DOCSLIB.ORG

"Another Way": the Pneumatology of Deleuzean Minoritarian Communal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2014 "Another Way": The Pneumatology of Deleuzean Minoritarian Communal Interpretation in Scripture, the 16th Century Radical Reformation, and Alternative 21st Century Anabaptist Community Jeremy Garber University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Garber, Jeremy, ""Another Way": The Pneumatology of Deleuzean Minoritarian Communal Interpretation in Scripture, the 16th Century Radical Reformation, and Alternative 21st Century Anabaptist Community" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 974. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/974 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. “Another Way”: The Pneumatology of Deleuzean Minoritarian Communal Interpretation in Scripture, the 16th Century Radical Reformation, and Alternative 21st Century Anabaptist Community __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Jeremy Garber June 2014 Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey H. Mahan ©Copyright by Jeremy Garber 2014 All Rights Reserved Author: Jeremy Garber Title: “Another Way”: The Pneumatology of Deleuzean Minoritarian Communal Interpretation in Scripture, the 16th Century Radical Reformation, and Alternative 21st century Anabaptist Community Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey H. Mahan Degree Date: June 2014 Abstract This dissertation proposes a constructive theology of the Holy Spirit called the “pneumatology of minoritarian communal interpretation,” the alternative creation of meaning within an oppressive majority context. It illustrates the convergence of Deleuzean philosophy with Anabaptist pneumatology and media communal interpretation theory in three particular locations: 1) selected mentions of the Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament; 2) the 16th century Radical Reformation; and 3) “Another Way,” a 21st century alternative Anabaptist group focused around the spiritual discussion of art and popular media. Chapter One outlines the three theories. Chapter Two examines the Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Bible, particularly 1 Samuel 8, the book of Ezekiel, and the Gospel narratives. Chapter Three examines the pneumatological writings of the Radical Reformers, concentrating particularly on their theologies of the intersection between church and the surrounding majoritarian culture. Chapter Four outlines my original field research with Another Way, and examines the tension between minoritarian communal interpretation and the 21st century semiotic regime. Chapter Five then summarizes the conversations between theory and illustration to propose the pneumatology of minoritarian communal interpretation for Christian theology. ii Acknowledgments Primary thanks go to the members of my advisory and dissertation committee, Dr. Jeffrey Mahan, Dr. Carl Raschke, and Dr. Amy Erickson. Dr. Mahan as my dissertation director deserves special mention for his warm personal encouragement coupled with an unrelenting editorial eye. Thanks to Don Garber, a peerless copy editor and enthusiast of religious studies who also happens to be my father. Without his help and that of my mother, Connie Garber, I and my family would not have survived to produce a dissertation. Thanks also to Dr. Troy Osborne of the University of Waterloo, who cast a professional historian’s eye on a theologian’s reading of the Radical Reformers. Thanks to Verlin Garber for a gift of supporting my scholarship, intervening at a point that I can only call miraculous. Likewise thanks to encouragement financial, professional and personal from Dr. Terrence Tice and Dr. Cathie Kelsey, who display minoritarian Christianity in their scholarship and in their mentoring relationships as well. Bernard of Chartres may have said that scholars are dwarfs on the backs of giants, but as the dissertation will show, I prefer to think that all these scholars and friends are rhizomes in the web of the Holy Spirit. iii Table of Contents Chapter One: The Holy Spirit: A Constructive Proposal for a Pneumatology of Minoritarian Communal Interpretation ............................................................................... 1 I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 II. Deleuze and Guattari: Rhizomes, Violence, and Minoritarian Necessity .................. 5 Key Concepts in Deleuze and Guattari ..................................................................... 10 III. John Howard Yoder: “But We Do See Jesus” ........................................................ 22 The Shape of the Minoritarian Christian Community .............................................. 29 IV. Media Studies and Interpretive Community ........................................................... 32 Chapter Two: The Spirit in Scripture: The Minoritarian Community and the Despotic Regime .............................................................................................................................. 37 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 37 II. 1 Samuel 8: Movement into the Despotic Regime ................................................... 46 III. Ezekiel and the Spirit’s Role of Becoming ............................................................. 58 IV. Jesus Christ of Nazareth: The Minoritarian Community of Jesus’ Spirit ............... 73 The Minoritarian Community ................................................................................... 79 V. The Gospel Narratives and the Prophetic Imagination ............................................ 84 John Howard Yoder and The Politics of Jesus: The Shape of the Christian Minoritarian Community .......................................................................................... 88 Chapter Three: The Spirit in History: The Minoritarian Community and the Theological History of the Radical Reformation ................................................................................ 100 I. Introduction: Anabaptist Communal Hermeneutics and Minoritarian Community 100 II. Yoder’s Ecclesiology and the Minoritarian Community ....................................... 103 III. Pneumatology, Ecclesiology, and Community in the Radical Reformation ........ 109 A. The Swiss Anabaptists and Minoritarian Ecclesiology...................................... 109 B. South German Anabaptists and the Mystical Enunciation of Desire ................. 115 C. The Radical Anabaptists: Desire Unleashed ...................................................... 120 D. The Middle Way: The Unsuccessful Mediation of Majority and Minority ....... 129 E. Menno Simons and the Sedimentation of Anabaptist Desire ............................. 136 F. Politics of the Minoritarian Community ............................................................. 141 IV. Conclusion—Majoritarian and Minoritarian Tensions in the Radical Reformation ..................................................................................................................................... 146 Chapter Four: The Spirit in the 21st Century: Media and Spirituality in the Interpretive Community of “Another Way” ....................................................................................... 149 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 149 II. Another Way: Art, Spirituality, and Interpretation in Denver, CO ........................ 149 A. A Typical Another Way Gathering .................................................................... 151 B. Another Way and the Longing for Community ................................................. 167 III. “Spiritual but Not Religious” ................................................................................ 175 A. Spiritual Good, Religious Bad ........................................................................... 175 iv B. Tension Between Modernist Subjectivity and the Desire for Community ........ 179 C. Media and Minoritarian Identity ........................................................................ 182 IV. Theories of Interpretive Community .................................................................... 190 A. Stanley Fish and the Authority of Interpretive Communities ............................ 190 B. Theoretical Models of the Semiotic Study of Media and Religious Studies ..... 198 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 202 Chapter Five: The Spirit Among Us: Observing the Pneumatology of Minoritarian Communal Hermeneutics................................................................................................ 205 I. Introduction: Tying the Strands of Conversation Together ..................................... 205 II. Common Sense: Minoritarian Thought, Creativity, and Movement .....................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Anabaptist Religious Literature and Hymnody
    CHAPTER TEN ANABAPTIST RELIGIOUS LITERATURE AND HYMNODY John D. Rempel Introduction This study will concern itself with devotional texts that have left a lasting mark on Anabaptism and its descendent movements. All of them were written by adherents of these movements. Modern schol- arship has identified an ever widening diversity in the character and literature of Anabaptism, and so, even within the broad criterion of texts that have had enduring influence further selection needs to be made on the following grounds. To begin with, I sought to represent the diverse expressions of Anabaptism theologically, geographically, and chronologically. My goal was to highlight continuities, discontinuities, and commonalities. In addition, I wanted to draw attention to neglected but formative writers and writings. In the third place, I wanted to give the numerous but little known texts on worship a place within the literature of Anabaptism as a whole. Riedemann’s hymns and Clock’s prayers are illustrative of both points two and three. And finally, I thought it important to show how different authors come to terms with the unstable relationship in much of Anabaptism between inner and outer, Spirit and matter. The consequence of this approach was that a figure of the stature of Michael Sattler is represented only in Golden Apples in Silver Bowls, a compendium of the later Swiss Brethren tradition, leaving the Ausbund to represent that strand’s earlier religiosity. Similarly, Dirk Philips does not have his own entry but his mindset is represented in part by Menno Simons and Thielman van Braght. By the same token, a word needs to be said about including two figures whose ecclesiology—in different ways—is marginal to the movement as a whole, Balthasar Hubmaier and Hans Denck.
