Emily Bronte, Adrienne Rich, and All Those In-Between
It was with great sadness that I learned of Adrienne Rich's passing a few days ago. I have always felt that Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" was one of the reasons I went to grad school in the first place.
We all have those texts, the ones that inspire such passion that they almost become a part of who we are as people, as teachers, as academics. First prize in the "Why I Went to Grad School" contest has to go to Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights. I distinctly remember being assigned the novel in OAC (the now-defunct Grade13 in the province of Ontario; a glorious year that when it disappeared I contend all post-secondary education went to hell in a hand basket, but that is a rant for another day). Now it could have been a causal relation for sure, because at the time I was madly in love with someone who was supposed to be my forever, (oh how wrong I was, again a post for another day) but Heathcliff and Catherine's love was something overwhelming, something that I knew I needed to explore further. This led me to Emily's poetry and I was hooked. I decided that somehow I would have to have a job where I would be exposed to amazing verses like this everyday. Though my path to academia had many twists and turns along the way, I always kept those verses in mind as I was pushing towards my goal.
As an undergraduate at the University of Toronto I took Women and Literature (little did I know that many years later I would actually teach that same course) and I remember the day Prof. Matus taught "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers." The image of "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band" sitting "heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand" still resonates and remains with me to this day. Probably for the same causal reasons as Wuthering Heights, Rich's verses allowed me to explore the ideological weight of marriage and what that meant for me. Again these lines are so much more than a collection of words, they mean something very real and tangible, as all good literature does.
Of course there have been many other texts that have affected me in a similar manner: Cunningham's The Hours, Kay Ryan's poetry, the brilliance that is Billy Collins, Yates's Revolutionary Road, or even the way that Irigaray's words just drip off the page. Ruskin's amazing insight into educational practices is what keeps me up thinking at night.
I would be interested in starting a project where everyone submits their favourite line of verse or text, something that has moved them over the years. I am sure such a thing has been done before, and probably more than once, but it feel it is important to remember these lines, not just when an icon passes, but everyday.
We all have those texts, the ones that inspire such passion that they almost become a part of who we are as people, as teachers, as academics. First prize in the "Why I Went to Grad School" contest has to go to Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights. I distinctly remember being assigned the novel in OAC (the now-defunct Grade13 in the province of Ontario; a glorious year that when it disappeared I contend all post-secondary education went to hell in a hand basket, but that is a rant for another day). Now it could have been a causal relation for sure, because at the time I was madly in love with someone who was supposed to be my forever, (oh how wrong I was, again a post for another day) but Heathcliff and Catherine's love was something overwhelming, something that I knew I needed to explore further. This led me to Emily's poetry and I was hooked. I decided that somehow I would have to have a job where I would be exposed to amazing verses like this everyday. Though my path to academia had many twists and turns along the way, I always kept those verses in mind as I was pushing towards my goal.
As an undergraduate at the University of Toronto I took Women and Literature (little did I know that many years later I would actually teach that same course) and I remember the day Prof. Matus taught "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers." The image of "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band" sitting "heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand" still resonates and remains with me to this day. Probably for the same causal reasons as Wuthering Heights, Rich's verses allowed me to explore the ideological weight of marriage and what that meant for me. Again these lines are so much more than a collection of words, they mean something very real and tangible, as all good literature does.
Of course there have been many other texts that have affected me in a similar manner: Cunningham's The Hours, Kay Ryan's poetry, the brilliance that is Billy Collins, Yates's Revolutionary Road, or even the way that Irigaray's words just drip off the page. Ruskin's amazing insight into educational practices is what keeps me up thinking at night.
I would be interested in starting a project where everyone submits their favourite line of verse or text, something that has moved them over the years. I am sure such a thing has been done before, and probably more than once, but it feel it is important to remember these lines, not just when an icon passes, but everyday.
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