tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/books-1687/articlesBooks – The Conversation2024-03-19T12:26:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222452024-03-19T12:26:43Z2024-03-19T12:26:43ZHow much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579438/original/file-20240303-22-dk7t8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C8348%2C5957&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Toxic stress increases the risks for obesity, diabetes, depression and other illnesses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/depressed-man-covering-face-amidst-orange-rays-royalty-free-image/1227304528?phrase=stress+&adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/Digital Vision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 taught most people that the line between tolerable and toxic stress – defined as persistent demands that lead to disease – varies widely. But some people will age faster and die younger from toxic stressors than others. </p>
<p>So how much stress is too much, and what can you do about it?</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://researchdirectory.uc.edu/p/wulsinlr">psychiatrist specializing in psychosomatic medicine</a>, which is the study and treatment of people who have physical and mental illnesses. My research is focused on people who have psychological conditions and medical illnesses as well as those whose stress exacerbates their health issues.</p>
<p>I’ve spent my career studying mind-body questions and training physicians to treat mental illness in primary care settings. My <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/toxic-stress/677FA62B741540DBDB53E2F0A52A74B1">forthcoming book</a> is titled “Toxic Stress: How Stress is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It.” </p>
<p>A 2023 study of stress and aging over the life span – one of the first studies to confirm this piece of common wisdom – found that four measures of stress all speed up the pace of biological aging in midlife. It also found that persistent high stress ages people in a comparable way to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001197">effects of smoking and low socioeconomic status</a>, two well-established risk factors for accelerated aging. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yiglpsqv5ik?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Children with alcoholic or drug-addicted parents have a greater risk of developing toxic stress.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The difference between good stress and the toxic kind</h2>
<p>Good stress – a demand or challenge you readily cope with – is good for your health. In fact, the rhythm of these daily challenges, including feeding yourself, cleaning up messes, communicating with one another and carrying out your job, helps to regulate your stress response system and keep you fit. </p>
<p>Toxic stress, on the other hand, wears down your stress response system in ways that have lasting effects, as psychiatrist and trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk explains in his bestselling book “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-%20keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/">The Body Keeps the Score</a>.” </p>
<p>The earliest effects of toxic stress are often persistent symptoms such as headache, fatigue or abdominal pain that interfere with overall functioning. After months of initial symptoms, a full-blown illness with a life of its own – such as migraine headaches, asthma, diabetes or ulcerative colitis – may surface. </p>
<p>When we are healthy, our stress response systems are like an orchestra of organs that miraculously tune themselves and play in unison without our conscious effort – a process called self-regulation. But when we are sick, some parts of this orchestra struggle to regulate themselves, which causes a cascade of stress-related dysregulation that contributes to other conditions.</p>
<p>For instance, in the case of diabetes, the hormonal system struggles to regulate sugar. With obesity, the metabolic system has a difficult time regulating energy intake and consumption. With depression, the central nervous system develops an imbalance in its circuits and neurotransmitters that makes it difficult to regulate mood, thoughts and behaviors. </p>
<h2>‘Treating’ stress</h2>
<p>Though stress neuroscience in recent years has given researchers like me <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001051">new ways to measure and understand stress</a>, you may have noticed that in your doctor’s office, the management of stress isn’t typically part of your treatment plan. </p>
<p>Most doctors don’t assess the contribution of stress to a patient’s common chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, partly because stress is complicated to measure and partly because it is difficult to treat. In general, doctors don’t treat what they can’t measure. </p>
<p>Stress neuroscience and epidemiology have also taught researchers recently that the chances of developing serious mental and physical illnesses in midlife rise dramatically when people are exposed to trauma or adverse events, especially during <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/ace-brfss.html">vulnerable periods such as childhood</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past 40 years in the U.S., the alarming rise in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/health-equity/diabetes-by-the-numbers.html">rates of diabetes</a>, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity-child-17-18/overweight-obesity-child-H.pdf">obesity</a>, depression, PTSD, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db433.htm">suicide</a> and addictions points to one contributing factor that these different illnesses share: toxic stress. </p>
<p>Toxic stress increases the risk for the onset, progression, complications or early death from these illnesses. </p>
<h2>Suffering from toxic stress</h2>
<p>Because the definition of toxic stress varies from one person to another, it’s hard to know how many people struggle with it. One starting point is the fact that about 16% of adults report having been exposed to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/fastfact.html">four or more adverse events in childhood</a>. This is the threshold for higher risk for illnesses in adulthood.</p>
<p>Research dating back to before the COVID-19 pandemic also shows that about 19% of adults in the U.S. have <a href="https://doi.org/10.7249/TL221">four or more chronic illnesses</a>. If you have even one chronic illness, you can imagine how stressful four must be. </p>
<p>And about 12% of the U.S. population <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/introducing-second-edition-world-banks-global-subnational-atlas-poverty">lives in poverty</a>, the epitome of a life in which demands exceed resources every day. For instance, if a person doesn’t know how they will get to work each day, or doesn’t have a way to fix a leaking water pipe or resolve a conflict with their partner, their stress response system can never rest. One or any combination of threats may keep them on high alert or shut them down in a way that prevents them from trying to cope at all. </p>
<p>Add to these overlapping groups all those who struggle with harassing relationships, homelessness, captivity, severe loneliness, living in high-crime neighborhoods or working in or around noise or air pollution. It seems conservative to estimate that about 20% of people in the U.S. live with the effects of toxic stress.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WuyPuH9ojCE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Exercise, meditation and a healthy diet help fight toxic stress.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recognizing and managing stress and its associated conditions</h2>
<p>The first step to managing stress is to recognize it and talk to your primary care clinician about it. The clinician may do an assessment involving a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001051">self-reported measure of stress</a>. </p>
<p>The next step is treatment. Research shows that it is possible to retrain a dysregulated stress response system. This approach, <a href="https://lifestylemedicine.org/">called “lifestyle medicine</a>,” focuses on improving health outcomes through changing high-risk health behaviors and adopting daily habits that help the stress response system self-regulate.</p>
<p>Adopting these lifestyle changes is not quick or easy, but it works. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/index.html">National Diabetes Prevention Program</a>, the <a href="https://www.ornish.com/">Ornish “UnDo” heart disease program</a> and the <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand_tx/tx_basics.asp">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD program</a>, for example, all achieve a slowing or reversal of stress-related chronic conditions through weekly support groups and guided daily practice over six to nine months. These programs help teach people how to practice personal regimens of stress management, diet and exercise in ways that build and sustain their new habits.</p>
<p>There is now strong evidence that it is possible to treat toxic stress in ways that improve health outcomes for people with stress-related conditions. The next steps include finding ways to expand the recognition of toxic stress and, for those affected, to expand access to these new and effective approaches to treatment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222245/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lawson R. Wulsin received funding in 2010 from the Veterans Administration support a secondary analysis of data from the Framingham Heart Study, which was published and contributed in part to the substance of this article. </span></em></p>No one can escape stress, but sometimes it takes a physical and emotional toll that translates to disease and other health effects. The good news is that there are new approaches to treating it.Lawson R. Wulsin, Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine, University of Cincinnati Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237692024-03-06T13:23:23Z2024-03-06T13:23:23ZFive fiction books to inspire climate action<p>Numerous books warn us about the climate crisis, and many offer solutions. If everyone read all of these books and behaved accordingly, perhaps the planet would be home and dry. However, most people don’t read them. Most people read romances, whodunnits or superhero stories.</p>
<p>To address this, I set up the Green Stories project in 2018 with free <a href="https://www.greenstories.org.uk/writing-competitions/">writing competitions</a> that encourage storytellers to embed climate solutions into stories aimed at mainstream readers across a variety of formats, from radio plays to novels. </p>
<p>The focus on solutions derives from my research into the effects of <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/eco.2019.0023#:%7E:text=Readers'%2520reflections%2520(N%2520%253D%252091,proenvironmental%2520intentions%2520than%2520catastrophic%2520stories.">catastrophe v solution-focused climate fiction</a> on readers and found that solution-focused stories were more likely to inspire <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-ingredient-to-fight-the-climate-crisis-positive-fictional-role-models-177684">pro-environmental behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>I have also written a novel called <a href="https://www.dabaden.com/habitat-man/">Habitat Man</a> – a rom-com with a hint of cosy mystery which weaves in entertaining and educational green solutions such as wildlife gardening, seasonal food, and natural burials. <a href="https://www.dabaden.com/habitat-man-in-research/">A survey of 50 readers</a> showed that 98% of of them adopted at least one green solution as a result of reading it.</p>
<p>Many climate-fiction writers fear that an optimistic approach could lead to complacency. But my <a href="https://www.greenstories.org.uk/research-on-how-people-respond-to-stories/">research</a> suggests eliciting fear is more likely to lead to either paralysing climate anxiety, denial, or self-protective behaviours (think buying up all the toilet rolls). </p>
<p>One size doesn’t fit all, but those who are inspired to climate activism by the dystopian approach are already well served by the market. Currently, few novels exist which focus on solutions or which engage readers who prefer genre fiction.
