Papers by Jen Chichester
Throughout Inferno, Dante utilizes human-fathomable language to depict the otherworldly unknowabl... more Throughout Inferno, Dante utilizes human-fathomable language to depict the otherworldly unknowable, building upon previous theological-literary tradition. The real world is inherently linked to the afterlife through earthly semiotics. The reader, guided primarily by Dante and secondarily by Virgil, is not asked to suspend disbelief since the immediate reader was expected to already believe (or that they should believe) that these netherworldly realms exist. Dante’s task as a writer of Hell visions is to evoke tempered sympathetic emotions that act as deterrents to aberrant, sinful behavior. However, the characterizations of previously-human souls being reprimanded in various circles of Hell complicate Dante’s mission. Their past misdeeds are often explained, but only to a degree. Even more troubling is that, in lieu of epic tradition, history and mythology are often intertwined. Consider the case of Manto, a seer whose soul has been relegated to the Fourth Pouch of the Eighth Circle in Hell; this is where diviners’ voices are silenced and their heads turned so that they are always facing backward, never forward – a supposedly just punishment for attempting to know the unknowable through magical means. Like most punishments in the poem, Dante the narrator laments this and implies that the reader (“(God grant you benefit of this book)”) ought to treat these souls with some compassion and simultaneously acknowledge this as a moral warning (Inf. 20.19). This passage’s description of Manto places the contemporary reader in a position in which she or he must face the text’s deconstruction of the human fathomable (e.g., Manto in a historical, human context) versus the problematic nature of why Manto is being punished (beyond the fact that she has practiced divination) – and why there is another Manto in Purgatorio. The vague description of potential misdeeds undermines Dante’s objective of evoking the reader’s sympathy via allegorically-based moral warning leaves the reader to wonder at the precise nature of Manto’s sin. Manto’s punishment also calls into question the monstrous nature of the crafty woman. Manto’s reprimand in Canto XX can be read in the context that she lacks the virtues of the dutiful daughter, which are exhibited by the Manto in Purgatorio. Herein, Dante is able to differentiate his use of the allegorical, poetic-prophet voice from prophetic divination. Dante, unlike the Manto of Canto XX, is not seeking to change divine will. Rather, Dante Alighieri is writing an epic that teaches lessons on morality and what happens when humans decide to counter divine (and, therefore, morally “right”) will.
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Throughout Aimé Césaire’s A Tempest, Caliban utilizes a mixture of French (a colonial language), ... more Throughout Aimé Césaire’s A Tempest, Caliban utilizes a mixture of French (a colonial language), Yoruba, Creole, and Swahili to establish agency and identity. By employing this combination of traditionally hegemonically privileged versus disempowered (via European colonizers) languages, Caliban exerts authority in how he hails himself, although he cannot control how he is hailed by others, especially Prospero. Césaire illustrates, as he states in an interview added to the end of the book Discourse on Colonialism, the “struggle against alienation” which “gave birth to Negritude” (89). As Antilleans experienced shame over being identified as Negros and employed less negatively-connoted euphemisms, Césaire and others “adopted the word négre, as a term of defiance.” Similarly, in the play, Caliban utilizes defiant language in order to construct his identity and establish agency. A new language is not essentially formed, but a new attitude toward freedom is born through the intertwining of both already-present linguistic aspects of Caliban’s identity. Simultaneously, Prospero’s sense of identity and agency wavers, exposing inherent instability in the colonizer’s socio-linguistically constructed perception. Prospero’s limited colonial language only allows him to identify in binary terms of privilege versus disempowerment, and his cognitive dissonance cracks under the pressure of Caliban’s introduction of mixed language as empowerment.
This essay will examine the language mixture Caliban exercises in his quest for identity and agency in the midst of a rapidly-deteriorating colonial power (Prospero) that has long relied on unsteady, self-deconstructing rhetoric in the form of the colonial language to dictate Caliban’s identity and strip him of his self-authority. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in which these mixed-language terms evoke a sense of rebellious insubordination as a marker for a major shift in power in the colonized Caribbean, as well as in Africa. In addition to Césaire’s two texts and supporting articles which discuss Caliban as a speaking subject striving toward emancipation, I will also utilize Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks as a way of illustrating the intricate link between “language and the community” and how, historically, the language of the colonizer (e.g., French) has been the one that “the black man wants to speak” – a history from which Césaire and Caliban are not exempt but must attempt to navigate (21). I will, as Brenda McNary does, draw from Judith Butler’s theory on performativity of language and how Caliban shapes and is shaped by the mixed language he speaks. The essay will start with a brief historical and cultural analysis of language and decolonization, then will move into a specific, contextualized, deconstructive inquiry into Césaire’s A Tempest.
