Category Archives: Twentieth century literature

Ishmael Reed, Grateful Dead: Egypt

November 28, 2012 Ishmael Reed gets away with it. He is “a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra,” he says in the poem of that title.  And he gets to do thisbecause Sonny Rollins has already set an example: Sonny … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Arts communities, collaboration, contemporary poetry, Egypt, Global South, jazz, Middle East, Music, peripheral networks, Rock music, Twentieth century literature, Vernacular dialects, World religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sherman Alexie, Walt Whitman: Hoop Dreams

November 14, 2012 When Stephen Colbert pointed out with incredulity that he had come out with yet another book, Sherman Alexie said, “That’s what happens when you’re literate.” Yes, from reading to writing: it’s as easy as that, as inevitable. … Continue reading

Posted in Autobiography, collaboration, contemporary poetry, Ethnicity, Genre, Media, mixed races, Modernist poetry, Native-American literature, Nineteenth-century literature, peripheral networks, print medium, Remediation, Remix, Sports, Television, Twentieth century literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: “Re Dis Appearing”

October 24, 2012 I’m getting ready for the World Humanities Forum, held next week in Busan, South Korea.   So I’ve been thinking about Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, born in 1951 in Busan. She immigrated with her family to the … Continue reading

Posted in Arts communities, Asian-American literature, Autobiography, Cities, Comparative literature, Contemporary Art, Diaspora, digital humanities, digital platforms, Ethnicity, film medium, Gender, Genre, Interdisciplinarity, Media, print medium, Publishers, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature, Universities, Visual arts, World religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Soul food: Jack Kerouac, Charles Johnson

October 17, 2012 Japhy – Gary Snyder – has no interest in the Buddhism of Chinatown, he likes only the real thing, the Zen taught in Japan.   But Kerouac likes everything, especially after a feast of dim sum at Nam … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, Afro-Asian alliances, Buddhism, Catholicism, Christianity, Contemporary novel, Diaspora, Ethnicity, Food in literature, jazz, peripheral networks, Race, Religion, slavery, Twentieth century literature, World religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jack Kerouac, Edwidge Danticat: Joual and Creole

October 10, 2012 The name on his birth certificate is Jean Louis Kirouac – that’s the most common spelling of the name in Quebec, which is where his parents were from.  His father, Léon-Alcide, continued to work as a printer … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, Americas, Atlantic, Autobiography, Canada, Caribbean literature, Cities, Comparative literature, Contemporary novel, Creole, Diaspora, Ethnicity, Gender, Global South, Latin America, Libraries, Media, mexico, peripheral networks, print medium, Publishers, Radio, Twentieth century literature, Vernacular dialects | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jack Kerouac: Mexico City Blues

October 3, 2012 “The immense triangular arc from New York to Mexico City to San Francisco”: Jack Kerouac writes in The Dharma Bums. After two publishers turned down On the Road in quick succession, Kerouac went to Mexico in a … Continue reading

Posted in African-American music, Americas, Arts communities, Cities, Experimental poetry, Genre, Global South, jazz, Latin America, lyric, Media, mexico, Modernist poetry, Music, peripheral networks, Publishers, Spanish, Twentieth century literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audre Lorde in Mexico, Maya Angelou in Ghana

September 26, 2012 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Audre Lorde.  She had died at the age of 58, after 14 years of battling with breast cancer. But even before that, Lorde had always seemed associated with … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African-American literature, Americas, Autobiography, Ethnicity, Genre, Global South, Latin America, mexico, Race, Twentieth century literature, Universities, world literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman: Songs of Myself

September 19, 2012 As of today, “Still I Rise” has 743,494 views on YouTube.  There are 1,113 comments, some vituperative, including this one: “What the fuck kind of poetry is this? John Milton would rise from the dead to kill … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, African-American music, contemporary poetry, digital platforms, Genre, Interdisciplinarity, lyric, Media, Music, Nineteenth-century literature, Race, slavery, Twentieth century literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison: More Children’s Books

September 12, 2012 Toni Morrison also had trouble with publishers.   At least she managed to get it in print — The Big Box, the first of several coauthored with her son Slade, first appeared in Ms. Magazine in 1980 and, … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, Children's literature, collaboration, Contemporary novel, Educational institutions, Genre, literary magazaines, Newspapers, print medium, Publishers, Race, Twentieth century literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Children’s Books, Children’s Songs: Gertrude Stein, Paul Robeson

September 5, 2012 Last year Yale University Press brought out Gertrude Stein’s To Do: A Book for Alphabets and Birthdays, never published in her lifetime. Stein had written it as a follow-up to her first children’s book, The World is … Continue reading

Posted in African-American music, Afro-Asian alliances, Asia, Atlantic, Black-Jewish alliances, Children's literature, China, literary magazaines, Music, Paris, print medium, Publishers, Twentieth century literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment