Khalid, I think using the font from the cover would work well. Also if you could somehow incorporate laying text over imagery like we see on the cover of the book I think it would look really polished.
Martyna, I really like the idea of using those subcategories to focus our presentation (As you can probably tell from my post) :-)
Aly
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Cultural Hybridity (+ a little Literary)
Architecture:
The house at Granbois is an excellent example of cultural hybridity, it is described as "... an imitation of an English summer house - four wooden posts and a thatched roof" (60). I'm not sure of this but to me the thatched roof is out of place, an aspect of Caribbean architecture placed atop a mimicry of the English summer home. (Khalid your input on this one would be great, maybe you have learned something about the architecture of English summer houses or traditional Caribbean homes in one of your courses.) On page 63 it is mentioned that the kitchen outbuilding has no chimney, it looks English but is missing the chimney the would be used when heating the home on cold days in England.
The house is trying desperately to remain english but is being overtaken by the island as illustrated in this excerpt:
"At the top a badly cut, coarse-grained lawn and at the end of the lawn a shabby white house. 'Now you are at Granbois'. I looked at the mountains purple against a very blue sky.
Perched up on wooden stilts the house seemed to shrink from the forest behind it and crane eagerly out to the distant sea. It was more awkward than ugly, a little sad as if it knew if could not last." (60)
This threat of being swallowed up is reminiscent of Antoinette's struggle as an English child surrounded by the culture of the Islands. The house seems unsure of it's true identity, and so is Antoinette.
Fashion:
"She seemed pleased when I complimented her on her dress and told me she had it made in St. Pierre, Martinique. 'They call this fashion a la Josephine.'
'You talk of St Pierre as if it were Paris.' I said.
'But it is the paris of the West Indies.'"(67)
Naming the fashion "a la Josephine" demonstrates a hybridity of french language with Caribbean style. The centre of fashion among the islands is St Pierre, a french named town imitating Paris. To Antoinette's English husband St Pierre is not near equal to Paris, illustrating his rejection of the hybrid in another dimension.
Food:
I feel that these excerpts are relevant but I don't know what to do with them at the moment:
"The food, though too highly seasoned, was lighter and more appetizing than anything I had tasted in Jamaica. We drank champagne."(67)
"We boiled green bananas in an old iron pot and ate them with our fingers out of a calabash and after we has eaten we slept at once." (20)
"She hear all we poor like beggar. We ate salt fish - no money for fresh fish. That old house so leaky, you run with calabash to catch water when it rain. Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn't look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger." (21)
Music:
A song sung by Amelie as she exits Antoinette's room:
"'The white cockroach she marry
The white cockroach she marry
The white cockroach she buy young man
The white cockroach she marry.'"
Antoinette's response to the song:
"It was a song about a white cockroach. That's me. That's what they call all of us who were here before their own people in Africa sold them to slave traders. And I've heard English women call us white niggers. So between you I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all." (85)
"Adieu - like all those old-time songs she sang. Always adieu (and all the songs say it). If she too says it, or weeps, I'll take her in my arms, my lunatic. She's mad but mine, mine. What will i care for gods or devils or for Fate itself. If she smiles or weeps or both. For me."(136)
____________________________
Literary Hybridity:
I found a good example of literary hybridity as I understand it on pages 126-127. Christophine is confronting "Mr. Rochester" and after each sentence her speech is repeated in his mind. The voice repeating her words seems to be a combination of Christophine's direct speech, Antoinette's experience, and Mr. Rochester's own thoughts.
"'...all you want is to break her up.'
(Not the way you mean, I thought)
'But she hold out eh? She hold out.'
(Yes, she held out. A pity)
'So you pretend to believe all the lies that damn bastard tell you.'
(That damn bastard tell you)
Now every word she said was echoed, echoed loudly in my head.
'So that you can leave her alone.'
(Leave her alone)
'Not telling her why.'
(Why?)
'No more love eh?'
(No more love)
...
'...I don't meddle in that for beke. I tell her its foolishness'
(Foolishness foolishness)
'And even if it's no foolishness, it's too strong for beke'
(Too strong for beke, too strong)
'But she cry and she beg me.'
