The way in which The Atrocity Exhibition captures the reality of the 1960s is not objective, but radically distorted and based on trauma. This reflection of cultural trauma is particularly powerful because basic elements of trauma narrative, especially fragmentation, are also identified as being part of the source of the trauma.
Read MoreI know you love reading books, but do you like listening to them too? There are novels that carry a lot of music within them, and Ali Smith's How To Be Both is such a novel. Songs that relate to the main characters' lives, and also a soundtrack for an enhanced reading experience.
Read MoreThere are two specific authors who come to mind when I think of playfulness and unreliability in writing: W.G. Sebald, the German born writer and academic who only had time to write four brilliant novels before he tragically died in a car accident, and Bruno Schulz, who only had time to publish two short-story collections.
Read MoreIn this continuation of last month's essay on Choice Feminism and the role of popular media in shaping the way we think of feminism, we look at Tina Fey and her particular approach to feminist issues.
Read MoreEvery fellow writer participating in National Novel Writing Month woke up this morning with probably the same mix of excitement and dread. Excitement, because we finally get to start writing our novel, and dread, because 50k words still seems a long way to go. Today's motivation comes in the form of these three novels written during NaNoWriMo. You can do it too!
Read MoreMary Shelley's monster from Frankenstein has been taken and adapted many times. This time, we focus on the adaption which plays a role in the gothic TV series Penny Dreadful. By comparing the two, what is revealed about the way in which science and humanity relate to each other?
Read MoreHalloween is fast upon us, and if you've been waiting for the gloom and creepiness that's in the air at this time of year, then you'll also be looking forward to sit by a fireplace or by candlelight and read some spine-chilling ghost stories to get in the mood.
Read MoreAngela Carter’s Wolf Trilogy attempts to present its readers with strong female protagonists who use fearlessness or sexuality to remain free from patriarchal dominance. However, Carter ends up undermining her feminist purpose in the way she portrays her protagonists.
Read MoreMusic that inspired Murakami's classic novel, music mentioned in it, and music to enhance your reading experience. The playlist is intended to represent the spirit of the novel and its characters, and to fully immerse you in their world while you read. Enjoy!
Read MoreChoice feminism, a school of thought which believes that any choice made by a woman, of her own accord, is inherently a feminist choice and that one should be accepting of others, their choices and not judge them. This is based on the idea that we live in a post feminist world and to make the movement broadband, it should follow a sort of a common minimum program. This is one of the internal contradictions that choice feminism entails.
Read MoreFollowing last week's article on Rachel Cusk, we now look at a more specific question regarding the nature of Self writing, and how Outline marks it. Can Cusk's approach to the novel, and her apparent disdain for fiction, be an overt feminist statement against the male-dominated constructions of fiction writing?
Read MoreWilliam Gibson’s Neuromancer explores transcendence in its depiction of Case and cyberspace. Case finds his identity in cyberspace, and his desire to transcend his body is rooted in a desire to escape what he deems to be a flesh prison. How does the novel explore the theme of escapism in relation to a desire to transcend the human body?
Read MoreIn 2013, Rachel Cusk went to Athens to teach Creative Writing at a Summer School organized by Kingston University Writing School. A year later, she published Outline, a book about that trip and the stories people shared with her. For Cusk, but also for the genre we are discussing in this series, Outline was a turning point. How did it play out?
Read MoreJohn Le Carré’s world of Cold War espionage, according to some, depicts a straightforward structure on its surface level: “there were good guys and bad guys and they were easy to spot” (Boyd). How does the depiction of morality and its subjectivity in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold instead paint a picture where the spotting of good guys and bad guys is not so straightforward?
Read MoreThe short story is a delicate form of writing because of this brevity that allows only the very best writers to capture the reader's heart and mind in just a few pages. For the very best short story writers, a five page story can be more powerful than a seven book series. So, here's a list of 5 short stories that can easily be read in one short go, but will have you thinking about them for hours or days to come.
Read MoreEighty-three years to the day since he was born, and almost a year since his passing, Leonard Cohen subtly attracts a large following around his persona and, now, legacy. A new music video celebrating his life and work was just released, and a memorial concert to take place in Montreal in November was announced by his son. Here's a look at a remarkable life in art.
Read MoreIn the second part of this series of articles investigating the complexity of writing from an inevitable self, Lidia Yuknavitch's ideas on memory and fiction vs. memoir are illustrated by a series of examples. How do we create and preserve memories? More importantly, how do we access them, and how do they change between creation and recollection?
Read MoreDylan's still recent Nobel win reminds us one of the most interesting aspects of his popularity through the decades: the way he was embraced by the mechanisms of the very system he rebelled against. What was Bob Dylan’s pivotal role in shaping the popular culture of the sixties through his ever changing political stance and his obsessive tinkering with his own public image?
Read MoreThe Emmys are just around the corner, and even though this year's schedule means Game of Thrones can't be nominated, it still looks like the Occam's razor will decide this season's winners. But what if the Emmys only cared about one factor: originality? Who would win on that basis alone?
Read MoreKneading together memoir, academic writing, and social criticism, Maggie Nelson gives a new meaning to "The personal is political." How does Nelson use her experience to present social issues, and how does Deleuze's perception of phenomenology play a part in this?
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