Welcome to the Winter 2001 edition of NewsNotes
In this issue:New Books
- Announcements
- Call for Papers
- MELUS 2002 in Seattle, WA
- MELUS at MLA in New Orleans, 2001
- MELUS India Newsletter for January 15, 2002 (reprint)
- Commentary: Russian Student, American Worker-Writer
- Order the MELUS Cookbook
If you have ideas for ways to enlarge our Table of Contents, send suggestions to:
Dr. Katharine Rodier
Detailed submission information is available on our Calls for Submissions link. Monica García Brooks, our Technical Editor, has outlined subscription information for future issues. If you would prefer to receive NewsNotes in print copy or in another format, please let us know.
Associate Professor of English
Marshall University
1 John Marshall Drive
Huntington WV 25755-2646
rodier@marshall.edu
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MELUS Cookbook
ORDER FORM <http://www.marshall.edu/melus/newsnotes/winter_2002/cook_order.html>The MELUS Family Cookbook, 243 pages including index, is now available for $10 plus $4 domestic and $6 international shipping per copy. The collection consists of 147 recipes for main dishes, vegetables, salads, desserts, breads, and beverages ranging from Hamantaschen (cookies) and Zwiebelkuchen (onion tart) to Yassa au Poulet (chicken in lemon juice) and Aloo Baingan ka Shaak (stuffed eggplant and potatoes) to Ma Po Doufu (tofu) and Bibingka (coconut pudding-cake). The cookbook also includes a short story about an Italian American family dinner, five poems, an anecdote about Nixon in China, and a disquisition on "Safe Treyf." To order your copy, please send a check or money order to MELUS, P.O. Box 562, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88004-0562, U.S.A.
Anyone interested in more information may e-mail Avis Payne at <recipes@zianet.com>.
Avis Kuwahara Payne
MELUS Treasurer
P.O. Box 562
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88004-0562
U.S.A.
Annoucing the newly designed MELUS Graduate Student Web Page,
"Opportunities for MELUS Graduate Students,"
Located at http://oz.uc.edu/~meachara/The site has been designed to help facilitate the professionalization of MELUS graduate students. To that end, special features of the site include up-to-date CFPs for journals and anthologies; CFPs for both graduate and general interest conferences, with notations of awards and incentives for graduate presenters; fellowship and other funding opportunities for students in multi-ethnic literatures; and news for MELUS Graduate Students. Updates will include low-cost housing and dining options for the Seattle conference (April 11-14, 2002), among other issues. Your suggestions are welcome.
Rebecca Meacham, MELUS Graduate Student Representative and Coordinator
Department of English and Comparative Literature
University of Cincinnati
P.O. Box 210069
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0069
E-mail: melusgradrep@hotmail.com
Third MESEA Conference
University of Padua, Italy
June 26-29, 2002Sites of Ethnicity: Europe and the Americas
Keynote speakers:
William Andrews (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
A. LaVonne Brown Ruoff (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Werner Sollors (Harvard University)
Sau-Ling Wong (University of California at Berkeley)Performance by
Brenda Dixon Gottschild and Hellmut Gottschild
TONGUE SMELL COLORYou are cordially invited to attend the Third MESEA (The Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas (formerly MELUS Europe)) Conference in June in Padua, Italy. For information about the conference and current MESEA information, please check: www.mesea.org
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
February 20-22, 2002
"Writing from Native Communities, Native Writing Communities"
University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeGuest Readers and Presenters: Sherman Alexie, Simon Ortiz, Kateri Damm, Gordon Henry, Heid Erdrich, Victor Masayesva, LaVonne Ruoff, Lee Francis, Kimberly Blaeser, Michael Wilson, David Beaulieu
American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee invites you to participate in a conference that will focus from different angles on the survival of Native American communities in an increasingly transcultural world and on the roles Native literatures play in assuring the continuation of Indian Nations in the 21st Century. As a regional Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers event, the conference will look at contemporary literary works from various Indian nations through the presence of representatives from those Native communities and will examine how these writings contribute to the survival of Native history, values, and lifeways. Conference organizers are planning a broad range of events to be held in a variety of venues including the Milwaukee Indian Community School and Woodland Pattern Book Center. Bringing together diverse voices of the Milwaukee and Native communities, the conference will begin Wednesday evening with a reading by Sherman Alexie.
Thursday's and Friday's events will include "No Ends to Native Communities," a symposium presented by UW-Milwaukee's Center for 21st Century Studies, featuring talks by Simon Ortiz, Kateri Damm, Gordon Henry and LaVonne Ruoff, workshops on publishing and filmmaking, hands-on writing opportunities, one-on-one mentoring sessions with established writers, readings by featured writers, a talk and film showing by Victor Masayesva, open mike opportunities for participants to read their own work, and a visit to an installation of work by Havasupi artist Edgar Heap of Birds.
The conference will also sponsor a writing contest to encourage the recognition and continuation of Native Writing Communities and will include the invitation to submit to a special focus issue of UW-Milwaukee's Creative Writing Journal, The Cream City Review. For registration and updated conference information, visit our Web site at www.uwm.edu/~bretl, or contact Beth Bretl at bretl@uwm.edu or Kimberly Blaeser at kblaeser@uwm.edu.
The University of Cincinnati Department of English announces the 2002 Ropes Lecture Series, in support of its graduate programs, based on the theme of Race and Culture: Lines of Color, Lines of Demarcation. The series begins on January 22, 2002, and concludes on February 20, 2002.