I’d love to see more such stories on the bookshelves. </p>
<p>Here are my top five recommendations, including recent favourites and upcoming releases that inspire environmental behaviour change.</p>
<h2>1. Fairhaven</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.greenstories.org.uk/fairhaven/">Fairhaven</a> is a novel of climate optimism by Steve Willis and Jan Lee set in Malaysia. Through the eyes of an engineer turned celebrity, it sets out a blueprint for how low-lying countries can protect themselves against rising sea levels and store carbon.</p>
<p>This conforms to a new term gaining popularity – <a href="https://www.dabaden.com/social-science-fiction-or-thrutopia/">“thrutopian” fiction</a>. Such fiction presents positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like if we do it right and shows how we can get there.</p>
<h2>2. The Ministry for the Future</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780356508832/">The Ministry for the Future</a> by Kim Stanley Robinson also takes a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thrutopia.life/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1710162042000000&usg=AOvVaw00EYaX22oE6w1QYodW4-E2">thrutopian approach</a> in that it imagines a United Nations ministry that must lead the human race to a sustainable future.</p>
<p>The author covers all aspects of how we might get there, from technology and engineering to harnessing the power of finance. There are disasters along the way, but it provides a plausible outline of how we might address some of our more intractable challenges. </p>
<h2>3. Green Rising</h2>
<p>Fiction can warn of the dangers of wrong turns. <a href="https://www.walker.co.uk/Green-Rising-9781406384673.aspx">Green Rising</a> by Lauren James is young adult fiction about teenagers with superpowers. It’s a romantic thriller and a call to arms for climate action.</p>
<p>We may not all have the superpowers of the young protagonists, but it’s not hard to make the connection to what we can do. I like the way that this narrative warns of the dangers presented by billionaire enthusiasts who are content to let our beautiful planet die and divert resources towards space age dreams of mass planetary expansion.</p>
<h2>4. Finding Bear</h2>
<p>You can get two-for-one with children’s fiction, which is often read aloud to young children and so engages parents too. <a href="https://www.hannahgold.world/finding-bear">Finding Bear</a> is a sequel to Hannah Gold’s heartwarming adventure story, The Lost Bear. </p>
<p>April, the young daughter of an Arctic researcher, returns to Svalbard when she discovers a polar bear she once befriended has been shot and injured. April has agency – she challenges the adults, stands up for the Arctic wildlife she loves and follows her instinct. Without her relentless drive, change may not have happened. The underlying message – that every one of us has a valid voice, no matter how young or insignificant we may feel – shines through. </p>
<h2>5. No More Fairy Tales</h2>
<p>This Green Stories project teamed up climate experts with experienced writers to create an anthology of 24 short stories, <a href="https://habitatpress.com/no-more-fairy-tales/">No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save the Planet</a>. Each story and climate solution links to a <a href="https://www.greenstories.org.uk/anthology-for-cop27/solutions/">webpage</a> where readers can find out about the solutions that inspired them. Most stories adopt the thrutopian approach. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Teal and yellow book cover with green tree and title: No more fairytales, stories to save our planet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576832/original/file-20240220-24-nkr53z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No More Fairytales includes 24 stories, with a focus on solutions.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One story imagines eight people in a citizen’s jury debating the most effective climate policy, and then there’s a murder. This combines the universal attraction of the whodunnit with raising awareness of the most transformative climate solutions. </p>
<p>This story has been adapted into a full-length stage play. A condensed dramatic monologue version, <a href="https://www.greenstories.org.uk/theatre-in-education/">Murder in the Citizens’ Jury</a>, will be performed in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/murder-in-the-citizens-jury-tickets-838482653187?aff%3Doddtdtcreator&source=gmail-imap&ust=1708971981000000&usg=AOvVaw3BripYVkCGhiY6IIWxxOW3">Southampton on April 20</a> to coincide with Earth Day, when the audience will vote during the on-stage citizen’s assembly.</p>
<p>The setting itself is a climate solution. Representative democracy in an age of misinformation and vested interests, dominated by four-year electoral cycles, may turn out to be constitutionally incapable of initiating radical climate policies. </p>
<p>Rebooting our democracy to prioritise long-term decisions could be a vital part of the transition to a sustainable society and compelling stories like this connect people to alternative future possibilities. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 30,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise Baden is affiliated with Habitat Press and the University of Southampton</span></em></p>Climate stories that focus on solutions are more likely to inspire positive environmental action.Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Practice, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235332024-02-29T13:38:58Z2024-02-29T13:38:58ZHow teens benefit from being able to read ‘disturbing’ books that some want to ban<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578696/original/file-20240228-24-s5xddp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C59%2C7892%2C5190&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young readers report becoming more thoughtful after reading stories that feature characters who face complex challenges.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/student-choosing-a-book-on-library-royalty-free-image/959761242?phrase=teens+books&adppopup=true">FG Trade via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should we worry, as <a href="https://pen.org/report/book-bans-pressure-to-censor/">massive book-banning efforts</a> imply, that young people will be harmed by certain kinds of books? For over a decade and through hundreds of interviews, my colleague, literacy professor <a href="https://www.albany.edu/education/faculty/peter-johnston">Peter Johnston</a>, and I have <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/teens-choosing-to-read-9780807768686">studied</a> how adolescents experience reading when they have unfettered access to young adult literature. Our findings suggest that many are helped rather than harmed by such reading.</p>
<p>For one study, we spent a year in a public middle school in a small, mid-Atlantic town, observing and talking to eighth grade students whose teachers, rather than assigning the “classics” or traditional academic texts, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.46">let students choose what to read</a> and gave them time to read daily in class. To support student engagement, they made available hundreds of contemporary books that are relevant to the students’ lives. The books included many of the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a6v7R7pidO7TIwRZTIh9T6c0--QNNVufcUUrDcz2GJM/edit#gid=9827573720">titles currently being challenged</a>, according to PEN America, which is a nonprofit that advocates against censorship, among other things. The titles include Ellen Hopkins’ “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Identical/Ellen-Hopkins/9781416950066">Identical</a>,” Jay Asher’s “<a href="https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780451478290">Thirteen Reasons Why</a>,” Patricia McCormick’s “<a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/sold">Sold</a>,” and others that were banned because of themes of sex and violence.</p>
<p>We were interested in what the students perceived to be the consequences of reading young adult literature. They tended to read books they described <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2024.2317944">as “disturbing</a>.” At the end of the school year, we interviewed 71 of the students about changes in their reading and relationships with peers and family. </p>
<p>We also asked open-ended questions about how, if at all, they had changed as people since the beginning of the year. Beyond reading substantially more than they had previously, they reported positive changes in their social, emotional and intellectual lives that they attributed to reading, the kinds of books they read and the conversations those books provoked.</p>
<p>Here are six ways students told us they had been changed by reading and talking about edgy young adult books. </p>
<h2>1. They became more empathetic</h2>
<p>The students chose mostly fiction, with characters whose life circumstances in many cases differed from their own, including those associated with race, gender, sexuality, culture, language, mental health and household income. Because fiction <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002">provides windows into the minds of others</a>, it has the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1239918">potential to improve empathy</a>, which becomes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055341">more probable when readers get emotionally involved in stories</a>.</p>
<p>This is consistent with what the students reported. As one student explained after reading a book about a bullied character, “Like when you see people … you think, well, they don’t have problems or whatever, but then some of the ones I’ve read, you can just understand people better.”</p>
<h2>2. They improved relationships</h2>
<p>The books contained stark realities about humanity. For instance, some books dealt with how children and teens might be exploited by adults or how mental illness might radically affect a person’s behavior.</p>
<p>Students shared that as they read, they were encountering some of this information for the first time. Their initial instinct, they said, was to find someone else who had read the book and talk about it. </p>
<p>Consequently, students who rarely talked to each other came together over books. In the process, they learned about each other, became friends or at least developed greater appreciation for each other. They also talked to family members, including parents, some of whom they convinced to read the books. </p>
<p>Relationships in books made teens rethink their own relationships. “Her mom was all rude to her,” one student recalled about a character. “It kind of had me feeling bad, ‘cause I was rude to my aunt, and my situation could have been worse.” </p>
<p>Students shared that reading about characters in dire circumstances changed how they thought about their own families. For instance, several admitted that reading a book about a girl their age who was abducted and abused by an adult male made them more likely to listen to their parents’ advice about safety. Others reading that same book reported becoming more protective of siblings.</p>
<h2>3. They became more thoughtful</h2>
<p>Reading about the decisions characters made gave the teens a chance to see the potential consequences of their own future choices.</p>
<p>Some described positive characters as role models. Others described using characters who made questionable decisions as cautionary tales and tools of self-reflection. </p>
<p>Statements such as one student’s comment that “I have changed because I think more about things before I do them” were common and were related to problems teens were already facing or could see on the horizon. These problems included toxic relationships, substance abuse, gang-related activity and risky sexual behaviors. </p>
<h2>4. They were happier</h2>
<p>Despite the fact that many students chose books with serious and unsettling content, students claimed reading made them feel better.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl lies on her back on a bench reading a book that she is holding." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578709/original/file-20240228-26-6snxit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teens say reading books can boost their mood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teenage-girl-reading-book-outdoors-royalty-free-image/1223187399?phrase=teens+books&adppopup=true">Westend61 via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some explicitly attested to the pleasure of reading. “It’s the happiest I’ll get,” one student stated about the time she spent with the books.</p>
<p>More frequently, students described how mental trips through books helped them reconsider their own worries compared with characters with much harder lives.</p>
<p>“You do get an appreciation for what you do have, and, like, for being thankful for the happiness and joy in your life,” one explained. “Some of those books, it’s crazy what’s in there.”</p>
<h2>5. Books helped students heal</h2>
