philosophy first espoused by the ancient Cynics and now practiced—outside of any organized movement—by this disparate group of thinkers and writers, by presenting arguments and conclusions that are original to this work.   Show more

Affecting the Conflict: Mediations of the Colombian War in Contemporary Art and Film

Rubén Darío Yepes Muñoz, Georgia College and State University

This book focuses on the art and films produced between the years 2002 and 2017 in relation to the Colombian armed conflict. It asks the following questions: How have contemporary art and film addressed the Colombian conflict? What are the contributions of these forms of visual culture to the memorialization of the armed conflict and the overcomin... g of its negative legacies? The main goal is to understand the ways in which contemporary art and film contribute to the historical and social transformations that Colombian society needs to undertake if it is to move beyond the violence and trauma of an internal war that has gone on for over fifty years and produced at least six million victims. The main claim is that the artworks and films in question mediate the conflict rather than represent it. In other words, they bridge the distance between their urban audiences and the predominantly rural conflict. Paying heed to the “affective turn” of the humanities and social sciences, the book also claims that this mediation consists, first and foremost, an affective engagement with the conflict’s history, events, and victims. This affective engagement counters the apathy toward and removal from the conflict that has predominated in Colombian urban sectors. Thus, the singularity of this book lies in the fact that it studies a topic that has not been adequately addressed within English-speaking academia, as well as in its cross-media and interdisciplinary scope. Moreover, it is noteworthy for the originality of its approach and, especially, its attention to affect.   Show more

The Senses and Memory

Edited by Chanelle Dupuis, Brown University

How are the senses and memory linked? What do sensory approaches to research reveal about the functions of memory? This edited volume encompasses various interdisciplinary projects that showcase the value of viewing the world through all of the senses and the ways that memory is multisensorial. From smell’s “Proust effect” to music’s ability to im... prove memory and mood, we remember and memorize the world through sensory input. This book expands research on multimodal work, the senses and materiality, the senses and methodology, sensing memories of the past, and technology’s impact on sensory lives. The chapters included cover all the senses, as well as the cross-modal experience of synesthesia. Each chapter further covers concepts related to memory studies, ranging from nostalgia, traumatic memories, and memorials to remembering the past (history), archives, and questions of identity. This edited volume is divided into five sections, each containing two to three chapters. The five sections, “Sensing Place and Space,” “Art as a Medium of Memory,” “In the Mind of Synesthesia,” “Making Sense of Materiality,” and “Technology and the Sensorium,” describe different groupings of interest. From questions of spatiality to digital life, each section invites the reader to explore new developments in the fields of memory studies and sensory studies and new insights on established topics. In these intimate, critical, and penetrating chapters, the authors of this book share new visions of what it means to write at the crossroads of the senses and memory and present new methodologies, frameworks, and pedagogies for examining this interconnection. A resource for both research and teaching, this volume represents a valuable guide for scholars working in sensory studies and memory studies. The hope is that "The Senses and Memory " will inspire future research and thinking in these evolving and expanding fields of study.   Show more

Simply to Be Americans? Literary Radicals Confront Monopoly Capitalism, 1885-1938

Joel Wendland-Liu, Grand Valley State University

'Simply to Be Americans?' delves into the transformative power of radical U.S. literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, uncovering how writers boldly confronted the intertwined forces of Americanism, capitalism, racism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Through the works of visionaries like Lucy Parsons, Albert Parsons, and Sut... ton Griggs, this book reveals how early literary radicals challenged the foundations of monopoly capitalism and white supremacy, planting the seeds for a culture of resistance that would flourish in the decades to come. Exploring the speculative genius of Mark Twain, Jack London, Gertrude Nafe, and W.E.B. Du Bois, 'Simply to Be Americans?' showcases how allegory and satire became powerful tools to dismantle nationalism, imperialism, and racial hierarchies. While these pioneers often grappled with the complexity of these systems, a study of their work illuminated both the possibilities and limitations of early radical thought. As the twentieth century unfolded, U.S. writers embraced revolutionary internationalism, forging connections between domestic struggles and global anti-imperialist movements. Figures like John Reed and Hubert Harrison championed solidarity across borders, while the Russian Revolution and worldwide labor uprisings inspired a new wave of politically charged art. Writers like Genevieve Taggard and W.E.B. Du Bois called for literature that expresses urgent struggles against systemic oppression. In the 1920s and 1930s, luminaries like Mary Burrill, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, H.T. Tsiang, Josefina Niggli, Lola Ridge, and Dorothy West rejected assimilation, exposing American society’s capitalist and imperialist core. Their works vividly exposed the intersections of race, class, and gender, advocating for unity among the oppressed. 'Simply to Be Americans?' redefines the legacy of U.S. radical literature, tracing its evolution and celebrating its enduring impact. This groundbreaking study reveals how these writers critiqued their world and laid the foundation for future movements against exploitation and injustice, offering timeless insights into today’s struggles.   Show more

Revulsion: The Paradox of Disgust in the Rape-Revenge Narrative

Brandon West

The extant scholarship of the rape-revenge narrative has frequently either upheld this narrative form’s feminist bonafides (Clover) or condemned it as misogynistic (Creed). In this volume, West argues that these competing camps of thought have largely elided rape-revenge’s inherent ambivalence, which stems from the paradoxical role disgust plays i... n rape-revenge texts. That is, disgust is essential for portraying rape as the horrific act it is, but employing disgust in a rape-revenge text risks alienating audiences. To explore this issue, Brandon West first shows the strengths and pitfalls of different methods rape-revenge auteurs have used to approach this disturbing narrative form. Showing rape and revenge in graphic detail has well-documented issues in the scholarship, but the author shows how texts that eschew such graphic portrayals also have their own consequent weaknesses. Thereafter, West articulates the paradox of disgust so he can isolate this key issue hounding these texts and analyses thereof. Then, West shows how disgust plays multiple roles in these texts, roles that make the paradox more challenging to resolve. To this end, the book shows disgust not only risks alienating audiences but also forms part of the pleasure these texts offer audiences. And so, West enumerates the possible pleasures of disgust. Finally, this book pulls these threads together to examine a couple of final rape-revenge texts, one of which, 2017’s 'Revenge', West argues, is the most successful anti-rape narrative discussed in this volume because of the balance it strikes between evoking disgust and avoiding alienating audiences.   Show more