All sessions are free and open to the general public:
Houston Baker on "Blue Men, Black Writing, and Southern Revisions," 1/22
Noel Ignatiev on "Abolish the White Race," 1/29
Noel Ignatiev, Caryl Philips, and Reggie Boyd discussing "Blackness and Whiteness: Race as
a Social/Anti-Social Category," 1/30
Caryl Philips on "The High Anxiety of Belonging," 1/31
Gerald Vizenor on "Native American Survivance," 2/5
Gerald Vizenor and Amy Elder discussing "Native American Literature Culture," 2/6
Bharati Mukherjee on "Apple Pie Redefined: Race, Culture, and American Values in the Age of Terror," 2/19
Bharati Mukherjee and Suvir Kaul discussing "The Alien and the Post-Colonial," 2/20
Suvir Kaul on "Violence in the Making of (sub)National Identies," 2/20For more information call Stanley Corkin at 513-556-3905, send e-mail to stanley.corkin@uc.edu, or visit the website at http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/english/ropes.htm.
New for January 1, 2002!!! A discussion group for MELUS Pedagogy on Yahoo groups.
I am a member of the MELUS development committee. In an effort to promote outreach, I have set up a discussion group on Yahoo that is called MELUS Pedagogy. It is an unmoderated list for the discussion of issues related to teaching and multiethnic literatures of the US.
If you send me e-mail addresses of MELUS members and potential members, I can invite them to participate in this discussion. They can receive multiple messages, or they can receive a digest of messages weekly. I can be reached at <5alive31@charter.net>.
Please write to let me know who you would like to invite to this discussion list. They do not need to be members of MELUS, but this list can help encourage membership and keep members connected in a casual manner between conferences.
Sincerely,
Michelle Trusty-Murphy
<5alive31@charter.net>
CALL FOR PAPERS
TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY
STORYTELLING
"Points of Entry: Cross-Currents
in Storytelling" is accepting submissions for its inaugural issue. Transcribed
traditional and/or contemporary stories of up to 5,000 words. We're looking
for stories that embody compelling aspects of narrative. "Points of Entry"
models storytelling and discusses elements of storytelling to stimulate
a dialogue between journalism educators and storytellers. We want to encourage
journalists to use storytelling techniques in their story writing. "Points
of Entry" focuses on narrative and strives to connect the classroom with
the newsroom.
Send submissions, along with a brief bio, to Roberta Rosenberg, Associate Editor, "Points of Entry," Department of English, Christopher Newport University, 1 University Place, Newport News, VA 23606. Contact: tlee@cnu.edu. Web page: Points of Entry: Cross-Currents in Storytelling. Deadline for submissions: Feb. 15, 2002.
MELUS CONFERENCE 2002
Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States 16th Annual Conference, April 11-14, 2002
Host: University of Washington's
Graduate School & Department of American Ethnic Studies
Conference Convener: Professor
Stephen H. Sumida
Pedagogy, Praxis, and Politics: Multiethnic Literature in U.S. Education
Conference site in Seattle:
Best Western University Tower, 4507 Brooklyn Ave NE
[for MELUS hotel reservations,
call: (206) 634-2000 or (800) 899-0251]
This conference will feature panels, workshops, and roundtable sessions on all aspects of multiethnic literatures of the U.S., as well as practical and practice-based issues on topics like: how to teach an introductory class in multiethnic literatures of the U.S.; how to teach a specific author, text, theme, ethnic group, etc.; how to introduce or increase the use of multiethnic literatures in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education; how graduate programs in literature and composition can prepare students for teaching in increasingly diverse classrooms; how to facilitate classroom discussions on sensitive issues such as "race" and ethnicity; how to have academic and civic communities work together to achieve common goals; and other issues related to ethnic literature and the literature classroom, such as: how multiethnic literature programs have developed and fared over the years; what happens when politics and aesthetics collide; how student discomfort with "race" affects course evaluations-and what to do about this; the appropriate use of terms for ethnic identities (e.g., "Latino/a" versus "Hispanic"); the use of ethnic vernacular speech patterns and diction; ethnic humor and racial/cultural stereotypes.
MELUS at MLA in New Orleans, 2001
Our MLA Panel, “The Book Cooks!” was well attended and all the papers were prime cut. Avis Payne presented a copy of the MELUS cookbook. For information on purchasing copies contact Avis at: akpayne@zianet.com Avis and Fred Gardaphe announced that they will edit a future issue of MELUS dedicated to food. Keep an eye out for the forthcoming call for articles.
We held our first-ever cash bar on December 28th. It was co-hosted with the Committee on Literatures of People of Color in the US and Canada (CLPCUSC), co-chaired by Lavina Shankar, Jackie Goldsby. We had such a good time that they had to throw us out of the room to get ready for the next session. The Cash Bar was so successful we decided to do it again next year when we will also resume our tradition of presenting awards for work in the field. We will look into possibility of co-hosting for next year.
Saturday morning brought a wonderful tribute to the life and work of MELUS founder Katharine Newman. Chaired by Sally Ann Ferguson, presentations by John “Tim” Reilly, LaVonne Ruoff, Joseph T. Skerrett, Jr., and Katharine’s daughters followed an audiotape of Katharine’s Keynote address at a MELUS conference. Members of the audience were invited to contribute reminiscences. The session succeeded in resurrecting Katharine’s spirit and made us realize that we are MELUS grows strong in the light of Katharine’s legacy. C. Lok Chua and Amritjit Singh, will edit a special issue of the journal dedicated to Katharine.
The executive committee decided that next year’s academic event at MLA will be a round table entitled: ”Mixed Bloods, Mongrels and Monsters: Theorizing Hybridity and Authenticity in American Ethnic Literatures”
We are looking for five to seven MELUS members who would present 5 minute takes on the title, after which we will open up the discussion to everyone in attendance. If you are interested, email a brief proposal of no more than 300 words and a 100 word bio to the program chair: Fred Gardaphe, Fgardaphe@notes.cc.sunysb.edu no later than March 15, 2002.
