A Rete N Student Academic Journal

No. 27 No. Student AcademicStudent Journal

Arete No. 27 No. 27

Student Academic Journal Faculty Advisor Amy Root Clements Arete Editor-in-Chief Student Academic Journal Gabrielle Wilkosz No. 27 Senior Designer Hailey Johnson

Junior Designer Sabrina Smith

Copy Editors Allanah Maarteen Bronte Treat Kathie Rojas Logan Stallings Margaret “Marji” Dzenko Max Murphy Melissa Gonzales Nicole Vickers Sarah Gonzales

School of Arts and Humanities, Dr. Sharon Nell, Dean St. Edward’s University Austin, TX 78704 facebook.com/SEUarete

Arete is the award-winning, student-run academic journal at St. Edward’s University. First published in 1991, Arete is an annual publication that encourages students from all disciplines to sub- mit research papers, essays, and theses with substantive, fresh, and well-researched arguments for an informed audience. The word “arete” (ahr-i-tey), meaning “virtue” and “excellence” in Greek, pays tribute to the honorable mission of scholastic inquiry. Table of Contents

Poetry Applied, Past and Present 2

Laura Irwin Sometimes Timing Is Off By A Little, Sometimes It’s Off by Centuries: An Analysis of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz 4

Lilli Hime Poetry of Communal Witness: A New Genre of Poetry by Marginalized Voices 14

Resounding Public Voices 24

Chase Bartlett Burning Slaughterhouse-Five: How Vonnegut’s Response Exhibits Emotional Appeals Unique to Personal Letters 26

Nicholas Tafacory Different Approaches, Same Concerns: Comparing the Philosophies of Thoreau and Mussolini 36

Architecture of Societies 44

Shelby Bennett Contradictions in Fin-de-Siècle Montmartre 46 Dane Shannon Prison Privatization: Complacency, Pragmatism, and Justice for Sale 64 A Note from the Editor

the three subcategories of Arete’s 27th edition could be described as bizarre. So how have “Poetry Applied, Past and Present,” “Resound- ing Public Voices,” and “Architecture of Societies,” found their way into a journal of scholastic inquiry? Arete’s 2017-18 range of submissions has narrative of its own. Stu- dent research is the product of curiosity, whether it is inspired by our world’s current events, a professor’s guidance, or other factors too many to name. Still, the arc of students’ interests is inherent to the types of research submitted by authors of varying disciplines and majors. One trend among submitted papers has been creative defiance against “comfortable” topics, a decisive reworking of familiar themes into unfamiliar ones. Research from writers Laura Irwin and Lilli Hime takes an intimate look at the social justice poetry of historical figures and history in the making. Providing academic surveys of an other- wise emotional-artistic form, the papers offer an intimate view into the headspace of St. Edward’s students, our social justice-conscious instructors, and the community we share. Research rooted less in art, matters of philosophy and virtue sur- face in “Resounding Public Voices.” Writers Chase Bartlett and Nicolas Tafacory study the historical conflicts between groups or individuals that have been pitted against one another due to ideological differenc- es. These in-depth pieces of research find meaning in the opposite, perhaps paving the way for common ground, even if only in theory. Finally, authors Shelby Bennett and Dane Shannon pull out maps of the communities we’ve built—not withholding social, political, and economic inequities that have arisen. While Shannon looks at the ever-controversial issue of privatizing America’s prisons, Bennett provides an in-depth look at a well-documented site of gentrification, an issue that she reminds us, hits close to home for Austinites. Readers, we hope this assembly of research demonstrates the narrative arc of student thought in all of its eclecticism, curiosity, and depth. To mirror these ambitious ideas, this year’s issue was crafted by our design team, Senior Designer Hailey Johnson and Junior Designer Sabrina Smith, who graciously created a layout that reflects the creative folding and unfolding of student research into a traditional—and sometimes tricky—medium, the academic journal. Thank you to Faculty Advisor Dr. Amy Root Clements for her endur- ing support, and to members of the Arete board who have dedicated countless hours to locating the story arc of this year’s student submissions. Ideas are dangerous. Thank you for reading ours.

With gratitude,

Gabrielle Wilkosz Editor-in-Chief

Poetry Applied, Past and Present

2 Last Name Nature 3 Sometimes Timing Is Off By A Little, Sometimes It’s Off By Centuries: An Analysis of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Laura Irwin

4 Last Name Introduction

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s poem, “Hombres Necios que Acusaisá” (“You Men”), is an excellent artifact to analyze through the lens of kairos, or timing, precisely because it did not have any. Sor Juana was a Mexican nun in the 1600s who dedicated the majority of her life to ad- vancing her education. Unfortunately, her journey was often met with societal roadblocks that deterred her from pursuing knowledge and higher education. Sor Juana combated these difficulties by speaking out against them through her writing, specifically in the aforemen- tioned poem. Within this essay, we will analyze whether or not Sor Juana’s poem was successful in combating the obstacles she faced. We must determine whether her poetic response was appropriate for the time or if it would have been more effective in another context. This is an important inquiry because it will display the flexibility of a kairotic analysis. Using the English and Spanish translations of the poem paired side-by-side, I will present extensive context surrounding Sor Juana and her time period. I will then analyze the text and how it was received by the audience to determine efficacy. Finally, I will analyze the flexibility of kairos in relation to historic artifacts.

Background

In the 1600s, Spaniards brought the Baroque society to Mexico. The Catholic Church heavily influenced the art, architecture, literature, and culture of this period as they sought to counteract the repercussions of the Protestant Reformation. There was a major shift back to honoring God through traditional liturgy and grand expressions of art and literature (Baroque Period). The clergy increased their influence, especially in Mexico, where they dictated the society. Men dominated the society, developing a behavior known as machismo in which their masculin- ity gave them inherent rights, privileges, and freedoms to act and do Analysis

While Sor Juana directed the response letter to “Sor Filotea,” we assume the poem was directed to a larger, broader audience—men. She as they pleased. Such a society held certain expectations for women: speaks directly to this audience from the very start by naming them in learn to maintain a household, bear children, marry, or live pious lives the title “You Men.” Within the first two stanzas, she manages to pres- (Lockert 8). These limited expectations confined women, curtailing any ent her exigence and her intended audience at the same time. opportunities for education or personal advancement outside of their prescribed roles and duties. Hombres necios que acusáis Silly, you men-so very adept a la mujer sin razón, at wrongly faulting womankind Juana Inés de la Cruz was born in November of 1648 as the illegiti- sin ver que saois la ocasió not seeing you’re alone to blame mate daughter of a Spanish captain and a Creole woman in San Miguel de lo mismo que culpais. for faults you plant in woman’s mind. Nepantla, Mexico (Kantaris). From a young age, Sor Juana thirsted for knowledge and learning, teaching herself to read and write in Latin, de- Si con ansia sin igual After you’ve won by urgent plea spite living at a time when women were discouraged from learning. At solicitáis su desdén, the right to tarnish her good name, the young age of six or seven, she begged her mother to let her disguise ¿por qué queries que obren bien you still expect her to behave— si las incitáis al mal? you, that coaxed her into shame. herself as a boy in order to attend Mexico University to study (Kantar- is). Instead, she was sent to live in Mexico City, where she eventually Combatís su Resistencia You batter her resistance down became a nun. She took her vows in 1669 in the Convent of Santa Paula y luego con gravedad and then, all righteousness, proclaim of the Hieronymite (Merrim). Within this cloistered life, she was able to decís que fue liviandad that feminine frivolity, dedicate numerous hours to reading, writing, studying, and teaching, lo que hizo la diligencia. not your persistence, is to blame. which pushed the boundaries of her role as a woman and challenged (378) (“Hombres Necios”) the Mexican Baroque society. Sor Juana’s poem, “Hombres Necios que Acusaisá,” overtly speaks She blames men for creating a society that punishes women for be- out against the machismo she observes in her society. This poem was ing subjugated. Every time she is “put in her place” or told to hold her written around the same time that she published a letter known as tongue, she believes that she is being forced into a system that keeps “A Response to Sor Filotea” in a local newspaper in 1691. Filotea is her oppressed, while making it seem as though it is her fault for being the pseudonym for the archbishop of Mexico, Aguiar y Seijas. Behind oppressed. Men, under a machismo society, can lie, cheat, and impreg- this name, the archbishop attacked Sor Juana for her poetry, comedic nate women and then proceed to blame women for their own weak- writings, and sonnets. His goal was to put her back in her place after nesses (Lockert 8-9). She realizes the injustice that has befallen women she had openly critiqued a priest’s homily (Lockert 5-6). He chastised because they have been shamed into good behavior like domesticated her because her commentary was not only impolite, but also sinful... animals. Sor Juana responds to this machismo society by acknowledg- It was completely inappropriate for a nun to critique a priest, not only ing it and bringing it to light. because nuns should never speak up against priests, but also because Further, throughout the poem Sor Juana makes the deliberate women should never speak up against men (Lockert 5). This occasion choice to include historic and famous women. provided the perfect opportunity for Sor Juana to boldly argue against a male-dominated society. Queréis con presunción necia Presumptuous beyond belief, hallar a la que buscáis, you’d have the woman you pursue para pretendida, Tais, be Thaisï when you’re courting her, y en la posesión, Lucrecia. Lucretia once she falls to you. (379) (“Hombres Necios”)

8 Irwin Off By Centuries Poetry Applied 9 and women alike found ways to exile her because her opinions were too radical for the Church, especially because the Church was trying to This is an incredible addition to the poem because women were survive the Reformation. Any outside or radical ideas were immediately very important figures and people in Greek history. In presenting these expelled to prevent disruption. Unfortunately, Sor Juana became one women, Sor Juana proves her education. Including this in the poem de- such disruptive force and was treated as such regardless of the fact that liberately challenges the machismo society because women were dis- she was a devoted nun. The kairos for this poem was incredibly inap- couraged from reading or being educated (Lockert 7). This is an overt propriate. The audience wasn’t receptive and her poem’s noble exigence attempt to prove that women are not only capable of learning, but also was written off as the ranting of a madwoman, making her unsuccess- capable of making a mark on history. She challenged the educated soci- ful at promoting any real change. ety by living and writing against it. She is proving to her audience that she should be taken seriously because she is just as learned as they. This is part of her attempt to shake the machismo world by including a Conclusion woman’s ideas in a largely male-dominated conversation. While it may be concluded that Sor Juana’s poem didn’t achieve kai- Unfortunately, such composition was ill-received by her audience. ros during her time period, it was not an abject failure in the larger As a result of her writing and brazen accusations, Sor Juana was prac- historical context. If we broaden the scope of our analysis, we can see tically forced into isolation. Archbishop Aguiar y Seijas ensured that that this poem is considered a significant artifact in the international anyone associated with Sor Juana would be similarly chastised and feminist community, and that Sor Juana is a leading inspiration for fem- practically exiled (Lockert 9). Two men found themselves in this situ- inism in the Americas (Bardile 18). It is in this larger scope that we are ation as a result of their relationship with Sor Juana – Carlos Sigüenza able to realize Sor Juana’s lasting impact; thus, labeling her successful y Góngora and Father Antonio Núñez de Miranda. Góngora was Sor in her attempts to change the way society treats and views women. Juana’s kindred spirit in that the institutions to which they belonged Although most of the poem centers on accusations against men, Sor had isolated them both (Góngora used to be a Jesuit). He spent plenty Juana takes a moment to pause and praise the women who refuse to of time with Sor Juana and as a result was physically attacked by the succumb or bend to the will of men. misogynistic Archbishop in 1692. Since then, Góngora ceased visits to Sor Juana (Lockert 8-9). Mas entre el enfado y pena Still, whether it’s torment or anger— Miranda’s relationship with Sor Juana was more spiritual in nature que vuestro gusto refiere, and both ways you’ve yourselves to blame, because he was her confessor. He was her connection to the church, bien haya la que no os quiere God bless the woman who won’t have you, even though she spoke against its male-dominated hierarchy. After the y queja enhorabuena. no matter how loud you complain. (380) (“Hombres Necios”) Archbishop published his “Carta a Sor Filotea,” Miranda proceeded to deny Sor Juana the sacrament of confession, which is essentially a form of excommunication in the church (Lockert 8-9). Sor Juana was It is here that Sor Juana’s actual audience is revealed: women. Al- abandoned by anyone who supported her because she dared to speak though she is speaking directly to men, she hopes women are the ones against her own society. This isolation illustrates just how inappropri- actually listening and taking note. She is trying to empower them by ate Sor Juana’s poem was for the time—speaking against or criticizing reversing the narrative and revealing that men are the true oppressors. men in any way would subject a woman to social ostracization. She commends the woman who refuses a man and is able to hold her ground against him. It is within these lines that Sor Juana makes her Mexico in the 1600s was not ready for Sor Juana’s ideas. She was mark on feminist history. openly attacked by the Ecclesiastical hierarchy which sought to silence her pen by demanding that she renounce her books and studies to In 1920, Dorothy Schons, a professor and author of Spanish-Amer- lead a life for God (Kantaris). She was often put to kitchen duty in her ican literature, called Sor Juana the “first feminist in America.” Mirta convent because the Mother Superior claimed that Sor Juana “read too Aguirre, a Cuban poet and essayist, said that women of the future owe much” and was, therefore, being influenced by the devil (Lockert 7). Men Sor Juana an unpayable debt (Bardile 16). There is unanimous consent among global feminists labeling Sor Juana as the true and preeminent feminist of the Americas (Bardile). It is for this reason that we read her