(She cry and she beg me)
'So I give her something for love.'
(For love)
'But you don't love. All you want is to break her up. And it help you break her up.'
(Break her up)
'She tells me in the middle of all this you start calling her names. Marionette. Some word so.'
'Yes I remember, I did.'
(Marionette, Antoinette, Marionette, Antoinetta)
'The word mean doll, eh? Because she don't speak. You want to force her to cry and to speak.'
(Force her to cry and to speak)
'But she won't. So you think up something else. You bring that worthless girl to play with next door and you talk and laugh and love so that she hear everything. You meant her to hear.'
'Yes, that didn't just happen. I meant it.'
(I lay awake all night long after they were asleep, and as soon as it was light I got up and dressed and saddled Preston. And I came to you. Oh Christophine. O Pheena, Pheena, help me.)" (126-27)
In this excerpt the italicized voice is at first replying to Christophine with "Mr. Rochester's" thoughts, around the line "(Foolishness foolishness)" it transforms to mimic Christophine's voice, and the very last statement in brackets; "(I lay awake all night long after they were asleep, and as soon as it was light I got up and dressed and saddled Preston. And I came to you. Oh Christophine. O Pheena, Pheena, help me.)" is an interjections from Antoinette herself. This interjection of thought is hybrid in meaning, occupying a space that combines white, black, and Creole voices, but it is also physically hybrid as it occurs between lines of spoken dialogue from two opposing parties.
Another example of literary hybridity is the novel itself. It is a hybrid of Jane Eyre and an entirely new narrative.
____________________________
On another note, I think this quote is really crucial to understanding Antoinette's inner life. I don't know where we can use it in the presentation but it seems so important to me!
"Then, not so far off, I saw Tia and her mother and I ran to her, for she was all that was left of my life as it had been. We had eaten the same food, slept side by side, bathed in the same river. As I ran, I thought, I will live in Coulibri. Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking glass." (38)
______________________________
Aly
The house at Granbois is an excellent example of cultural hybridity, it is described as "... an imitation of an English summer house - four wooden posts and a thatched roof" (60). I'm not sure of this but to me the thatched roof is out of place, an aspect of Caribbean architecture placed atop a mimicry of the English summer home. (Khalid your input on this one would be great, maybe you have learned something about the architecture of English summer houses or traditional Caribbean homes in one of your courses.) On page 63 it is mentioned that the kitchen outbuilding has no chimney, it looks English but is missing the chimney the would be used when heating the home on cold days in England.
The house is trying desperately to remain english but is being overtaken by the island as illustrated in this excerpt:
"At the top a badly cut, coarse-grained lawn and at the end of the lawn a shabby white house. 'Now you are at Granbois'. I looked at the mountains purple against a very blue sky.
Perched up on wooden stilts the house seemed to shrink from the forest behind it and crane eagerly out to the distant sea. It was more awkward than ugly, a little sad as if it knew if could not last." (60)
This threat of being swallowed up is reminiscent of Antoinette's struggle as an English child surrounded by the culture of the Islands. The house seems unsure of it's true identity, and so is Antoinette.
Fashion:
"She seemed pleased when I complimented her on her dress and told me she had it made in St. Pierre, Martinique. 'They call this fashion a la Josephine.'
'You talk of St Pierre as if it were Paris.' I said.
'But it is the paris of the West Indies.'"(67)
Naming the fashion "a la Josephine" demonstrates a hybridity of french language with Caribbean style. The centre of fashion among the islands is St Pierre, a french named town imitating Paris. To Antoinette's English husband St Pierre is not near equal to Paris, illustrating his rejection of the hybrid in another dimension.
Food:
I feel that these excerpts are relevant but I don't know what to do with them at the moment:
"The food, though too highly seasoned, was lighter and more appetizing than anything I had tasted in Jamaica. We drank champagne."(67)
"We boiled green bananas in an old iron pot and ate them with our fingers out of a calabash and after we has eaten we slept at once." (20)
"She hear all we poor like beggar. We ate salt fish - no money for fresh fish. That old house so leaky, you run with calabash to catch water when it rain. Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn't look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger." (21)
cal·a·bash
noun \ˈka-lə-ˌbash\1: a tropical American tree (Crescentia cujete) of the bignonia family; also : its large hard-shelled globose fruit
2
: gourd; especially : one whose hard shell is used for a utensil
3
: a utensil (as a bottle or dipper) made from the shell of a calabash
Music:
A song sung by Amelie as she exits Antoinette's room:
"'The white cockroach she marry
The white cockroach she marry
The white cockroach she buy young man
The white cockroach she marry.'"
Antoinette's response to the song:
"It was a song about a white cockroach. That's me. That's what they call all of us who were here before their own people in Africa sold them to slave traders. And I've heard English women call us white niggers. So between you I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all." (85)
"Adieu - like all those old-time songs she sang. Always adieu (and all the songs say it). If she too says it, or weeps, I'll take her in my arms, my lunatic. She's mad but mine, mine. What will i care for gods or devils or for Fate itself. If she smiles or weeps or both. For me."(136)
____________________________
Literary Hybridity:
I found a good example of literary hybridity as I understand it on pages 126-127. Christophine is confronting "Mr. Rochester" and after each sentence her speech is repeated in his mind. The voice repeating her words seems to be a combination of Christophine's direct speech, Antoinette's experience, and Mr. Rochester's own thoughts.
"'...all you want is to break her up.'
(Not the way you mean, I thought)
'But she hold out eh? She hold out.'
(Yes, she held out. A pity)
'So you pretend to believe all the lies that damn bastard tell you.'
(That damn bastard tell you)
Now every word she said was echoed, echoed loudly in my head.
'So that you can leave her alone.'
(Leave her alone)
'Not telling her why.'
(Why?)
'No more love eh?'
(No more love)
...
'...I don't meddle in that for beke. I tell her its foolishness'
(Foolishness foolishness)
'And even if it's no foolishness, it's too strong for beke'
(Too strong for beke, too strong)
'But she cry and she beg me.'
(She cry and she beg me)
'So I give her something for love.'
(For love)
'But you don't love. All you want is to break her up. And it help you break her up.'
(Break her up)
'She tells me in the middle of all this you start calling her names. Marionette. Some word so.'
'Yes I remember, I did.'
(Marionette, Antoinette, Marionette, Antoinetta)
'The word mean doll, eh? Because she don't speak. You want to force her to cry and to speak.'
(Force her to cry and to speak)
'But she won't. So you think up something else. You bring that worthless girl to play with next door and you talk and laugh and love so that she hear everything. You meant her to hear.'
'Yes, that didn't just happen. I meant it.'
(I lay awake all night long after they were asleep, and as soon as it was light I got up and dressed and saddled Preston. And I came to you. Oh Christophine. O Pheena, Pheena, help me.)" (126-27)
In this excerpt the italicized voice is at first replying to Christophine with "Mr. Rochester's" thoughts, around the line "(Foolishness foolishness)" it transforms to mimic Christophine's voice, and the very last statement in brackets; "(I lay awake all night long after they were asleep, and as soon as it was light I got up and dressed and saddled Preston. And I came to you. Oh Christophine. O Pheena, Pheena, help me.)" is an interjections from Antoinette herself. This interjection of thought is hybrid in meaning, occupying a space that combines white, black, and Creole voices, but it is also physically hybrid as it occurs between lines of spoken dialogue from two opposing parties.
Another example of literary hybridity is the novel itself. It is a hybrid of Jane Eyre and an entirely new narrative.
____________________________
On another note, I think this quote is really crucial to understanding Antoinette's inner life. I don't know where we can use it in the presentation but it seems so important to me!
"Then, not so far off, I saw Tia and her mother and I ran to her, for she was all that was left of my life as it had been. We had eaten the same food, slept side by side, bathed in the same river. As I ran, I thought, I will live in Coulibri. Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking glass." (38)
______________________________
Aly
Linguistic Hybridity
I meant to include this is my previous post about Racial hybridity:
Cre·ole
) a person of mixed black and European, esp. French or Spanish
** the parrot speaking french could be a hint at this ^^. Also, I think the parrot speaking French is more linguistic hybridity than racial hybridity.
I found the following passages on linguistic hybridity:
All day she'd be like any other girl, smile at herself in her looking-glass . . . try to teach me her songs, for they haunted me.
Adieu foulard, adieu madras, or Ma belle ka di maman li. My beautiful girl said to her mother (No it is not like that. Now listen. It is this way). She'd be silent, or angry for no reason, and chatter to Christophine in patios.
In this passage, the initial language is Maltese, then the second language mentioned is Patios. Maltese is a from or Arabic with borrowings from Italian, while Patios is a form of language that differs from the norm (generally French). Both the languages used are 'hybrid' in essence. There are many other languages references in the novel. All of which are essentially hybrid.
Also, Antoinette's husband describes Christophine talking as, "She began to mutter to herself. Not in patois. I knew the sound of patois now" (132). Again, another lanuage is incorborated but liked to a "muttering" - i.e. not a valid form of communication.
There is a passage somewhere in the book that says something about Christophine shifting between three different languages. I found it once, then I lost it, and now I can't seem to find it again even though I've looked forever.... Can anyone find it?
There's a lot more on Linguistic Hybridity but I think i'll leave it at this for now :)
Cheers,
Martyna G.
Cre·ole
[kree-ohl] 
Show IPA
–noun Show IPA 1.
2.
3. ( sometimes lowercase ) a person of mixed black and European, esp. French or Spanish** the parrot speaking french could be a hint at this ^^. Also, I think the parrot speaking French is more linguistic hybridity than racial hybridity.
I found the following passages on linguistic hybridity:
All day she'd be like any other girl, smile at herself in her looking-glass . . . try to teach me her songs, for they haunted me.
Adieu foulard, adieu madras, or Ma belle ka di maman li. My beautiful girl said to her mother (No it is not like that. Now listen. It is this way). She'd be silent, or angry for no reason, and chatter to Christophine in patios.
In this passage, the initial language is Maltese, then the second language mentioned is Patios. Maltese is a from or Arabic with borrowings from Italian, while Patios is a form of language that differs from the norm (generally French). Both the languages used are 'hybrid' in essence. There are many other languages references in the novel. All of which are essentially hybrid.
Also, Antoinette's husband describes Christophine talking as, "She began to mutter to herself. Not in patois. I knew the sound of patois now" (132). Again, another lanuage is incorborated but liked to a "muttering" - i.e. not a valid form of communication.
There is a passage somewhere in the book that says something about Christophine shifting between three different languages. I found it once, then I lost it, and now I can't seem to find it again even though I've looked forever.... Can anyone find it?
There's a lot more on Linguistic Hybridity but I think i'll leave it at this for now :)
Cheers,
Martyna G.
Research
Hellloo everyone,
First off, Khalid, you are very quick to criticize other ideas but you don't offer any alternatives. Just saying that all the sub-categories fall under "cultural" doesn't get us anywhere. Our presentation is a week out so we need actual research and solutions. So if you're going to reject my idea of five sub-categories you need to support that by providing research on the broad idea of hybridity in the novel. In my opinion, and after reading several essays and arguments on the topic, I believe exploring hybridity itself is too loose and ambivalent. By breaking the presentation into those five categories, our presentation will be focused and concise.
That being said, I'm going to begin providing examples and research for the categories as they apply to the book (admittedly I don't think "religion" has much to do with anything... we could leave it out... Ideas on that?):
1) Racial Hybridity in Wide Sargasso Sea:
The complexity of racial identity is a prominent theme within this novel. I checked out spark notes and found something great!
Subtleties of race and the intricacies of Jamaica’s social hierarchy play an important role in the development of the novel’s main themes. Whites born in England are distinguished from the white Creoles, descendants of Europeans who have lived in the West Indies for one or more generations. Further complicating the social structure is the population of black ex-slaves who maintain their own kinds of stratification. Christophine, for instance, stands apart from the Jamaican servants because she is originally from the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Furthermore, there is a large mixed-race population, as white slave owners throughout the Caribbean and the Americas were notorious for raping and impregnating female slaves. Sandi and Daniel Cosway, two of Alexander Cosway’s illegitimate children, both occupy this middle ground between black and white society.