We are also looking for people to chair sessions at the annual MELUS conference. If you are interested please contact Fred Gardaphe a.s.a.p. at Fgardaphe@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
MELUS INDIA
The Society
for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (India
Chapter)
NEWSLETTER
Jan 15, 2002
NOTE FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT,
Prof MG Ramanan, Central
University of Hyderabad:
Greetings of the season to all members of MELUS. This year's conference held at IACIS,Hyd was successfully conducted. The credit for this goes to all of you who participated,read papers and cooperated with the organizers in the common pursuit of academic excellence. Our heartfelt thanks to the IACIS for all the support and a special thanks to Isaac Sequiera. MELUS-India is fast becoming a body noticeable for its zeal in promoting multi-culturalism, ethinicity and pluralism. As an Indian organization we should try to infuse into our activities a more pronounced comparative perspective and a self-conscious Indian dimension to scholarship. I am grateful to you for the opportunity I have been given to serve MELUS. I thank you for your support.I congratulate the newly elected committee which is a good mix of the old and new.I wish to place on record my deep appreciation of the excellent work done by the previous committee headed by Manju Jaidka. Manju will continue to serve as secretary and that makes our task much simpler. Her energy and enthusiasm are infectious. Let us together make MELUS a first-rate professional body committed to the highest academic ideals.
NOTE FROM THE OUT-GOING
PRESIDENT,
Prof Manju Jaidka, Panjab
University, Chandigarh:
Dear Friends, I would like
to thank everyone for putting up with me for the last four years.
It has been fun, getting everyone together, and it would not have been
possible without the affection and cooperation you all extended.
Now, as the Secretary, I look forward to your support in the coming years,
too.
REPORT OF THE MELUS-INDIA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, 2002
We, the members of MELUS-India, (The Society For The Study Of The Multi-Ethnic Literature Of The United States – India Chapter), are proud to report that we held our third International Conference on January 3-5, 2002, at the Indo-American Centre For International Studies, Hyderabad. The theme of the conference was POLITICS OF LOCATION IN LITERATURES OF THE AMERICAS and it was attended by approximately 90 delegates. While most of the delegates came from different parts of the country, from far-flung, remotely-connected places like Agartala, Alwaye, Shimoga, Tezpur, and Kakinada, there were also some delegates from Japan and from the United States. Unfortunately, many of the foreign delegates were not able to travel to India in the wake of the September 11 tragedy. But despite the pall of gloom cast by disquieting international events, the conference at Hyderabad was a great success.
IACIS, in Hyderabad, has been the preferred venue for all our conferences to date not simply for its American Studies knowledge bank but also for its infra-structure, its organizational efficiency and its ambience. Over the last few years, with the cessation of US funding, the Centre has been passing through a difficult phase. Efforts have been on to find substitute funding but the going seems long and endless. The light at the end of the tunnel is still not visible. The members of MELUS-India have made a small contribution towards the institution by holding their conferences here, ensuring that there is the busy hum of activity once more on the campus, if only for brief, shining moments.
Funding for the conference came mainly from the US Embassy in the form of a generous grant that not only took care of conference expenses but also funded the travel of most of us.
The conference began with the registration of delegates on the 2nd of January and ended with the departures of delegates on the 7th morning. In between there were three days of hectic activity, animated discussions in parallel sessions and plenary sessions, special lunches and dinners, informal conversations over tea and coffee breaks, leisurely walks in and around the premises. It was like a roller-coaster ride spread over three days, at the end of which came a feeling of regret, and a host of unanswered and unanswerable questions – why does time fly so soon? Can’t we have another day to browse in the library? Why can’t we meet more often? But, like all good things….
The ‘master of ceremonies’ was Prof Mukesh Williams from Soka University, Japan, who had brought two of his Japanese colleagues for the conference. The Inaugural session was chaired by Prof Shiv K. Kumar, the retired professor of English who is also a celebrated creative writer. Mr Indran Amirthanayagam, in his inaugural address, set the tone for the conference, quoting liberally from the works of diasporic writers from the Indian sub-continent. In particular, he invoked the poetry of his friend, the poet Agha Shahid Ali who has recently passed away.
In her Presidential Address, Prof Manju Jaidka addressed a question that many delegates have been toying with -- “Whither MELUS-India?” -- and underscored the need for all scholars of literature to have a world-view, a global perspective rather than a narrow, blinkered one. In the world of ideas there are no fixed boundaries, so how can a literature be studied in total isolation? This was also the main thrust of the keynote address presented by Prof M.L. Raina. With the intriguing title “The Ex of Ile,” Prof Raina spoke of diasporic literatures, focusing on the Russian-American contribution which is invariably marginalized: the workd of writers like Brodsky and Nabakov.
Diaspora seemed to be the thrust of the first day. Prof Lok Chua from CSU, Fresno, spoke of the the fiction of the Burmese –American Writer, Wendy-Law Yone, Prof Tutun Mukherjee, from Hyderabad, read a paper on the Japanese-American dramatist, Wakako Yamauchi, and Eric Goodman from Miami University, brought the focus back to the Native Speaker and the Politics of a Lost Location.
Rahul Gairola from the University of Washington at Seattle presented an interesting paper on today’s cult figure, Madonna, and the commercial aspects of her appeal. Harveen Mann from Loyola University, Chicago, spoke of Bhangra music and diasporic consciousness of the Punjabis in the US and played some Punjabi music which left the audience clamouring for more.
The Second and Third Days of the Conference were devoted to a few plenary and several parallel sessions. The plenary sessions focused on issues of general nature like globalizing American Studies, the question of Identity in Literature, knowledge / power politics in the establishment of the canon, the Green Tradition in America (Prof E Nageswara Rao), and the formation of new American Lit syllabii in Indian Universities (Prof MG Ramanan). The parallel sessions were devoted to comparative perspectives, Afro-American, Chicana, Native American and Asian-American (Indian, Chinese) themes. Among the professors who chaired the session were Profs H. Kishimoto, Nila Das, Sachidananda Mohanty and Uma Alladi.
Apart from this academic activity there was a lot of interesting to-do going on outside the session hours.