10 Irwin Off By Centuries Poetry Applied 11 work and reflect on the surrounding contexts of her work as they pro- Works Cited vide a significant perspective for the feminist struggle in the past and present. Although she was unable to make an impact during her own time period, history has not forgotten Sor Juana and she has become Bardile, Vittoria Ferrara. “Sor Juana y el compromiso como mujer, co- a force leading the charge on the feminist movement in the Americas momonja, como poeta.” Letras Femeninas, vol. 11, no. ½, 1985, (Bardile 17). 16-20. It is also important to understand how we see rhetoric through fo- “Baroque Period.” New World Encyclopedia. http://www.newworlden- cused or broadened lenses. We can see that this artifact may have been cyclopedia.org/entry/Baroque_period. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017. unsuccessful when contained within its own time because the audience was not prepared to receive it. Nevertheless, as time went on and “Hombres Necios Que Acusais.” Abriendo Puertas: Antologia de Litera- the original audience evolved, the artifact became a proud piece of lit- tura en Español Tomo 1, McDougal Littell, Inc., 2003, 378-381. erature for the feminist movement. So often we try to limit our rhetorical scopes, which in turn limits our ability to analyze. Kairos is about “Hombres Necios que Acusais: AP Spanish Lit and Culture.” Genius. realizing that good timing is not immediate; sometimes it takes a while https://genius.com/Sor-juana-ines-de-la-cruz-hombres-ne- to create appropriate timing. Although Sor Juana makes valid points cios-que-acusais-annotated. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017. and critiques about her society, the fact that her audience was unre- Kantaris, Geoffry. “Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Juana Ramírez de Asba- ceptive made her timing inappropriate. It is not until much later that je).” Lecture for Part I SP1: Introduction to the Languages, Lit- society is able to appreciate her artifact and understand her position as eratures and Cultures of the Spanish-speaking World, Centre of worthy of consideration. Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge. Online Lec- ture Notes.

Kantaris, Geoffry. “Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Juana Ramírez de Asba- je).” Lecture for Part I SP1: Introduction to the Languages, Lit- eratures and Cultures of the Spanish-speaking World, Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge. Lecture.

Lockert, Lucía Fox. “Sor Juana como protofemenista de sue dad y la d e h o y.” Letras Femeninas, vol. 11, no. ½, 1985, 5-15.

Merrim, Stephanie. “Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz” Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Aug. 2017. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sor-Jua- na-Ines-de-la-Cruz. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.

12 Irwin Off By Centuries Poetry Applied 13 Poetry of Communal Witness: A New Genre of Poetry by Marginalized Voices

Lilli Hime

14 Last Name Off By Centuries Introduction How does poetry address society’s problems?

Language exists for the purpose of connection, and so poetry exists, as Audre Lorde believed, to “illuminate” a person’s felt but unspoken experiences. The most fundamental connection linking all poetry is its roots in the human experience, for to tell one experience as truly as we can is to inherently, if only consequently, tell the experience of many, resulting in a shared experience or community. This essay sets off to explore one of these links, the one of marginalized identities targeted by violence, and establish itself as a recognized entity. In Carolyn Forche’s introduction to her anthology A Poetry of Witness, she asserts the two common categories of the personal, such that invokes love and loss, and the political, which works arduously and sometimes divisively for social change. Forche proposes that there exists a grey space between the two categories: the social space or poetry of witness, where poets write about specific experiences or hardships they’ve lived due to a shared event or identity, which is not myopically personal or trying hard to be political. In this essay, I expand this space by submitting a type of subgenre, a poetry of communal witness. Where Forche’s criteria is that the poet had to experience the event themselves, I suggest poetry of communal witness requires only that the poet bears the same identity of the victim such that they can exist in the same community. I will explore how poets distill their reaction to violence against someone of a shared marginalized identity and argue for the subgenre by comparing three different poems concerning violence and power dynamics: Audre Lorde’s “Power,” Ai Ogawa’s “Finished,” and Ross Gay’s “A Small Needful Fact.” Context Audre Lorde, one of America’s great modern poets, identified as a Analysis of the Artifacts Black lesbian feminist. In a compilation of poetry, prose, and essays, she tackles racism, sexism, and homophobia. Her poetry is often recog- In “Power” (1978), Lorde recounts the real-life event of a 10-year- nized for its radiating rage and the deeply personal way she handles po- old Black boy named Clifford Glover shot by a white policeman who litical threats to her identity. Living from 1934 through 1992, Lorde saw was later acquitted by an almost-all-white jury. In a conversation with the rise of the second wave of feminism, the fight for desegregation, and fellow poet Adrienne Rich excerpted in Sister Outsider, she recalls that the gay liberation movement. In this extremely political and often vio- upon hearing the news on her car radio, she was so overcome with lent moment in history, she saw every facet of her identity rising up for emotion that she had to pull over and write at that moment. Lorde ac- equality, and she challenged her poetry to do the same in content and knowledges this poem as a way of personal coping and public speaking form. At the same time, the feminists of the poetry community were in about the issue of police brutality and powerlessness, as ironically high- revolt, rejecting traditional form for free verse as a way of rejecting the lighted by the title, in the Black community. patriarchy it originated from. Lorde’s work very much embraces free Within this poem, there exists an ars poetica and two retellings of verse as revolutionary not only in content but in poetic form. the Glover case, one rooted in metaphor where Lorde is present and the Ai Ogawa, born just a decade after Lorde in 1947 and living until other a direct, factual account. Each serves a unique purpose. 2010, was another strong feminist poet whose intersectional identity played a large, yet vastly different part in her work. Ogawa proud- “The difference between poetry and rhetoric is being ready to kill ly identified as a mixed race of Japanese, Choctaw-Chickasaw, Black, yourself Irish, Southern Cheyenne, and Comanche descent. This complex racial instead of your children.” identity gave her the ability to morph into and speak as different people through her poetry because she felt unbeholden to a single entity. She Through the ars poetica, which opens the poem with captivating is known for her dramatic monologues often from the point of view aggression, Lorde explores poetry as a conscious means of discovering of abused or marginalized people. However, she also bounced between truth and justice and recognizing the lack of it in Glover’s case. The im- nameless victims of abuse to the perpetrators, allowing her race, gen- age of “a desert of raw gunshot wounds/and a dead child” exemplifies der, class, and abuse to be flexible within her poetry. Her poetry is bru- poetry’s ability to distill the personal feelings of loss and outrage Lorde tal and raw in its unflinching depiction of graphic violence and cruelty has just by being part of the same Black community as the victim. In which reveal the dark side of humanity. this space, the only way she can start to heal is to take back her lost As a Black man and a much more current poet, born 1974 and still power with language, speaking out at the injustice. alive, Ross Gay stands out among this poetic trio. Between his three published books and two chapbooks, his poetry ranges from a list of “trying to make power out of hatred and destruction gratitude for the simple fact of existence in his collection, A Catalog of trying to heal my dying son with kisses” Unabashed Gratitude, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, to a critical analysis and re-imagination of institutional violence in In the direct retellings of the Glover case, straightforward state- Bringing the Shovel Down. In a lecture at Harvard, Gay expressed his ments detail the violence in an explicit and unrelenting manner to belief that society leads us to believe that African American suffering give the full force of the murder and injustice. These, coupled with the is a default and natural state, so he refutes that by focusing much of anaphora of the phrase “and there are tapes to prove it,” are also repre- his writing on beauty and gratitude, most of which he draws from na- sentative of how simple and obvious the conviction should have been, ture, flowers, and family. In a style very averse to Ogawa, Gay refuses given the extenuating evidence, which makes the acquittal that much the cruelties already prevalent in the world and in art, opting instead to more enraging. This is the frustration felt by the Black community at create from a place focused on gratitude, beauty, and luck of life that is the unjust power dynamic between them and white police. altogether healing.

18 Hime Communal Witness Poetry Applied 19 This frustration is accentuated by the metaphor which breaks up The straightforward statements narrating exactly what is happen- the literal language in which Lorde describes how the majority white ing in the scene speak to how these violent acts need no emphasis, as male jurors convinced the only Black woman juror with their ancient they are disturbing enough. The numbness at the end of the piece not and lasting power dynamic of superiority. only serves the abused but also creates a space for the reader to finally process their own emotions after such an unrelenting display “dragged her 4’10’’ black Woman’s frame of violence. over the hot coals Because of Ogawa’s usual style of entering the perspective of mar- of four centuries of white male approval until she let go ginalized women through her poetry, we have no reason to believe this was a personal experience. And though she never cited a particular in- the first real power she ever had” stance, her identity as a woman is enough to qualify her understanding Altogether, Lorde’s poem is self-aware of its use of language to dis- of male/female physical power dynamics and the fear that comes along till the experience of someone in your community being the victim with it. So, assuming this was an imagined or heard-about experience, of racial power dynamics. It utilizes this to hand the reader Lorde’s Ogawa obviously worked to understand and empathize with her fellow same processing of every injustice of the case and the outrage that women on the commonality of fear of the male counterpart. comes with it. Gay’s “A Small Needful Fact” (2015), again, is the Black unicorn Ogawa’s “Finished” takes on the same assertive manner but with among these poems. Where Lorde and Ogawa are very bold and up- a shift of perspective. While the abused woman speaks in first person, front, his poem seems to beat around the bush in a subtle and under- Ogawa uses second person to place the reader implicitly in the shoes of stated way. The form is very brief at only 15 lines and looks nearly tradi- the abusive lover. tional with medium length, relatively uniform lines.