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John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost has inspired debate among readers over the last several cen... more John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost has inspired debate among readers over the last several centuries. Chief among the topics of dispute is that of Milton’s intention in creating Satan as an almost-heroic figure with whom readers can sympathize. Indeed, in Books 1 and 2 of Paradise Lost, Satan initially seems like the antithesis to the monarchy which Milton, in his personal and political lives, despised. It is altogether tempting to view Satan as a new-fangled Achilles; however, Satan’s image as a heroic figure is continually undercut by the binary oppositional holy and demonic rhetoric used throughout the poem. Satan’s politically-driven rhetoric of Books 1 and 2 is undoubtedly alluring, especially for contemporary readers who have become well-versed in political oratory. However, while Satan’s theological rhetoric is captivating, Milton’s provision of choice in the reader being “Free to fall” alongside Satan parallels the choices made by Adam and Eve; yet, unlike Adam and Eve, the reader is armed with knowledge of evil and is aware of Satan’s deceptive nature (3.99). Milton’s intention with Satan, therefore, is to not only portray the devious nature of the arch-fiend but to have him serve as a functional demonstration of choice between holy reason and its demonic parody. This paper provides a deconstructive analysis of the way in which Satan, like all human beings, is grappling with the meaning of God’s language.
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Conference Presentations by Jen Chichester
“I consider that women who are authors, lawyers and politicians are monsters.” – Pierre-Auguste R... more “I consider that women who are authors, lawyers and politicians are monsters.” – Pierre-Auguste Renoir
In A.S. Byatt's Possession, fictitious Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte refers to herself as an "old witch in a turret" (543). LaMotte struggles with her repressed writer-ly identity, often depicting herself and her female characters -- namely Melusina in LaMotte's attempt at an epic poem, Melusine, based on a French fairy tale -- as being monsters. Women in the novel appear in congruence with serpent imagery and magic-infused figures, such as a witch.
Byatt's 20th century perspective is not unique. It echoes numerous male and female predecessors, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Charlotte Bronte, from Bram Stoker to Edith Wharton. As this essay establishes, there is a historical literary pattern that has physically, mentally, and emotionally villainized socially-deviated women. Unable and/or unwilling to conform to rigid societal ideologies results in women being not just marginalized but mystified as pseudo-demonic entities capable of misleading both men and supposedly "chaste" women. This ultimately leads to oppressed self-concepts that usually hinder the creative process.
This oppressive force is not exclusive to Victorian writers. Women writers in the 21st century are still struggling to let their voices be heard; when those voices are strong, however, women writers risk becoming the monstrous female, the deviant, the witch in a turret. Whether or not they choose to -- and whether or not they should have to -- acquiesce to this identity needs to be discussed among contemporary scholars.
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Drafts by Jen Chichester
All three main characters in William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice directly or indirectly faces ... more All three main characters in William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice directly or indirectly faces a deepened intermingling of grief and more pervasive mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, depression, and the deadly symptom of suicidal ideation. While Sophie’s option to commit suicide isn’t the only shocking choice she makes in the novel, it is still astonishing for many readers that a Holocaust survivor commits suicide. However, what is sadly not baffling is that Nathan Landau, an American Jew who was unable to fight in World War II due his madness, also commits suicide. Nathan, who is unable to reach a catharsis with his personal grief and sense of loss throughout his life, expresses himself through extreme bouts of rage often followed by sorrowful repentance for his actions without actually experiencing a therapeutic purging of emotions. His diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, which is compounded by drug use, has landed him in mental institutions numerous times, thereby likely depriving Nathan of a solid sense of self and autonomous self-reliance. However, while Nathan falsifies his identity in order to appear impressive and important, he also acts as a moral agent for young Stingo, whose naïveté is obliterated by the dual suicide of Sophie and Nathan. Nathan, like Sophie, is a victim – a vicarious victim of the Holocaust and a direct victim of his own insanity.
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“What is punk rock?” When asked this question in an interview, hardcore punk musician/writer/acto... more “What is punk rock?” When asked this question in an interview, hardcore punk musician/writer/actor Henry Rollins answers that “Questioning anything and everything… is punk rock” (Rollins). Punk rock is everywhere, in everything, and remains alive and well because it seeks to challenge people’s perspectives. As Rollins states, punk rock has no stable definition because it contextually varies from person-to-person. As Dick Hebdige illustrates in his book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, subcultures like punk rock “represent ‘noise’” and violate social order; therefore, the dominant society opts to either demonize or normalize the rising subculture (2481). The punk rock subculture has continuously been a reaction against commercialization (although it has been subjected to commoditization as the dominant society has sought to repress punk’s influence through assimilating it into prevailing cultural norms), has been centered around the usage of symbolic language (semiotics) in its manipulation of style, and seems to defy the concept of having an ultimate meaning, as both Hebdige’s theory and Rollins’ interview suggest. Punk rock has perpetually provided ways to re-contextualize traditional signs and signifiers through its style in spite of being a product of interpellation and commercialization.