Poetry/Short Story Reading: The Srilankan-American poet, Mr Indran Amirthanayagam of the American Center, Chennai, who inaugurated the conference also read some of his poems in English and Spanish to an enthralled audience. Prof Eric Goodman, who teaches creative writing in Ohio, read one of his stories in the Guest House lounge to a small but appreciative group.
Book Release: Dr RK Dhawan of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Delhi, announced the publication of the papers presented at the last MELUS-India Conference. They have been edited by Anil Raina, Manju Jaidka, Somdatta Mandal and Vijay Sharma.
Launch of Website: We
have stepped into cyberspace: MELUS-India now has a website which was launched
in Hyderabad. It is at present a very rudimentary one but work is
still being done on it. The site addy is <melusind.cya.cx>
Suggestions for improvement/corrections
are invited.
The ‘Conference Kit’ was a great hit. Instead of the usual file-folders the delegates got brightly-colored mirror-work bags in bandini brints. These bags were big enough to carry note-pad, pen and conference papers. Greatly wow-ed by the participants, they are sure to be treasured as souvenirs.
Film Show: The delegates went to see the Nagesh Kukunoor’s film “Bollywood Calling” that was playing at a movie hall in Secunderabad. The film, made by a Hyderabadi, was hilarious – a spoof on the tear-jerking, mushy-gushy romances churned out by the Bombay film world. Almost as interesting as the film was the mode of transport taken by the delegates to the theatre. About a dozen auto-rickshws were lined up outside IACIS. At first it was mistaken a demonstration by three-wheeler owners, but soon they clarified that they were called to carry the delegates to the theatre. So it was an unusual calvalcade, a jumping, jolting ride to town, a roll-call to count the numbers, the usual mix-ups -- your seat, my seat, our tickets, your ticket -- the popcorn, the Uncle Chipps, biscuits, et.al., and then the giggling and chuckling through the witty dialogues of the film. It was fun!
Newsletter: Again, on the lighter side of the conference, was a daily Newsletter brought out by “The Cat Club”. The true identities of the Cats (who called themselves Macavity, Cheshire, Garfield, etc.) were not revealed but apparently it was the work of the younger scholars at the conference who saw the funny side of the sessions and highlighted them through gags and cartoons. The unfortunate delegate suffering from jet-lag, who dozed off during one of the sessions, found himself caricatured in the Newsletter. So did the lady who was trying to match the conference bag with her sari. All this was taken in good humour. For, why should genuine scholarship be disturbed at ‘other’ perspectives, other viewpoints? This is what MELUS-India is all about.
Exhibitions: There was an exhibition of Books and of Hyderabadi Pearls in the Foyer of the Centre. So, while breaking for tea or coffee between the sessions the delegates were able to browse around and pick up items of their choice.
Birthday Bash: On the 5th of January was the Birthday of Prof Isaac Sequeira, the grand old man of Indian Academics whom everyone loves so much! Prof. Sequeira is 72 years young – and far more alert and full of joie de vivre than most of us. MELUS-India felicitated him on his birthday and had a small party on the terrace. Incidentally, he has promised to be around for the next 20 MELUS-India Conferences and we look forward to seeing him keep his word!
A General Body Meeting of all the members was held on the last day to decide the office-bearers for the coming years and the future plan of action. A list of the new office bearers is given below.
The next conference will be held in Chandigarh, tentatively in Oct/Nov 2003. Suggestions for the theme are invited.
Memberships are now on:
According to the new rates,
there are two categories:
Two-year membership – Rs.
200
Life membership: Rs. 1,000
Contributions may be sent
by bank-draft only (no cheques, please) payable to MELUS-India at Chandigarh.
Mail your draft by Regd. Post along with your application to
Prof Anil Raina, [Treasurer,
MELUS-India], Dept of English, Panjab University,
Sector 14, Chandigarh 160014.
Email: anilraina@glide.net.in [please email him for confirmation]. Scholars
from abroad do not need to pay membership fee. Just send in your
email IDs.
This newsletter is being sent
by email to all those who are on-line and by snail-mail to the others (please
get an email ID fast if you don’t have one). The next Newsletter will come
out some time in October/November, announcing the conference theme and
the deadlines. Any information you wish to share/circulate may be
sent to Manju Jaidka (Secy, MELUS-India), email: vjaidka@sancharnet.in
Also send in your suggestions
/ corrections / deletions.
Until then, Good-bye, Ciao
ciao, Phir milenge J
From all the new office bearers:
President:
Prof MG Ramanan <mohan1949@rediffmail.com>
Vice-President:
Dr RK Dhawan <rkdhawan@vsnl.net
Secretary:
Prof Manju Jaidka <vjaidka@sancharnet.in>
Jt. Secretary:
Dr Varghese John <jyothijohn@eth.net>
Treasurer:
Prof Anil Raina <anilraina@glide.net.in>
Executive members:
Dr Eami Mathew <rosh_josh@yahoo.com>
Ms Riju Gopal <macavity73@yahoo.com>
Prof Sachidananda Mohanty
<sachimohanty@yahoo.co.in>
Dr Somdatta Mandal <smandal@cal2.vsnl.net.in>
Dr Suman Bala <balasuman@yahoo.com>
Patrons:
Prof Isaac Sequeira
<isaac05@rediffmail.com>
Prof E Nageswara Rao <swapnae@eth.net>
Prof ML Raina <mdraina@rediffmail.com>
International Advisory Committee:
Prof Amritjit Singh <asingh@ric.edu>
Prof Cheng Lok Chua <chengc@csufresno.edu>
Prof. Mukesh Williams <mukeshwilliams@hotmail.com>
MELUS-INDIA
– APPLICATION FORM FOR MEMBERSHIP
To be mailed by regd.