“You force me to touch Is that Eric Garner worked the black, rubber flaps for some time for the Parks and Rec. of the garbage disposal Horticultural Department, which means, that is open like a mouth saying, ah. perhaps, that with his very large hands, You tell me it’s the last thing I’ll feel perhaps, in all likelihood, before I go numb. he put gently into the earth Is it my screaming that finally stops you,” some plants which, most likely, some of them, in all likelihood, This point of view also enters the reader into the power dynamic be- continue to grow, continue to do what such plants do, like house tween a physically stronger man and weaker woman, making the read- and feed small and necessary creatures, er acknowledge this unsettling superiority. In a way, the second person like being pleasant to touch and smell, makes the horrific violence in the poem that much more human and like converting sunlight that much more terrifying. Ogawa’s poetry shows the dark side of hu- into food, like making it easier manity, making us admit the sadistic and cruel capabilities we’d rather for us to breathe. deny. Where Lorde and Ogawa’s poems never let up on their power, Gay’s “I ran outside in my nightgown, poem delivers only two powerful punches: the mention of Eric Garner’s while you yelled at me to come back. name and the final two lines, “making it easier/for us to breathe.” Gay When you came after me, makes the bold move of never actually touching the case of racially I was locked in the car. motivated police brutality, instead opting to delve into this seemingly You smashed the window with a crowbar, but I drove off anyway. insignificant fact about Garner. The subtleness and the lack of actual -vi olence in the poem leaves the tacit understanding of the police brutal- I was back the next day” ity up to the conclusion of the reader. It also leaves them the responsibility to already know or to find out about Eric Garner’s case and make

20 Hime Communal Witness Poetry 21 the connection between the plants breathing and Garner’s final words Works Cited pronouncing his inability to breathe. By allowing the reader to do their own work in understanding the poem, he additionally allows the reader the room to form their own emotions and reaction. In this way, Gay’s “Ai (1947 - 2010).” The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American poem is different from the latter two because this poem seems written Poetry, by Rita Dove, Penguin Books, 2011, pp. 436–438. more to allow the reader to process their feelings rather than for the poet to process his feelings. Forche, Carolyn. “Introduction.” Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness, Norton, 1993, pp. 29–47.

Conclusion Gay, Ross. “A Small Needful Fact.” Poets.org, Academy of American Po- ets, 9 June 2016, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/small-needful- Though each poet broaches the topic in their unique style, they all fact. contain similar aspects of explicit or tacit power dynamics, violence, and the context of responding to an event or experience subject to Lorde, Audre. “Power by Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry someone of their community. A large part of the traumas come from Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53918/pow- the shared identity the poet has with the victim as well as the unjust er-56d233adafeb3. and horrifying power dynamics of the poems’ main characters. In “Pow- er” and “A Small Needful Fact,” both poets are Black, so in describing racially motivated police brutality against Black victims, they convey how personal it is to see someone with their same skin color be unjust- ly killed. The fact that they are both police brutality cases delves into the unequal power which law enforcement, specifically represented by white officers, has over black individuals. Ogawa’s “Finished,” though never proclaimed autobiographical, describes a woman’s case of abuse, a fear and threat that resonates for all women. The unequal distribution of physical and gender power is present in this poem as the abuser is male and the abused is female. And while the violence is boldly upfront in “Power” and “Finished,” it is still very present, even tacitly in “A Small Need- ful Fact,” especially in the last line’s reference to Eric Garner’s last words. Ultimately, each poet answers the question of why a person of like-characteristics serves as a voice for anyone who shares a field of oppression with them. I suggest this poetry of communal witness as a subgenre of the social sphere, where poets react to trauma within their community’s identity, even though they themselves have not ex- perienced it. This is increasingly important when you consider the vic- timization of the poems’ subjects—sometimes the survival rate means they would not be able to tell their story. If anything, this genre is a memorial to those who cannot tell their own story of abuse but need some way to be remembered.

22 Hime Communal Witness Poetry 23 Resounding Public Voices

24 Last Name Communal Witness Nature 25 Burning Slaughterhouse- Five: How Vonnegut’s Response Exhibits Emotional Appeals Unique to Personal Letters

Chase Bartlett

26 Last Name Communal Witness Introduction

In 1973, the small town of Drake, Ohio, became known to the world. The town, whose population then contained less than 700 residents, shocked the American public on November 8th when the school board decided to burn 32 copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five in the school’s furnace (Stevens). Following the destruction of the books, Von- negut wrote a personal letter to the school board’s chairman express- ing his disapproval. This letter, which some have given the title “I Am Very Real,” contains significant pathos appeals which, 1 under analysis, may provide an interesting understand- To read the letter itself and follow along, you can ing of the relationship between audience and affect. In search “I am very real” at the context of this letter and ones like it, the question is: lettersofnote.com. why does the real audience, especially when intercepting something that was originally private, sometimes feel a heightened sense of emotion? Specifically, this project will examine how intended and real audiences can experience the pathos appeals of the same argument differently. However, before going into any kind of analysis, it would be best to please take a brief moment to read Vonnegut’s letter, which can be found online.1 While doing so, consider how you feel— about the letter, about the arguments posed, and about Vonnegut and McCarthy. When you’ve finished, put away those thoughts for later.

Historical Background and Context

To understand the letter itself, it would be helpful to first understand the context preceding its creation. Though the books were burnt on No- vember 8th, it wasn’t until November 16th that a news source as big as The New York Times covered the event. According to the The Times, the American public was, at this point, livid and upset; the American Civil Liberties Union chapter called it a “violation of free speech,” while North Dakota’s branch of the National Education Association considered it to be “almost inconceivable” (Stevens). At the same time, a source claimed By calling their actions “un-American,” Vonnegut exhibits his first that the people of Drake were “dumbfounded” about this controversy sur- affect appeal. Bringing in values of Americanness, he begins to provoke rounding them (Stevens). After all, from their perspective, the members his audience into feeling badly about what they have done. Specifically, of the school board were exercising their perfectly legal right to censor Vonnegut intends to make his audience feel remorse, regret, or shame. the curriculum. Their reasoning for burning the books was simply that To accomplish this affect, though, Vonnegut relies on the ideological they “didn’t approve of its obscene language” (McCarthy qtd. in Hibbard). presupposition that all Americans identify with values of freedom, The same day that the NYT released its article overviewing the situ- rights, and civil behavior—including Drake’s school board. Hidden in ation in Drake, Vonnegut mailed his letter. While there is no record of this presupposition is the assumed emotional repertoire that shared how Vonnegut first received the news, the fact that he replied within situations and actions deemed “un-American” are worthy of shame just eight days shows his intent involvement in the situation. The kairos and condemnation. In this case, the behavioral script of the emotional of a quick response only adds to the personal nature of the letter, which repertoire is that “if you are an American, you must allow all ideas to was shown by Vonnegut’s clear expression of his intended audience. He circulate freely in your community, not merely your own.” called the letter “a strictly private letter from me to the people of Drake,” However, for McCarthy and the school board to start exposing and the tone throughout is intimate. Other than his reference to “you their children “freely” to all kinds of information, Vonnegut first had to people” in the first line, Vonnegut addresses McCarthy directly as “you,” change their cognitive interpretation about whether or not burning the and bestows an especially personal kind of judgment upon him. books was ethical. To alter the interpretation of their actions, he claims The purpose, or exigence, of Vonnegut’s letter was also transparent. that “books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars He explicitly claims at the end of his argument that they “should ac- have been fought against nations which… burn them.” Here, by men- knowledge that it was a rotten lesson [they] taught young people in a tioning that wars have been waged over burning books, Vonnegut re- free society,” and “expose [their] children to all sorts of opinions and freshes several vivid, violent examples; consider, for one, the German Säuberung (or, “cleansing”) book-burning that occurred before World information.” For Vonnegut, it’s obvious that the he wanted them to 2 “behave like educated persons” should. However, it’s also interesting to War II. Thus, by tying the affective component (shame/ remorse) to the ideal interpretation (burning books is 2 Heinrich Heine, a German note how Vonnegut explicitly showed what his exigence was not; in the poet and literary critic, is first big paragraph, he acknowledges that he’s not excited about “all the bad), Vonnegut’s values and images serve as emotional pathemata to draw out the behavior that he desires. famously quoted to have said books [he] will sell because of the news.” Rather, he is “angered and “Wherever books are burned, sickened and saddened” because of what they had done. For Vonnegut, Currently, there is no evidence to whether Vonnegut human beings are destined to be burned too.” It’s interesting this expression of emotion serves to fit the genre of the intimate letter was able to change their interpretation and elicit a new to note that this was said at he was writing: there was his private address to McCarthy; the genera- behavior from the Drake School Board. However, the fact least 100 years before the tive timeliness, which suggested strong interest on behalf of Vonnegut; that we are able to read the letter today, at the very least, Holocaust, which seems to and there was the claim that Vonnegut took this problem personally suggests that McCarthy eventually did share the letter. suggest that book burning has a well-deserved and long- and was interested in resolving it in a private manner. Actually, the fact that we are reading the letter at all sug- lasting notoriety. gests something about Vonnegut’s secondary interests and goals. Looking back at the last line of the third para- Analysis and Argument: Affect graph, Vonnegut challenges McCarthy: “do you have the courage and While Vonnegut’s letter exhibits both the building up of his charac- ordinary decency to show this letter to the people, or will it, too, be ter through ethos (para. 4), and the intellectual, logical appeal of logos consigned to the fires of your furnace?” Here, why would Vonnegut so (para. 5), his incorporation of pathos (para. 6) is the most important explicitly taunt McCarthy to share it unless he already intended for him component of his letter because it demands a change. Vonnegut’s af- to do so? As the rhetorical scholar Kevin Roozen notes, “writers are fect argument begins by acknowledging the school board’s “right and always doing the rhetorical work of addressing the needs and interests responsibility” to choose which books are read, but proceeds to chal- of a particular audience, even if unconsciously” (17). If this is true, and lenge their American values; he tells them that if they are to “exercise Vonnegut even briefly considered the possibility that the letter would that right… in an ignorant, harsh, un-American manner,” that even be shared, then it must also be true that his writing was directed (part- their “own children” are entitled to call them fools. ly) for people all across America.

30 Bartlett Slaughterhouse-Five Public Voices 31 Because Vonnegut’s letter was also intended for a larger audience, this is the moment to reconsider and reflect upon your reading of the letter in the beginning of the project. How did the argument and letter make you feel? You were the real audience—you read it, just as McCa- rthy did—and Vonnegut’s writing was suited for you. The immediate point to note at this stage is that, because we are a different audience, Conclusion we experience a different affect. If you are anything like me, you didn’t While it is currently impossible to prove whether Vonnegut’s emo- feel shame or remorse, as I imagine McCarthy did. Rather, you proba- tional appeals warranted the response that he intended them to, it is bly felt something between sympathy and respect for both Vonnegut’s possible to further examine personal letters. In this unique genre, the character and argument. letters must rely on pathos to sway an audience. Specifically, though, Mark Longaker and Jeffery Walker, in an introductory pathos analy- personal letters are interesting because they suggest that different au- sis, note that an “astute rhetorical analyst can… [incorporate] the same diences can experience different affects while encountering the same affect into a new interpretation, a new behavioral response, and thus argument. While the subjective nature of emotional analysis makes it a wholly different argument” (213). While this is not the case for Von- challenging to form a grounded conclusion as to whether or not per- negut’s argument (because there is a different affect among the two sonal letters produce an intensified or changed affect, it does seem -in audiences), the point is that affect, behavior, and interpretation are in- tuitive. At the very least, pathos analyses of personal letters like “I Am tertwined. In the letter, it’s likely the intimate nature was what led the Very Real” and “My Wife Is Dead” raise interesting questions. For in- secondary audience (us) to feeling an affect of sympathy and respect. stance, could it be said that these letters generally produce affects sim- Because there is a different affect, there is likely a different interpreta- ilar to sympathy for their intercepting audience? And, what is it specifi- tion and behavior; because we have nothing to cause us to think or feel cally about the personal letters that causes these emotional responses? shame, we probably have a much different interpretation of the letter For future analysis, examining a larger body of personal letters might than McCarthy’s. However, what is interesting about all of this is that: reveal further insight to these questions.

