Gerald Vizenor and Paula Gunn Allen

If Gunn Allen and Vizenor, the author of The Heirs of Columbus were to meet up for coffee what do you think they would say to each other? Both are Native American writers and both believe that the dominant culture has twisted the stories of Native Americans and given them a western worldview. However, how do you think the two would differ? Would being a male writer impact Vizenor's viewpoint, and make his opinion differ from Gunn Allen? In Heirs of Columbus, Vizenor seems to point out feminist issues, but what would Gunn Allen say about his position?

What Will Come After Post-Colonialism and U.S. Ethnic Theories?

Post-colonialism and U.S. ethnic theorists emphasize the role of the author and assert that people's differences in culture and experience are important to a work. Do you think the next wave of theorists will again believe that emphasizing people's differences is offensive and that as humans, all people share basic assumptions, regardless of their experience. I seems that it criticism, if one view is prominent than eventually someone will come and take the opposite view, This is seen in Wimsatt and Beardsley's belief in the death of the author that has been replaced by postcolonialism and U.S. Ethnic Theory.

What do you think will be the next popular theory in criticism?

Beauty Pageants and Feminism

How would a feminist view beauty pageants and are there any feminist scholars who have spoken specifically in referece to beauty pageants? What would they say about male beauty pageants? I feel like Rich would not find male beauty pageants to be as objectifying as traditional female pageants. However, I feel like Anzaldua would feel that women need to sympathize with men who have becom victim to sexualization by society? What do you think these or other thinkers would have to say about this?

Can We Think of Movies The Same Way After This Class

Recently I went to see Iron Man 3 and while watching the movie I found myself thinking about Horkheimer and Adorno. There was nothing novel or unexpected. It followed the typical plot of the super hero movies that have come out in the past few years, and seemed that the only reason it was made is because they knew that the other movies did well financially so again people will pay money to see this movie.
Then I started viewing this movie from a feminist point of view. There were only two female characters, but they don't really talk to each other, but rather were the former and current lover of the main character, Tony Stark. Also, in the end the woman is weak and in danger and must be saved by Iron Man.
What do you think? Do so many theorist only apply too well to current movies and popular culture.

A Serious Of Comics On Great Gatsby and What-In-The-Hell They Have To Do With Theory

Okay. So this is a long series of comics, so instead of having you read them then talk about them, I'm going to frame them a few ways and see what happens.

Let's talk about plot variation, is there anything, however shallow Rhizomatic that's happening. The riffing of possibility, and and ands and ands and ors.

Let's talk about portrayal of women, sure it's not great in The Great Gatsby, but also in the comic, what does second and third wave feminism has to say?

Maybe it's lame to say why isn't there something here? But in all these jokes about problems in Gatsby, no joke about how everyone in the novel is white? Euro-centric anyone, What would Bhabha or hooks say?

Anyone watched Derrida? Heard what he had to say about love? This is a less serious framing, but I think that informs these sketches in an interesting way.

TRICKSTER

Let's talk about Trickster, a collection I stumbled upon recently. It's a collection of twenty Graphic retellings of trickster tales written by Native American Authors who collaborate with illustrators on a one-on-one basis in order to create, basically, comics.  Right away, I think Gunn Allen and Narrative structures and I wonder about a few different things:

One: Does the visual representation, the comic and the narrative structures thereof subvert the intended plot purposes of Native story-telling. I imagine this differs tribe-by-tribe (i.e. different for the Keres People than for the distant Sioux People).

Two: Does the visual represetnation, perhaps more adequately fulfill the narrative requirements, especially for stories rooted in ritual, I imagine the visual nature of the comic/graphic novel is actually closer to the true tale than the entirely verbal re-telling.

Three: Does it matter, significantly that it's only Trickster tales. I imagine these tend to fit into the less holy or ritualistic of stories, and nearer to entertainment and moralistic stories, therefore bearing a little less of the weight than say, Kochinnenako.

Four: Does the book re-conform it's tales to typical western-european/masculine standards. Does it insist upon, what Gunn Allen says is persistent "Foregrounding." 

I would guess yes, but my guess doesn't really matter, what I'm getting at here is that an understanding of the dialogue, and of Gunn Allen and those like her is vital to a healthy reading of texts like this.

White Late Night? Said who?

Okay, getting going, check out or read this article it's a short little stub with some highlighted twitter-responses: 

(from NPR) Which Comedians Of Color Should Be Late-Night TV Stars?

What it basically explains, or deals with, is that for the tv-comedian-producing factory that is Saturday Night Live, the cast isn't just largely white, it's dominated by white people. And that largely, anyone of a different, or other ethnicity is brought on and asked to play impressions or caricatures of famous ethnic people or famous ethnic stereotypes. They, use a few brief examples, but for the most part keep it low-key, before asking the cheapest question of all time: now that we know it's a racially subjugating institution, who should be the next "comedian of color"?

It takes a bit to get going—it turns out Second Stage is pretty white too.

From here people bounce around names, a hand full of the sketches also dealing in race, and racial stereotypes.

I can't help but think about Said's Orientalism and his structures for other-ism. The way that these actors are reduced from being someone, or possessing some trait, and are instead characterized by being not-white. It's not that important what their actual racial origin is, or whether they Identify with that grouping, are proponents of such agendas, etc. Rather it matters only that they are different, and that they are defined by the difference. Okay, now that I've been all heavy handed and prescriptive, thoughts? Do you find that non-white actors get treated like, well, non-white actors? Defined by negation? Does this same thing happen to native cultures? To women in media? What would Gunn Allen, or De Beauvoir say?