post along with bank-draft [payable to MELUS-India at Chandigarh]
to Prof Anil Raina, Dept
of English, Panjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh 160014
Category applied for :
· Two years (Rs. 200)
· Life Membership
(Rs. 1,000)
· Scholar from abroad
(no fee)
Bank draft no.: Date: Amount:
Name of Applicant:
Designation:
Official Address:
Home Address:
Phone: Office: Home:
Preferred mailing: Office/Home
Email ID:
Area of Interest / Specialization:
Signature of applicant:
Date:
Recommended by
[give name of current MELUS
member]:
THIS FORM MAY BE DUPLICATED AND PASSED ON TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING MEMBERS OF MELUS-INDIA. RECOMMENDATION BY A CURRENT MEMBER IS ESSENTIAL
Russian Student, American Worker-Writer: The Eugene Lang Research Project, Part Two *
Russian Student, American
Worker-Writer: The Eugene Lang Research Project, Part Two *
by Jeanna Engelman
and Laura Hapke
In the middle of the summer of 2001, a student and her Pace professor tackled the second part of a research project funded by a Eugene Lang student-faculty grant and undertaken by Jeanna Engelman and Professor Laura Hapke of the English Department at Pace New York. As readers of the last issue of NewsNotes recall, Theodore Dreiser was the earlier subject. What follows is the second of two parts and concerns her linkage of her Russian past and Dreiser’s fellow naturalist author John Steinbeck’s s role in it. In a kind of running ethnography of interest to many at Pace, Jeanna also considers Russians in America. Finally, for interested readers she appends a rare translation of a Soviet-era critic of Steinbeck, S. Belov.
When I think about how it was growing up in the former Soviet Union, the first things that come to mind, for some reason, are my being a member of Soviet Pioneers and then Komsomol (peculiar name, isn’t it, virtually untranslatable, but probably meaning Young Communists). The transition from the Pioneers to the Komsomol was a smooth one, and a necessary one as well. Once in the second grade, every child in the Soviet Union was “honored” by being able to wear a red kerchief on his/her neck (and God forbid you forget to wear it to school- you’ll be sent back home immediately!) I remember my first day with a kerchief being a cold autumn day with drizzling rain. Yet I, much like my fellow newly-made Pioneers, refused to button up my coat so that everyone on the street would see this striking piece of satin red cloth on my neck and be envious.
Some years later I was chosen to be the “Chairman of the Class--Pioneer Squadron” (Soviets loved military vocabulary). Despite being expected by others to be thrilled with such an honor, I was totally horrified at the prospect of being at the head of my squadron in the school yard at the monthly meetings, and having to report to the chairman of the school’s brigade. Desperately I tried to convince my fellow pupils that I did not deserve such an honor, and that I was busy with my music school assignments, and so forth. However, it was known that they couldn’t have picked a more unsuitable person. My father was always critical, to put it lightly, of the whole Soviet system. It was ironic that the daughter of an artist, who, aside from his inspirational works, also painted orthodox icons for sale, would hold such post. As I grew, so did grow my impatience with this status.
A natural transition to the ranks of a Komsomol came in the seventh grade. This transition was not an easy one, since I had to “take an oral exam” before a Komsomol Committee of the town. It involved memorizing a special booklet that was supposed to be a sort of Manifest, and it was sure to teach a young soul how to be a worthy member of a Soviet Society. If you weren’t accepted, it meant a total disaster. You would become a virtual outcast, and the dreams of receiving a higher education would vanish before your eyes (one couldn’t be accepted into the University without being a “Komsomoletz”). It was a much more serious organization that was very powerful and had many rules. Monthly member fees were to be paid meticulously (two kopecks only though). A young woman whom I knew had her Komsomol membership terminated and was thrown out of the University merely for using her Komsomol pin to hold the curtain away from a window in a hot auditorium. She couldn't be accepted into another school for years. Luckily, at this time, the Gorbachev era was not too far away. One could expect to be “killed” at a Komsomol meeting just for being spotted wearing a Montana skirt with the American flag on one’s backside. Soviets were always paranoid. Everyone, everywhere, could be seen as being an enemy of the state. Not only was this happening during Stalin’s era of mass murder, but also in “Gorbachev times.” As Gladkov wisely noted in his Cement; “What about the Party officials and workers? They’ve no sooner got into High positions that they change from friends and comrades into scoundrels…. That’s where the trouble is… that’s the enemy, Comrade!” Sadly, these newly made “enemies” held enough power to dictate what to read and what to wear, and even with what object to pin back the curtain.
Now when I think of those days, I laugh. While living in the United States, I have found it hard to believe such system was present--the system that totally forsook the importance of the Individual. People were important only in solidarity with others. Private needs were of no value. One had to live and work for the sake of society, so one pretended. You cannot change human nature. Despite all the propaganda, we still yearned for privacy, for luxuries, for imported clothes and furniture, and for banned books (I still remember the excitement of first handling Nabokov’s Lolita which I was caught reading during the lecture in college).
As much as we, the Soviet society, were fed up with the propaganda, it still found its way into our perception of literature. One can’t shake away years of annoying buzzing about the “good workers and bad capitalists.” Through the prism of this buzzing we read and analyzed many books. Even now, as I read Steinbeck, I am convinced that I hold in my hands a true proletarian novel. Any Soviet citizen could think the same way. First of all, authors like Steinbeck and Dreiser were widely “recommended” by the government. Their books were learned in colleges everywhere. Why not? They exposed all the worst sides of the American society--greed, the power of money, and total indifference to the needs of the poor. In other words, the only books that Communists promoted were the ones which showed all the corruption and decadence of the West. The Oklahoma farmers' migration to the West proved once again the crimes directed towards the “honest” Americans that were humiliated to the status of “slaves.” The critique of the bourgeoisie morale assumed to be at the heart of the American civilization played into the hands of the Soviets perfectly. One of the themes of the book is the theme of solidarity. As Ma Joad wisely pointed out, “Their strength is in the family, and in staying together”. Family was the key word to Ma Joad, but not to the Soviets. They saw a possible group of workers, rather than a family. Blood ties did not count for much, especially in Stalin’s era, when wives, children, and parents had to break all relations with each other if he or her was pronounced to be an enemy of the State. Soviet propaganda, as it is known, called for everyone to stay together, and to put the interests of the Soviet society above the needs of individuals.