"the middle ground between black and white society" -- this is the fundamental essence of racial hybridity.
Tia, Antoinette's childhood friend, introduces the idea of racial hybridity in the opening pages of the novel. She declares that Antoinette and her family are 'white niggers': " Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn't look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger" (21).
Antoinette's fixation on race in evident in her portrayal of the ants/flowers she encounters on a walk: "I went to parts of Coulibri I had not seen, where there was no road, no path, no track. . . . Black ants or red ones, tall nests swarming with white ants" (24 emphasis added). It is interesting that she chooses to distinguish between the differently colored ants. From this passage, one gets the impression that these ants are mixed and varied in the forest; however, they are still distinctly one color. The following phrases come right after the mention of distinctly colored ants: "All better than people . . . Better. Better, better than people" (24). This gives the impression that the distinct color of the ants is superior to the mixed/hybrid identity of humans. Further, Antoinette addresses flowers in a similar way, "Watching the red and yellow flowers" (24). Lastly, the descriptive colors Antoinette uses are all colors of differently origined skin: Black, white, red, and yellow.
Anette's racial hybridity is revealed in the following passage, "I looked across the white tablecloth and the vase of yellow roses at Mr. Mason, so sure of himself, so without a doubt English. And at my mother, so without a doubt not English, but no white nigger either" (30). Anette is somewhere between English and "white nigger". She is lost between the two cultures and does not relate to either fully. Antoinette is the same way, this isolation leads to the demise of both characters.
**Notice how many nouns are described using colors that apply to different skin hues.
It's interesting that the parrot speaks french: "Our parrot was called Coco, a green parrot, He didn't talk very well, he could say Qui est la? Qui est la?" (35).
As Antoinette and her family are running away from their house, someone yells, " 'But look at the black Englishman! Look the white niggers!', and then they were all yelling. 'Look the white niggers! Look the damn white niggers!' "
I think these quotations clearly establish Anette, Antoinette, and their family as racially hybrid - somewhere between white and black. They also draw attention to Rhys' intended inclusion of racial hybridity as a large component within the novel.
As earlier mentioned, slave owners raped and impregnated female slaves. The following passage describes the girl and boy who were taunting Antoinette on her way to school. The boy is the epitome of racial hybridity: "There were two of them, a boy and a girl. The boy was about fourteen and tall and big for his age, he had a white skin, a dull ugly white covered with freckles, his mouth was a negro's mouth and he had small eyes, like bits of green grass. . . . his hair was crinkled, a negro's hair, but bright red, and his eyebrows and eyelashes were red. The girl was very black and wore no head handkerchief. Her hair had been plaited and I could smell the sickening oil she had daubed on it" (41).
First off, Khalid, you are very quick to criticize other ideas but you don't offer any alternatives. Just saying that all the sub-categories fall under "cultural" doesn't get us anywhere. Our presentation is a week out so we need actual research and solutions. So if you're going to reject my idea of five sub-categories you need to support that by providing research on the broad idea of hybridity in the novel. In my opinion, and after reading several essays and arguments on the topic, I believe exploring hybridity itself is too loose and ambivalent. By breaking the presentation into those five categories, our presentation will be focused and concise.
That being said, I'm going to begin providing examples and research for the categories as they apply to the book (admittedly I don't think "religion" has much to do with anything... we could leave it out... Ideas on that?):
1) Racial Hybridity in Wide Sargasso Sea:
The complexity of racial identity is a prominent theme within this novel. I checked out spark notes and found something great!
Subtleties of race and the intricacies of Jamaica’s social hierarchy play an important role in the development of the novel’s main themes. Whites born in England are distinguished from the white Creoles, descendants of Europeans who have lived in the West Indies for one or more generations. Further complicating the social structure is the population of black ex-slaves who maintain their own kinds of stratification. Christophine, for instance, stands apart from the Jamaican servants because she is originally from the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Furthermore, there is a large mixed-race population, as white slave owners throughout the Caribbean and the Americas were notorious for raping and impregnating female slaves. Sandi and Daniel Cosway, two of Alexander Cosway’s illegitimate children, both occupy this middle ground between black and white society.
