I've been asked (below, in the comments for "WTF Is Happening in Class?") to initiate a thread for discussion of The Men. There's way too little in fiction about disability community: most often the person with a disability in a novel is an isolated hero or villain. Movies, however, sometimes can show community a little better; and I find that The Men is one of those rare movies that doesn't use disability in a tragic or negative way.
A couple of you indicated in that thread below what you liked about it --anyone else want to chime in on what impressed you or ask about parts you found obscure?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Randolph Bourne II
A couple more issues from yesterday's class discussion:
3) Bourne's "The magical good fortune of attractive personal appearance marks its way almost without effort in the world, breaking down all sorts of walls of disapproval and lack of interest" elicited a big chunk of conversation in the class, with Lukas saying that there are many areas of life in which personal appearance makes no difference and about five other people arguing that looks are exceeded only by money in their power to ease your way through the world. Look at the paragraph in which Bourne makes that point, and the one following --what do you think of his argument, which specifically arises in his discussion of "business and the practice of a profession"?
4) The middle section of the essay talks about "the handicapped man" in confrontation with society's habit of victim-blaming: "If he could only more easily separate the factors that are due to his physical disability . . . he would realize what he is responsible for, and what he is not. But at the beginning he rarely makes allowances for himself; he is his own severest judge." Later, if he is resilient in the face of obstacles that might otherwise destroy his personality, he ends up with the potential for a bigger-than-average circle of compassion: "He will be filled with a profound sympathy for all who are despised and ignored in the world. When he has been through the neglect and struggles of a handicapped and ill-favored man himself, he will begin to understand the feelings of all the horde of the unpresentable and the unemployable, the incompetent and the ugly, the queer and crotchety people who make up so large a proportion of human folk." What is Bourne doing with that claim? What do you think of the language? What do you think of the argument that suffering might build compassion greater than that possessed by those who have not been stigmatized?
3) Bourne's "The magical good fortune of attractive personal appearance marks its way almost without effort in the world, breaking down all sorts of walls of disapproval and lack of interest" elicited a big chunk of conversation in the class, with Lukas saying that there are many areas of life in which personal appearance makes no difference and about five other people arguing that looks are exceeded only by money in their power to ease your way through the world. Look at the paragraph in which Bourne makes that point, and the one following --what do you think of his argument, which specifically arises in his discussion of "business and the practice of a profession"?
4) The middle section of the essay talks about "the handicapped man" in confrontation with society's habit of victim-blaming: "If he could only more easily separate the factors that are due to his physical disability . . . he would realize what he is responsible for, and what he is not. But at the beginning he rarely makes allowances for himself; he is his own severest judge." Later, if he is resilient in the face of obstacles that might otherwise destroy his personality, he ends up with the potential for a bigger-than-average circle of compassion: "He will be filled with a profound sympathy for all who are despised and ignored in the world. When he has been through the neglect and struggles of a handicapped and ill-favored man himself, he will begin to understand the feelings of all the horde of the unpresentable and the unemployable, the incompetent and the ugly, the queer and crotchety people who make up so large a proportion of human folk." What is Bourne doing with that claim? What do you think of the language? What do you think of the argument that suffering might build compassion greater than that possessed by those who have not been stigmatized?
Randolph Bourne
I want to review some points about Bourne's "The Handicapped" and follow up on some issues that our class discussion raised. As ever, use the comments section to respond not only to the post but to one another.
1) Are there any more initial comments, evaluations, or responses to bits of the essay that particularly struck you?
2) Lukas raised the issue that there were extremes of positive and negative thought in Bourne's piece; Josh K was struck by the fact that he found the sunny, happy portions easy to dismiss; I suggested that there's a cultural norm at issue there --American men, interested in books, born since 1960, are cynical or mistrustful when faced with the happy, the comedic, the upbeat, the optimistic. Seriousness ends up getting equated with pessimism. Do you think that's true? Are there reasons for it?
1) Are there any more initial comments, evaluations, or responses to bits of the essay that particularly struck you?
2) Lukas raised the issue that there were extremes of positive and negative thought in Bourne's piece; Josh K was struck by the fact that he found the sunny, happy portions easy to dismiss; I suggested that there's a cultural norm at issue there --American men, interested in books, born since 1960, are cynical or mistrustful when faced with the happy, the comedic, the upbeat, the optimistic. Seriousness ends up getting equated with pessimism. Do you think that's true? Are there reasons for it?
A Rebecca Harding Davis Question
How does Deborah in Life in the Iron-Mills perceive herself and others? Does her disability play a role in that?
WTF Is Happening in Class?
The comments thread below is a place for you to post questions about material you want clarified from class discussions.
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