Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies (COPAS - E-Journal)
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Home on the Road: Women, Mobility, and Space in Van Life
Full text linkIn this article, I argue that representations of the road created by and about solo female van life travelers reimagine the male-coded American road as a more gender inclusive landscape, pushing back against the gendered divisions of public and private, casting women as mobile, and challenging traditional renderings of the home and domestic space. By situating contemporary van life narratives within the framework of Doreen Massey’s work on space and gender as well as the presentations of the road in the literary canon, I argue that solo female van-lifers use storytelling to place women onto the road as active participants and, in so doing, meaningfully alter the image of the road in the American collective consciousness. Through an examination of traditional understandings of public/private and inside/outside space, I posit that van life subverts these dichotomies, reconfiguring the landscape of the road and reimagining the boundaries between the home and mobility
Exploring Connection in Emily Dickinson’s Poetics
Full text linkThis article examines Emily Dickinson’s poetics through the lens of connection, interpreting her perceived disconnection as a deliberate retreat to foster creativity and self-awareness. Using Carl Jung’s concept of “twin existences” and Kae Tempest’s insights on present awareness, the study explores how Dickinson’s emphasis on the “Eternal Now” underscores the significance of everyday action in affirming human existence and creating a sense of connection with oneself and others. Drawing on several of Dickinson’s poems and letter fragments, as well as historical and feminist interpretations of her life, this article argues that her rejection of conventional standards allowed for a profound engagement with the dualities of life—connection and disconnection, life and death. This analysis offers a new perspective on Dickinson’s work and life, revealing how her poetic practices advocate for the daily nurturing of meaningful connections, contributing to broader discussions on creativity and human interaction.
(Re-)Shaping the Public Sphere: Cultural Productions as/and Interventions: The 2024 Postgraduate Forum
Full text linkHow Frank Underwood Paved the Way for Donald Trump: Transmedia (De-)Construction of Civil Religious Narratives in (Fictional) American Politics
Full text linkLocated between Bellah’s American Civil Religion, Bredekamp’s Image Act Theory, and Genette’s theory on narratology, this essay examines the impact House of Cards had on the 2016 presidential elections. Kevin Spacey’s iconic character Frank Underwood was the first presidential villain, and the first one who moved beyond the series to appear at the Correspondents’ Dinner in 2013. While the breaking of the fourth wall was not new to film, interactions with the audience on- and off-screen were fundamentally new. Furthermore, by including ‘real’ news anchors like Stephen Colbert or John King in the show, boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred. Also, portraits of former presidents are used to contextualize but also contrast Underwood’s words and actions. This stylistic element employs many civil religious narratives which are part of the collective memory. Watching Underwood undermine those commonly known civil religious and democratic dogmas in the ‘fictional reality’ changes and shapes the audience’s perception of the American presidency’s institutional narratives. By rearranging various civil religious elements into a completely new, yet familiar picture, the fictional presidential narrative became part of the historical imagination. Thus, the insight House of Cards offered to a fictional Washington, D.C. with non-fictional markers enabled Donald Trump’s campaign team to develop persisting media strategies for his Reality Show
Engagement or Retreat: On Women’s Publishing and Making a Public
Full text linkThis paper investigates two publishing strategies employed by feminist publishing ventures and the publics they form. With the growing success of women in publishing, their work moves from being published primarily in feminist presses to being found in all possible formats of publishing. Nevertheless, said feminist presses and publishing outlets have always been and still are highly productive and relevant spaces for the feminist cause and movement. They offer options of intervention with or retreat from the market and a broader public and can create their own smaller (counter) public or enclave
Queering Dis/Connection within the Pandemic Chronotope in Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic reduced human mobility in a globalized world, altering experiences of time and space. It uncovered power structures and revived past narratives of disease emergence and collective memories of historic pandemics. Using a queer intersectional lens, this paper explores these transformed spatiotemporal dimensions and their effect on human dis/connection by employing the concept of the crisis chronotope (Parui and Simi Raj). It analyzes Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here (2021), examining connections during a crisis that made physical distance necessary. This methodological perspective highlights digital and physical dis/connections and challenges heteronormative temporality in the novel, redefining dis/connection within the pandemic chronotope.
Poems by Hannah Warren: Making Peace With the Ghosts
No full textThe artist\u27s statement contextualizes Hannah V Warren’s poetry. Often defined as monstrous and grotesque, Warren’s poetry takes cues from the literature and theory she studies critically. Thus, this statement also situates her poetry within Southern and German Gothic influences while noting comparisons between the two landscapes
“[A] curious creature”?: Dickinson and/in Popular Culture
Full text linkThe Apple TV+ series Dickinson culminates decades of feminist and queer scholarship on the poet Emily Dickinson, positioning her as a queer icon while challenging conventional portrayals of her life and legacy. Through the lens of feminist and queer studies, this paper examines the series’ portrayal of Dickinson’s journey to poetic self-identification, her resistance to patriarchal constraints, and her impact on contemporary culture. I argue that the series constructs a narrative that merges notions of the biopic with a coming-of-age story as well as historical facts with millennial sensibilities, resulting in a very effective re-writing of Dickinson’s life based on feminist scholarship. I claim that Dickinson not only redefines the poet’s public image but also overcomes restrictions of the biopic genre and thus becomes part of a feminist (and queer) counter-public sphere that resonates with contemporary audiences
"I did not feel the same as before surgery": How Audre Lorde\u27s The Cancer Journals turned Disidentification into Reidentification
Full text linkThis paper examines Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals (2020) and her journey post-mastectomy, in relation to José Muñoz’s theory of disidentification, which he discusses in his book Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (1999). For Muñoz, disidentification is a survival strategy of stepping away from predominant societal ideologies. Muñoz’s theory is particularly fruitful for analyzing Lorde’s intersectional experiences and identity struggles of being a queer woman of color with breast cancer, but lacks an element of reidentification. This paper expands on the concept of disidentification and claims that Lorde does not take this passive stand Muñoz proposes but instead reidentifies herself in the face of prevailing gender norms
A Decade of The Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Its Success and Participatory Approach to Social Change
Full text linkWith three Peabody wins, sixty-eight Primetime Emmy nominations (and twenty-eight wins), several Writers Guild, Producers Guild, Webby, GLAAD, and Critics Choice awards under its belt, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (LWT), has retained its position as the leading voice on international news and policy, structural issues, and other rather solemn topics that would not be considered entertaining for a primetime show. With long investigative pieces that build on the work of other journalists, LWT challenged the idea that viewers are not interested in stories lasting twenty-odd minutes without any commercial breaks. As the show completes a decade since its premiere (April 2014), it is an opportune moment to reflect on and explore what attracts its audiences. While most satirical comedy is limited to critiquing politicians and public personalities, offering catharsis to its viewers, LWT takes this step further by tackling structural issues, outlining solutions, and soliciting viewers’ participation in addressing them. This leaves the viewers on a hopeful note, making them feel that they are doing their part in standing up to metaphorical Goliath. This essay, thus, also examines the participatory nature of Oliver’s “calls to action”, which fosters a sense of empowerment among the show’s viewers, along with the reasons why audiences connect with the show