<p>Some students reported that books helped them heal from depression and grief.</p>
<p>“When I was younger, I lost my best friend,” one student shared after reading about a character whose mother died. “It was really hard for me, but books like that really take me back and help me remember her but without getting really upset.” </p>
<p>Many pointed to good feelings they got from meaningful book conversations with peers. That is not surprising given the link between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-007-9083-0">positive social relationships and young people’s happiness</a>.</p>
<h2>6. They became better readers</h2>
<p>Some of the books were difficult for students to read, but they persisted even though they had to work harder to understand them. Other research has found that this persistence is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2010.481503">related to the interest</a> that students had in the subjects of the books.</p>
<p>Students reported rereading large chunks of books or even entire books to clear up confusion about storylines, and asking teachers and peers for help with problems such as unfamiliar vocabulary. Their scores on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.46">end-of-year reading tests improved</a>, whereas scores for other students remained flat. That is not surprising, since the students in our study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.404">read so much</a>. Also, they read mainly fiction, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3498">which is correlated with better reading skills</a> compared with other genres.</p>
<p>Students said they started visiting public libraries and bookstores. Declarations like “I’m a bookworm now” suggested they began viewing themselves as readers. They also reported larger changes. “I think I got smarter,” one student remarked. </p>
<p>The positive transformations reported by students we interviewed cannot be generalized, but experimentally controlled studies yield related findings. For instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101216">adolescents who read and talk to each other</a> about stories with social themes report greater motivation to read, greater use of reading strategies, such as rereading what they don’t understand, and insight into human nature than those who do not.</p>
<p>Our research left us reflecting on why we want young people to read in the first place. Do we want them to reap the social, emotional, moral and academic benefits that reading confers? If so, preserving their access to relevant books – even the “disturbing” ones – matters a lot.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gay Ivey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Amid calls to ban certain books from libraries and schools, research shows that students benefit when they have the ability to choose which materials they want to read.Gay Ivey, Professor of Literacy, University of North Carolina – GreensboroLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2244142024-02-26T15:37:54Z2024-02-26T15:37:54ZFive books to read if you fell in love with One Day<p>David Nicholls’s One Day is a poignant, witty depiction of love delayed, found, lost and mourned. It charts the fortunes of mismatched lovers Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, and explores the joys and sorrows of true love. One Day is a bittersweet evocation of love’s transformative power. </p>
<p>The book was recently adapted by Netflix into a 14-part series. Starring Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall, it has had more than <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13104277/Netflix-one-day-views-launching-fans-kim-kardashian-leo-woodall-ambika-mod.html#:%7E:text=One%20Day%20has%20been%20watched,are%20predicted%20to%20continue%20rising.">15 million views</a>. </p>
<p>If you fell in love with Dexter and Emma and are looking for stories that have a similar feel, here are five books you should read. </p>
<h2>1. <a href="https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/david-nicholls/starter-for-ten/9781844563241/">Starter for Ten by David Nicholls</a> (Sceptre, 2004)</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Book cover featuring a man and woman on a bench." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1168&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1168&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577926/original/file-20240226-17-dakr25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1168&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_for_Ten_(novel)#/media/File:Sft_cover.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is David Nicholls’ first book, a witty campus novel which explores the issue of class and insecurity. </p>
<p>Clever, working class student Brian Jackson, an obsessive collector of general knowledge, lands a place on a team for TV quiz show University Challenge and falls for posh team mate Alice Harbinson, with comically disastrous consequences. </p>
<p>Brian is from a one-parent family in Southend-on-Sea in Essex and his mother works in Woolworths (the high street retail chain that collapsed in the UK in 2008). He is desperate – too desperate – to impress the in-crowd at his prestigious university, particularly cool-girl Alice. </p>
<p>The set piece in which he ends up naked in her parents’ kitchen is brilliantly funny. While the overall mood is lighter than One Day, there are some acute observations about class conflict and aspiration. </p>
<h2>2. <a href="https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/nora-ephron/heartburn/9780349017358/">Heartburn by Nora Ephron</a> (Alfred A. Knopf, 1983)</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Book cover featuring abstract design of rings and cutlery." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577928/original/file-20240226-20-kcakb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Virago</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Celebrated for her journalism and screenwriting, Ephron wrote just one novel and it’s a modern classic. The story is based on her painful divorce from renowned Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, who left her while she was pregnant with their second child. </p>
<p>Ephron’s takedown set the tone for other divorce novels, including Olivia Goldmsmith’s best-seller The First Wives’ Club (Poseidon Press, 1992), but few writers can match her wit. A roman-a-clef (a fictionalisation of real-life events) with thinly disguised characters, the novel spares no one.</p>
<p>The errant husband is “capable of having sex with a venetian blind,” while his mistress has “a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs, never mind her feet, which are sort of splayed”. The ultimate revenge novel, and an enactment of Ephron’s mantra, “Everything is copy.”</p>
<h2>3. <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55149/anybody-out-there-by-keyes-marian/9780241958469">Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes</a> (Poolbeg Press, 2006)</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Book cover with a small yellow taxi at bottom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577929/original/file-20240226-28-aeay99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dubliner Anna Walsh has the perfect life in New York: living in a swish apartment with her gorgeous husband Aidan and doing “The Best Job In The World.” So what is she doing convalescing in her parents’ “good front room” in the Dublin suburbs, and why isn’t Aidan with her? When she returns to Manhattan she sees him everywhere – walking down the street, passing by in a bus – but he won’t return her calls or emails. </p>
<p>This is a heart-rending book about loss, and the novel’s twist, when it comes, is deeply moving. Keyes is a fearless, funny writer who draws on her own experiences to devastating effect and this book is one of her best.</p>
<h2>4. <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/really-good-actually-monica-heisey?variant=40271601303630">Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey</a> (Fourth Estate, 2023)</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Book cover featuring a close up of a woman with red hair and blue eyes who has smudged eye make up from crying." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577931/original/file-20240226-30-psaujb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper Collins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Maggie breaks up with her husband Jon, people are quick to offer advice about getting over the separation: online dating, therapy and even “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-philosophy-behind-the-japanese-art-form-of-kintsugi-can-help-us-navigate-failure-193487">kintsugi</a>” – the Japanese art of mending pottery visibly, treating breakage and repair as part of the history of an object instead of trying to hide it. Even so, moving on isn’t easy. </p>
<p>Maggie wonders if her marriage ended because she was cruel, or ate in bed, or because her ex liked electronic music and difficult films about men in nature – passions she did not share. In the chaos of life after the divorce, Maggie questions everything, from why we still get married to how many 4am delivery burgers she needs to eat to make her happy. </p>
<h2>5. <a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/products/persuasion-by-jane-austen">Persuasion by Jane Austen</a> (John Murray, 1818)</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Book cover featuring feathers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1178&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1178&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577932/original/file-20240226-30-zhfds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1178&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Austen’s earlier novels, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, might be more obviously funny, but the autumnal mood of Persuasion is offset by Austen’s brilliant wit. At 27 (which was considered old for a woman to be single in Austen’s time), Anne Elliot is thought to have lost her youthful bloom and is living in impoverished circumstances with her father and sister, who are obsessed with looks and status. </p>
<p>Her great regret is that she refused to marry the dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth many years before, having been persuaded that his prospects were too limited. When they meet again, there is a chance to recapture that lost love, but she fears it is too late. </p>
<p>Like One Day, this is an examination of love delayed, though with a happier outcome. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224414/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally O'Reilly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you fell in love with Dexter and Emma you are sure to do the same with the characters in these funny and moving tales of love.Sally O'Reilly, Honorary Associate in Creative Writing, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2231592024-02-16T13:19:19Z2024-02-16T13:19:19ZWhat’s behind the astonishing rise in LGBTQ+ romance literature?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575427/original/file-20240213-24-vujzz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C6000%2C3991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">America's biggest book publishers originally viewed LGBTQ+ romance as a niche market.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/lesbian-couple-relaxing-and-reading-in-couch-royalty-free-image/857306488?phrase=gay+couple+reading&adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graphic reading 'Significant Figures: 40% - Sales growth of LGBTQ+ romance books from 2022 to 2023 – the largest increase in any genre.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576001/original/file-20240215-26-fctqzr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A major transformation is underway in Romancelandia. </p>
<p>Once upon a time, romance novels from major U.S. publishers featured only heterosexual couples. Today, the five biggest publishers regularly release same-sex love stories.</p>
<p>From May 2022 to May 2023, <a href="https://www.circana.com/intelligence/press-releases/2023/soaring-sales-of-lgbtq-fiction-defy-book-bans-and-showcase-diversity-in-storytelling">sales of LGBTQ+ romance grew by 40%</a>, with the next biggest jump in this period occurring for general adult fiction, which grew just 17%.</p>
<p>The data from 2023 extends a boom that began in 2016: In the five years from May 2016 to May 2021, sales of LGBTQ+ romance grew <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/books/lgbtq-romance-novels.html">by a jaw-dropping 740%</a>.</p>
<p>It’s tempting to see this trend as a sign of the times. </p>
<p>After all, same-sex couples now populate TV shows, commercials and even <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/opinion/hallmark-lgbtq-christmas-movies-gay-lesbian-couples-rcna130407">Hallmark Christmas movies</a>. </p>