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Papers by Jen Chichester
This essay will examine the language mixture Caliban exercises in his quest for identity and agency in the midst of a rapidly-deteriorating colonial power (Prospero) that has long relied on unsteady, self-deconstructing rhetoric in the form of the colonial language to dictate Caliban’s identity and strip him of his self-authority. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in which these mixed-language terms evoke a sense of rebellious insubordination as a marker for a major shift in power in the colonized Caribbean, as well as in Africa. In addition to Césaire’s two texts and supporting articles which discuss Caliban as a speaking subject striving toward emancipation, I will also utilize Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks as a way of illustrating the intricate link between “language and the community” and how, historically, the language of the colonizer (e.g., French) has been the one that “the black man wants to speak” – a history from which Césaire and Caliban are not exempt but must attempt to navigate (21). I will, as Brenda McNary does, draw from Judith Butler’s theory on performativity of language and how Caliban shapes and is shaped by the mixed language he speaks. The essay will start with a brief historical and cultural analysis of language and decolonization, then will move into a specific, contextualized, deconstructive inquiry into Césaire’s A Tempest.
Conference Presentations by Jen Chichester
In A.S. Byatt's Possession, fictitious Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte refers to herself as an "old witch in a turret" (543). LaMotte struggles with her repressed writer-ly identity, often depicting herself and her female characters -- namely Melusina in LaMotte's attempt at an epic poem, Melusine, based on a French fairy tale -- as being monsters. Women in the novel appear in congruence with serpent imagery and magic-infused figures, such as a witch.
Byatt's 20th century perspective is not unique. It echoes numerous male and female predecessors, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Charlotte Bronte, from Bram Stoker to Edith Wharton. As this essay establishes, there is a historical literary pattern that has physically, mentally, and emotionally villainized socially-deviated women. Unable and/or unwilling to conform to rigid societal ideologies results in women being not just marginalized but mystified as pseudo-demonic entities capable of misleading both men and supposedly "chaste" women. This ultimately leads to oppressed self-concepts that usually hinder the creative process.
This oppressive force is not exclusive to Victorian writers. Women writers in the 21st century are still struggling to let their voices be heard; when those voices are strong, however, women writers risk becoming the monstrous female, the deviant, the witch in a turret. Whether or not they choose to -- and whether or not they should have to -- acquiesce to this identity needs to be discussed among contemporary scholars.
Drafts by Jen Chichester
This essay will examine the language mixture Caliban exercises in his quest for identity and agency in the midst of a rapidly-deteriorating colonial power (Prospero) that has long relied on unsteady, self-deconstructing rhetoric in the form of the colonial language to dictate Caliban’s identity and strip him of his self-authority. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in which these mixed-language terms evoke a sense of rebellious insubordination as a marker for a major shift in power in the colonized Caribbean, as well as in Africa. In addition to Césaire’s two texts and supporting articles which discuss Caliban as a speaking subject striving toward emancipation, I will also utilize Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks as a way of illustrating the intricate link between “language and the community” and how, historically, the language of the colonizer (e.g., French) has been the one that “the black man wants to speak” – a history from which Césaire and Caliban are not exempt but must attempt to navigate (21). I will, as Brenda McNary does, draw from Judith Butler’s theory on performativity of language and how Caliban shapes and is shaped by the mixed language he speaks. The essay will start with a brief historical and cultural analysis of language and decolonization, then will move into a specific, contextualized, deconstructive inquiry into Césaire’s A Tempest.
In A.S. Byatt's Possession, fictitious Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte refers to herself as an "old witch in a turret" (543). LaMotte struggles with her repressed writer-ly identity, often depicting herself and her female characters -- namely Melusina in LaMotte's attempt at an epic poem, Melusine, based on a French fairy tale -- as being monsters. Women in the novel appear in congruence with serpent imagery and magic-infused figures, such as a witch.
Byatt's 20th century perspective is not unique. It echoes numerous male and female predecessors, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Charlotte Bronte, from Bram Stoker to Edith Wharton. As this essay establishes, there is a historical literary pattern that has physically, mentally, and emotionally villainized socially-deviated women. Unable and/or unwilling to conform to rigid societal ideologies results in women being not just marginalized but mystified as pseudo-demonic entities capable of misleading both men and supposedly "chaste" women. This ultimately leads to oppressed self-concepts that usually hinder the creative process.
This oppressive force is not exclusive to Victorian writers. Women writers in the 21st century are still struggling to let their voices be heard; when those voices are strong, however, women writers risk becoming the monstrous female, the deviant, the witch in a turret. Whether or not they choose to -- and whether or not they should have to -- acquiesce to this identity needs to be discussed among contemporary scholars.