Fighting A War You've Already Lost: Zombies And Zombis In Firefly/Serenity And Dollhouse,
2011
Marquette University
Fighting A War You've Already Lost: Zombies And Zombis In Firefly/Serenity And Dollhouse, Gerry Canavan
English Faculty Research and Publications
This article explores the use of zombie imagery in two sf narratives created by Joss Whedon: Firefly (US 2002–3), Serenity (US 2005) and Dollhouse (US 2009–10). The translation of the zombie from its traditional horror-movie context to the far-future space opera of Firefly/Serenity and the near-future cyberpunk of Dollhouse reveals the zombie's allegorisation of the consequences of biopolitical governmentality and neoliberal capitalism. In both series zombies function as a figure for both the dehumanisation caused by state and market forces and the possibility of Utopian resistance to these forces.
Relocating Basic Writing.,
2011
University of Louisville
Relocating Basic Writing., Bruce Horner
Faculty and Staff Scholarship
I frame the continuing value of basic writing as part of a long tradition in composition studies challenging dominant beliefs about literacy and language abilities, and I link basic writing to emerging--e.g."translingual"--approaches to language. I identify basic writing as vital to the field of composition in its rejection of simplistic notions of English, language, and literacy; its insistence on searching out the different in what might appear to be the same and the familiar; and its commitment to work with students consigned by dominant ideologies to the social periphery as in fact central, leading edge. These positions enable basic writing …
Kurt Vonnegut's Early Novels: Searching For Meaning In A Meaningless World,
2011
Governors State University
Kurt Vonnegut's Early Novels: Searching For Meaning In A Meaningless World, Matthew Praxmarer
All Student Theses and Dissertations
This thesis investigates three novels by Kurt Vonnegut: The Sirens of Titan, Cat’s Cradle, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and the philosophical stance which informs these works. The Sirens of Titan represents Vonnegut’s cosmology as well as his first attempts to propose one purpose for human life not based on any absolute knowledge. Cat’s Cradle proposes a provisional, ever-changing belief system in the religion of Bokonon, a religion which also speaks to Vonnegut’s humanism. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater satirizes the discourses of the free enterprise system through protagonist Eliot as he struggles to use his wealth …
Australian Aboriginal English And African American Language: The Development Of Marginalized Language Varieties,
2011
Western Michigan University
Australian Aboriginal English And African American Language: The Development Of Marginalized Language Varieties, Sarah E. Hercula
The Hilltop Review
The development of distinct varieties of English is a diverse and interesting process. In places over the entire globe where once existed exclusively non-English speaking peoples, various forms of English are now used as the primary means of communication in many different settings: governmental, business, educational, and home. Frequently, new varieties of English form out of necessity as a way for groups of people with differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds to communicate and effectively coexist. Two such languages, Australian Aboriginal English and African American Language, though they developed within different circumstances, have some interesting similarities in terms of their origins …
Singing The Story: Narrative Voice And The Old English Scop,
2011
Western Michigan University
Singing The Story: Narrative Voice And The Old English Scop, Lisa M. Horton
The Hilltop Review
The picture of Anglo-Saxon society that we receive through its literature is a direct result of the life of the Old English scop. His personality and experiences filter into the stories that he tells and provide nuanced interpretations of both histories and legends, while his position within Anglo-Saxon society allows him direct access to the great events and persons of his time. As an active participant in his society, at the feet or even at the right hand of a king, he wields profound influence; as an observer and commentator on his society, he records and interprets both reality and …
Treason And Betrayal In The Middle English Romances Of Sir Gawain,
2011
Western Michigan University
Treason And Betrayal In The Middle English Romances Of Sir Gawain, Gregory L. Laing
The Hilltop Review
