The Common Reader: March 2009

THE COMMON READER

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Will Banks's essay "Literacy, Sexuality, and the Value(s) of Queer Young Adult Literature" appears in English Journal 98.4 (March 2009). According to the abstract: "Banks draws on personal experience to show the importance of reading LGBT young adult literature empathetically and critically." Also, Banks's "Embracing the Conflicts: An Argument Against Separating Writing Studies from English Studies" was published in Transforming English Studies: New Voices in an Emerging Genre edited by Lori Ostergaard, Jeff Ludwig, and Jim Nugent for Parlor Press, 2009. According to the abstract: "Exploring the discourses of 'separation' and 'conflict' that have emerged as English departments have sought solutions for dealing with ideological conflict and size, Banks argues for the value of engaging with conflict and negotiation as central to work in Writing Studies." Banks writes: "In the end, most of us have a you-me problem. Not disciplinary conflicts but conflicts between particular people who have trouble thinking expansively about their own work or generously about the work of others. And solving a you-me problem by drawing new departmental boundaries or departmental dissolution is the ultimate 'local' issue: it solves the problems that a very few people have with a very few other people, but does virtually nothing to promote knowledge, research, scholarship, or intellectual (and dare I say it, interpersonal) growth. I would argue that we work harder to model productive inquiry and intellectual curiosity for our students and our communities by starting that work in our own departments. Ultimately, we have much to gain by working together, by having intelligent and productive arguments, and by taking the time to process where our real problems are and are not. In this way, we model the value of English studies to our students for thinking and communicating broadly, complexly, and generously. There are certainly much worse enterprises to be involved in."

Seodial F Deena's Situating Caribbean Literature and Criticism in Multicultural and Postcolonial Studies has been published by Peter Lang (2009). According to the publisher: Situating Caribbean Literature and Criticism in Multicultural and Postcolonial Studies is a pioneer in advancing the difficult but necessary argument of situating and centering Caribbean literature and criticism at the foundation of multicultural and postcolonial studies through an interdisciplinary, international, and intercultural manner, made possible by the author's unique multicultural and transnational interest and experience. The Caribbean, more than any other region, has suffered from European imperialism -- annihilation of the native population, piracy amongst the European powers, deracination and atrocities of the slave trade, and subsequent systems of indenture -- but has received the least critical and international attention. Situating Caribbean Literature and Criticism in Multicultural and Postcolonial Studies argues that Caribbean criticism -- shaped by the region's socio-economic, political, and historical phenomena -- has a more complex and significant marriage with postcolonial and multicultural studies than acknowledged by the international community. Caribbean scholars should not only seek to legitimize and publicize the marriage and its depth, but also expand the borders of its scholarship and protest its «disneyfication» and prostitution." Deena also published his essay "Four Catalysts in Caribbean Studies" in the Journal of Caribbean Studies 23.1 (Spring 2009) and wrote the "Introduction" for this issue.

Reginald Watson's "Derogatory Images of Sex: The Black Woman and Her Plight in Toni Morrison's Beloved," first published in CLA (College Language Association Journal) 49.3 (2008), has been reprinted by the Modern Critical Interpretations series edited by Harold Bloom in the volume titled Toni Morrison’s Beloved (2009).

Kirk St.Amant's article "Field Dependence and Classification: Implications for Global Information Systems" co-authored with Matthew McCool of Southern Polytechnic State University appears in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. According to St.Amant: "The article examines the interaction between culture and the use of visual representations to classify different objects with a particular focus on

differences noted between US and Chinese research subjects. Results of this research indicate that Chinese participants appear to be more field dependent, which may be related to a cultural preference for relationships instead of categories."

Jim Holte’s review of Twilight appeared in the Winter 2009 issue of The Borgo Postit’s, Holte writes: "Stephanie Meyer’s four-novel Twilight saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn) has been a publishing phenomenon and Catherine Hardwicke’s film adaptation, staring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, is a major financial success. The question is why this fangless vampire narrative has been so popular. The answer is because both Meyer and Hardwicke recognize that vampirism is a metaphor, a metaphor for what depends on the particular vampire. In the Twilight universe, vampires are seductive and dangerous, but are moral creatures who suffer their passions but would never hurt the ones they love. They also happen to smell nice. ... Young adults are the primary audience for Twilight, which is a carefully crafted gothic/environmental romance. At its heart, the first person narrative (both novel and film) is a coming of age story in which an intelligent young teen who feels neglected, awkward, and confused discovers she is actually beautiful and desirable. Throw in a hint of danger and a suggestion of the occult, vampires and werewolves, and a film in which one of the major issues is why the cool, actually cold, kids won't sit with our narrator in the high school lunchroom seems to be more than it is. ...The film is beautiful to look at and absolutely mindless."

Brent Henze and Deborah C. Andrews co-authored "Teaching Professional Writing in a Study Abroad Program" published in Business Communication Quarterly, 72.2 (2009). According to the abstract: "Studying abroad enhances the intercultural competencies of American students, but that enhancement strategy may be seen as an obstacle to those in business and technical fields who follow a tight curriculum and work to cover expenses. This article describes current practices of several U.S. professional communication faculty who have designed short courses that can be delivered abroad during between-term periods and that foster an understanding of the situations and genres of the field within a context of cultural dislocation."

John Hoppenthaler's essay review of Nickole Brown's Sister: Poems (Red Hen Press, 2007) is in the April issue of The Cortland Review, guest-edited by Dorianne Laux.

Roger Schlobin's fantasy novel Fire and Fur: the Last Sorcerer Dragon has been re-published online, first published in 1994 by the now-defunct Omnimedia. One reviewer wrote of the novel: "…best dragons I’ve ever seen…cinematic descriptions…finally some real love, emotion and humor in a fantasy novel…painfully beautiful…passionate, sensual…loved the sarcastic cat…bittersweet…full of action…awesome love scene in the thunderstorm…heartbreaking…best adolescent hero since Catcher in the Rye." According to Schlobin: "Fire and Fur might more properly be called 'Smart Dragons, Dumb Choices.' It is set in the pre-human Gobi desert and draws on Chinese mythology. Its major characters are dragons and cats. Of course, the cats do speak (often caustically) since a few dragons are interesting enough (cats can still speak but no one is interesting enough to talk to anymore). Fire and Fur’s plot concerns the dragons' terraforming the Gobi from sea to land (historically accurate) in a desire for power and amid excessive pride. In doing so, they release an ancient enemy and their bane, the Azghun Demons, that had driven them into the sea in the first place. The problem is that the dragons have grown lazy and dumb, and while they once had a cadre of sorcerers to call upon, they now only have one. The last sorcerer dragon, Ao Rue, is something of a misfit, and his efforts for dragonkind are, perhaps, either very generous or very foolish. He is aided in a major way in both his own troubles and his challenges by the blunt and clear-headed Mei-chou; she is the cats' first-of-the-first and their shaman (it appears). Further, and also central to 'Talon and Claw' is a star-crossed, poignant love story as Ao Rue seeks a fulfillment he cannot have with a vain and young female dragon, Nü-kua."

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