"the middle ground between black and white society" -- this is the fundamental essence of racial hybridity.
Tia, Antoinette's childhood friend, introduces the idea of racial hybridity in the opening pages of the novel. She declares that Antoinette and her family are 'white niggers': " Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn't look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger" (21).
Antoinette's fixation on race in evident in her portrayal of the ants/flowers she encounters on a walk: "I went to parts of Coulibri I had not seen, where there was no road, no path, no track. . . . Black ants or red ones, tall nests swarming with white ants" (24 emphasis added). It is interesting that she chooses to distinguish between the differently colored ants. From this passage, one gets the impression that these ants are mixed and varied in the forest; however, they are still distinctly one color. The following phrases come right after the mention of distinctly colored ants: "All better than people . . . Better. Better, better than people" (24). This gives the impression that the distinct color of the ants is superior to the mixed/hybrid identity of humans. Further, Antoinette addresses flowers in a similar way, "Watching the red and yellow flowers" (24). Lastly, the descriptive colors Antoinette uses are all colors of differently origined skin: Black, white, red, and yellow.
Anette's racial hybridity is revealed in the following passage, "I looked across the white tablecloth and the vase of yellow roses at Mr. Mason, so sure of himself, so without a doubt English. And at my mother, so without a doubt not English, but no white nigger either" (30). Anette is somewhere between English and "white nigger". She is lost between the two cultures and does not relate to either fully. Antoinette is the same way, this isolation leads to the demise of both characters.
**Notice how many nouns are described using colors that apply to different skin hues.
It's interesting that the parrot speaks french: "Our parrot was called Coco, a green parrot, He didn't talk very well, he could say Qui est la? Qui est la?" (35).
As Antoinette and her family are running away from their house, someone yells, " 'But look at the black Englishman! Look the white niggers!', and then they were all yelling. 'Look the white niggers! Look the damn white niggers!' "
I think these quotations clearly establish Anette, Antoinette, and their family as racially hybrid - somewhere between white and black. They also draw attention to Rhys' intended inclusion of racial hybridity as a large component within the novel.
As earlier mentioned, slave owners raped and impregnated female slaves. The following passage describes the girl and boy who were taunting Antoinette on her way to school. The boy is the epitome of racial hybridity: "There were two of them, a boy and a girl. The boy was about fourteen and tall and big for his age, he had a white skin, a dull ugly white covered with freckles, his mouth was a negro's mouth and he had small eyes, like bits of green grass. . . . his hair was crinkled, a negro's hair, but bright red, and his eyebrows and eyelashes were red. The girl was very black and wore no head handkerchief. Her hair had been plaited and I could smell the sickening oil she had daubed on it" (41).
Friday, October 29, 2010
re:Brachiation : "a rope of sand"
hey team
Martyna, I have to commend you for you research thus far, you seem to be taking quite a lead on the research and the project as a whole here. I'd say the breakdown is pretty sweet, though I think the racial, linguistic, literary and possibly even religious sub-categories all fall under the banner of cultural. and I must admit i can't recall enough instances of the individual sub-categories occurring in the novel (think its big enough to be considered a novel) to warrant a separate section, plus there's the possibility due to overlap of looping back to the same if not similar references in presentation. I guess it all hinges on if we are sticking with our decision to limit the projected slides to predominantly images. With the prevalence of images these demarcations would be hard to make. Though certainly breaking it down as you've mentioned would be perfect in introducing the concept of hybridity, and i do think the background in brief of Said & Bhaba's concept are better placed at the start, in the sense of referencing them and not speaking extensively about them especially if we are going to use the concepts in summation.
Thanks for all the work guys seems like we got one hell of a presentation on our hands.
Any ideas on the skits yet?
Considering going with the font on the cover of the book (above) for the slides, any thoughts?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Further Research and Fun
Good Morning Crew!
I just read an interesting essay which brought up a very valid point : "it may not be that useful to speak of hybridity in general. What might be more helpful is thinking about different hybridities –- a set of differentiated sub-categories: 1) racial, 2) linguistic, 3) literary, 4) cultural, and 5) religious".