This article explores the themes of treason and betrayal which are common motifs of medieval romances, specifically those featuring the Arthurian knight Sir Gawain. Because loyalty to one’s lord, nation, or family unit was critical for survival in the Middle Ages, the problem of treachery by close companions is often a recurring subject in romances from this period. Such themes revealed to their audience the fragility of these relationships and cautioned against overconfidence in the bonds of loyalty. Romances featuring Gawain, like the Middle English Awntyrs off Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, conclude with the young …
Party Line: Allen Ginsberg And Political Expression In Death & Fame,
2011
Western Michigan University
Party Line: Allen Ginsberg And Political Expression In Death & Fame, Todd Ide
The Hilltop Review
Mention the name Allen Ginsberg and it is hard to resist the urge to drift back into the psychedelic-colored world of the 1960s where free love, drugs and the Beat Poets influenced the literary landscape. Ginsberg came into his own as part of the Beat generation. It was during this time that he helped give voice to the “youthful, dissatisfied, rebellious” energy “that would soon coalesce into the” political “culture and practices of the New Left” (Lee 365). The publication of Howl, not only expressed the feelings of a generation but also became, according to literary critics, one of the …
Finding The ‘I’ In Imagination: “Kubla Khan” As The Solution To The Problem Of The Individual In Coleridge’S The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner,
2011
Western Michigan University
Finding The ‘I’ In Imagination: “Kubla Khan” As The Solution To The Problem Of The Individual In Coleridge’S The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Kevin Drzakowski
The Hilltop Review
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is commonly read as a poem extolling the graces of Christian hospitality. Once the Mariner “inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good women,” both the reader and the Mariner are barraged with a catalogue of suffering that is only lifted when the Mariner finally learns to praise even that which is foreign to him. The result is a poem that, read in this fashion, seems guilty of overt moralizing, even though it claims to legitimize that moralizing through its presentation as an archaic ballad. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was, in spite of his fanatical devotion …
E-Valuating Local Collections For Open Access: The Nlu Experience,
2011
National-Louis University
E-Valuating Local Collections For Open Access: The Nlu Experience, Deana Greenfield, Rob Morrison
Faculty Publications
National Louis University (NLU) provides access to local collections through an Institutional Repository and Special Collections and Archives digital collections. We use open access as an effective and value-added method for contributing to scholarship and outreach to different communities, including alumni. As NLU celebrates our 125th anniversary this year, we utilize digital collections to promote and provide access to our unique history. This presentation will discuss materials selected for inclusion and the multiple ways open access collections can contribute to a university's scholarship and reputation.
Reading 9/11 Through The Holocaust In Philip Roth’S The Plot Against America And Art Spiegelman’S In The Shadow Of No Towers,
2011
Purdue University
Reading 9/11 Through The Holocaust In Philip Roth’S The Plot Against America And Art Spiegelman’S In The Shadow Of No Towers, Stella Setka
Re-visioning Terrorism
This essay argues that Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America and Art Spiegelman’s In the Shadow of New Towers open up new spaces for reading the trauma of 9/11 not simply as the tragic story of a single day in 2001, but as a traumatic event that shares referents with other catastrophes in history, most notably the Holocaust. Further, the author demonstrates that these works are more concerned with the politicization of 9/11 than they are with the terrorist attacks themselves.
Historicizing The Present In 9/11 Fiction,
2011
Western Michigan University
Historicizing The Present In 9/11 Fiction, Todd Kuchta
Re-visioning Terrorism
Reconfiguring the debate on the historical efficacy of postmodern fiction, novels inspired by 9/11 seek to view the present itself as history. McEwan’s Saturday, DeLillo’s Falling Man, and Hamid’s Reluctant Fundamentalist attempt to move beyond the view of history-as-text. Rather than evoking “the presence of the past,” they present characters trying to situate themselves in a new historical reality. Žižek’s account of Lacan illuminates DeLillo’s attempt to historicize the present, while McEwan gestures toward Foucault’s view of the present as exit. Only Hamid engages the historical potential of the present.