    [Show full text]
  • An Anabaptist Ecological Anthropology
    ARTICLE The Kinship of Creation: An Anabaptist Ecological Anthropology Nathanael L. Inglis Introduction There is a growing consensus today that the earth is facing an ecological crisis, and that human action is one of the primary causes.1 However, there is more to this crisis than just the practical concerns of overconsumption, population growth, polluted air and water, the destruction of ecosystems, and the extinction of species. What humanity faces is a more fundamental crisis of self-understanding. In this essay I will critically compare and evaluate assumptions about the human-world relationship inherent in two contemporary theological anthropologies that rely on very different metaphors. Both anthropologies attempt to correct the dominion-based ‘imperialistic anthropology’ that continues to enable the ecological crisis. In “Pacifism, Nonviolence, and the Peaceful Reign of God,” Walter Klaassen identifies two largely unquestioned assumptions in Western industrial culture that order people’s relationship to the world and to one another, which he sees as obstacles to solving the crisis. The first is the “passionate belief in the absolute right to private possessions,” and the second is “the conviction of the unimpeded right to pursue wealth.”2 These two beliefs are made possible by and reinforced with “a trick of the mind devised by Western philosophy in which human beings are set over against 1 Will Steffen, Paul J. Crutzen, et al., “The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature?” Ambio 36, no. 8 (December 2007): 614-21. Steffen, Crutzen, and other environmental scientists identify human activity as such a significant factor in the transformation of ecosystems and climate today that they suggest our current geologic age should be called the ‘anthropocene’.
    [Show full text]
  • Friday, December, 12, 2014, at 6:30 P.M. Tel: (717) 393-9745; F
    LANCASTER MENNONITE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ’S BENEFIT AUCTION OF RARE , OUT -OF -PRINT , AND USED BOOKS FRIDAY , DECEMBER , 12, 2014, AT 6:30 P.M. TEL : (717) 393-9745; FAX : (717) 393-8751; EMAIL : [email protected] WEBSITE : http://www.lmhs.org/ The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society will conduct an auction on December 12, 2014, at 2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, one-half mile east of the intersection of Routes 30 and 462. The auction not only specializes in local and denominational history and genealogy of southeastern Pennsylvania, but also includes theological works and other types of material of interest to the nationwide constituency. Please refer to the last page of the catalog for book auction procedures. Individual catalogs are available from the Society for $8.00 ($4.00 for Society members) + $3.00 postage and handling. Persons who wish to be added to the mailing list for 2015 may do so by sending $28.00, ($18.00 for Society members) with name and address to the Society. Higher rates apply for subscribers outside of the United States. All subscriptions expire at the end of the calendar year Auction dates for 2015 are: January 9, March 13, May 8, July 10, September. 11, and November 13. The catalog is also available for free on our web site at www.lmhs.org/auction.html . 1. Peterson, E., The Message: The Prophets, 2000. 585pp (dj, vgc); Swindoll, C., Moses, a Msan of Selfless Dedication, 1999. xi, [i], 376pp (dj, ill covers, bib refs, vgc); Harris, A., The Psalms Outlined: An Outline Analysis Covering Each Song of the Psalter, 1952, c1925.
    [Show full text]
  • Migration and Survival of the Hutterite Brethren in Central Europe
    Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 60 (2), pp. 267–285 (2015) DOI: 10.1556/022.2015.60.2.2 MIGRATION AND SURVIVAL OF THE HUTTERITE BRETHREN IN CENTRAL EUROPE Emese BÁLINT European University Institute, Florence, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: While the Anabaptist movement was still fl uid in the early 1520s, it soon crystallized into factions with sharp differences. Although the Moravian Anabaptists never succeeded in creating common doctrines and practices, the Central and East European experience was not merely a marginal part of the great Anabaptist story. Out of these divergent tendencies grew a strong sect that survived exile through a radical social experiment. Hutterite colonies, settled in a hostile environment, fl ourished for a long period while other sects disappeared within a few years. The factors that determined the advance and survival of the Hutterites point beyond religious motives. This social experiment was dependent on the integrated social structure enabling them to cope with an aggressive environment without assimilating. Various epochs of the Hutterite history show that communal life was never a uniform and perfect experience, but variants of the structure persisted in the colonies as they evolved in their local circumstances. Keywords: Anabaptism, Hutterite, community of goods, Moravia, Hungary, Transylvania In January 1525, the three founders of the Swiss Brethren, Georg Blaurock, Conrad Grebel and Felix Mantz baptized one another in Zürich. With this act a movement came into being that could not be stopped in spite of the imposition of the death penalty for those who accepted baptism as adults. Persecution quickly ensued, yet Anabaptism spread rap- idly across Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of the Life and Thought of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich
    University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-1998 A study of the life and thought of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich. K. Daniel Jahn University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Jahn, K. Daniel, "A study of the life and thought of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich." (1998). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6923. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6923 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has bean reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation?