This link is where I found the paper:
http://www.thevalve.org/go/valve/article/mimicry_and_hybridity_in_plain_words/
- Martyna G.
I just read an interesting essay which brought up a very valid point : "it may not be that useful to speak of hybridity in general. What might be more helpful is thinking about different hybridities –- a set of differentiated sub-categories: 1) racial, 2) linguistic, 3) literary, 4) cultural, and 5) religious".
This link is where I found the paper:
http://www.thevalve.org/go/valve/article/mimicry_and_hybridity_in_plain_words/
So I'm thinking a minor revision for our presentation.... In the "Body" what if we discuss these hybridities as mentioned above. The characters and setting will all fall into one category or another. This way, even according to our textbook which explains hybridity in a similar way, we'll be covering all the bases of 'hybridity'.
The above link also discusses the literary hybridity of Wide Sargasso Sea... which is amazing because we can even tie the novella itself in as being of hybrid form.
Opinions?
(I don't know why but I can't unbold anything after the link... hence the bolded post. Sorry :-) )
- Martyna G.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Research and Such
Hello Team!
Thank you Ally for setting up the blog so promptly. I love the photos :)
Hybridity:
Hybridity commonly refers to the creation of new transcultural forms within the contact zone produced by colonization. In horticulture, the term refers to the cross-breeding of two species by grafting or cross-pollination to form a third, 'hybrid' species. Hybridization takes many forms: linguistic, cultural, political, racial. etc.
- Class Text: Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts
Homi K. Bhabha's hybridity:
The term 'hybridity' has been most recently associated with the work of Bhabha, whose analysis of colonizer/colonized relations stresses their interdependence and the mutual construction of their subjectivities.
- Class Text: . . . The Key Concepts
Presentation Focus: An analysis of hybridity in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. More specifically, examining the hybridity of characters and setting within the novel and the effect of hybridity on these people/places. Hybridity is the product of intertwining the cultures of the colonizer and the colonized. It creates people (and potentially places) that are in-between the two cultures. Since the hybrids are neither one culture nor the other, they become marginalized and excluded. They are a danger to the integrity of either culture and thus remain isolated and 'othered'.
Let us focus a lot of effort on Antoinette, since she is the epitome of hybridity and the main character of the novel. I have found a very helpful Essay on Antoinette's hybridity (which leads to her isolation):
http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:218975
I included that brief excerpt about Bhabha because it talks about a relationship of interdependence between the Colonizer and the Colonized. A similar interdependence is seen in Wide Sargasso Sea between Antoinette and the servants. Since this directly correlates with Bhabha's ideas on hybridity we should incorporate it when discussing Antoinette
A few words about the organization of our presentation:
1) Itinerary
Where we can introduce ourselves, and the layout of our presentation. Almost like a "index".
2) Introduction - Khalid
The introduction of our presentation should include a contextualization of the novel, a brief few words about the author, and our "focus" as outlined above. I no longer think we should have Bhabha's and Said's laid out in the introduction. I think this would be appropriate if we were doing a complete reading of the novel from these perspectives; however, since we're only focusing on small parts of the critics' doctrines I think we should bring these ideas up in the body of the presentation. What do you guys think? That being said, Khalid can still prepare a break down of each critic (the parts that are relevant, since we will only be using fragments from each doctrine) to make it easier on those writing the body of the presentation
3) The body: Discussing hybridity as seen in characters/setting and the reactions of these characters/setting to their in-between state.
4) The conclusion
This is pretty straight forward....
Other elements:
We will have the skits (introducing new ideas), key note for visual appeal, a handout for clarity, and a large elephant in the corner ....
I have to run as I'm working at 6:00 tonight. I plan on working on further research ASAP.
- Martyna G.
Thank you Ally for setting up the blog so promptly. I love the photos :)
Hybridity:
Hybridity commonly refers to the creation of new transcultural forms within the contact zone produced by colonization. In horticulture, the term refers to the cross-breeding of two species by grafting or cross-pollination to form a third, 'hybrid' species. Hybridization takes many forms: linguistic, cultural, political, racial. etc.
