america adrift

The American Studies East Anglia blog has recently undergone a few minor changes, including a very cool banner and new blog title, Containing Multitudes.

A few days ago Graphic Adaptations of American Classics was posted, highlighting some very interesting new comic art, all of which are now cued on my Amazon wish list. But the most interesting for me was John Porcellino’s adaptation of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, which I’ve ordered for myself now and to share later with my son.

Containing Multitudes has an “exclusive account of the genesis of Thoreau at Walden by the book’s creator, John Porcellino” here.

Walden is such a dense, beautiful text, that almost every line in it could be fodder for pages of exploration. I tried to keep to the essence, and obviously there’s a lot that that couldn’t be included.

Both posts contain a wealth of links for further investigation. Perusing the Center for Cartoon Studies website I found another intriguing work they released, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow. This too is on my short list.

Oh yeah, CM has also established a Facebook presence which you can find here.

About three weeks ago, our friends at East Anglia posted a brief introduction on The Edge of the American West,a fantastic blog written by historians, Eric Rauchway and Ari Kelman. I had first discovered them a few months back through Historiann’s “History Geek Squad”, and found myself often clicking through her blog into Rauchway and Kelman’s portal. Lately I’ve been reading daily and felt an introduction here was long overdo. Continue Reading »

A book which should appeal to all Danish speakers with an interest in American Studies has recently appeared: Carl Pedersen (now adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Center for the Study of the Americas) has published the third volume of his Danish-language USA-trilogy, titled Det andet USA. In this book Pedersen examines the roots of the American social and political system from Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to today, and he proposes that after a long spell of Republican mismanagement of the legacies of class solidarity, environmental care and multicultural acceptance the US may be poised for a return to a more caring set of policies under the coming Democratic presidency of Barack Obama…

In the book’s first portion “Rødder” (Roots) Pedersen interlaces his account of US history from the early 20th century onwards with memoirs of his own family, his parents being Danish immigrants meeting more or less at random in New York City, getting married, settling in New Jersey and raising a family there. This personal touch of life writing brightens up the historical account, which also features its own political heroes and villains, in the form of various Presidents and candidates whose various policies and ideologies are examined throughout the book. The “Roots” chapter is followed by 3 more specific case-oriented chapters, discussing Hurricane Katrina, environmental issues, and immigration and multiculturalism issues, respectively. The closing chapter focusses on a more topical issue, namely the ongoing Presidental campaign, but also offers a form of utopian speculation on the future direction of the US, if - or when - the “other” America takes over.

Here is a quote from my review:

Ærindet med Pedersens bog er tydeligvis tofoldigt: Dels ønsker han brændende forandring i sit fædreland og bogen bliver et passioneret argument for denne forandrings uundgåelighed efter en lang række mørke år under regressive præsidenter og deres fejlslagne administrationer; dels vil Pedersen meget gerne have sit danske publikum til at indse at USA er et mere multifacetteret samfund end det mediebillede de fleste danskere ligger under for, hvori USA er et bibel-bankende, skydevåben-befængt, cowboy-bestøvlet, selvtilstrækkeligt forbrugerparadis, stereotypisk befolket af konservative dødsstrafstilhængere og overvægtige, fastfood-afhængige ignoranter med sport på hjernen… Der er altså, som Pedersens titel siger, et andet USA derovre, både nu og endnu mere tydeligt i en ikke alt for utopisk fremtid, som har de svages kår på sinde, som tror på en bæredygtig økologisk rolle for Amerika, og som indser at USA er et land hvor mange racer og etniciteter skal sameksistere og deles om riget, magten, og æren: Et USA der står i en slags multikulturel regnbuekoalitions tegn.

Read the rest at Kulturkapellet..

