Flist, I need some suggestions desperately.
My brain is still fried. But I now have a colloquium topic: I want to discuss the use of the foreign or exotic in literature to define the author or audience's own cultural identity through negation, i.e. "We're this because we're SO not that." I need suggestions for books that somehow exhibit this behavior OR critically analyze the same. I have a partial list, but my lack of knowledge in literature is kicking my ass big time. I really should've paid more attention in English class. Bah.
My Book list
Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Classics (Works written before the mid 1600's.)
1) Ovid. Metamorphoses. Chosen for what it tells about Greek culture through exaggeration of ideals and taboos. (Right??)
2) Arabian Nights. Chosen for the exotic locales and characters who slip in through some of the tales. Also, maybe someone can suggest a critical analysis of it?
3) Shakespeare. Othello. Chosen for the fact that the central antagonist Othello is a black man in a white world.
4) Homer. The Odyssey. Chosen for the same as 1 and 2.
5) ?
6) ?
7) ?
8) ?
Modernity: The Humanities (Works written after the mid 1600's, including Philosophy, Religion, History, Critical Theory, and/or Literature. Damn it, I know there's got to be more out there I can use.)
1) Tanizaki Junichiro. Naomi. Chosen because the novel illustrates the cultural identity crisis that develops with the Westernization of Japanese society.
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
5) ?
Modernity: Social and Natural Sciences (Works written after the mid 1600's, including Science, Anthopology, Psychology, Politics, Economics, and/or Sociology.)
1) Anthony Giddens. Consequences of Modernity. Chosen for the brief discussion on the nature of social interactions changing with increased data mobility.
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
Area of Concentration (My concentration is in Global Narratives, which is the study of a culture through its politics, religion, and history.)
1) Pollock and Van Reken. Third Culture Kids. Chosen for the discussion of finding a cultural identity to claim when one is in constant shifting of places/people.
2) Little Boy Lost. Chosen for the essays discussing Japanese pop culture reactions to Hiroshima and the knowledge that the future is an uncertain and anxious thing.
3) James Loewen. Lies My Teacher Told Me. Chosen to illustrate how we build up a cultural identity through constant self-proproganda and modern mythology.
4) ?
5) ?
I'm sure this isn't a rare subject, that of making foreign cultures appear even more alien to better lend ourselves a clearly defined 'group' to belong with. I'm just coming up blank with book titles, and I do need some help because I'm generally pop-oriented and academia isn't my thing. (I think critically a lot, yes, but rarely read theories and examinations and discourses on subjects.)
But hey, I have a topic now...that's....good....right?
So I am begging you all --throw some titles and authors at me. Please?
I am going to bed now. I got four hours of sleep last night and had to wake up at 8:30AM this morning. Yay for Friday classes. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow and be able to actually THINK so I can write this rationale and get it out to my adviser.
[ETA] I just realized that most of the available literature isn't going to be as grandiose in differences as Japan and the U.S. I'm also thinking (or trying to think) of any texts where one religion demonizes another (Wasn't there a lot of hullabaloo with the Protestants in medieval England?), and I seem to recall some missionary from the Anglican Church writing a dismissive, arrogant report on the Irish to the king, with the sole good word being that they were a fair race, and very beautiful...
My Book list
Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Classics (Works written before the mid 1600's.)
1) Ovid. Metamorphoses. Chosen for what it tells about Greek culture through exaggeration of ideals and taboos. (Right??)
2) Arabian Nights. Chosen for the exotic locales and characters who slip in through some of the tales. Also, maybe someone can suggest a critical analysis of it?
3) Shakespeare. Othello. Chosen for the fact that the central antagonist Othello is a black man in a white world.
4) Homer. The Odyssey. Chosen for the same as 1 and 2.
5) ?
6) ?
7) ?
8) ?
Modernity: The Humanities (Works written after the mid 1600's, including Philosophy, Religion, History, Critical Theory, and/or Literature. Damn it, I know there's got to be more out there I can use.)
1) Tanizaki Junichiro. Naomi. Chosen because the novel illustrates the cultural identity crisis that develops with the Westernization of Japanese society.
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
5) ?
Modernity: Social and Natural Sciences (Works written after the mid 1600's, including Science, Anthopology, Psychology, Politics, Economics, and/or Sociology.)
1) Anthony Giddens. Consequences of Modernity. Chosen for the brief discussion on the nature of social interactions changing with increased data mobility.
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
Area of Concentration (My concentration is in Global Narratives, which is the study of a culture through its politics, religion, and history.)
1) Pollock and Van Reken. Third Culture Kids. Chosen for the discussion of finding a cultural identity to claim when one is in constant shifting of places/people.
2) Little Boy Lost. Chosen for the essays discussing Japanese pop culture reactions to Hiroshima and the knowledge that the future is an uncertain and anxious thing.
3) James Loewen. Lies My Teacher Told Me. Chosen to illustrate how we build up a cultural identity through constant self-proproganda and modern mythology.
4) ?
5) ?
I'm sure this isn't a rare subject, that of making foreign cultures appear even more alien to better lend ourselves a clearly defined 'group' to belong with. I'm just coming up blank with book titles, and I do need some help because I'm generally pop-oriented and academia isn't my thing. (I think critically a lot, yes, but rarely read theories and examinations and discourses on subjects.)
But hey, I have a topic now...that's....good....right?
So I am begging you all --throw some titles and authors at me. Please?
I am going to bed now. I got four hours of sleep last night and had to wake up at 8:30AM this morning. Yay for Friday classes. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow and be able to actually THINK so I can write this rationale and get it out to my adviser.
[ETA] I just realized that most of the available literature isn't going to be as grandiose in differences as Japan and the U.S. I'm also thinking (or trying to think) of any texts where one religion demonizes another (Wasn't there a lot of hullabaloo with the Protestants in medieval England?), and I seem to recall some missionary from the Anglican Church writing a dismissive, arrogant report on the Irish to the king, with the sole good word being that they were a fair race, and very beautiful...