- Class Text: Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts
Homi K. Bhabha's hybridity:
The term 'hybridity' has been most recently associated with the work of Bhabha, whose analysis of colonizer/colonized relations stresses their interdependence and the mutual construction of their subjectivities.
- Class Text: . . . The Key Concepts
Presentation Focus: An analysis of hybridity in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. More specifically, examining the hybridity of characters and setting within the novel and the effect of hybridity on these people/places. Hybridity is the product of intertwining the cultures of the colonizer and the colonized. It creates people (and potentially places) that are in-between the two cultures. Since the hybrids are neither one culture nor the other, they become marginalized and excluded. They are a danger to the integrity of either culture and thus remain isolated and 'othered'.
Let us focus a lot of effort on Antoinette, since she is the epitome of hybridity and the main character of the novel. I have found a very helpful Essay on Antoinette's hybridity (which leads to her isolation):
http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:218975
I included that brief excerpt about Bhabha because it talks about a relationship of interdependence between the Colonizer and the Colonized. A similar interdependence is seen in Wide Sargasso Sea between Antoinette and the servants. Since this directly correlates with Bhabha's ideas on hybridity we should incorporate it when discussing Antoinette
A few words about the organization of our presentation:
1) Itinerary
Where we can introduce ourselves, and the layout of our presentation. Almost like a "index".
2) Introduction - Khalid
The introduction of our presentation should include a contextualization of the novel, a brief few words about the author, and our "focus" as outlined above. I no longer think we should have Bhabha's and Said's laid out in the introduction. I think this would be appropriate if we were doing a complete reading of the novel from these perspectives; however, since we're only focusing on small parts of the critics' doctrines I think we should bring these ideas up in the body of the presentation. What do you guys think? That being said, Khalid can still prepare a break down of each critic (the parts that are relevant, since we will only be using fragments from each doctrine) to make it easier on those writing the body of the presentation
3) The body: Discussing hybridity as seen in characters/setting and the reactions of these characters/setting to their in-between state.
4) The conclusion
This is pretty straight forward....
Other elements:
We will have the skits (introducing new ideas), key note for visual appeal, a handout for clarity, and a large elephant in the corner ....
I have to run as I'm working at 6:00 tonight. I plan on working on further research ASAP.
- Martyna G.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Contextualization: The author's intent
Hello everyone!
Thanks for making this blog Aly =)
http://books.google.ca/books?id=3svWhdtsfzoC&pg=PA110&dq=The+Other+Stage:+From+Jane+Eyre+to+Wide+Sargasso+Sea&hl=en&ei=w7_ETI6TC4q-sQPW7uj0Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=The%20Other%20Stage%3A%20From%20Jane%20Eyre%20to%20Wide%20Sargasso%20Sea&f=false
The above link has a bit of info on the author's intent, you can do a quick skim from page 110 onwards. Maybe we can quote from it? It also argues why Rochester's attitude towards Antoinette can be seen from a colonial perspective versus feminist.
-Lid
Hello everyone!
Thanks for making this blog Aly =)
http://books.google.ca/books?id=3svWhdtsfzoC&pg=PA110&dq=The+Other+Stage:+From+Jane+Eyre+to+Wide+Sargasso+Sea&hl=en&ei=w7_ETI6TC4q-sQPW7uj0Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=The%20Other%20Stage%3A%20From%20Jane%20Eyre%20to%20Wide%20Sargasso%20Sea&f=false
The above link has a bit of info on the author's intent, you can do a quick skim from page 110 onwards. Maybe we can quote from it? It also argues why Rochester's attitude towards Antoinette can be seen from a colonial perspective versus feminist.
-Lid
The blog is born!
I think we should all sign our posts, and that every post should have a title.
If anyone has any other guidelines we should follow, you can edit this post and add them in!
Post away!
Alyssa
P.S. I just thought of another one, we should provide links to images and sources!
If anyone has any other guidelines we should follow, you can edit this post and add them in!
Post away!
Alyssa
P.S. I just thought of another one, we should provide links to images and sources!
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