<p>Surely it was only natural for books such as Casey McQuiston’s “<a href="https://www.caseymcquiston.com/red-white-royal-blue">Red, White & Royal Blue</a>,” Lana Harper’s “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/672445/paybacks-a-witch-by-lana-harper/">Payback’s a Witch</a>” and Cat Sebastian’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15171247.Cat_Sebastian">sparkling same-sex historical romance novels</a> to eventually find their way onto bestseller lists. </p>
<p>But it turns out that this rise in LGBTQ+ romance was far from inevitable.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231218991">recent paper</a>, based on interviews with romance editors and authors, shows that America’s biggest book publishers originally viewed LGBTQ+ romance as a niche market, tweaking their approach only after witnessing the huge success of independently published LGBTQ+ e-books. </p>
<h2>The business of romance</h2>
<p>Book publishing, like most of the entertainment industry, has traditionally operated under what <a href="https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2013/12/the-way-of-the-blockbuster">Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse</a> calls the blockbuster strategy: Publishers invest huge sums into acquiring and promoting surefire bestsellers, such as Prince Harry’s “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/books/prince-harry-spare-review.html#:%7E:text=The%20prince%20claims%20to%20have,who's%20leaking%20what%20and%20why.">Spare</a>,” which earned <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9805467/A-book-Harry-written-Meghan-Royals-brace-20m-Megxit-memoir.html">a US$20 million advance</a>. </p>
<p>It’s simply more efficient for publishers to pursue a “one-to-many” business model – that is, to sell one book to a mass audience – than a “many-to-many” business model, selling a wider variety of books to many more small markets. </p>
<p>Historically, publishers assumed that same-sex romance would draw relatively small niche audiences, making them a riskier investment. As a result, for decades, LGBTQ+ love stories were left to small gay or lesbian presses.</p>
<p>Starting around 2010, however, digital romance publishing – both from self-published authors and small digital-only publishers like <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/57460-patty-marks-sex-romance-and-erotic-bestsellers.html">Ellora’s Cave</a> and <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/69517-samhain-publishing-to-shut-down-operations.html">Samhain</a> – revealed a vast, untapped appetite for more varied romance. The “<a href="https://bookscouter.com/blog/big-five-publishing-houses/">Big Five</a>” publishers – Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster – realized their go-to strategy was leaving money on the table.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowds of people browse the HarperCollins exhibition at a book fair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575437/original/file-20240213-28-hkrvur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">HarperCollins is one of the ‘Big Five’ publishing houses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-harper-collins-stand-during-the-first-day-of-the-london-news-photo/1251977849?adppopup=true">Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Initially, big publishers tried to shoehorn digital romance authors into the blockbuster model by acquiring their books and issuing them in print. </p>
<p>That worked for E.L James’ “<a href="https://www.eljamesauthor.com/books/fifty-shades-of-grey/">Fifty Shades of Grey</a>,” which started out as fan fiction, was later released by a tiny online publisher and was eventually published by Penguin.</p>
<p>But for LGBTQ+ romance authors, the economics of high overhead, big print runs and a yearlong production schedule simply didn’t work for books geared for presumably smaller audience segments. </p>
<p>As romance readers abandoned mass-market paperbacks for a wider, fresher range of stories, romance editors at large and medium-sized publishers realized they needed to become more like digital presses.</p>
<h2>Making love pay</h2>
<p>How did they do this? </p>
<p>First, they hired new editors who had cut their teeth at tiny digital publishers with a history of releasing same-sex romance. For our paper, we interviewed several of these editors, including <a href="https://read.sourcebooks.com/editorial-mary-altman.html">Sourcebooks’ Mary Altman</a> and <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/22629-james-tabbed-to-run-harlequin-s-e-book-only-carina-press.html">Angela James</a>, founder of Harlequin’s Carina Press. Harlequin has been owned by HarperCollins since 2014.</p>
<p>James, formerly at Samhain, broke sacred publishing rules when she launched Carina, the first digital-only imprint at a traditional publisher. Carina lowered production and distribution costs by publishing only e-books and by offering authors higher royalties but no advances.</p>
<p>The lower-overhead strategy worked so well that in 2020 the imprint created <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/82161-harlequin-s-carina-press-to-launch-queer-romance-line.html">Carina Adores</a>, an e-book and print line dedicated to LGBTQ+ romance. </p>
<p>Altman, who had been accustomed to acquiring same-sex romance during her tenure at Ellora’s Cave, continued to do so at Sourcebooks, a mid-sized publisher partly owned by Penguin Random House. In 2020, she released the breakout LGBTQ+ bestseller “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boyfriend-Material-Alexis-Hall/dp/1728206146">Boyfriend Material</a>” by Alexis Hall. Sourcebooks also launched a new imprint, <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/91686-dominique-raccah-does-it-her-way.html">Bloom Books</a>, in 2021, which sped up publishing schedules to meet the demands of self-published and other entrepreneurial authors.</p>
<p>These structural changes made romance imprints at large publishers nimbler, more innovative and more open to all kinds of couples.</p>
<p>Ironically, many of these more inclusive stories ended up appealing to mass audiences after all. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://read.sourcebooks.com/fiction/9781728206141-boyfriend-material-tp.html">Boyfriend Material</a>” dominated Best Romance of the Year lists in 2020. Adriana Herrera, Alyssa Cole, K.J. Charles and dozens of other authors of LGBTQ+ romance now regularly appear on such lists. “Red White and Royal Blue” is now an Amazon Original movie. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that LGBTQ+ romances still represent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/books/lgbtq-romance-novels.html">only 4% of the print book romance market</a>. Meanwhile, other diverse voices, including Black authors, <a href="https://www.therippedbodicela.com/state-racial-diversity-romance-publishing-report">are still underrepresented</a>. As a whole, the Big Five publishing houses are still adhering to the blockbuster strategy. Nonetheless, the structural changes they’ve made in romance imprints have fostered an outpouring of more diverse love stories. </p>
<p>At a time when other institutions, including universities and businesses, are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/27/dei-affirmative-action-legal-challenges-corporate-america/">dismantling programs that support diversity, equity and inclusion</a>, the LGBTQ+ romance boom serves as a reminder that inclusion doesn’t “just happen.” </p>
<p>Ongoing social and cultural change requires new systems, processes and structures. Without institutional support, many people won’t get their happy ending.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s tempting to see this trend as a sign of the times. But the biggest book publishers started changing their approach only once they realized they were leaving money on the table.Christine Larson, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Colorado BoulderAshley Carter, PhD Student in Journalism, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237202024-02-16T01:20:01Z2024-02-16T01:20:01ZIntroducing our Books & Ideas newsletter<p>It’s almost two years since we launched our Books and Ideas section and we’ve been gratified by your enthusiasm for long-form writing, whether it be <a href="https://theconversation.com/lydia-davis-amusing-insightful-stories-address-the-estrangements-of-everyday-life-and-resist-the-hollowing-of-language-217262">book reviews</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/doxing-or-in-the-public-interest-free-speech-cancelling-and-the-ethics-of-the-jewish-creatives-whatsapp-group-leak-223323">think pieces on contentious issues</a>, or our <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-rai-gaita-and-the-moral-power-of-conversation-217670">Friday essays by leading authors</a>.</p>
<p>With shrinking space in many newspapers for serious discussion of books and ideas, we think our expert writers are offering something different. There are many terrific publications out there covering literary culture, but we have the unique privilege of working with Australia’s top academic experts and publishing daily on all things bookish.</p>
<p>Now, we’re taking the next step, launching a dedicated Books and Ideas newsletter.</p>
<p>Each week, I and my fellow editors, Jo Case and James Ley, will bring you the best of our in-depth book reviews, explainers and essays touching on everything from philosophy and history to politics and the culture wars.</p>
<p>As well as reviewing the latest fiction, non-fiction and poetry, we’ll be showcasing new series on feminist classics and books that have become cultural touchstones. We’ll cover literary news and share our own thoughts on what we’ve been reading and thinking about.</p>
<p>We hope to create a community of readers and <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?region=au&nl=au-books">we’d love you to join us</a>. Current subscribers to our daily newsletter will not automatically be sent this newsletter - you’ll also <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?region=au&nl=au-books">need to subscribe</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The Conversation’s new Books & Ideas newsletter will come out every Friday and will feature the best in-depth book reviews, explainers and essays.Suzy Freeman-Greene, Books + Ideas EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222112024-02-13T12:59:20Z2024-02-13T12:59:20ZWhy retranslate the literary classics?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574385/original/file-20240208-18-joywyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1997%2C1035&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Retranslations are making their way into book covers.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>While browsing the shelves of a library or a bookshop in search of the adventures of Gregor Samsa or Raskolnikov, you may be facing an impossible dilemma. Which version of the <em>Metamorphosis</em> or <em>Crime and Punishment</em> should you choose? Because in a particularly well-stocked library or bookshop, you could find more than ten different English translations of these two literary classics.</p>
<p>We’re not talking of different editions here, but of different texts, different words. In fact, people say and think having read Kafka or Dostoevsky, but what they have actually read are the words of Willa and Edwin Muir, Susan Bernofsky, Christopher Moncrieff, or again those of Constance Garnett, David McDuff or Michael Katz, to name just a few of the English translators of these two masterpieces of world literature.</p>
<h2>The art of choosing a translation</h2>
<p>So, which translation should you choose? Most readers will make their choice according to the same criteria that drive their choice of an English classic: affection for a publishing house or a particular collection, introduction and other paratexts, price, book cover, etc. Very few of them will be influenced in their choice by the renown of their translators, those invisible figures of translated literature, and silent actors of an interpretation which is often perceived as impersonal and objective, and certainly not crucial.</p>
<p>By the way, why all this fuzz around one single book? A legitimate question, given the countless books which are still awaiting their first translation – especially so in English, a language from which the whole world widely translates, but which itself translates very little from other languages (see the <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/about/"><em>Three Percent</em> project</a> for a reaction to the small percentage of translated literature in the United States). If the primary goal of a translation is to make a book accessible to an audience who is unable to read it in its source language, then retranslations are clearly operations of little to no use. And yet, very few English speakers today read Dante, Cervantes or Rabelais in a century-old English translation, not to say older. On the contrary, Italian, Spanish and French speakers (and English speakers, for that matter) do continue to read their own leading authors in a language that is several centuries old, duly assisted in the process by long, explanatory notes.</p>