1. Different audiences experiencing the same argument experience different affects. 2. The genre of a personal letter, when intercepted by a different audience, provides a unique emotional response.

To prove the latter, it may be useful to give another example. Richard Feynman’s letter to his deceased wife (which can be found by googling “My Wife Is Dead”) elicits an effect of intense sorrow and sympathy— primarily because of the context; it was never intended to be read by anyone. The letter was strictly personal and remained unopened until his death. Because of this intimate context, it could be possible to argue that the personal nature actually may lead to a heightened or changed affect.

32 Bartlett Slaughterhouse-Five Public Voices 33 Works Cited

Feynman, Richard. “I Love My Wife. My Wife Is Dead” Letters of Note, www.lettersofnote.com/2012/02/i-love-my-wife-my-wife-is- dead.html.

Hibbard, Laura. “Kurt Vonnegut’s Letter To Drake High School: ‘You Have Insulted Me’”. The Huffington Post, 30 Mar. 2012, www.huff- ingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/kurt-vonnegut-letter-to-drake- high-school_n_1392557.html.

Longaker, Mark Garrett, and Jeffrey Walker.Rhetorical Analysis: A Brief Guide for Writers. Pearson Longman, 2011.

Roozen, Kevin. Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Logan: Utah State UP, 2015. Print. pp. 17.

Stevens, William K. “Dakota Town Dumfounded at Criticism of Book Burning by Order of the School Board.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Nov. 1973, www.nytimes.com/1973/11/16/ archives/dakota-town-dumfounded-at-criticism-of-book- burning-by-order-of-the.html.

Vonnegut, Kurt. “I Am Very Real”. Letters of Note, www.lettersofnote. com/2012/03/i-am-very-real.html.

34 Bartlett Slaughterhouse-Five Voices 35 Different Approaches, Same Concerns: Comparing the Philosophies of Thoreau and Mussolini

Nicholas Tafacory

36 Last Name Slaughterhouse-Five Introduction

At first glance, the Italian leader of the National Fascist Party, Beni- to Mussolini, and the American Transcendentalist author, Henry Da- vid Thoreau, seem to be an extraordinarily mismatched pair for most intents and purposes. However, I will argue to the contrary that, despite their overall irreconcilable philosophies (collectivism versus individualism, respectively), their worldviews contain many of the same elements and desires, which allow us to view them together more har- moniously, at least in some regards. Whether these shared elements and desires are truly indicative of how each figure felt is another issue and one beyond the scope of this paper. Perhaps they fervently believed in some aspects of their writings, but perhaps other aspects were used for rhetorical flourish or some sort of personal (political or economic) gain. For now, we will take them at their printed word and assume that they genuinely believe what they are espousing, though there is reason to be skeptical about this claim. As another side note, it has since been discovered that the Italian political philosopher Giovanni Gentile was ultimately responsible for writing the first section of “The Doctrine of Fascism” that is ascribed to Benito Mussolini. For the sake of simplicity, however, we will pre- tend that Mussolini himself wrote the words. As a result, there will un- doubtedly be some quotes in which I say “Mussolini said,” but really I mean, “Gentile said.” Finally, in contrasting Mussolini’s collectivism and Thoreau’s individualism, I will analyze them on three key criteria: the efficacy and/or prominence of political structures (especially towards political or social progress), the direction of duty, and the scope of freedom. With regards to efficacy/prominence of political structures, I mean the extent to which each figure attributes certain measures of societal progress or value. As for direction of duty, I mean either an internal sense of duty (ultimately to oneself) or an external sense of duty (ultimately to a larger group.) With reference to the scope of freedom, I mean the suggested amount or proportion of political freedom allo- cated to the individual under each figure’s worldview and the importance of that freedom. Thoreau’s Radical Individualism

Thoreau, on the contrary, is a proponent of radical individualism Mussolini’s Fascist Collectivism within the Western tradition of political philosophy. In his work, “On Civil Disobedience,” he states that “[there] will never be a really free and Mussolini serves as a representative of the collectivist tradition enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as within political philosophy of the Western world. In the first section a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and au- of his work, “The Doctrine of Fascism,” Mussolini asserts that the only thority are derived, and treats him accordingly” (301). In addition, in objective value that an individual human being has is directly tied to, warning against blind obedience to the State, Thoreau says “if [a law] is more strongly—inseparable from, the contributions he/she offers “as of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to an- a member of the family, the social group, the nation, and in function other, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop of history to which all nations bring their contributions” (426). The the machine” (287). The direction of duty for Thoreau, then, is internal direction of duty for Mussolini’s worldview, then, is external; residing and resides within each individual himself/herself. To him, an undue outside of one’s self, and always directed towards the larger group. Yet and unquestioned respect for or obedience to the State, especially in this group is not just the family or the workplace or even the religious the event that the latter is involved in some sort of moral wrong-doing, group, but to the State which subsumes all other groupings. reduces a human being to the status of a mere automaton. Concerning the efficacy and prominence of political structures and Moreover, Thoreau does not believe the State to be anywhere near the potential progress for which they are responsible, Mussolini writes as capable or efficacious as Mussolini does. He argues that the State, that, “[it] is the State which educates its citizens in civic virtue, gives “never have itself furthered any enterprise […] It does not keep the them a consciousness of their mission, and welds them into unity, har- country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The char- monizing their various interests through justice and transmitting to fu- acter inherent in the American people has done all that has been ac- ture generations the mental conquests of science, of art, of law, and the complished” (282). Instead of the State being responsible for progress solidarity of humanity” (437). Mussolini goes further and emphasizes and political success, it is actually the individual (or at least a band of that, because of its ubiquitous reach into the daily lives of its citizens, individuals) who brought about the necessary changes and solutions to the State has a “spiritual” dimension to it. This “[spirituality]” is derived political problems. The State, on Thoreau’s view, actually retards prog- from the State’s responsibility for unifying, guiding, and inspiring the ress and any attempts to end instances of moral wrong-doing. As such, general people into fulfilling its collective destiny. Thoreau ultimately holds it in much lower regard than Mussolini. Mussolini’s fascist collectivism, then, is only minimally open to any Also in contrast to Mussolini’s fascist collectivism, Thoreau affords claims about or defenses of individual freedom/liberty. Mussolini views the individual an extremely broad scope of freedom. He not only be- an individual’s scope of freedom as conditional: “the fascist conception lieves that, “we should be [humans] first, and subjects afterward” but of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual also he acknowledges the individual’s right to revolution, which con- only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State” (426). He stitutes, “the right to refuse allegiance to and to resist the government, tries to debase any fearful reactions to this claim by stating that, “[the] when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable” (283, fascist State organizes the nation but leaves a sufficient margin of lib- 285). Mussolini would denounce such a sentiment, believing that the erty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly suffering endured is to be valued as a kind of personal sacrifice to the harmful freedom but retains what is essential” (439). However, given greater good of the State. Thoreau, however, finds personal freedom, the rest of his rhetoric as well as historical evidence from fascist Italy especially in resisting the actions of the State, to be paramount for any during the 20th century, what he (or fascism) considers to be “essential” possibility of justice. is negligible at best; the individual’s scope of freedom is reserved for mi- nor details. But there is no substantial base of freedom to, say, criticize the State or voice an opposing viewpoint.

40 Tafacory Approaches Public Voices 41 A final similarity found in the writings of both Mussolini and Tho- reau is an emphasis on action rather than, what they consider to be, Different Approaches, Same Concerns excessive deliberation when it comes to resolving genuine political and social problems. In appraising his postulated doctrine, Mussolini as- One similarity that Mussolini and Thoreau share is distaste for what serts that, “Like all sound political conceptions, fascism is action and has historically been called the “tyranny of the majority.” Both of these fig- it is thought” (424). Thoreau, in a similar fashion, claims that, “what is ures criticize political structures that are based on the whims, preferences, once well done is done forever. But we love better to talk about it: that or beliefs of a numerical majority of individuals. In demarcating fascism we say is our mission” (291). Despite their divergent approaches, both from democracy, Mussolini states that, “[fascism] is therefore opposed to Mussolini and Thoreau find idle speech and indecision to be detrimen- that form of democracy which equates a nation to the majority, lowering it tal to actual progress and resolution of vexing societal problems. Rath- to the level of the largest number” (427). Thoreau echoes this sentiment by er, they would prefer to experience and witness concrete actions taken. remarking that, “[A] majority are permitted […] rule […] not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the mi- nority, but because they are physically the strongest. But a government in Conclusion which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice” (283). Mus- It is undeniably true that Mussolini and Thoreau broach political solini denounces majoritarian democracy because he views it as too re- philosophy in diametrically opposed ways. For Mussolini, the collec- ductionistic, thereby cheapening the undergirded “spirituality” of the State tive fascist State is supreme and of the utmost value. Thoreau sees it which is to be more robust and cohesive, whereas Thoreau believes that differently though, believing that the perspective of the individual is majoritarian democracy is effectively a government in which might makes essential. Despite this fact, both of these figures share some interest- right and justice is inappropriately redefined by a mob-like conception of ing secondary and tertiary views that demonstrate that they do have at the term. Both of them firmly stand against a “tyranny of the majority.” least some things in common. These include a fear about the tyranny Another similarity of Mussolini’s and Thoreau’s is their denuncia- of the majority, a concern about excessive materialism, and a desire for tion of consumerism/materialism. Mussolini claims that fascism aims action over mere thought. to avoid, “those superficial, material aspects in which man appears as an individual, standing by himself, self-centered, subject to natural law which instinctively urges him toward a life of selfish momentary plea- sure” (425). Thoreau, in addressing one of the mechanisms of consumer greed, boldly declares, “Absolutely speaking, the more money [an individual has], the less virtue [that individual has]” (292). Both of these figures stand firmly against a lavish lifestyle with excessive material comforts. They both find that it has detrimental consequences for the individual and for society. Mussolini is against it because it makes the Works Cited individual/the group into slaves of selfish desires. Thoreau is against it Somerville, John, and Ronald E. Santoni. Social and Political Philosophy: because it diminishes an individual’s moral virtue. Readings from Plato to Gandhi. Anchor Books, 1963.