For those of you who can read Danish, I have a long review of Todd Haynes’ ‘Dylan’-film I’m Not There at Kulturkapellet. Check it out, if you like Dylan, or postmodern meta-film, or both…

For those of you who don’t read Danish, here is a clip from the film, depicting the hilarious first meeting between Cate Blanchett’s Dylan character (Jude Quinn - one of the six ‘Dylans’ in the film) and Davis Cross’ Allen Ginsberg, who pulls up alongside Quinn’s limo in a weird golf cart-like vehicle driven by the actor who plays Peter Orlofsky, Ginsberg’s long time lover…

Another great moment in the film occurs when ‘another’ ‘Dylan’, Arthur Rimbaud (played by Ben Whishaw) gives his simple rules for a life as “a complete unknown” as one real Dylan put it in “Like a Rolling Stone”:

Seven simple rules for a life in hiding:
One, never trust a cop in a raincoat.
Two, beware of enthusiasm and of love, each is temporary and quick to sway.
Three, if asked if you care about the world’s problems, look deep into the eyes of he who asks, he will not ask you again.
Number four and five, never give your real name, and if ever told to look at yourself, ever look.
Six, never say or do anything which the person standing in front of you cannot understand.
And seven, never create anything. It will be misinterpreted. It will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life, and it will never change

Rimbaud’s tenets - which he himself tried in vain to follow, giving up writing at the tender age of 21 - illustrate every artist’s dilemma with creation and audience. They also marvellously illustrate Rimbaud’s famous claim: “Je est un autre” (”(The) I is another”). The artist committing acts of autobiography is always suspect, always an outlaw, always an other to oneself. An insight both Dylan and Todd Haynes seem to subscribe to, but also an insight which turns out to provide no valid defense when the desire to create becomes too overwhelming and must be obeyed…

4 free songs from the film are on offer from the movie’s MySpace site. Jim James’ “Goin to Acapulco” - performed by him in the film wearing whiteface a la Rolling Thunder Revue-era Dylan, set in the carnevalesque town of Riddle where it’s Halloween all year round - is a stand-out. Jeff Tweedy, Cat Power and Sufjan Stevens all do credible work on their cover versions too…

The exquisitely designed culture/theory/aesthetics portal, Wood S Lot, has been showing us some ‘blog love’ over the last couple of days - for which we thank them, and reciprocate…

I am always very inspired by their photography finds - check out this wintry image, for instance. There is always something to look at and think about on the ‘Lot’, and before you know it you find yourself delving into images from Wisconsin history, or contemplating the circular wisdom of quotes like this one:

Beware of thinkers whose minds function only when they are fueled by a quotation.
- E.M. Cioran

Best not think too much about that one…!

Those of you who can read Danish might be interested in visiting Kulturkapellet, a new Aalborg based portal featuring reviews of all things cultural. It covers film, literature, theatre, music, games and the arts. Also featured are occasional essays - slightly longer and more ‘academic’ pieces on cultural and philosophical issues. There are also reviews of non-fiction - and one piece for instance is of clear Am. Studies interest: Steen Christiansen’s piece on Apokalypsens Amerika. More are sure to follow… The ‘Chapel’ welcomes guest reviewers if anyone cares to sign up - check the contact page for details.

This has been a rather good weekend for new issues of online journals of American Studies and general academic interest.

The excellent poetry journal out of UBC, Vancouver - Studio - has its second issue out, or at least ready for a sneak preview here. The editor, Rishma Dunlop, is an excellent poet in her own right and the journal does a good job both presenting established and emergent poets, and in providing essays on poetry, particularly pertaining to the pedagogical aspects of using poetry in the classroom (check the Poetry & Education section). The first issue of Studio had especially interesting stuff by multicultural poet Meena Alexander who is a terrific voice both poetically and intellectually. The current issue has excellent stuff from Robert Gibbons (here pursuing an O’Hara-like poetry of the quotidian) and Evie Shockley (poignant prose fragments), among others, both of whom I highly recommend checking out. You can also read a short review, written by myself, of an online chapbook by Gibbons.

By fortuitous coincidence, this weekend also sees the publication of the new issue of Janus Head, an interdisciplinary journal which covers literature, art, philosophy and psychology. Janus Head is entering its 10th volume and all essays are available online as PDF-files as well as in a print volume form. This issue has particularly interesting essays on iconic representations of suffering in Buddhism and Catholicism (a neat a propos to our recent discussions of American icons on this blog) by Alan Pope, and on race and gender issues in the work of poet Sylvia Plath by Ellen Miller. In the fiction and poetry section we again find Robert Gibbons, this time decidedly more political and historical in his deadly accurate aim. One should also not miss the 14 Paul Celan poems featured in translation in this issue.