<p>So why do we keep retranslating our foreign literary classics? Because a classic is a text that we never stop retranslating, one might say, reversing the terms of the question. The phenomenon of retranslation is both paradoxical and inherent in every culture, to the point that an historian of translation, Michel Ballard, has identified it as one of the few constant features in the history of translation.</p>
<h2>Censorship, inaccuracies and ageing</h2>
<p>There are, of course, many reasons behind such urge to retranslate. Most often, the driving force behind a retranslation – or new translations, as the publishers quite obviously prefer naming them – is a sense of dissatisfaction with previous translations. Because of some forms of ideological or moral censorship, for instance, which may have deprived its readers of certain aspects of the book. No need of a dictatorship to see a text stripped of certain references to the culture which produced it: the simple decision to make the book accessible to new readers involves applying some cultural filters to it (regarding food, habits, sports, or other culture-specific items). In other cases, the sense of dissatisfaction may be due to errors or inaccuracies, originated by human fallibility or limited resources. Just think for a moment to the working conditions of pre-Internet translators, for whom some basic fact-checking could require several days of research, and that only thirty years ago.</p>
<p>Take one of the most famous so-called “errors” in the history of translation, the horns on the head of Michelangelo’s <em>Moses</em> (1515). The artist based his work on the Latin translation of the Bible carried out by St. Jerome some 1,100 years earlier (supreme longevity for a translation). Hebrew, a consonantal language, dispenses with vowel indications, thus opening the way to an ambiguity between <em>keren</em> (horned) and <em>karan</em> (radiant), in a crucial passage of the <em>Exodus</em>. While Jerome interpreted it as “horned,” inspiring much of the Christian iconography of the centuries to come, all contemporary translations of the Bible give Moses a radiant, beaming face upon receiving the tablets of the law. The possible ambiguity of that wording was cleverly recreated by Chagall’s “intersemiotic” translation, which found in a different medium a way to attribute Moses true horns of light.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569567/original/file-20240116-26651-cb9bdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michelangelo, <em>Moses</em>, 1513-1515. Marc Chagall, <em>Moses receiving the tablets of the law</em>, 1950-52.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the most frequently cited reasons for retranslating is that translations inevitably age. What about “originals”? They age too, of course, but not quite in the same way. They seem to ripen with age, whereas translations often turn grotesque. The difference lies essentially in the status of originals and translations: as a derivative text, a translation cannot exist without the primary text from which it comes from, and this secondary status deprives it of the authority of a “true” literary text. One may add to that the fact, widely demonstrated by <a href="https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/meta/1998-v43-n4-meta169/003302ar/">corpus linguistics</a>, that translations tend to be stylistically more conservative than their sources, and therefore may lack that unique charge of meaning which is the essence of a literary masterpiece.</p>
<p>The impression of ageing can also come from a better knowledge of the target culture, particularly with regard to certain cultural elements which have become commonplace: a footnote explaining what <em>sushi</em> is would not only be unnecessary today, but decidedly comical.</p>
<p>Sometimes retranslations bring forth major changes, in either titles, character names or key concepts, often triggering inflamed reactions from both critics and readers. Whether Camus’s hero was a stranger or an outsider (and whether it was his mother, mommy or <em>maman</em> who died at the beginning of the novel) is debatable and indeed got readers and critics <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translation-what-the-first-line-of-the-stranger-should-be">talking</a>. Divine temptations, however, proved much more controversial and destabilising, as shown by the reactions stirred by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/06/led-not-into-temptation-pope-approves-change-to-lords-prayer">reform of the Lord’s prayer</a>. Retranslations can be disturbing because they introduce relativism into an interpretation which we thought of as definitive and unique. Translation scholars Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere came to define it as the “Proust’s Grandmother effect,” drawing on her disappointment in reading a new translation of the <em>Odyssey</em> where Ulysses had become Odysseus. Other scholars, such as <a href="https://www.temporal-communities.de/events/lecture-naturalisation-of-the-foreign-venuti.html">Lawrence Venuti</a>, also observed a somewhat nostalgic reaction on the part of some readers, when confronted with new translations of classical works.</p>
<p>In some cases, it is the very text that we thought of as “original” which turns out to be derivative: for instance, the most recent retranslations of Kafka resort to a “new” version of the German text, liberated from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/opinion/translating-franz-kafka-diaries.html">Max Brod’s editing</a>.</p>
<p>In a few cases, retranslations are simply determined by commercial or editorial reasons, since it may be easier, cheaper and more lucrative (or the three things at once) to propose a new translation rather than to reissue an old one.</p>
<h2>Can we anticipate the path of a translation series?</h2>
<p>In the wake of Antoine Berman (1990), a pioneering translator scholar in this field, a “retranslation hypothesis” has been put forward, to describe the direction of translation-retranslations series. According to such hypothesis, first translations would tend to be introductory works which “domesticate” foreign texts in order to make them acceptable to their target audience, and retranslations would be more and more inclined to come closer to the source text and display its multiple facets. Such a vision of a progressive approach toward a perfect identity with “originals” is certainly fascinating, but unrealistic, as it fails to take into account the multiple reasons behind a retranslation. As a counterexample, one may think of the free translations/adaptations of Greek and Latin classics in the 1600-1700, during the era of so-called “belles infidèles” or “libertine translations”: they were mostly retranslations, yet as distant as possible from their sources.</p>
<p>Can we anticipate when and how often a classic will be retranslated? Several hypotheses have been put forward: every century, every generation, every 20 years… However, the series of translations and retranslations of a literary classic show very little regularity, and quite unpredictable gaps, jumps or accelerations. Several case studies exist, but still no exhaustive studies providing reliable, large-scale statistics for a given period, genre or country. The only prediction we can make is the appearance of a peak in retranslations when canonised authors fall into the public domain, i.e., 70 years after their death in Europe. At this time, publishers are inevitably prompted to issue new translations of such authors, in order to capitalise on their cultural power. In the first weeks of 2015, for example, Turkish readers found no fewer than <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2015/february/turkish-versions-of-the-little-prince">30 versions of <em>The Little Prince</em></a>, as soon as the novella fell in the public domain in Europe (but beware, not in France, nor in the United States <a href="https://www.ccdigitallaw.ch/copyright-on-the-work-le-petit-prince-by-antoine-de-saint-exupery-the-complexity-of-the-different-national-copyright-laws-on-an-international-level/">yet</a>).</p>
<p>In 1994, Isabelle Collombat, professor at the Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle, predicted that the 21st century would be the <a href="https://hal.science/hal-01452331">age of retranslation</a>. Upcoming studies will tell us whether this is indeed the case. One thing is certain: retranslation has a bright future ahead. It is the perfect antidote to the idea of a unique translation, and it reminds us that every single translation relies on a peculiar process of interpreting and rewriting. And that multiple readings, such as metamorphoses, are not a crime, but a true source of vitality for literature, and of pleasure for the reader.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enrico Monti ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Which version of “The Metamorphosis” or “Crime and Punishment” should you choose? In a particularly well-stocked library or bookshop, you could find many different English translations.Enrico Monti, Maître de conférences en Anglais et Traductologie, Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206292024-01-31T13:36:25Z2024-01-31T13:36:25Z‘Jaws’ portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572002/original/file-20240129-17-8m3oe7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C0%2C4952%2C3261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A paleontologist wears a T-shirt showing _Strophodus rebecae_, a shark species with flat teeth that lived millions of years ago.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palaeontologist-edwin-cadena-shows-a-t-shirt-with-an-image-news-photo/1241210531">Juan Pablo Pino/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Human fear of sharks has deep roots. Written works and art from the ancient world contain references to <a href="https://www.artmajeur.com/en/magazine/5-art-history/sharks-in-art/331942">sharks preying on sailors</a> as early as the eighth century B.C.E. </p>
<p>Relayed back to land, stories about shark encounters have been <a href="https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/42/moby-dick/747/chapter-66-the-shark-massacre/">embellished and amplified</a>. Together with the fact that from time to time – very rarely – sharks bite humans, people have been primed for centuries to imagine terrifying situations at sea.</p>
<p>In 1974, Peter Benchley’s <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/11203/jaws-by-peter-benchley/9780345544148/excerpt">bestselling novel “Jaws</a>” fanned this fear into a wildfire that spread around the world. The book sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. within a year and was quickly followed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/">Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie</a>, which became the highest-grossing film in history at that time. Virtually all audiences embraced the idea, depicted vividly in the movie and its sequels, that sharks were malevolent, vindictive creatures that prowled coastal waters seeking to feed on unsuspecting bathers. </p>
<p>But “Jaws” also spawned widespread interest in better understanding sharks. </p>
<p>Previously, shark research had largely been the esoteric domain of a handful of academic specialists. Thanks to interest sparked by “Jaws,” we now know that there are many more kinds of sharks than scientists were aware of in 1974, and that sharks do more interesting things than researchers ever anticipated. Benchley himself became an avid <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-feb-13-me-benchley13-story.html">spokesman for shark protection and marine conservation</a>.</p>
<p>In my own 30-year career studying <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FKrC4FYAAAAJ&hl=en">sharks and their close relatives, skates and rays</a>, I’ve seen attitudes evolve and interest in understanding sharks expand enormously. Here’s how things have changed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C8%2C5434%2C3630&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man stands on the prow of a boat, extending a pole into the water toward a large dark shape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C8%2C5434%2C3630&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572000/original/file-20240129-27-l4g7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marine biologist Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries captures video footage of a white shark off Cape Cod, Oct. 21, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dr-greg-skomal-shark-researcher-for-massachusetts-marine-news-photo/1244267691">Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Swimming into the spotlight</h2>
<p>Before the mid-1970s, much of what was known about sharks came via people who went to sea. In 1958, the U.S. Navy established the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/">International Shark Attack File</a> – the world’s only scientifically documented, comprehensive database of all known shark attacks – to reduce wartime risks to sailors stranded at sea when their ships sank. </p>