Tom Joad, the main protagonist, is only too familiar to the Soviet reader. He was a revolutionary figure who was thrown into the midst of unfairness and cruelty. He was inspired by the preacher’s words, and was determined to fight for the poor and weak--a very appealing hero to the Soviets. Often Steinbeck mentions “the reds”, and in the eyes of the Soviets, what could be better than that? Perhaps American workers were finally ready to strike against the capitalistic government and bring the country to Communism.
Finding out that Steinbeck hated Communists was a big surprise. As it was explained to me, there were many “lefts” in America. In other words, sympathizing with the poor doesn’t necessarily put you in the Communist “category”. It is a different picture in my old country. You are either for us or against us. There cannot be a third party. Tom Joad’s “wherever there is a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there”, could only mean one thing for a Soviet reader – he will definitely join the reds (who are mentioned several times in the novel, by the way) and lead his people to unite against the rich and powerful. Chapter nineteen for a Russian reader ends in an almost Marxist prediction, which is that some day the people will stop praying and overthrow their oppressors. I am sure that the Russian readers did not truly understand Steinbeck’s dislike of the Communists. Soviets did not want to read between the lines and analyze the novels compassionately, which offered no solutions. Furthermore, authors’ sympathies to the Proletarians did not go further than sympathies. Several chapters in the novel tell a story within the story. They offer not only a historical background and explanation of the events, but also provide a different point of view. By clarifying the emotions of contrasting groups of people, Steinbeck softens the argument and gives the reader a chance to be a judge, an arbitrator, and to decide for him or herself who is at fault. Americans might realize that, but not Russians. It takes being a native American to understand that Steinbeck doesn’t really blame the Government for farmers’ misfortunes. The guilty party is the invisible monster who has no name. No one is to blame. The government is presented in a rather positive way. To the Joads it represents the hot water and toilets, no cops, weekly dances, and “power to the people.” America loves her farmers! See how she takes care of them? It’s not her fault that the food needs to be destroyed while thousands are starving; it’s the invisible monster’s fault. However pleasant and welcoming the camps are, the government provides only a relief, but no real help.
The book’s Christian undertone also tends to go unnoticed by the Russians, who are not used to the Proletarian novel (and that is what Grapes of Wrath would be to us) or any references to God for that matter. The image of Casy offering himself to the police to save another human being is probably obvious to the American reader. Tom, following in Casy’s footsteps like a disciple, seems like a true revolutionary inspired by the workers’ struggles and vowing to make a difference: “God, I’m talkin’ like Casy. Comes of thinkin’ about him so much. Seems like I can see him sometimes.” Soviets must have celebrated the fact that Casy ceased to be a preacher and became a revolutionary instead, since Communists always abhorred the Church. Whether or not Soviet critics could really read the novel between the lines and simply choose not to reveal its true mood and motives will forever remain a mystery. They surely found what they were looking for right there on the surface--all the reds they wanted.
In any case, the Russian perspective of the Grapes of Wrath is much more radical than that of the American. We have been trained to recognize the revolutionary aspect of literature, even if it doesn’t exist. However we might loathe it, the years of brainwashing pay off.
Aside from the Russians, what about Americans? They have been brainwashed as well, haven’t they? Whenever I watch Rambo or other similar films, I cannot help but to be amazed and angry at the way Americans view Russians. Hatred, ridicule, and intense stereotyping – these words are not sufficient to describe all the emotions that are targeted on my fellow countrymen. I tell myself that these “masterpieces” were created during the Cold War, and people are much more educated now, but this is really not the case. The acclaimed Mr. O’Reilly who is supposed to be an intellectual, together with the professor of the University, announced on national TV that “these Russians should be denied residence in the United States”. Furthermore, “they should be put on probation for at least three months since they are all mad barbarians”. According to the Professor, there has been no Mafia worse then the Russian one in America. All this hatred to the point of spitting saliva was brought to the surface because of one poor Ukrainian schizophrenic who slaughtered his entire family. For some reason, no one remembers the nationality of the woman who several months ago killed her five children. I remember, and she wasn’t Russian! She was an American! Why is there such dislike of the Russians? Perhaps it is because Americans feel threatened by our need to succeed. Or, could it be because almost every Russian emigrant that arrives in the United States after the age of twenty-five holds at the very least a Bachelor Degree? Is it because we are educated, ambitious, and pushy?
A small consolation is the
fact that Americans not only tend to stereotype “specimen” from foreign
lands, but they stereotype their own kind as well. Steinbeck proved this
only too clearly when emphasizing America’s opinion of the poor migrants
from Oklahoma: “These goddamned Okies are dirty and ignorant. They’re degenerate,
sexual maniacs. These goddamned Okies are thieves. They’ll steal anything.
They’ve got no sense of property rights.”
However distant might the
story of the Oklahoma farmers be from the lives of my fellow countrymen,
the themes of endless and painful moving from place to place, abandoning
one’s home, job, friend, fear of unknown, and desperation - all of these
are frighteningly familiar. How different in reality are migrants from
the immigrants? The grapes of one are just as sour as the grapes of others.
Both are hated and feared at the same time, and both struggle to break
the barriers of human hatred. All they need is a little compassion and
understanding – the understanding that we are all here only for a short
while, and the time is so short that our miserable lives seem only as tiny
grains of sand when compared to the life of the universe. We still have
yet to learn how to make them worthwhile.
