Tag Archives: aesthetics

To the Guy in My MFA Class* Who Believes Art “Has Nothing to Do with Race”

Since the 1930s Formalism has positioned literary art as independent of author, era, and even possibly meaning. It promises that if readers would just focus on structure, symbols, and tensions within the text itself, all will be clear. Although this approach still holds sway in literature and creative writing classes, Critical Race Theory has challengedContinue reading “To the Guy in My MFA Class* Who Believes Art “Has Nothing to Do with Race””

The Desirable World

Tonight I attended Lynda Mapes’s reading from her recent book, Elwha: A River Reborn. She chronicles the world’s largest dam removal project, which began in 2011 right here in Washington state. More interesting, though, were the audience questions: What unintended consequences do you foresee? Is there any discussion of the complex issues this raises–as dismantling the sourceContinue reading “The Desirable World”