<p>Today the file is managed by the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a> and the <a href="https://elasmo.org/">American Elasmobranch Society</a>, a professional organization for shark researchers. It works to inform the public about shark-human interactions and ways to reduce the risk of shark bites.</p>
<p>In 1962, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/john-jack-casey-internationally-recognized-shark-researcher-mentor-and-narragansett">Jack Casey</a>, a pioneer of modern shark research, initiated the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/cooperative-shark-tagging-program">Cooperative Shark Tagging Program</a>. This initiative, which is still running today, relied on Atlantic commercial fishermen to report and return tags they found on sharks, so that government scientists could calculate how far the sharks had moved after being tagged. </p>
<p>After “Jaws,” shark research quickly went mainstream. The American Elasmobranch Society was founded in 1982. Graduate students lined up to study shark behavior, and the number of published shark studies <a href="https://thefisheriesblog.com/2015/06/15/thank-you-jaws-the-upside-for-sharks-40-years-later/">sharply increased</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz6muU6u3Mn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Field research on sharks expanded in parallel with growing interest in extreme outdoor sports like surfing, parasailing and scuba diving. Electronic tags enabled researchers to monitor sharks’ movements in real time. DNA sequencing technologies provided cost-effective ways to determine how different species were related to one another, what they were eating and how populations were structured.</p>
<p>This interest also had a sensational side, embodied in the Discovery Channel’s launch in 1988 of <a href="https://www.discovery.com/shark-week">Shark Week</a>. This annual block of programming, ostensibly designed to educate the public about shark biology and counter negative publicity about sharks, was a commercial venture that exploited the tension between people’s deep-seated fear of sharks and their yearning to understand what made these animals tick. </p>
<p>Shark Week featured made-for-TV stories that focused on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/07/26/a-fake-shark-week-documentary-about-megalodons-caused-controversy-why-is-discovery-bringing-it-up-again/">fictional scientific research projects</a>. It was wildly successful and remains so today, in spite of critiques from some researchers who call it <a href="https://theconversation.com/beware-of-shark-week-scientists-watched-202-episodes-and-found-them-filled-with-junk-science-misinformation-and-white-male-experts-named-mike-195180">a major source of misinformation</a> about sharks and shark science.</p>
<h2>Physical, social and genetic insights</h2>
<p>Contrary to the long-held notion that sharks are mindless killers, they exhibit a wide range of traits and behavior. For example, the velvet belly lantern shark communicates through flashes of light from <a href="https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.4.3.14888">organs on the sides of its body</a>. Female hammerhead sharks can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0189">clone perfect replicas of themselves</a> without male sperm. </p>
<p>Sharks have the most sensitive electrical detectors thus far discovered in the natural world – networks of pores and nerves in their heads, known as <a href="https://www.scienceandthesea.org/program/201105/ampullae-lorenzini">ampullae of Lorenzini</a>, after Italian scientist Stefano Lorenzini, who first described these features in the 17th century. Sharks use these networks to navigate in the open ocean, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.103">using Earth’s magnetic field for orientation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three snorkelers swim above a large spotted shark." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572016/original/file-20240129-17-i6lyza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snorkelers swim above a whale shark near the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The largest fish in the sea, whale sharks are filter feeders that prey on plankton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/gTntz7">Tchami/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another intriguing discovery is that some shark species, including makos and blue sharks, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0761">segregate by both sex and size</a>. Among these species, cohorts of males and females of different sizes are often found in distinct groups. This finding suggests that some sharks may have <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hierarchy-social-science">social hierarchies</a>, like those seen in some primates and hoofed mammals. </p>
<p>Genetic studies have helped researchers explore questions such as why some sharks <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-hammerhead-sharks-have-hammer-shaped-heads-184372">have heads shaped like hammers or shovels</a>. They also show that sharks have the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42238-x">lowest mutation rate of any vertebrate animal</a>. This is notable because mutations are the raw material for evolution: The higher the mutation rate, the better a species can adapt to environmental change. </p>
<p>However, sharks have been around for 400 million years and have been through some of the most extreme environmental changes on earth. It’s not known yet how they have persisted so successfully with such a low mutation rate.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/punSQuf-ZwQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, describes how DNA analysis provides insights into shark science.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The marquee species</h2>
<p>White sharks, the focal species of “Jaws,” attract enormous public interest, although much about them is still unknown. They can live to age 70, and they routinely swim thousands of miles every year. Those in the Western North Atlantic tend to move north-south between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico; white sharks on the U.S. west coast move east-west between California and the Central Pacific. </p>
<p>We now know that juvenile white sharks feed almost exclusively on fishes and stingrays, and don’t start incorporating seals and other marine mammals into their diets until they are the equivalent of teenagers and have grown to about 12 feet long. Most confirmed white shark bites on humans seem to be by animals that are between 12 and 15 feet long. This supports the theory that almost all bites by white sharks on humans are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0533">cases of mistaken identity</a>, where humans resemble the seals that sharks prey on.</p>
<p><iframe id="9y7JJ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9y7JJ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Still in the water</h2>
<p>Although “Jaws” had a <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/jaws-took-chomp-out-pop-culture-40-years-ago-1d79919594">widespread cultural impact</a>, it didn’t keep surfers and bathers from enjoying the ocean. </p>
<p>Data from the International Shark Attack File on confirmed unprovoked bites by white sharks from the 1960s to the present day shows a continuous increase, although the number of incidents yearly is quite low. This pattern is consistent with growing numbers of people <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/tourism-and-recreation.html">pursuing recreational activities at the coasts</a>. </p>
<p>Around the world, there have been 363 <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/maps/world-interactive/">confirmed, unprovoked bites by white sharks</a> since 1960. Of these, 73 were fatal. The World Health Organization estimates that there are <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drowning">236,000 deaths yearly due to drowning</a>, which translates to around 15 million drowning deaths over the same time period. </p>
<p>In other words, people are roughly 200,000 times more likely to drown than to die from a white shark bite. Indeed, surfers are more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the beach than they are to be bitten by a shark.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Naylor receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Lenfest Foundation.</span></em></p>‘Jaws,’ published in 1974, terrified the public of sharks, but it also brought shark research into the scientific mainstream.Gavin Naylor, Director of Florida Program for Shark Research, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2211832024-01-24T17:21:13Z2024-01-24T17:21:13ZFive books about the COVID pandemic to look out for in 2024<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569571/original/file-20240116-26651-g7hw7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=89%2C89%2C5901%2C3898&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-blonde-woman-wearing-face-mask-1857379738">Luis Monasterio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vi-fi, short for virus fiction, describes contemporary fiction that features the devastating events of world-changing outbreaks and epidemics. Rooted in science fiction, vi-fi draws on bio-thrilling realism and parallel worlds with multiple, dystopian possibilities.</p>
<p>Since 2020 there has been an exponential rise in vi-fi by a new COVID generation of authors who came out of isolation having experienced a pandemic in real time. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4AlmyluJOBTdreBkx8YvX6">present a podcast</a> about the latest in pandemic fiction. Here are five books about COVID we’ll be looking out for in 2024:</p>
<h2>1. Day by Michael Cunningham, released January 18</h2>
<p>Published 25 years after his literary masterpiece, The Hours, Cunningham’s new book, Day, taps into the COVID genre’s sense of a distortion of time. </p>
<p>The plot recounts the troubles of married couple, Dan and Isabel, and their children, Nathan and Violet and Isabel’s younger wayward brother, who lives a secret life on Instagram in the attic, as they navigate the pressures of lockdown in a brownstone townhouse in Brooklyn. </p>
<p>The narrative is built around the events of three separate days, each a year apart. The first is just as the pandemic is about to hit in 2019, the second during the middle of the lockdown in 2020, and the third as they are coming out of the lockdown in April 2021. </p>
<p>COVID is never mentioned by name, but the narrative promises tumultuous themes of incarceration and isolation, the extremely difficult accommodations that families had to make and the ways that so much is left unspoken between people.</p>
<h2>2. Fourteen Days by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston, released February 6</h2>
<p>Inspired by Italian Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio’s book, The Decameron (1353), and a short story collection by the New York Times called The Decameron Project (2020), comes this much anticipated collaborative pandemic novel. </p>
<p>Beginning on the first week of lockdown in March 2020 the narrative takes place in a rundown New York City apartment complex where tenants share stories on the rooftop. </p>
<p>The book features different chapters written by A-list authors such as Emma Donoghue (Pull of the Stars), John Grisham, Celeste Ng (Little Fires Everywhere) and Weike Wang (Joan is Okay). </p>
<p>The book vows to be packed with secrets, ghost tales and sensational revelations from self-isolation, when the residents’ outlook on their situation is forever altered by the story of the newest, anonymous tenant: the Super.</p>
<h2>3. Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru, released May 16</h2>
<p>Kunzru’s portrait of the pandemic is tipped to be the most gripping COVID-noir novel yet. </p>
<p>Twenty years after graduating from a London art school, Jay is working as a delivery driver in New York in 2020. Having just returned to work afer the first lockdown, he unknowingly collapses on the porch of an enormous mansion in the middle of a remote woodland. There, his former lover from art school, Alice, is living with Rob, the man she she left him for and who was also his former best friend, as well as with Marshal, a gallery owner, and his girlfriend. </p>
<p>Exhausted with sickness, Jay is confronted by the personal history he has tried to shove into the rearview mirror. But this chance encounter in the middle of lockdown begins to unravel the secrets of his darkly destructive past with fateful consequences.</p>