    The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation? Peter Hoover This is the 2008 version of the text, with the original introduction, forward, cover picture, etc. The text has been revised, but is substantially the same as the original text, with the addition of pictures. Other inspiring books are available at: www.PrimitiveChristianity.org Introduction I well remember the first time I faced the stark realization that I was a Mennonite and different. My fourth-grade friend, Gregory, and I were riding home from public school on the bus. We were talking about our future, how we would always be friends and do things together when we grew up. Then he enthusiastically began to describe activities that from my upbringing I knew to be worldly. Desperate to save our lifelong friendship, I turned to Gregory and said, “You will have to leave your church and become a Mennonite when you grow up.” Thus, the inevitability of our way of life impressed itself on my eight-year-old mind. A year later I made my decision to follow Christ. Of course, Gregory never joined my church, and I do not even know his whereabouts today. The theme of separation from the world ran strong in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania where I grew up. But I wrongly assumed that, except for our plainness, we believed the same things that other Christians believed. Then one evening at the Chambersburg Mennonite Church, where I was a member, a visiting speaker jolted me with a graphic picture of my martyr heritage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions
    Columbia Law School Scholarship Archive Faculty Scholarship Faculty Publications 2021 The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions Jessica Bulman-Pozen Columbia Law School, [email protected] Miriam Seifter University of Wisconsin Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Election Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Legislation Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Jessica Bulman-Pozen & Miriam Seifter, The Democracy Principle in State Constitutions, 119 MICH. L. REV. 859 (2021). Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2654 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Scholarship Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarship Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DEMOCRACY PRINCIPLE IN STATE CONSTITUTIONS Jessica Bulman-Pozen*& Miriam Seifter** In recent years, antidemocratic behavior has rippled across the nation. Lame- duck state legislatures have stripped popularly elected governors of their pow- ers; extreme partisan gerrymanders have warped representative institutions; state officials have nullified popularly adopted initiatives. The federal Consti- tution offers few resources to address these problems, and ballot-box solutions cannot work when antidemocratic actions undermine elections themselves. Commentators increasingly decry the rule of the many by the few. This Article argues that a vital response has been neglected. State constitu- tions embody a deep commitment to democracy. Unlike the federal Constitu- tion, they were drafted—and have been repeatedly rewritten and amended— to empower popular majorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect repmduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscn'pt and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing fmm left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manusuipt have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6' x 9' black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustmtions appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell 8 HowaH Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MENNONITE CONFESSIONS OF FAITH: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANABAPTIST TRADITION by Karl Peter Koop A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michae18s College and the Department of Theology of the Toronto School of Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Balthasar Hubmaier and the Authority of the Church Fathers
    Balthasar Hubmaier and the Authority of the Church Fathers ANDREW P. KLAGER In Anabaptist historical scholarship, the reluctance to investigate the authority of the church fathers for individual sixteenth-century Anabaptist leaders does not appear to be intentional. Indeed, more pressing issues of a historiographical and even apologetical nature have been a justifiable priority, 1 and soon this provisional Anabaptist vision was augmented by studies assessing the possibility of various medieval chronological antecedents. 2 However, in response to Kenneth Davis’ important study, Anabaptism and Asceticism , Peter Erb rightly observed back in 1976 that “. one must not fail to review the abiding influence of the Fathers . [whose] monitions were much more familiar to our sixteenth-century ancestors than they are to us.” 3 Over thirty years later, the Anabaptist community still awaits its first published comprehensive study of the reception of the church fathers among Anabaptist leaders in the sixteenth century. 4 A natural place to start, however, is the only doctor of theology in the Anabaptist movement, Balthasar Hubmaier. In the final analysis, it becomes evident that Hubmaier does view the church fathers as authoritative, contextually understood, for some theological issues that were important to him, notably his anthropology and understanding of the freedom of the will, while he acknowledged the value of the church fathers for the corollary of free will, that is, believers’ baptism, and this for apologetico-historical purposes. This authority, however, cannot be confused with an untested, blind conformity to prescribed precepts because such a definition of authority did not exist in the sixteenth-century, even among the strongest Historical Papers 2008: Canadian Society of Church History 134 Balthasar Hubmaier admirers of the fathers.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Early Anabaptism As Minority Religion in German Fiction
    Heresy or Ideal Society? A Study of Early Anabaptism as Minority Religion in German Fiction DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Ursula Berit Jany Graduate Program in Germanic Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Professor Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Advisor Professor Katra A. Byram Professor Anna Grotans Copyright by Ursula Berit Jany 2013 Abstract Anabaptism, a radical reform movement originating during the sixteenth-century European Reformation, sought to attain discipleship to Christ by a separation from the religious and worldly powers of early modern society. In my critical reading of the movement’s representations in German fiction dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, I explore how authors have fictionalized the religious minority, its commitment to particular theological and ethical aspects, its separation from society, and its experience of persecution. As part of my analysis, I trace the early historical development of the group and take inventory of its chief characteristics to observe which of these aspects are selected for portrayal in fictional texts. Within this research framework, my study investigates which social and religious principles drawn from historical accounts and sources influence the minority’s image as an ideal society, on the one hand, and its stigmatization as a heretical and seditious sect, on the other. As a result of this analysis, my study reveals authors’ underlying programmatic aims and ideological convictions cloaked by their literary articulations of conflict-laden encounters between society and the religious minority.