42 Tafacory Approaches Public Voices 43 Architecture of Societies Contradictions in Fin-de-Siècle Montmartre

Shelby Bennett

46 Last Name Approaches Montmartre: La Butte

“Quel sujet pourtant plus digne d’une étude historique, quelle terre plus riche en souvenirs, quelles pages plus sombres dans l’histoire des destinées humaines, quels rires plus sonores au milieu du concert des joies nous pourraient être offerts en quelque coin de la planète, si ce n’est à Montmartre, la Butte sacrée?”1 Montmartre is Paris’ northern- most arrondissement, the dix-huitème, which is officially defined by the boulevards de Clichy, de Rochechouart, 1 Renault, Georges and Chateau, Henri. Montmartre, and de la Chapelle to the south, the boulevard de Ney to Paris, Flammarion, 1897, x. the north, the avenues de St. Ouen and de Clichy to the My own translation: “What west, and by the rue d’Aubervilliers to the east (figure subject, however, more worthy 1).2 Montmartre wasn’t officially part of Paris until 1860, of a historical study, what earth richer in memories, what when it was annexed during a period of expansion and darker pages in the history of improvements in Paris. This gave Montmartre residents human destinies, what more a feeling of independence from the city; however, Mont- sonorous laughter in the midst martre is less than a 20-minute drive from the centre ville of the concert of joys could be offered to us in some corner of of Paris. But as many came to see it “the spirit of Montmar- the world. the planet, if not in tre was not, and could not be contained by geography.”3 Montmartre, the sacred hill?” Montmartre is on a hill and stands above the rest of the 2 Cate, Phillip Dennis. The city. Locals often refer to it as “La Butte” (meaning “the Spirit of Montmartre: Cabarets, hill”). One of the defining features of Montmartre is the Humor and the Avant Garde, Sacré Cœur was finished in 1891—putting “La Butte” in 1875-1905. Rutgers University Press, 1999, 19 view of all Parisians, even south of the Seine.⁴ 3 Ibid. Montmartre, of course, is also well-known for its 4 Milner, John. The Studios of clubs and cabarets, which flourished in fin-de-siècle Paris: The Capital of Art in the Paris. The Moulin Rouge is the most famous, but the Late Nineteenth Century. Yale Chat Noir and other café concerts also attracted the University Press, 1990, 123 attention of Parisians from Montmartre and from the more respectable centre ville. The “indigenous” of Montmartre were mostly working-class tradesmen, entertainers, petty criminals, pros- Figures starting page 59 titutes, and, of course, artists.⁵ Although pre-fin-de-siècle Montmar- Additional editing of the French provided by Philippe Seminet 5 Roe, Sue. In Montmartre: tre was primarily known for its religious attractions Montmartre and Fin-de-Siècle Anxieties Picasso, Matisse and the Birth rather than its painters or parties, artists from near of Modernist Art. Penguin A combination of factors including the fin-de-siècle anxieties and en- Books, 2016, 14 and far were attracted by cheap rents, tax-free wine, and a sense of camaraderie with the vibrant locals.⁶ croaching modernity contributed to tensions, which culminated at the 6 Roe, 15 La Butte is probably best known not only as a red-light top of La Butte. Especially because Paris was the site of the World Fairs 7 Roe, 15. Montmartre appears district but also an artists’ colony. “There had always of 1889 and 1900, which highlighted the most exciting developments of in records dating back to the the new century, Parisians were on the front lines of the changes that twelfth century when the Abby been painters in Montmartre: its reputation as the cen- of Montmartre was founded ter of artistic life dated back to the reign of Louis VI, were being introduced in the new century. The Exposi- 11 by Louis VI. Montmartre’s who was a great supporter of the arts.”⁷ However, the tions Universelles also introduced many artists to the Roe, 17 famous windmills are also World’s Fair, held in Paris in 1889 and 1900, brought Montmartre art scene, Picasso arrived in Montmartre in 12 Roe, 4 a result of the devout, they 1900 to present at the Spanish art pavilion at the fair. Ma- 13 provided the food for the many artists and workers north to Montmartre where Berman, Marshal. All That religious communities. This they found “des moulins, des cabarets et des tonnelles, tisse, although he had been in the Paris art scene since the Is Solid Melts into Air: the is a bit ironic if you consider des élysées champêtres et des ruelles silencieuses, bor- 1890s, came to Montmartre looking for work during the Experience of Modernity. Verso, 2010, 13 Montmartre’s most famous dées de chaumières, de granges et de jardins touffus, des World’s Fair and ended up on a team painting a frieze for windmill, that on the façade the Grand Palais.11 The World’s Fair was described by the 14 Berman, 15 of the seedy Moulin Rouge plaines vertes coupées de précipices, où les sources fil- 15 Milner, 133 cabaret. trent dans la glaise, détachant peu à peu certains îlots de Guide Hachette: “the Fair shows the ascent of progress step by step—from the stagecoach to the express train, 16 Roe, 5 ⁸ De Nerval, Gérard. verdure où s’ébattent des chèvres, qui broutent l’acanthe Promenades et Souvenirs, suspendue aux rochers; des petites filles à l’oeil fier, au the messenger to the wireless and the telephone, lithog- 17 Kenny, Nicolas. “Je Paris, l’Illustration, 1853. My pied montagnard, les surveillent en jouant entre elles.”⁸ raphy to the x-ray, from the first studies of carbon in the Cherche Fortune: Identity, own translation: windmills, In contemporary and current accounts alike, the romanti- bowels of the earth to the advent of the airplane.”12 The Counterculture, and Profit in cabarets and arbors, rustic World’s Fair and the turn of the century contributed to the Fin-de-siècle Montmartre.” paradises and silent alleyways, cization of fin-de-siècle Montmartre is unavoidable. Films, Urban History Review, volume lined with thatched cottages, books, and other accounts describe the glamorous yet gritty anxieties and contradictions of imposing modernism “to 32. No. 2, 2004, 24 barns and gardens, green bohemian lifestyle that used to define Montmartre. Mont- be modern is to live a life of paradox and contradiction;”13 plains ending in cliffs, where martre today, because of much higher rents and contin- “To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises the springs filter through us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the the clay, staggering little ued development, is much more of a “tourist theme park”⁹ out of little islands of green than bohemian artists’ colony. The vast writing and world and, at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we where goats graze, grazing artwork produced in Montmartre from 1880-1910 cul- have, everything we know, everything we are.”14 the thistles hanging from the tivated an identity of Montmartre and “contributed rocks; little girls with a proud These tensions were especially strong in Paris, where Haussmanniza- eye, with a mountain foot, to the evolution of Montmartre into a kind of cultural tion acted as a visible metaphor for the end of “old Paris” and the beginning watch them playing with each theme-park in which even the tangential authenticity of of “new” Paris. This transition left Parisians, especially those who could 10 other.” the Bohemianism was shamelessly sentimentalized.” still remember the vieux Paris, stuck between two worlds. These tensions ⁹ Hewitt, Nicholas. “From This is why today, if you visit Montmartre you’ll find nar- came to fruition in Montmartre because it was one of the “final frontiers” Lieu De Plaisir; to & Lieu row streets overrun with tourists and filled with souvenir of vieux Paris. Although Montmartre was being developed to accom- De mémoire; Montmartre shops selling mass-produced poster prints of Toulouse 15 and Parisian Cultural modate the expanding city, “it was not a smart or elegant area.” Living Topography.” French Studies: A Lautrec posters (figure 2). inMontmartre was to live “slowly and quietly, like going back in time.”16 Quarterly Review, vol. 54, no. 4, I started this project to investigate how the art- The streets were still narrow, pastoral, and made the neighborhood 2000, pp. 453–67, 462 ist-filled fin-de-siècle Montmartre became the “tourist feel more like a rural village than a bustling city. Montmartre kept 10 Hewitt. 463 theme park” that Montmartre is today and found that the “narrow streets and small buildings as well as… open fields, trees, many of the roots of the extreme gentrification of the and windmills that bestowed upon it an almost rural appearance.”17 neighborhood were already in place by 1910. I will here explore Mont- This rural quality is exactly why the artists chose Montmartre. They martre from 1880-1910 during the final push of modernism into Paris were looking to escape the anxieties associated with the moderniza- through an exploration of the contradictions that existed in the lives tion of Paris without getting too far from the city center. This created of artists of Montmartre. the perfect recipe for their countercultural, transgressive community, keeping a toe in the past as they moved into the new century.

50 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 51 Artists of Montmartre 1880-1900 Lautrec, although the most closely associated with Montmartre, wasn’t the only post-impressionist artist working there. Van Gogh lived Arguably, the artist most associated with the Montmartre area is in Montmartre briefly during his stint in Paris where he worked with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Lautrec was the heir of an influential fam- other influential Post-Impressionists including Seurat and Signac. ily that traced its ancestry to the eighth century.18 As a child, Lautrec Like Lautrec, Montmartre itself was the subject matter of Van Gogh’s suffered from health problems as a result of his parents’ inbreeding, and Signac’s (figure 4) work, taking a cue from the street scenes of the and, after breaking both of his legs in an accident at thir- plein-air impressionists who came before them, sketched street scenes 18 Kenny, 28 teen, they became brittle and remained as they were de- that showed the discontinuity that existed in Montmartre as modern 19 O’Connor, Patrick. Nightlife spite the fact that his upper body continued to mature façades began to infiltrate the previously pastoral boulevards.28 of Paris.: the Art of Toulouse- as he reached adulthood.19 As a result of his deformity, Like Lautrec, these artists did most of their conceptual work in Lautrec. Universe, 1992., 10 he was unable to participate in typical aristocratic activ- the solitary confinement of their studios, sketching on the streets and 20 Kenny, 28 ities such as “riding and hunting with which his father composing a few blocks away in the studio. “Thus the studio played 21 O’Connor, 10. Lautrec was felt he should identify.”20 Lautrec grew up as an outsider an essential role, its wan but steady light permitting a meticulous and not the only upper-class in his own family and took refuge in drawing and paint- student of Bonnat. In fact, painstaking study impossible in a street.”29 Not insignif- 28 Milner, 134 most of the other students ing. At age seventeen Lautrec entered the studio of Léon 21 icant, however, was the fact that the studios weren’t far Bonnat, off the avenue Clichy in Montmartre. Lautrec 29 working at his studio were also from where the artists were getting their subject matter. Hewitt, 461 “outwardly Bohemian” but stayed deeply tied to the Montmartre scene through- 30 One of whom, Carlos came from wealthy families This closeness also contributed to a sense of camaraderie out his career and until his death in 1901. Lautrec was Casagemas killed himself as well. among the artists working in Montmartre. close friends with performers, owners, and patrons who soon after their move to Paris. 22 O’Connor, 12 frequented the famous cabarets in Montmartre. Mont- However, the arrival of the new century marked a sig- This was a traumatic even for Picasso and colored (no pun 23 O’Connor, 12 martre’s famous nightlife was the subject of much of Lau- nificant change in the Montmartre scene. With the death intended) the development of 24 The prints that made their trec’s work. His models were the dancers, singers, drunks, of Lautrec and the departure of Van Gogh in addition to his Blue Period. way into posters which have the gradual development of the neighborhood, and the prostitutes, and patrons who Lautrec sought to capture 31 Roe, 5 made their way onto the walls in motion, observing his models in a chance moment arrival of the World’s Fair a whole new generation of stu- 32 Roe, 5 of every low-budget French 22 restaurant in the world, it was Lautrec’s “greatest desire.” He captured, the wom- dios was cropping up in Montmartre. Interestingly, this 33 Lautrec’s Montmartre of the seems. was not without the criticism of some of the “original” en of the cabarets with an “ambiguous, analytic yet quite Moulin Rouge was already on 23 24 25 Milner, 139 critical attitude” in both his paintings and lithographs Montmartre crowd. Some of the “earlier” avant-garde its way out, it seemed. that he is remembered for today. Lautrec’s studio was the writers, the École de Montmartre, who “saw them- 26 Milner, 138 calm, solitary, silent contrast to the nightclubs where he selves representatives of an authentic Montmartre culture” resent- 27 O’Connor, 10 Of course, ed Picasso and the second wave of avant-garde artists who began to Lautrec did this mostly transferred the antics of the night before onto large can- 25 30 unknowingly but it is worth vases propped against a ladder instead of using an easel. infiltrate the neighborhood. noting that many of the clubs Lautrec worked in and for the nightclubs of Montmar- for which he made posters tre, creating promotional posters (figure 3) in addition to (the Moulin Rouge included) Artists of Montmartre 1900-1910 specifically targeted upper- paintings and other work. “In this way Lautrec produced class Parisians who Lautrec a popular art that was the antithesis of Salon respect- Especially because of the World’s Fair, many new artists arrived in (because of his background) ability, transgressing the bounds of painting, with all its Montmartre around 1900. One of the most famous arrivals in Montmar- probably understood how to connotations of preciousness, for a cheap and popular, tre was Pablo Picasso who ventured to Paris for the first time in Octo- pander to. 26 but no less brilliant decorations of street hoardings.” ber of 1900 with a group of Catalan artists31 to see his painting Last Mo- Although he died in 1901 due to a combination of his ments displayed at the fair.32 Picasso was nineteen when he arrived in alcoholism and his disability, Lautrec had already begun fashioning Paris for the first time.33 In Paris the young Picasso saw work by David, Montmartre as “one of the most durable and lucrative tourist-traps in Delacroix, Ingres, Daumier, Corot, and Courbet and also works by the 27 modern Europe.” impressionists like Caillebotte, Monet, Manet, Pissarro, and, of course Cézanne, who would prove to be very influential to Picasso. Another surprising influence on the young artist was the poster art he found