<h2>4. Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes, translated by Frank Wynne, released in September</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Author Virginie Despentes, a white woman with brown hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1083&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1083&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569579/original/file-20240116-29-og0e3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1083&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Virginie Despentes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virginie_Despentes_2012.jpg">Georges Biard/WikiCommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://pledgetimes.com/virginie-despentes-on-dear-asshole-be-radical-with-ideals/">Dubbed</a> “a French punk on the literary scene” and the “literary Balzac”, Virginie Despentes – who was shortlisted for the The Man Booker International Prize 2018 for her novel Vernon Subutex 1 – takes on #MeToo, COVID and social media cancel culture in Wynne’s translation of her new book. </p>
<p>A writer threatened by the public scrutiny of his “flirtations” with women, Oskar Jayack, finds himself at the centre of an Instagram hate when he rants on social media about the 50-year-old declining actress, Rebecca Latte, blaspheming her in a string of brutal insults which degenerates her as a dirty, worn-out, loud old woman. </p>
<p>Despentes uses email exchanges between the characters, but the author’s real message comments on a string of modern social problems: on transphobia, addiction, abuse and the effects of COVID policies.</p>
<h2>5. Real Americans by Rachel Khong, published April 30</h2>
<p>Khong’s take on the popular genre of generational saga ushers us into the past, across three continents and onto a post-pandemic Washington island. </p>
<p>This is an expansive social novel about the lives of three members of a Chinese American family, spanning 70 years: May (who we meet in 2030), Lily (in 2000) and Nick Chen (in 2021). </p>
<p>Nick is only 15, but he can’t help feeling that his mother, Lily, is hiding something from him. The only thing Nick knows about himself is that his dad is white and has never wanted to be in his life. He sets out to search for his biological father and get some answers. </p>
<p>Khong queries modern concerns through questions which plague her cast of characters. How much of our lives come from a spark of chance? Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? What makes a real American?</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since 2020 there has been exponential rise in ‘virus fiction’ by a new COVID generation of authors who came out of isolation having experienced a pandemic in real time.Lucyl Harrison, PhD Candidate, School of Humanities, University of HullCatherine Wynne, Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise, Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education, University of HullLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135212024-01-12T13:29:20Z2024-01-12T13:29:20ZParaguay’s Ciudad del Este: Efforts to force a busy informal commercial hub to follow global trade rules have only made life harder for those eking out a living<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549817/original/file-20230922-25-cd7gvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=110%2C482%2C4476%2C2966&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vendors at work on a bustling Ciudad del Este street packed with stalls.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jennifer L. Tucker</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este is a busy <a href="https://financialtransparency.org/the-tri-border-area-a-profile-of-the-largest-illicit-economy-in-the-western-hemisphere/">South American contraband hub</a> where scrappy Paraguayan vendors and Brazilian traders mix with businessmen from places as far away as Lebanon and South Korea. This hive of activity <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bank-heist-in-paraguays-wild-wild-west-reveals-the-dark-underbelly-of-free-trade-77125">moves billions of dollars’ worth of consumer goods</a> – everything from smartphones to whiskey. </p>
<p>The city was built as a commercial hub around low taxes and tariffs, benefiting both well-to-do traders and poor workers. In its bustling main market – eight square blocks packed with street vendors, brick-and-mortar businesses and cavernous shopping galleries – thousands of Paraguayans eke out a living selling fake Gucci handbags, fishing poles and even contact lenses.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4TDh378AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">scholar of urban planning</a>, I wanted to learn how this remote city of 300,000 people near <a href="https://iguazufalls.com/news/where-is-iguazu-falls-cities-and-airports/">South America’s spectacular Iguazu Falls</a> blossomed into a key node along a global trade route. </p>
<p>I also wanted to understand the role that thousands of informal Brazilian traders and Paraguayan street vendors have played in trading systems shaped by powerful countries and corporations.</p>
<p>While informal markets are common, poor workers in Ciudad del Este helped build an entire city oriented around global trade. As I <a href="https://ugapress.org/book/9780820364483/outlaw-capital/">explain in my new book</a>, “Outlaw Capital: Everyday Illegalities and the Making of Uneven Development,” policies aiming to legalize trade in Ciudad del Este have hurt these vendors and traders while protecting the illegal commercial activities conducted by more powerful people. </p>
<p><iframe id="kVkXC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/kVkXC/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Informal work</h2>
<p>Globally, more than <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang--en/index.htm">2 billion people</a> work informally, or about 2 in every 5 <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-young-working-elderly">people who are of working age</a>.</p>
<p>Informal work includes a wide range of jobs and gigs without state recognition or benefits, like health care or retirement payments.</p>
<p>In Paraguay, an estimated <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1039971/informal-employment-share-paraguay/">70% of all workers are informal</a>.</p>
<p>Yet because law is biased toward formal economies, informal workers often must break rules for their livelihoods. </p>
<h2>Stroessner’s creation</h2>
<p>Traders, small and large, profit through arbitrage. That is, they take advantage of price differences.</p>
<p>To create arbitrage opportunities in Ciudad del Este, the Paraguayan government has long kept its taxes and tariffs low. This strategy, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/gatoramiro/economas-ilegales-en-la-triple-frontera-paraguay-argentina-y-brasil-fernando-rabossi">recommended by the International Monetary Fund in 1956</a>, has promoted the legal reexportation of merchandise, where goods imported into Paraguay are speedily exported to neighbors.</p>
<p>Alfredo Stroessner, a brutal dictator who <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3338752">ruled Paraguay from 1954 to 1989</a>, inaugurated <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1987/07/11/467987.html?pageNumber=4">Paraguay’s tradition of state-sanctioned smuggling</a>. He even called it the “<a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1215/osmug.html">price of peace</a>” because he gained allies by allocating contraband routes to potential rivals.</p>
<p>In the decades since <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/triple-trouble/">Stroessner founded Ciudad del Este in 1957</a>, a regional alliance of traders and local politicians gained control of its contraband networks. As I explain in my book, they continue to have powerful backers in the national government. </p>
<p>The volume of this trade is astounding, at times <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bank-heist-in-paraguays-wild-wild-west-reveals-the-dark-underbelly-of-free-trade-77125">exceeding the country’s gross domestic product</a>. At its peak in 2011, the value of imported goods legally reexported from Paraguay to its neighbors reached <a href="https://www.cadep.org.py/uploads/2014/12/Informe-Especial-de-Comercio-Exterior-2014-full-color.pdf">US$5 billion</a>. The estimated value of contraband that year was twice as high: <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/dd80bec8-2be5-11df-8033-00144feabdc0">$10 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Alongside contraband and legal commerce, there are also <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/triple-trouble/">allegations of human trafficking</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45610738">weapons trafficking</a> and <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/fglcxx/v8y2007i1p26-39.html">other criminal activity</a> tied to Ciudad del Este. </p>
<h2>‘Globalization from below’</h2>
<p>Tens of thousands of Paraguayan vendors and small-scale Brazilian traders do business in Ciudad del Este. While many are poor, I found that some had gained a foothold in the middle class.</p>
<p>Gustavo Lins Ribeiro, a Brazilian anthropologist, argues that the city exemplifies “<a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/etnografica.3074">globalization from below</a>” because poor workers can profit from global trade, not just international corporations. I heard one local leader call street vendors the “the lungs of Paraguay” because they draw in money from the global economy and circulate it to poor communities across the country.</p>
<p>By the 1990s and 2000s, thousands of independent Brazilian traders, called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.31389/jied.135">sacoleiros</a>” – a Portuguese word meaning “people hauling big bags” – crossed the Friendship Bridge into Paraguay every day. They resold fake leather jackets, linens, watches, CDs and other merchandise they bought in Ciudad del Este in street markets across Brazil.</p>
<p>To gather these goods, sacoleiros traveled from all over Brazil to trade in Ciudad del Este, sometimes journeying for days on buses.</p>
<h2>Eyeing ‘notorious markets’</h2>
<p>In the 2000s, powerful countries promoted trade liberalization and trade rule enforcement through the <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm">newly established World Trade Organization</a>.</p>
<p>The U.S. government and Brazilian trade groups worried that the flow of counterfeit goods and contraband from Paraguay curbed corporate profits and harmed the U.S. economy. Since 2011, the State Department has expressed these concerns in annual reports on what it calls “<a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/2022%20Notorious%20Markets%20List%20(final).pdf">notorious markets</a>.” </p>
<p>The people engaged in this bustling border commerce and their advocates counter that free trade advocates write trade rules to suit their own interests. </p>
<p>Under pressure from the U.S., Brazil sought to curtail smuggling, but failed to distinguish between sacoleiros struggling to make a living and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Counterfeit-Itineraries-in-the-Global-South-The-human-consequences-of-piracy/Pinheiro-Machado/p/book/9780367594725">big-time contraband and drug runners</a>. Instead, Brazil treated them all as dangerous criminals.</p>
<p>Brazilian officials cracked down on sacoleiros, enforcing laws that they had previously ignored, increasing border surveillance and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9493.2012.00463.x">confiscating sacoleiros’ merchandise in raids</a>, and casting them into debt.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/investigacion-de-los-puertos-ilegales-de-ciudad-del-este-esta-paralizada-552686.html">pushed informal traders onto riskier routes</a>, like the networks of clandestine ports along the Parana River and Lake Itaipu, which they need to navigate with small wooden skiffs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People lug large amounts of stuff in huge, colorful bags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558493/original/file-20231108-15-ede25p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brazilians carrying goods bought in Ciudad del Este approach the Friendship Bridge, which links the Paraguayan city with Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brazilians-carry-goods-they-bought-in-ciudad-del-este-as-news-photo/106896478?adppopup=true">Norberto Duarte/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Formalizing sacoleiros</h2>
<p>As Brazil criminalized sacoleiros, these informal workers fought for policies that would protect their livelihoods.</p>
<p>A Brazil-Paraguay plan called the Unified Trade Regime – <a href="https://www.ultimahora.com/brasil-reglamenta-la-ley-los-sacolerios-n236685">Régimen de Tributo Unificado</a> in Spanish – sought to integrate the sacoleiros into the formal economy and transform them into “micro-entrepreneurs.” </p>
<p>In the new system, registered sacoleiros pay lower taxes on specific consumer goods purchased from registered shops and tracked through an electronic system. The system was designed to differentiate between two flows of goods sold to foreigners: merchandise purchased by bargain-hunting tourists for their own use, and items sacoleiros buy in bulk in Paraguay to sell across the border in Brazil.</p>