TRANSLATION by Jeanna Engelman
of
S. Belov. (from an introduction
to the selected works in two volumes of J. Steinbeck, Moscow, 1973)
Translations in literature
have their own chronology that has nothing in common with the historico-literary
process of the given country. For example, the Soviet reader of American
Literature novels by Updike preceded Thomas Wolf, and Faulkner is “older”
than Fitzgerald. Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea was read much earlier
than For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is considered by Russians to be the
best creation of Hemingway. Such circumstances are sometimes accidental.
With Steinbeck the case is different. Our country found out about him within
the same year that Grapes of Wrath became widely popular in the United
States. In the August 19, 1939 newspaper, Pravda published its first excerpt
from the novel, and within the next year the whole novel came out in a
separate edition, translated by N. Volzhina. The same publisher a year
later was responsible for Steinbeck’s elected works in two volumes. Even
though the volumes were somewhat limited, the contents did not call for
any objections. They reflected a long and complicated journey of the Novelist,
from Of Mice and Men, to The Winter of Our Discontent. Though, it is a
shame that Travels with Charley in search of America did not find its place
there. The reason could be because it is a documentary and not a fiction.
However, the lack of such well-known pieces (who wouldn't have Steinbeck
at home!) is compensated for by the appearance of Cannery Row and Wayward
Bus in bookstores. The choice is great not because these new translations
give an additional insight into the portrait of the author–artist, but
also because the themes of these works reflect problems and conflicts of
troubled poets, playwrights, and novelists whose creations are the highest
achievements of the American philology. Since Of Mice and Men, Grapes
of Wrath, and Winter of our Discontent are very popular among Soviet readers
and have been analyzed by the critics in detail, it makes sense to talk
about new “arrivals” from the rich heritage of the writer.
When introducing the reader
to the story and its protagonists in the prologue of Cannery Row, Steinbeck
discussed the theme of how difficult it is to catch some of the sea creatures
without damaging them. These sea creatures were mentioned by the author
because of the literary problems. The thirst for the truth when likeliness
is not sufficient is the most important factor in American Literature--a
feature going back to Whitman and Twain with their mistrust to the belles-lettres.
Precisely this thriving to shorten the distance between Reality and its
portrayal in literature has defined the art of Sherwood Anderson. In Winesburg,
Ohio, he spoke about people and problems that traditionally do not find
their way into the field of vision of representatives of American prose
- those representatives claiming to reflect the truthfulness of life in
the forms of life itself. Anderson became the inspiration for the
whole generation of writers that brought world recognition to American
Literature, such as Faulkner, Hemingway, Wolf, West, Caldwell, and Steinbeck.
These writers had the ability to see and catch the elusive in people, along
with the world around them, and then to secure it in word.
At first sight, the protagonists of Cannery Row do not appear to be those deserving literary representation, at least from the point of view of “keyhole” of Bourgeois virtue. They do not seem worthy of being mentioned in the decent company. Protagonists of Cannery Row are situated at the very curb of the world of business, competition, and complicated social relationships. They live worry-free. From the very beginning of its birth, the American social system was built for the society of people who came to the New World with very specific material goals, and who tried to achieve those goals at all costs. The image of the true businessman stemmed from the ideology of American Lifestyle as the image of a true hero, the knight in shining armor, and without fear or reproach. Material success was the highest criteria of one’s activities. American artists of the word had complicated relationships with such ideals. The line between good business capacities and worshiping a dollar was thin.
Steinbeck’s poor bums of the
Tortilla Flat in the eyes of Society are people not worthy and even needless.
However, the author sees them as chivalrous and unselfish, ready to aid
the weak. Cannery Row formulates an important social law that sheds light
on complicated relationships between the objective meaning of the work
of art and how this meaning is interpreted in a specific social context.
Very often, when discussing anti- bourgeois pathos of a given novel, one
tends to forget that the novel can be very successful with a bourgeois
audience. The outsider that goes against the society of greed and calculation
is sometimes looked upon as a hero by that same society. Ironically, while
reading, they look upon themselves as proud rebellions against the social
rules and laws. Thus, a subjective rebellion of the artists is transformed
into it’s opposite by the labors of the establishment, which is desperate
to integrate alien moods into it’s own system. Taming of such kind is only
successful with a work that is already tamed at its base. There is literature
that is not a subject to any integration. It’s difficult to imagine Grapes
of Wrath to be read simply for pleasure. One can’t relax and “get
away” while reading Winter or Wayward Bus. In Wayward Bus,
Steinbeck continues the old thesis of inauthenticity in a bourgeois civilization.
This thesis was proven by Steinbeck through confirmation of joy of natural
existence (and not a subject of industry), with specific and unique
people. In Wayward Bus, the topic discusses those who live and think in
business America, and about the deadly influence of American ideals on
humans. Steinbeck is thinking in the old American tradition with its dreams
of freedom and equality. There is an illusion that this freedom is obtainable
if one could only push the bleak reality away and move forward and toward
the happiness.
One can’t forget Steinbeck's
prose while trying to fit it into various literary schemes.
The two-volume works of Steinbeck continued the series of the collection of works of American Classics of the XX century. First there was Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and then there was Steinbeck. All that is left is the hope that the plans of the publishing house will not be limited, and that sometime they will see the complete works of Thomas Wolf and, even more importantly, William Faulkner.
The author wishes to thank Kristen Ratner for invaluable help in preparing this paper for publication in Transactions.
The MELUS Family Cookbook
243 pages, including index
Over 140 recipes, including
Chicano Fajitas, Microwave Peanut Brittle,
Hamantaschen, Ricotta
Pie, Fish with Coriander Leaves, Beef and Eggplant
Skillet, Ma Po Doufu,
Chai
A short story, an essay
on "Safe Treyf," poems and anecdotes
ORDER FORM
Please print form and
fill in blanks
| Name: | Number of Copies Requested: | ______________ |
| Mailing Address: | Sub Total: |
$_____________ |
| Email Address: | Postage - Check One: | |
|
|
Domestic: | _____ $ 4.00 |
|
|
International: | _____ $ 6.00 |
|
|
TOTAL ENCLOSED: |
$_____________ |
Send with payment to:
MELUS
P.O. Box
562
Las Cruces,
New Mexico 88004-0562
U.S.A.