52 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 53 on the streets of Montmartre. Posters by the Swiss artist Stienlen (who Contradiction: In and Out of Paris created the still-famous cat poster for the Chat Noir) and Toulouse Lau- trec filled the streets of Paris. Picasso stayed with a friend-of-a-friend Although upper Montmartre was only annexed into Paris in 1860 and on his first night in Montmartre he and his friends went out to during Haussmann’s ambitious urban renewal project, the Butte wasn’t the famous nightclubs but found them to be too expensive.34 However, far from the centre ville of Paris. However, Montmartre is Paris’ north- as Picasso began to work in Montmartre, he too began to sketch and ernmost district and exists literally on the fringes. Despite the lack of paint the patrons of the nightclubs at the foot of La Butte. Picasso’s ear- distance, the significance of the location as both literally and symboli- ly Montmartre works are clearly inspired by Lautrec, moody nightlife cally on the city’s outskirts was intrinsically linked to its “social and cul- scenes, but show a “psychological dimension” that hint tural aloofness” and fueled its inhabitants’ obsession with maintaining 34 Roe, 37 at what is to come.35 its image as separate from the bustling city life of Paris.40 Many of the 35 Roe, 173 artists were working in ways that rejected typical salon expectations, Early during his time in Paris, Picasso caught the at- 36 Roe, 175 which were being shown just south in heart of Paris. Art- tention of dealer Ambrose Vollard, who was also living 40 Claire Le Thomas. “Beyond 37 ists like Lautrec, Picasso, Matisse, and many others en- Milner, 162 and working in Montmartre at the start of the century. the Margins: Picasso and Company in Montmartre.” 38 The start of the war in 1914 hanced this literal and metaphorical marginality in their Picasso began to be featured in shows of Vollard’s and it Urban History Group 2008 encouraged the departure work by “sharing the marginal position of the fringing was through Vollard that Picasso was introduced to the Annual Conference Urban of foreign artists from Paris inhabitants of Paris who were pushed behind the city Boundaries and Margins, 2008, especially. Steins. Gertrude Stein, who had just moved to Montmar- boundaries, guaranteed the radical novelty of their art Nottingham, France., 4 39 tre after a disappointing stint in London became fast Brigstocke, Julian. “Defiant and, at the same tine, increased its nonconformity and 41 friends with Picasso as she sat for many, many hours Hewitt, 460 Laughter: Humour and the outrageous impact.”41 Aesthetics of Place in Late 19th while Picasso sketched and painted her portrait, which 42 Kenny, 25 Century Montmartre.” Cultural 36 was finally finished in 1906. Picasso, especially in his Ironically, though the closeness-yet-detachment from 43 Kenny, 24 Geographies, vol. 19, no. 2, portrait of Gertrude Stein was planting the roots of what Paris also lead, in many ways, to the creation of Mont- 44 2012, pp. 217–235., 24 Milner, 159 would be cubism. In Montmartre, the Stein’s home be- martre’s “cultural theme park.” Because Montmartre was came an informal salon for the artists of Montmartre. Chez Stein was a so close, the “smarteux” upper class Parisians “constantly in quest for place where they could collaborate, see each other’s work, receive cri- fashionable, and therefore transitory, pleasures and entertainment” be- tique, and start friendly competitions with one another. It was through gan arriving.42 Les smarteux enjoyed venturing out to a neighborhood the Stein’s that Picasso became formally introduced to the work of Ma- they perceived to be “dangerous” (despite the fact that this wasn’t ex- tisse, who would eventually become Picasso’s “rival.” Matisse came to actly true) that was still in safe proximity to their parts of town. Mont- art much later in life than Picasso but came to Montmartre earlier than martre’s nightclubs and artists depended upon the bustling city centre him. Matisse started his work in Montmartre working in a more pointil- for patrons but strove to maintain their independence from traditional list style with Seurat and Signac and eventually development Fauvism Paris. Contemporary accounts of Montmartre describe it as “in Paris with Andre Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck.37 The Fauves were also fa- but not of it.”43 vorites of the Steins and all of them spent time together in Montmartre. In 1907, Picasso was deeply influenced by an exhibition of African Contradiction: Rural and Urban Arts and produced his most influential work to date, Demoiselles d’Avi- gnon. In the same year Matisse painted his Blue Nude. By the end of Upper Montmartre (la Butte) wasn’t originally included in Hauss- the decade Picasso and Georges Braque would go on to create analytic mann’s plan for restoration. It had, therefore, avoided modernization cubism and the advent of abstract art. The two collaborated so closely and kept the “narrow streets and small buildings as well as … open fields, in Montmartre that it is sometimes difficult to tell which painter pro- trees, and windmills that bestowed upon it an almost rural appearance” duced which piece. “Montmartre played a vital part in the development (figures 5 and 6).44 This rural quality is exactly why the artists chose Mont- of Cubism in particular. In these streets above Paris, creative activity martre. They were looking to escape the anxieties associated with the flourished for many years.”38 But after cubism, the artists dispersed.39 modernization of Paris without getting too far from the city center. This created the perfect recipe for their countercultural, transgressive community, keeping a toe in the past as they moved into the new century.

54 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 55 Renoir’s first studio in Montmartre, a large, crumbling, seven- themselves with the working class to create a kind of kinship with the teenth-century house, had huge gardens and vast views of the country- poor. Many of the artists (including Picasso and the Fauves) enhanced side “as far as St. Denis.”45 Here Renoir had a “lavishly colorful and fresh the depraved aspects of their life to appear more avant-garde and an- retreat from the city” a place where he, and later Emile Bernard, Vincent ti-bourgeoisie. Picasso and Braque even adopted the “coarse language Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Suzanne Valadon, and Maurice associated with the working classes.”54 The artists liked living in an area 45 Milner, 159 Utrillo found refuge from unsettling, and unpleasant city that was working-class, separate from the stuffy, upper-class École des 46 Milner, 159 life of Paris.46 From here, Van Gogh could see the wind- Beaux Arts. They felt that living in a working-class neighborhood and 47 Milner, 159 mills which surely reminded him of his native Holland. rubbing elbows with the working class themselves made 53 Le Thomas, 4 48 O’Connor, 10 Lautrec, A few blocks away, a popular weekend destination for them (and therefore their art) seem more avant-garde. 54 however, because he was Montmartre residents, Moulin de la Galette, a windmill Matisse’s work on painting a frieze for the World Fair’s in Le Thomas, 3 wealthy had been visiting his which opened its gardens and buildings as a café and 1900, for example, was a “grueling” “nine-hour day, bent 55 Roe, 17 home in the actual countryside 56 since he was a child. In a letter bar, also reflected the “semi-rural air” of the area. Mou- double, crouched over canvases spread out on the ground Kenny, 30 55 at seven years-old wrote to lin de la Galette (figure 5) was a place where workmen ‘as if they were breaking stones.’ ” 57 Roe, xiv his grandmother “Although would relax alongside artists on weekends; “invasions by However, as the clubs and avant-garde lifestyle caught 58 Renault and Chateau, 199. I don’t mind it here in Paris, 47 foreigners were very rare at the Moulin de la Galette.” Translation: we do not believe he preferred to back in the on with les smarteux Montmartre became a “victim of its that we are giving a subversive countryside.” Even Lautrec was fond of the rural feeling of Montmar- 56 48 own success.” The smarteux were “enjoying the atmo- tre’s streets. 57 opinion in declaring that 49 Milner, 156 sphere of risqué sensuality without taking any real risk.” artists made Montmartre. It is 50 De Nerval. My own The rural landscape also connects Montmartre to While some artists and club owners embraced the new A QUASI-axiomatic truth. translation: The new homes the longstanding Romantic tradition of artists connect- bourgeois clientele, others mourned the loss of old Mont- 59Brigstocke advance everyday … the old ing to nature and the tension this created in a place like martre. Even before 1910, the “earlier” avant-garde writ- mountain of Mars will soon Montmartre, which seemed pastoral in relation to the ers (the École de Montmartre) who “saw themselves representatives have the fate of the Butte des Moulins, which in the last new wide boulevards of central Paris. Renoir’s family of an authentic Montmartre culture” resented Picasso and the second century hardly showed a less described one of the studios he had in Montmartre as wave of avant-garde artists who began to infiltrate the neighborhood. superb front. “largely compensated for by the low rents, the fresh air. The essential connection between the urban poverty and the allure of 49 51 Kenny, 24 The cows, the lilacs and the roses” despite the fact that Montmartre inevitably lead to the “theme park-ing” of the neighborhood. 52 Le Thomas, 2 is was quite difficult to get to. However, as Haussmann and adventure-hungry bourgeoisie pushed at the seams of Montmartre locals expressed fear that their rural paradise would Contradiction: Romanticism and Modernity soon be lost. “Les maisons nouvelles s’avancent toujours … le vieux “Nou ne croyons pas émettre quelque opinion subversive en déclar- mont de Mars aura bien bientôt le sort de la butte des Moulins, qui, au 50 ant ici que les artistes ont fait Montmartre. C’est là une vérité quasi ax- siècle dernier, ne montrait guère un front moins superbe.” iomatique.”58 It comes as no surprise that even contemporary sources were claiming that “artists made Montmartre;” the neighborhood’s pas- Contradiction: Working class and bourgeoisie toral, working-class atmosphere is typically romantic. However, the artists who made Montmartre were creating the most modern art in Paris Artists especially in Montmartre sought to establish themselves in its least modern neighborhood. Despite the fact that Montmartre as decidedly anti-bourgeoisie because they felt it made them appear claimed to be the center of modernity through which all of the modern to be more avant-garde. “For Montmartre’s exclusivity to be meaning- world would be expected to pass the inhabitants were fiercely protective ful, bourgeoisie Paris had to serve as its foil.”51 Because it had avoided of preserving its rural aura.59 Montmartre’s residents were always on the Haussmanization, Montmartre was “Paris’ last peasant community” “defense of the representational and the traditional. In this, it can stand and thus “a refuge for the dispossessed.”52 as a representative of Montmartre as a whole: humorous, caricature, Although the artists who lived in Montmartre were often poor and fantastic yet unwilling to extend far beyond the boundaries of realism, qualities which will become all too apparent when the Bohemians of the may have wanted for food, clothes, or heating, “living in Montmartre 60 was a necessity and a choice for the artists.”53 The artists established Butte come to transform the ‘lieu des plasirs’ into’ a ‘lieu de mémoire.”

