I would prefer not to prefer not to: a quarter of negative negativity

As the quarter comes to a close, I find myself looking forward to delving back into a number of exciting new texts I've discovered through this course, as well as continuing to think about "Bartleby the Scrivener" and the way the text has been deployed in a contemporary context. I have also been really inspired by how everyone has received my ideas and some of the weird posts that I've churned out. You all are amazing! Anyway, here are a few thoughts to wrap up my last blog post.

"Bartleby" isn't going anywhere, and evidently, neither is the renewed interest in the story or the character. I've long thought of writing something about the Bartleby character-type, and I think I have a lot of material to work with now (thanks also to Sophia for being such a great co-author!). But I also think that this series of posts has made me think about the rhetoric surrounding the story, and that  a rhetorical analysis or a deconstruction of the debate might actually be something I'm more interested in pursuing.

I read some incredible articles that I hope to engage with more in the future. "Necropolitics" by Mbembe took me by surprise; I was inspired both by his frank writing style and the massive scope and implications of his work. Meanwhile, Christopher Nealon's "Affect, performativity, and actually existing poetry" got me thinking about the dichotomy of American and European philosophical discourse and the relationship of discourse to place. It also made me think about poetry as a form of rhetoric in a community, a mode of communication in a language outside the sphere of capital. Spivak's introduction to "Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography" and Foucault's "Mesh of Power" were also influential, as was The Static Hero in American Literature and Culture: Social Movements, Occupation, and Empowerment, a text I discovered through the course of my research for one of my blog posts. 

Since I've been primarily teaching film, it's been good to think through teaching literature, though I can't say that any of my blog posts about teaching were particularly realistic. It's actually been really helpful for me to read other people's takes on teaching their text. As I wrote that last sentence, I realized just how nice it's been to read everyone's posts and how much I think I've learned by reading and thinking about different styles of doing this literature thing.

Making that video with Bethany was weird, but I'm so glad we did it, and it got me thinking about how I have previously aspired to do weekly podcasty things and that those dreams have never materialized. So with the momentum of "the circle of life," I'm really hoping to brainstorm and get a gimmicky pseudo-intellectual video-based weekly-commentary thing off the ground. The question is, if I did, would you watch it?

Last Spring, when I was considering what graduate program to attend, I was not only choosing between schools, but between fields. My final choice was between the Visual Studies program at San Diego, or English at Davis. This was a "what do you want to be when you grow up moment" and I decided I would look better in a tweed jacket than a black turtleneck. No offense to any art professor who happens across this post, either in the distant future or in the infinity of the archive. But, I've been able to work in some visual studies components to a few of my posts, and it's felt really good to think in that medium while working with literature. This is something I'm really concerned with, especially because I think that both visual studies and literature have critical roles in steering social movements, and I want to think about them comparatively. So as I move forward, I have to remember how important art is to me!

Since I can't end on this note, watch this video to help you get through finals!