E-mail questions to <recipes@zianet.com>
Anyone who wishes may
send payment in advance (at $10 per copy) and pick up the book at the Seattle
Conference.
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks
for delivery, longer for outside the U.S.A.
NEW BOOKS
Announcing Antebellum Irish
Immigration and Emerging Ideologies of "America"
by Robert Dunne.
The Edward Mellen Press. 172 pp. 2002. ISBN:
0-7734-7215-0.
"This provocative book, which crosses disciplines, argues that the confrontation between antebellum Irish immigrants and mainstream Americans helped reshape American ideology and, in particular, the American Dream Myth. As Irish immigrants became a growing presence in the United States, American society reacted in what Dunne calls a "Protestant backlash": clerical and lay interests banded together and attempted to codify the very definition of "America" and thereby relegate Irish immigrants to society's margins. In an exhaustive examination of self-help manuals, political pamphlets, religious tracts, newspaper editorials, and instructional novels, this study contrasts the disparities between the actions of nativists and their rhetoric of reaffirming "American" identity. It also critiques current trends in multicultural studies and posits a strong case for studying marginalized groups from European backgrounds within the larger context of their interactions with mainstream society." <from the publishers>
Venetria K. Patton and Maureen Honey have just published _Double Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology_ (Rutgers 2001).
In this important new anthology, the editors bring together a comprehensive selection of texts from the Harlem Renaissance--a key period in the literary and cultural history of the United States. The collection revolutionizes our way of viewing this era, as it redresses the ongoing emphasis on the male writers of this time. Double Take offers a unique, balanced collection of writers--men and women, gay and straight, familar and obscure.
The editors have also included works from a wide variety of genres--poetry, short stories, drama, essays, music, and art--allowing readers to understand the true interdisciplinary quality of this cultural movement. Biographical sketches of the authors are provided and most of the pieces are included in their entirety. _Double Take_ also includes artwork and illustrations, many of which are from original journals and have never before been reprinted. The anthology also includes music lyrics to illustrate the interrelation of various art forms.
Adrianne Kalfopoulou. _A Deconstruction of the Ideology of the American Dream in the Culture's Female Discourses: The Untidy House_. Edwin Mellen, 2000. ISBN 07734 7744 6. 200 pp.
This is an important book which explores the production of different versions of gender and ethnic identity. Given that one ideological basis of American culture and American identity is largely Puritan, Professor Kalfopoulou maintains that this religious basis developed into a secular one during the 18th and 19th centuries. In turn this secularized puritan ideology determined the terms by which American Culture was to be expressed by male and female ethnic and mainstream writers.
The first chapter is devoted to Nathaniel Hawthorne's _The Scarlet Letter_. According to Kalfopoulou, this book's centrality to American Culture is due to how the eccentric female figure of Hester Prynne is dealt with by the author. Prynne's disagreement with the Puritan society's sexual and social modes of behavior poses a major threat. Therefore, she needs to be silenced much like Anne Hutchinson was in actual history. Hawthorne solves the problem of the «unnatural» woman by imposing silence on Prynne and by making her consent to the social prescriptions of what constitutes «natural» and «permissible». Prynne's silence in the end is symbolic of the fact that she could never express her complex desires.
The second chapter focuses on the women writers reaction to this typical fictional behavior toward women characters. Beginning with references to Gilman's «The Yellow Wallpaper», and Kate Chopin's _The Awakening_, Kalfopoulou analyzes Gertrude Stein's _Three Lives_ (1909) [especially «Melanctha»], Mary Antin's _The Promised Land_ (1912) and Anzia Yezerska's _Bread Givers_ (1925). Stein's «Melanctha» suggests that the expressive modes of the 19th century cannot articulate the complexity of female desire. On the other hand, Yezierska's and Antin's more conventional books represent the immigrant women writers' experimentation with the limits of the American promise of self-fulfillment. Kalfopoulou concludes this chapter by references to Tillie Olsen's and Grace Paley's work. At the middle of the twentieth century these ethnic writers turn to a matrilinear oral tradition to articulate an alternative disourse.
In the third chapter the author considers texts which in her opinion constitute very clear expressions of a programmatic move to articulate a matrilinear language based on oral traditions. This language codifies the multi-layered complexity of gender difference. Kalfopoulou turns to Japanese American Hisaye Yamamoto's «The Seventeen Syllables» (1921), Greek American Thalia Cheronis Selz's «The Education of a Queen» (1961), Chinese American Maxine Hong Kingston's _Woman Warrior_ (1975) and African American Gayl Jones's _Corregidora_ (1975).
The last chapter focuses on two novels which demonstrate how a marginal subject achieves full expression. Toni Morrison's _Beloved_ (1987) and Marilynne Robinson's_ Housekeeping_ (1979) redefine the characters' entrance into spaces that are not determined by traditional gender roles, or by processes that are based on traditional theories of gender and race. These spaces constitute semi-utopian «societies» that hold a new promise for the self-fulfillment of women.
_The Untidy House_ is a valuable study as it traces the emergence of a female narrative voice in marginal, «difficult», and radical texts of American literature. It is Kalfopoulou's unique achievement that she provides a genealogy for this expression of radical alterity. In the apolcalyptic (in many senses of the word) last chapter, the author brings together two seemingly different eccentric texts and she points out the similarities in terms of a common, emerging new ideology. Kalfopoulou insists to the end that what appears to be a deconstruction, and a dissolution, is the beginning of something new. And she is right.
Yiorgos Kalogeras
Department of English
Aristotle University
54006 Thessaloniki
Greece
E-mail: kalogera@enl.uth.gr