    [Show full text]
  • DCCUMENT RESUME ED 332 239 CS 507 446 AUTHOR Nwanko, R
    DCCUMENT RESUME ED 332 239 CS 507 446 AUTHOR Nwanko, R. Nwafo; Onwumechili, Chuka TITLE Communication and Social Values in Cross Cultural Adjustment: Conceptual Background and Some Propositions. PUB DATE May 91 NOTE 34p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Conference (41st, Chicago, IL, May 23-27, 1991). PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150) -- Reports - Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Acculturation; College Students; *Cross Cultural Training; *Cultural Differences; Foreign Students; *Intercultural Communication; Mass Media; *Mass Media Effects; Social Values IDENTIFIERS Africans; *Cultural Adjustment ABSTRACT In discussing reprogramming as a cultural process, for better intercultural adaptation theory construction, more attention should be paid to macroscopic, motivating, and contextual factors such as the mass media institution. The learning of new cultures from individual systems (e.g., interpersonal interaction) cannot be as efficient or effective as learning from collective or institutional systems. Evidence suggests that while primary or individual systems are capable of mediating the learning of secondary institutional culture, they cannot be as effective, efficient, or comfortable sources of cross-cultUral learning as are secondary institutions such as the mass media. As communication resources, the mass media are an institutionalized information, leadership, education, and entertainment service. Accordingly, certain expectations could be drawn, using African students as examples: (1) that the amount of television viewing among African students would be signiiicantly and positively related to cultural adaptation; (2) that Africans students would have a distinctive, if not unique, pattern of television program choice related to cultural value preference; and (3) that African students' amount and type of television viewing would differ from other foreign students.
    [Show full text]
  • Uprooted: the Undergraduate Journal Of
    uprooted The Undergraduate Journal of American Studies Vol 15, 2020–2021 uprooted The Undergraduate Journal of American Studies Vol 15, 2020–2021 uprooted The Undergraduate Journal of American Studies Vol 15, 2020–2021 Co-Editors-in-Chief Khushi Nansi Liam Keating Associate Editors Anusha Ali Angie Luo Adam Stasiewicz Emily DeMelo Kaitlyn Min Lolita Vorobyveva Samantha Parker William Lloyd Printed in Canada by RR Donnelley Letter from the Editors We are proud to present the 2020–2021 edition of the Undergraduate Journal of American Studies. This year’s journal aims to capture a year unlike any other, through the rich and varied disciplines encompassed within American Studies: literature, cinema, geography, political science, history, and beyond. So quickly did our quotidian life become a luxury. What riches were our former meetings — exchanges in classrooms, conversations in coffee shops and spontaneous encounters. We live in perpetual grief for a way of life that has been so sharply uprooted, while yet navigating the trials and tribulations of school, home, work, friendships and relationships, all through the bright, glowing, torturous screens of our devices. And yet we pay heed to this: it is no small matter that it is these very networks which opened the world to those for whom the previous quotidian was at best, a hindrance, and at worst, entirely inaccessible. For some, an uprooting made way for accessible connection. What does it mean to be uprooted? At first, ‘uprooting’ seems innocent, evocative of the garden, and the ancient habits of humanity. But it's worth asking, before you have uprooted anything: what lies beneath those vines? Once the dig is underway, you may know more, but only incrementally.
    [Show full text]