56 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 57 Montmartre after 1910 – “Lieu de Mémoire”

By 1910, many artists who had gotten their start in Montmartre had left. Picasso stuck around in Paris for a while but eventually made his way to Avignon and then to Antibes. Matisse also left for the south of France and ended up in Nice. After 1910, Montmartre wasn’t the same rural, poor, artists’ village. As soon as 1923, there were proposed construction projects in Montmartre of new houses with studios which were intended to be lent to artists at modest rents because the artist was losing their place in Montmartre.61 “Artists, painters, sculptors, engravers, decorators, architects, and musicians are all determined to 60 Hewitt, 462 prevent upper-class people or nouveaux-riches from getting hold of a house and turning the studio into a draw- 61 Emile-Bayard, 62 Jean. Montmartre Past and ing-room, smoking-room, or dance-room.” Present. Brentano’s, 1929., 136 Unfortunately, it seems that the construction efforts 62 Emile-Bayard, 136 were unsuccessful as Montmartre has lost all traces of the authenticity that it once held for artists and locals Figure 1 alike, as upper-class Parisians took over the area followed by devel- opers who pandered to tourists looking to get a glimpse of the Mont- martre of Lautrec and Picasso. As the neighborhood was taken over by upper-class Parisians, both the working-class inhabitants and the artists were pushed out and (a century later) has become a parody of itself. The “true” Montmartre now exists only in memory. The contradictions existed in Montmartre from 1880-1910 as a result of the final push of modernism into Paris. The same contradictions that existed in fin-de-siècle Montmartre eventually lead to its demise as the once romantic, rural, non-Parisian neighborhood came to represent the most commercialized tourist neighborhood in Paris. Montmartre’s story, however, is not a totally unique one. Although Montmartre is arguably the most extreme example, New York’s East Village, London’s SoHo, and even Austin’s East Side are just a few examples of artists’ neighborhoods that have all held similar contradictions throughout their history. As problems with gentrification begin to affect cities small and large across the world, looking back to places like Montmartre can help us understand how gentrification works, what we can do to prevent it, and how we can create spaces that continue to inspire creativity without compromising locals.

Figure 2

58 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 59 Figure 5

Figure 3

Figure 6 Figure 4

60 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 61 Bibliography Images

Berman, Marshal. All That Is Solid Melts into Air: the Experience of Mo- 1. Map of Paris (http://maps.wallpapereu.us/map-paris-arrondisse- dernity. Verso, 2010. ments/)

Brigstocke, Julian. “Defiant Laughter: Humour and the Aesthetics of 2. Montmartre today (https://a2.muscache.com/locations/uploads/ Place in Late 19th Century Montmartre.” Cultural Geographies, photo/image/11716/0_4200_0_2800_one_Montmartre_Lagarde_16. vol. 19, no. 2, 2012, pp. 217–235. jpg)

Cate, Phillip Dennis. The Spirit of Montmartre: Cabarets, Humor and 3. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, À Montrouge, 1886 (https://upload.wi- the Avant Garde, 1875-1905 . Rutgers University Press, 1999. kimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Toulouse_Lautrec_A-Mon- trouge_Rosa_la_Rouge.jpg) Claire Le Thomas. “Beyond the Margins: Picasso and Company in Mont- martre.” Urban History Group 2008 Annual Conference Urban 4. Paul Signac, The Boulevard de Clichy under Snow, 1886 (https:// Boundaries and Margins, 2008, Nottingham, France. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Paul_Signac_-_ Snow%2C_Boulevard_de_Clichy%2C_Paris_-_Google_Art_Project. Emile-Bayard, Jean. Montmartre Past and Present. Brentano’s, 1929. jpg)

Hewitt, Nicholas. “From Lieu De Plaisir; to & Lieu De mémoire; Mont- 5. Moulin de la Galette (https://i.pinimg.com/736x/35/5b/b7/355bb7c- martre and Parisian Cultural Topography.” French Studies: A c213fea83da9fa93f6eb27226--old-paris-vintage-paris.jpg) Quarterly Review, vol. 54, no. 4, 2000, pp. 453–67. 6. Heights of Montmartre (Milner, Page 149) Kenny, Nicolas. “Je Cherche Fortune: Identity, Counterculture, and Profit in Fin-de-siècle Montmartre.”Urban History Review, volume 32. No. 2, 2004

Milner, John. The Studios of Paris: the Capital of Art in the Late Nine- teenth Century. Yale University Press, 1990.

De Nerval, Gérard. Promenades et Souvenirs, Paris, l’Illustration, 1853

O’Connor, Patrick. Nightlife of Paris.: the Art of Toulouse-Lautrec. Uni- verse, 1992.

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Renault, Georges and Chateau, Henri. Montmartre, Paris, Flammarion, 1897

Roe, Sue. In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art. Penguin Books, 2016.

62 Bennett Contraditions Architecture 63 Prison Privatization: Complacency, Pragmatism, and Justice for Sale

Dane Shannon

64 Last Name Contraditions Introduction

In America, prison privatization has been an increasingly controversial issue since the 1980s, when the U. S. government began to contract out criminal rehabilitation to businesses in the private sector. The justi- fication behind this movement boiled down to inefficiency on the government’s part that some estimated would be remedied in a competitive business market. Much of the debate surrounding issues of prison privatization regards its efficacy and ethicality. In a report he wrote for Congress in 2006, entitled “Privatization and the Federal Government: An Introduction,” government analyst Kevin R. Kosar explains that “[i]t can be expected that privatization will remain a controversial idea. Any attempt to improve the federal government’s provision of goods and services through privatization likely may elicit concerns over the inten- tions and possible consequences of the proposal” (Kosar 36). Because prison and criminal rehabilitation systems have a tremendous impact on society and social justice, they must be approached, managed, and operated with the utmost concern. For this reason, the issue of prison privatization has many citizens, political leaders, corporations, and organizations arguing over the legit- imacy of private prisons as a solution to the inadequacies of state and federal prisons. These arguments are oriented around a variety of appeals, ranging from philosophical and theoretical to factual and practi- cal. Behind all of them lies the question: Should the government abolish privately owned, managed, and operated prisons? Vermont’s Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has answered that question with a remarkable “yes” by introducing a bill for the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015,” which proposes a three-year plan to ban all levels of government from contracting with private prisons (Justice is Not For Sale Act). Opponents of the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” H. Logan, a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut who has done extensive research at The National Institute of Justice, ex- This policy and others like it which proposed bans and restrictions plains this argument in Private Prisons: Cons and Pros. He says that in on prison privatization are often met with the strong resistance of theory “[c]ontracting provides an alternative yardstick against which stakeholders on the other side of the issue, who claim that private pris- to measure government service; it allows for comparisons” (Logan 42). ons are useful and beneficial to all parties involved in prison reform. A It should be noted that Logan makes no indication of his agreement great example of such a stakeholder is Adrian Moore, Vice President of with that argument or its logic. Policy Studies at the libertarian Reason Foundation and hearty advo- Kosar also illustrates another argument that proponents of privat- cate for prison privatization. In his Reason Foundation policy analysis, ization often present: low costs guaranteed by private prisons mean tax entitled “Private Prisons: Quality Corrections at a Lower Cost,” Moore cuts for citizens. This argument typically engages upper-class conser- argues that “federal, state, and local officials across the nation are fac- vatives who ideologically appreciate tax reductions on principle and/or ing a real crisis in their prisons and jails—too many prisoners and not are wealthy to the degree that those tax cuts make a substantial differ- enough money… Private prisons can be a big part of the answer to this ence in their bottom line. These stakeholders stand to suffer a signifi- problem” (Moore). Moore makes a great point when one considers the cant loss in the event of any governmental prison reform calling for tax challenges state prisons have encountered in the past. In his article increases as the brunt of that increase will fall on them (Kosar). “The Prison-Industrial Complex,” Eric Schlosser writes about how prison privatization was the solution to crises in California prison systems Advocates for private prisons also suggest that private facilities due to overcrowding and inadequate management by the government. provide jobs and create business. Schlosser discusses the many busi- Schlosser explains that the industrialization of the prison system was nesses necessary to operate a private prison including but not limit- adopted originally because of an unwillingness or incapability on the ed to “plumbing supply companies, food-service companies, health- government’s part to reform prison on its own (Schlosser). care companies, companies that sell everything from bullet-resistant security cameras to padded cells available in a ‘vast color selection’” This theme, that privatization and private prisons are the answer (Schlosser). These businesses are usually contracted to the private to problems created by a swollen and overexerted “big government” prisons, with many dependent employees, making them and their sur- appeals to many conservatives and libertarians. Like Moore, these rounding communities stakeholders. stakeholders in favor of private prisons, advocate for privatization in general with the perception that such institutions remove power from While there are many intricate reasons for which these aforemen- the government and reinvest it into the private circuit, thus lessening tioned stakeholders resist the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015,” these government control (Schlosser). Schlosser also points out that around are by far the most prevalent and reasonable in terms of results. the initial boom of prison privatization “living conditions in many of the nation’s private prisons [were] unquestionably superior to conditions in many state-run facilities,” making the argument against a ban Proponents of “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” due to government inefficiencies particularly compelling (Schlosser). These pro-privatization arguments and the reasoning behind This leads corporate stakeholders with investments in private pris- them seem solid enough in theory. However, in application, there are ons to argue that industrialized prisons can perform better services at a number of conflicts of interest that put all of these principles into lower costs than the government because managers and owners of pri- question. These conflicts of interest arise when the government out- vate prisons have the business know-how to operate facilities efficient- sources and privatizes prisons without setting up rules and regulations ly and because they have the incentive to optimize the quality of those for accountability. Kosar writes regarding this subject in the terms of facilities in a competitive market (Schlosser). This argument is most general privatization, explaining that “[g]overnment agencies, unlike frequently employed by corporations like Corrections Corporation of private firms, usually operate under complex accountability hierar- America and GEO Group, two of the biggest corporations running pri- chies that include multiple and even conflicting goals” that “embody vate prisons (Friedman). These companies and their like promote the principles of democratic justice, such as the allowance for public par- idea that their business models ensure high-quality, low-cost results, ticipation and government transparency.” Kosar contrasts this system incentivized by the competitive nature of a capitalist economy. Charles of accountability, describing the privatized sector as one that is outside

68 Shannon Prison Privatization Architecture 69 the jurisdiction of the government, and therefore uncheckable by democratic ruling (Kosar 24-25). This is a problem that many stakeholders, predominantly liberal citizens who value democracy and government regulation, take issue with on the grounds that it undermines the core principles of American political philosophy. Perhaps one of the most important stakeholders advocating for a ban on prison privatization are the prisoners at institutions where cor- With these values in mind, stakeholders against privatization argue ner-cutting to save on costs has led to inhumane conditions. Derek Gil- more importantly that a prison system unaccountable to the govern- na, a researcher for Prison Legal News and opponent of private prisons, ment is a breeding ground for corruption and social injustice. Logan provides numerous examples of such conditions in his report “How points out the first of many such opportunities by discussing how pris- Private Prison Companies Cut Corners to Generate Profit.” According on privatization “creates incentives to lobby for laws and public policies to Gilna, the companies make money by “cutting corners in staffing, that serve special interests rather than public interest; in particular, healthcare, lower employee qualifications and reduced training, and private prison companies may lobby for more imprisonment” (Logan substandard facility maintenance” (Gilna). One particularly compel- 46). Kosar backs this concern, suggesting also that “[c]ontracting out ling case occurred through Anamark Corporation, a food service pro- can promote iron triangles and other corrupt relationships between vider for private prisons. Gilna states that Anamark was “the subject the federal government and the private sector” (Kosar 14). These are of numerous lawsuits for providing prisoners with inferior food” and valid and alarming worries given that these institutions are designed to was “cited for serious problems at Michigan and Florida correctional correct social dysfunction. facilities” (Gilna). Issues of abuse like these engage human rights orga- Further, this potential for corruption within the unregulated system nizations and generally empathetic and socially conscious citizens in of privatized prisons becomes even more disconcerting for supporters the controversy, pitting them against prison privatization. of the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” when they consider the incen- Corner-cutting in private prisons, as Gilna points out, doesn’t af- tives for such corruption. Typically, the government funds its private fect only prisoners; staff members and employees are significantly prisons based on how many prisoners they house per day, or as Schloss- underrepresented, underpaid, and undertrained (Gilna). Private pris- er defines the model, paid by the “man-day” (Schlosser). This means on owners often cut costs by blocking union organization and slash- that if a private prison has agreed with the government that the cost of ing employee wages to increase affordability without losing profit a “man-day” is “X,” then contracted with it to be paid “X plus profit,” the (Schlosser). Employees aren’t given adequate training for coping with incentive to maximize “man-days” increases to an uncomfortable level the high-stress environment of prison employment either (Gilna). This for many stakeholders resisting the private prison system. can significantly damage the morale of officers and staff working for This issue harkens back to Logan and Kosar’s concerns over corrupt private prisons, creating an environment and culture in which negative lobbying by private prisons as they attempt to affect legislation in ways attitudes can fester and eventually progress into aggressive behavior. that will increase criminalization, and therefor incarcerations. This in- Once again, advocates for prison reform and the “Justice is Not troduces the entirety of American society as a stakeholder since corrupt For Sale Act of 2015” certainly defend and promote the bill with oth- legislation threatens civil liberties and compromises the integrity of the er arguments and concerns regarding the privatization of prisons in law as a whole. However, it makes some communities far more suscep- America. However, these arguments serve as the fundamental bas- tible to mistreatment than others. Impoverished, underprivileged, and es for their debates and centralize the main incredulity stakeholders historically marginalized (certain ethnic, racial, and religious groups) have toward private prisons in terms of political philosophy and po- communities are at a greater risk of being affected by this corruption, tential for corruption. as they tend to be targeted more frequently by law enforcement due to our nation’s prejudiced and racist culture (ACLU). This makes these communities stakeholders in favor of the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” as well.

