Shows
Modernist RevivalEpisode 2.2: "The Prussian Officer" by D.H. Lawrence"The Prussian Officer" by D.H. Lawrence (1914) read in full with some contextual notes. Content Warning: graphic depictions of violence, mention of war. 2022-08-2748 minModernist RevivalOscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian GrayWe explore Oscar Wilde's theories on art, decadence, and desire present in The Picture of Dorian Gray. We also Consider Roland Barthes' exploration of desire and especially destructive forms of desire in A Lover's Discourse. 2022-07-122h 11
Modernist RevivalEpisode 2.0: Modernism's Sexual Revolution/"Kew Gardens" by Virginia WoolfPodcast host Verdie Culbreath briefly discuss the ways in which modernist literature has created an impetus towards sexual revolution in the global 20th century before reading Virginia Woolf's short story "Kew Gardens." 2022-06-2830 minModernist Revival"A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf (Part 1 of 4)Written in 1928, A Room of One's Own is widely considered to be a foundational text within women's literature and gender studies. In the first two chapters, which this episode covers, Woolf explores certain systemic inequalities women face within the education and employment system that lead her to state boldly that, in order to be a creative professional, a woman must first posses guaranteed wealth or income and secure housing in which she lives independently. 2022-03-101h 34Modernist Revival"What is an Author?" by Michel FoucaultIn this episode I summarize the key points Michel Foucault makes in his iconic essay "What is an Author?" and then offer a detailed close reading of the lecture that makes a case for a return to formal and contextual study of classic canonical texts of Modernist Literature. 2022-02-131h 43Modernist Revival"Babylon, Revisited" by F. Scott FitzgeraldI offer a brief thematic comparison of "Babylon, Revisited" to "The Yellow Wallpaper" and then address the renewed relevance of this story to hardships that have befallen American life in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Published in 1931, this story reflects the struggles many American faced in the years immediately following the stock market crash of 1929. Reading the story in 2022, it becomes apparent just how closely American life today resembles American life in the great depression of the 30s and 40s.
I read from Matthew J. Bruccoli's collected short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, published by Scribners i...2022-01-1358 minModernist Revival"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins GilmanPublished in 1892, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the earliest fictional representations of post-partum depression and the often barbaric and heterosexist treatments used to cure women of the anxieties surrounding child raising and other forms of domestic labor. I read a facsimilie of the first edition, republished by signet classics in 1992.
Content/Trigger Warning:
Brief mention of suicidal ideation and allusions to domestic violence. 2022-01-0948 minModernist RevivalCasual Sex: A Poetic HistoryIn this episode, I trace a history of representations of casual sexual encounters in modernist poetry. I read poems by T.S. Elliot, Charles Bukowski, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton.
Trigger Warning:
Adult content, sexual themes, explicit and/or crude language, depictions of suicide and suicidal ideation, alcohol and drug use and abuse. 2021-12-3049 minModernist Revival"The Dead" by James Joyce"The Dead" by James Joyce is an underrated Christmas Classic. The scene of the party is one all listeners will surely find familiar. This story reads as a kind of comedy of errors with a heartfelt poignancy to the overall disappointment in the ending.
Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoy! 2021-12-261h 42Modernist RevivalFrank O'Hara and the Poetics of PersonismI discuss Frank O'Hara's poetic philosophy "personism" and read the following poems and essays: "Personism: A Manifesto," "The Day Lady Died," "Ode to Joy," "Animals," "Morning," and "Meditations in an Emergency. 2021-12-2229 minModernist RevivalPreface to Michel Foucault's _The Birth of the Clinic_I read the preface to Michel Foucault's 1963 The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perceptions. My personal annotations and interpretations frame the sub-sections and there is some tangential thought about my own thoughts on humanity's current placement on the biopolitical spectrum.
Genre is Critical Political Theory. This excerpt sets up an epistemological issue within medical discourse whereby certain individuals become pathologized for behaviors that are untreated or undiagnosed in others.
I read from Foucalt, Michel. A.M. Sheridan Smith, Trans. The Birth of the Clinic: an Archaeology of Medical Perception. Vintage books. New Yo...2021-12-1846 min
Modernist Revival"Break it Down" by Lydia DavisI give a brief introduction to Literary Modernism, Postmodernism and the overall themes of the podcast. I read Lydia Davis's Short Story "Break it Down." I do not own the rights to the story. I read from Berlant, Lauren and Edelman, Lee. Sex, or the Unbareable. Durahum: Duke University Press, 2014 in which Davis's story is reprinted.
Content Warning:
*********SPOILER ALERT********
Story contains allusions to a sexual encounter between a young man and woman. Prostitution is suggested. 2021-12-1720 min