Female (Em)Bodied Justice: Terrorism, Self-Sacrifice, And The Joint Primacy Of Gender And Nationality,
2011
Western Michigan University
Female (Em)Bodied Justice: Terrorism, Self-Sacrifice, And The Joint Primacy Of Gender And Nationality, Renee Lee Gardner
Re-visioning Terrorism
In The Terror Dream, Susan Faludi asserts that instead of processing the events of 9/11 – what they might reveal about our culture, how we might thoughtfully grieve them and respond to those who perpetrated them – Americans reverted to a 1950s style domesticity, with the media representing men as heroic rescuers and women as victims of terrorists, in need of rescuing. This is ironic in that the majority of that day’s casualties were men, and the attacks themselves were perpetrated within our commercial and governmental centers. Yet much of the literary fiction that has emerged from 9/11 can …
The Privilege Of Ambivalence: Saturday’S Henry Perowne On The ‘War On Terror’,
2011
Western Michigan University
The Privilege Of Ambivalence: Saturday’S Henry Perowne On The ‘War On Terror’, Jax Lee Gardner
Re-visioning Terrorism
This essay considers the relation between personal privilege (class, race, nationality, sex) and political ambivalence toward the Iraq war as it manifests in the protagonist of Ian McEwan’s Saturday. Henry Perowne “feels culpable somehow, but helpless too” in his shifting opinions of the coming invasion. Throughout the text we are shown Henry’s multiple perspectives regarding Iraq. Such ambivalence is, in itself, a form of complicity in war. Henry neither tangibly opposes the actions of the government (as the protesters do), nor does he consider sacrificing any of his creature comforts in support of the war (as the soldiers do). I …
Nationalism, Alterity, And Cognitive Studies In Mohsin Hamid, Laila Halaby, And Jess Walte,
2011
Purdue University
Nationalism, Alterity, And Cognitive Studies In Mohsin Hamid, Laila Halaby, And Jess Walte, Aaron Derosa
Re-visioning Terrorism
This essay explores the metaphoric construction of the terrorist Other in 9/11 scholarship and literature. While academics demand an ethical engagement with Arab and Muslim Americans, they unwittingly reify a binary distinction of Other-Same that triangulates terrorist identity through ordinary Arabs and Muslims. Looking at Halaby’s Once in a Promised Land and Walter’s The Zero, I suggest an alternative metaphor for terrorism not as a regional or religious population, but as an internal impulse that dwells within us all. Doing so more ethically and productively aligns terrorism with the threat to global security in the post-9/11 era.
No More Tall Buildings: American Superhero Comics And The Shadow Of 9/11,
2011
Purdue University
No More Tall Buildings: American Superhero Comics And The Shadow Of 9/11, Mauricio Castro
Re-visioning Terrorism
No abstract provided.
A Catholic Childhood In Philadelphia,
2011
Technological University Dublin
A Catholic Childhood In Philadelphia, Eamon Maher
Articles
Published by kind permission of Spirituality
Problematizing Literature Circles As Forums For Discussion Of Multicultural And Political Texts,
2011
University of Iowa
Problematizing Literature Circles As Forums For Discussion Of Multicultural And Political Texts, Amanda Haertling Thein, Megan Guise, Deann Long Sloan
English
In a six-week literature circle unit in a tenth-grade classroom, one group of students discussed Dorothy Allison's novel Bastard out of Carolina. By criteria frequently used to judge the quality of discussion, this literature circle was successful. However, several key moments are highlighted that point to the limits of literature circles as they are typically implemented for engaging students in the full critical depth of multicultural and political texts. Finally, suggestions are offered for rethinking literature circle pedagogy with the goal of offering students a more nuanced and robust experience with such texts.
Review Of Samuel Otter’S Philadelphia Stories: America’S Literature Of Race And Freedom,
2011
Loyola University Chicago
Review Of Samuel Otter’S Philadelphia Stories: America’S Literature Of Race And Freedom, John Kerkering
English: Faculty Publications and Other Works
No abstract provided.
In Memoriam: Trevor Howard-Hill, 17 October 1933-1 June 2011,
2011
University of South Carolina - Columbia
In Memoriam: Trevor Howard-Hill, 17 October 1933-1 June 2011, Patrick G. Scott, William Baker
Faculty Publications
Obituary on Trevor H. Howard-Hill (1933-2011), C. Wallace Martin Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, Shakespearean scholar, descriptive bibliographer, compiler of the multi-volume series Index to British Literary Bibliography (1969-2007), and editor of Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America.
The Singularity Of Puppies,
2011
University of Central Florida
The Singularity Of Puppies, Michael Furlong
Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
The Singularity of Puppies is an unsettling short story set in 1978 in DeLand, Florida. The story concerns the relationship between eight-year-old Joey Brown and his puppy, Fredrick Brown. The story was originally published in The Fantastique Unfettered #3. The Singularity of Puppies is speculative fiction, and a tribute to Fredric Brown (1906-1972), a science fiction and mystery author.