70 Shannon Prison Privatization Architecture 71 The Remaining Impasse society, but it also brings into question the values upheld by operators of private prisons themselves. Often, private prisons value monetary These are the arguments that characterize the contention surround- gain over the well-being of their prisoners, resulting in poor conditions ing the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015,” as well the controversial for staff and prisoners. In a report she wrote for Prison Legal News, en- nature of prison industrialization and privatization. There seems to be titled “Lax Oversight Plagues Private Prisons in Texas,” Lauren Reinlie valid reasoning behind each approach to the issue when one considers exposes some of these “squalid conditions,” calling Texas prison privat- the government’s past failures in operating the prison system without ization a “failed experiment” (Reinlie). A primary goal of “The Justice is help from the private sector. One must consider whether or not the Not For Sale Act” is to address these concerns and uphold these values government would have the capacity to manage prisons any more ef- by eliminating the system that constricts the worth of prisoners to sti- fectively or ethically than private owners. Can we be sure that a ban on pends and monetary gain; I’m in full support of that goal (“Justice is Not the privatization of prisons wouldn’t simply result in worse conditions For Sale Act”). for prisoners, employees, and public safety if and when the government In the second case, a government that relies on the private sector to becomes overwhelmed by the prison population? On the other hand, manage its public affairs, especially social justice programs, violates its allowing the government to remain reliant on private corporations basic democratic obligations. Any control and rule over social projects weakens an already vulnerable and exposed flaw in our government given to private sector is control and rule taken away from the public to and criminal justice system. Neither of these two options seems ideal whom the power belongs in a democratic government. I’ve recognized by any means, so in choosing between the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of that it is the government’s responsibility to oversee the prison system 2015” and prison privatization, stakeholders certainly seem to be deter- so that it remains accountable to all citizens and not merely opaque mining the lesser of two evils. bureaucratic agencies (Kosar). By banning prison privatization, “The Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” will reinvest the government in the One Perspective for the Reader’s Consideration social justice system and reestablish social justice as its responsibility (“Justice is Not For Sale Act”). This will not only reopen the prison sys- “The Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015” presents society with a com- tem to the public but also motivate the government to focus more ef- plex solution to an even more complex issue. This means addressing forts toward social justice programs that reduce incarceration. In these its validity and exigence, given the conflicts of interest in prison privat- effects, I’m once again in full support of the act. ization, requires extensive consideration. Having deeply examined the Finally, I take issue with the government’s privatization of prisons controversies surrounding this social issue, I’ve come to the conclusion because it indicates either social complacency or, worse yet, social res- that I support “The Justice is Not For Sale act of 2015” on three grounds. ignation. Instead of working to solve the prison crises through legisla- First, the model of privatization motivates to invest more in profit tion and judiciary reform—revision of causal policies, precedents, and schemes than in prisoners and their rehabilitation, violating their hu- prejudices that exacerbate incarceration rates—the government sim- man rights and their well-being by reducing them to quantifiable assets ply abdicated responsibility over a portion of its population and bar- rather than respectable and worthwhile individuals. Second, regardless gained them into the confinement of private corporations. With these of inefficiencies, a public government should be responsible for -so principles in mind, Schlosser argues that utilizing private prisons is an cial and public projects as they can be moderated by democratic rule example of the “greed and political cowardice that… pervade America,” while the private sector cannot. Third, the values present in arguments (Schlosser), and I agree. Prison privatization is a manifestation of gov- against the act are rooted in pragmatic settlement rather than an aspi- ernment and society’s deeply rooted lack of concern for social justice ration toward moral ideals. or, even worse, a substantially incompetent and broken government. In the first case, the problem I see with prison privatization is im- From my research, I’ve gathered that there is significant truth in both mediate. It creates the incentive to view prisoners as capital, alien- explanations. Thus, the consequence of continuing to rely on the pri- ating and disrespecting their intrinsic human values and, as a result, vate sector’s management of prisons will further debilitate the govern- perpetuating the perception that they are no longer valid individuals ment and excuse it from investing in the social justice reform necessary worth the attention of society. This not only conflicts with my values to keep citizens out of prison in the first place. “The Justice is Not For for human rights, empathy, tolerance, and respect for all members of Sale Act of 2015” seeks to confront the government in its complacen-

72 Shannon Prison Privatization Architecture 73 cy and inefficiency, requiring that it eventually reassume its obligation Works Cited and re-engage with alternative solutions to incarceration (“Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015”). On the grounds that those requirements will limit if not reverse the negative consequences of prison privatization, I Friedman, Alex. “Who Owns Private Prison Stock.” Who Owns Private support “The Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015.” Prison Stock? Prison Legal News, 31 July 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. While developing an opinion regarding this social issue required Gilna, Derek. “Prison Legal News.” Report: How Private Prison Compa- tremendous reflection and consideration, my conclusive position is in nies Cut Corners to Generate Profit. Prison Legal News, 2 Aug. tentative support of the “Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2015.” I admit 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. hesitancy, being aware that the implementation and execution of the act will require the substantial investment of the public—monetarily, Justice Is Not For Sale Act of 2015, S. HEN15C35, 114th Cong. (2015). ideologically, and emotionally. The state-run prison systems will need Print. to recover from the damage done over several decades of reliance on the private sector. I recognize, however, that such reliance will only Kosar, Kevin R. “Privatization and the Federal Government: An Intro- worsen with continued complacency and avoidance. duction.” CRS Report for Congress RL33777 (2006): 1-37. Congress Research Service. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Logan, Charles H. Private Prisons Cons and Pros. New York: Oxford UP, 1990. Print.

Moore, Adrian T. “Private Prisons: Quality Corrections at a Lower Cost.” 1 Apr. 1998:

The Reason Foundation: Policy Studies. The Reason Foundation. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

“Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice.” American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU, 2016.

Reinlie, Lauren. “Lax Oversight Plagues Private Prisons in Texas.” Watch Your Assets 1 (6 Feb. 2008): 1-9. Print

Schlosser, Eric. “The Prison-Industrial Complex.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, Dec. 1998.

74 Shannon Prison Privatization Architecture 75 Staff Bios Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Wilkosz Gabrielle is a graduating senior. This May, she’ll walk the stage Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing and Rhetoric, concentration in Professional Writing. She hopes someday to teach rhetoric at the collegiate level. Her research interests include U.S. foreign diplomacy and feminist rhetorics applied.

Senior Designer Hailey Johnson Hailey is a senior majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Graphic Design. Her interests include user experience design, drawing, baking, running, and gardening. After gradutation, she plans to pursue a career in Design Technology.

Junior Designer Sabrina Smith Sabrina is a junior Graphic Design major. Her hobbies include reading, drawing, making candles in her kitchen, and embroidery. She hopes to become a book designer after graduation and own a lot of cats. Margaret “Marji” Dzenko Marji obtained her degree in English Writing and Rhetoric with a spe- Copy Editors cialization in Professional Writing in December of 2017. She is from Simsbury, Connecticut, and is still working on integrating “y’all” into Allanah Maarteen her vocabulary. Some interests of hers include taking 40,000 photos of Allanah is a writer, editor, and artist. As frontwoman and guitarist for her dogs, nature walks on the Greenbelt, and wholesome memes. You the band Imitari, she’s recorded three albums and toured the Southern can visit her website at www.marjidzenko.com U.S. She’s currently finishing her senior year at St. Edward’s Universi- ty and will graduate in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Writing & Max Murphy Rhetoric, Creative Writing emphasis. Max is a third year philosophy student with active interests in all kinds of stuff. Get him going and he’d be more than happy to spout some pseu- Bronte Treat do-intellectual nonsense in a long, semi-incoherent fashion. Favorite Bronte is from San Antonio, Texas. She studies Rhetoric and Writing topics include Historical Materialism, Mars colonization, and frisbee. at St. Edward’s University. She admires the poetry of Sharon Olds, War- He’d like to take the remaining space to thank all those who’ve rooted san Shire, and Catherine Pierce. Upon graduation, she hopes to teach for him over the years, especially his mother. English abroad. Her passions include practicing yoga, reading, and dis- mantling the patriarchy. She greatly enjoyed editing for Arete. Melissa Gonzales Melissa Gonzales is from Corpus Christi, Texas. She is now at St. Ed- Kathie Rojas ward’s University in Austin to study creative writing and psychology. Kathie Rojas is a second-year writing student from Dallas, Texas. She is She aspires to edit books in the future, as well as write some of her own. currently a barista at Austin Java, a copy editor for Hilltop Views, and a When she isn’t writing, she is likely to be found watching movies, play- Sagittarius most of the time. A rhetor of soft phrases, she holds cats in ing with her Chihuahua, or spending time with friends. high esteem and loves to listen to low instrumental music in the dark. Her kindergarten best friend is Sarah Gonzales with an s. Nicole Vickers Nicole is a junior English Education major at St. Edward’s University. Logan Stallings She has been actively writing poetry and plays since high school and Logan is a junior at St. Edward’s, double majoring in graphic design and won the Scholastic SIlver Key Award for “Name of Play,” one of her plays. writing. A friend to all print publications, she has worked as the design She finds her inspiration through nature, folk music lyrics, her Croatian editor of the McNair Scholars Journal and New Literati and is published heritage, and Joni Mitchell. in Freelancer Magazine, New Literati, and Sorin Oak Review. In the future, she hopes to attend grad school and test the waters of screenwriting Sarah Gonzales and film, incorporating her love of storytelling and visual aesthetics. Sarah is a sophomore Writing and Rhetoric major. Her focus include creative writing and journalism, but out of the two she hopes to pursue a career in journalism; preferably Arts & Entertainment. Sarah’s hobbies include hanging with friends and watching movies. Fun facts: She jumped out a window. She’s terrible at lying. Her hero is Wonder Wom- an. Her kindergarden bestie is Kathie Rojas with an “ie.” The typeface for Arete Vol. 27 is Kepler, designed by Robert Slimbach. The titles are set in Futura designed by Paul Renner and distributed by Bauer Type Foundry. The text stock is Neenah Starwhite Tiara 70T, and the cover stock is Neenah Starwhite Flash Cover White 84C.

The making of this publication was funded by St. Edward’s University, and an edition of 400 copies was printed by OneTouchPoint Printing in Austin, Texas.