<p>Before this system took effect, all visitors could buy merchandise duty-free up to an official limit that fluctuated between $150 and $500.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WL0805/S00430/cablegate-calling-all-smugglers-brazilian-sacoleiros-bill.htm?from-mobile=bottom-link-01">Despite U.S. attempts to sink the plan</a>, it went into effect in 2012; afterward, only registered businesses could participate in the Unified Trade Regime.</p>
<p>Informal street vendors could not meet these requirements, and were excluded.</p>
<p>Another glitch: Negotiators ignored research recommending a total tax rate of no more than 22%, so as to make smuggling not worth the costs and risks, I learned from a Paraguayan official. Instead, they set the total tax rate at 25%.</p>
<p>Few businesses registered, and the <a href="https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/suplementos/tres-fronteras/en-tres-anos-de-vigencia-del-rtu-el-resultado-es-escaso-1399351.html">plan faltered</a>.</p>
<p>While the U.S. opposed formalizing sacoleiros, the <a href="https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/buscan-mayor-formalizacion-empresarial-935481.html">U.S. Agency of International Development funded the research</a> behind a similar plan to formalize trade in the electronic goods sold by more affluent businesses. I found this plan reduced their tax burden to just over 5%.</p>
<p>Differential treatment for informal workers and wealthy traders reflects an imbalance in their negotiating power. I also argue it reflects <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30421-8">common biases against informal workers</a> and their economic realities.</p>
<h2>Protecting some illegal transactions</h2>
<p>Yet state officials protected some illegal arrangements, like ex-President Horacio Cartes’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-paraguay-dumps-billions-of-illicit-cigarettes-on-the-global-market-107679">contraband cigarette trade</a>. Despite multiple international complaints, <a href="https://www.moopio.com/informes-ratifican-impunidad-en-la-franja-de-itaipu-durante-era-cartes.html">political pacts protected the clandestine networks</a> transporting his cigarettes to regional markets. </p>
<p>Informal economies can provide livelihood for the millions excluded from formal work, <a href="https://theconversation.com/street-vendors-make-cities-livelier-safer-and-fairer-heres-why-they-belong-on-the-post-covid-19-urban-scene-141675">enliven cities and provide important urban services</a>. I believe efforts to force everyone to follow the rules must be matched by a commitment to protect the livelihoods of poor workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer L. Tucker received funding from the Fulbright Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Berkeley Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico</span></em></p>A smuggling crackdown has threatened the livelihoods of the people who are just scraping by in this South American arbitrage economy.Jennifer L. Tucker, Associate Professor of Community & Regional Planning, University of New MexicoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206322024-01-12T13:28:57Z2024-01-12T13:28:57ZGen Z and millennials have an unlikely love affair with their local libraries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568487/original/file-20240109-27-hil6q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Libraries can be an oasis from doomscrolling and information overload.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/NYC_Public_Library_Research_Room_Jan_2006-1-_3.jpg">Diliff/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568935/original/file-20240111-27-544ldb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A phone fixation may seem at odds with an attraction to books. But the latter may offer a much-needed reprieve from the former.</p>
<p><a href="https://shorturl.at/FQS26">In our recent study of American Gen Z and millennials</a>, we discovered that 92% of them check social media daily; 25% of them check multiple times per hour.</p>
<p>Yet in that same nationally representative study, we also found that Gen Z and millennials are still visiting libraries at a healthy clip, with 54% of Gen Zers and millennials trekking to their local library in 2022. </p>
<p>Our findings reinforce 2017 data from the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/06/21/millennials-are-the-most-likely-generation-of-americans-to-use-public-libraries/">Pew Research Center</a>, which showed that 53% of millennials had gone to their local library over the previous 12 months. By comparison, that same study found that 45% of Gen Xers and 43% of baby boomers visited public libraries.</p>
<p>So why might Gen Z and millennials – sometimes characterized as <a href="https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/gen-z-has-1-second-attention-span-work-marketers-advantage">attention-addled</a> <a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1748191/how-millennials-became-a-generation-of-homebodies">homebodies</a> – still see value in trips to the public library?</p>
<h2>A preference for print</h2>
<p>We found that Gen Zers and millennials prefer books in print over e-books and audiobooks, even though their other favorite reading formats are decidedly digital, such as video game chats and <a href="https://medium.com/fiction-friends/whats-a-web-novel-and-why-should-you-be-excited-about-them-1181ae02be3b">web novels</a>. American Gen Zers and millennials read an average of two print books per month – nearly double the average for e-books or audiobooks, according to our data.</p>
<p>The preference for print also manifests itself in the types of books Gen Z and millennials are borrowing and buying: 59% said they prefer the same story in graphical or manga format than in text only. </p>
<p>And while some graphic novels, comics and manga can be read on a screen, print is where these intricately illustrated books truly shine. </p>
<h2>Beyond reading</h2>
<p>We were most surprised by our finding that 23% of Gen Zers and millennials who don’t identify as readers nonetheless visited a physical library in the past 12 months. </p>
<p>It’s a reminder that libraries <a href="https://ischool.syr.edu/12-things-you-can-get-at-libraries-other-than-books/">don’t just serve as a repository for books</a>. Patrons can record podcasts, make music, craft with friends or play video games. There are also quiet spaces with free Wi-Fi, perfect for students or people who work remotely. </p>
<p>Younger generations tend to be more <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/topics/talent/recruiting-gen-z-and-millennials.html">values driven</a> than older ones, and libraries’ ethos of sharing seems to resonate with Gen Zers and millennials – as does a space that’s free from the insipid creep of commercialism. At the library, there are no ads and no fees – well, provided you return your books on time – and no cookies tracking and selling your behavior.</p>
<p>U.S. census data also shows that <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-2020-census-data-shows-an-aging-america-and-wide-racial-gaps-between-generations">younger generations are more racially diverse</a> than older generations. </p>
<p>Our survey found that 64% of Black Gen Zers and millennials visited physical libraries in 2022, a rate that’s 10 percentage points higher than the general population. Meanwhile, Asian and Latino Gen Zers and millennials were more likely than the general population to say that browsing library shelves was a preferred way to discover new books.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two young Black women work from a desk at a library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568490/original/file-20240109-27-ra0uc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Libraries are chock-full of resources – including free Wi-Fi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-wearing-turban-using-laptop-while-sitting-royalty-free-image/1439945442?phrase=young+people+at+library&searchscope=image%2Cfilm&adppopup=true">Maskot/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A crucial moment for libraries</h2>
<p>Though libraries have been forced to <a href="https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2023/09/american-library-association-releases-preliminary-data-2023-book-challenges">reckon with book bans</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tennessees-drag-ban-rehashes-old-culture-war-narratives-201623">politicization of public spaces</a>, Gen Zers and millennials still see libraries as a kind of oasis – a place where doomscrolling and information overload can be quieted, if temporarily. </p>
<p>Perhaps Gen Zers’ and millennials’ library visits, like their <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/29/dumb-phones-are-on-the-rise-in-the-us-as-gen-z-limits-screen-time.html">embrace of flip phones</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-gen-z-ers-drawn-to-old-digital-cameras-198854">board games</a>, are another life hack for slowing down.</p>
<p>Printed books won’t ping you or ghost you. And when young people eventually log back on to their devices, books <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/BookTok">make excellent props for #BookTok</a>, the community on TikTok where readers review their favorite books.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathi Inman Berens receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Delmas Foundation, the Panorama Project and the American Library Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Noorda receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Delmas Foundation, the Panorama Project and the American Library Association.</span></em></p>Though they’re sometimes characterized as attention-addled homebodies, younger people see a real value in libraries − one that goes beyond books.Kathi Inman Berens, Associate Professor of Book Publishing and Digital Humanities, Portland State UniversityRachel Noorda, Associate Professor of Publishing, Portland State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200802024-01-10T14:16:13Z2024-01-10T14:16:13ZPoor Things: meet the radical Scottish visionary behind the new hit film<p>Director Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), an irrepressibly free woman who seems to have the mind of an innocent child. She embarks on an exuberant voyage of discovery, travelling around 19th-century Europe and reaching Egypt, experiencing many new things as her intellect rapidly develops, before returning home to face her secret past.</p>
<p>The film is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by the Glaswegian Alasdair Gray. Gray was a maverick and polymath – a writer, artist, polemicist, dissident and civic nationalist – who had an immense influence on contemporary Scottish literature and beyond.</p>
<p>Like watching Lanthimos’s gorgeous spectacle, reading Gray is a wild and unsettling ride. His work is full of progressive imagination, wry impropriety and intricate literary form.</p>
<p>Gray was a bold creative thinker, one who dared to make a slightly disreputable character out of God, for instance. He was a radical who disturbed established order, including through the blending of visual and literary art. For him, naming and contesting arbitrary power and providing both visceral witness to, and alternative visions of, contemporary society are defining qualities of his work – particularly Poor Things.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RlbR5N6veqw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>A Scottish Frankenstein</h2>
<p>Rather than a single perspective, Poor Things is made up of different documents stitched together – prefaces, journal entries, letters, explanatory footnotes – that produce multiple, competing stories. The story is self-reflexive, where the narrative voice or action dwell on the act of writing or making fiction. </p>
<p>Poor Things is full of allusions to, and borrowings from, the rich resources of Victorian fiction – most obviously Frankenstein – and reference works. Typographical experimentation and word play abound. For instance, the name of the novel’s great medical scientist Godwin Baxter is sometimes abbreviated to “God” to emphasise paternalism, powers of creation, withdrawal from the world and many other interpretations.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Book cover featuring an illustration of a large man being hugged by a smaller woman and a man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568403/original/file-20240109-19-vrtonn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Things#/media/File:Poorthings.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gray’s creative practice is “multi-modal”, weaving the written word with his own visual art. In Poor Things, this approach can be seen in the images, which include portraits, anatomical illustrations, maps and frenzied handwritten sections. These aspects provide an added interpretive dimension to the text and reinforce, reframe or even contradict the written elements.</p>
<p>These components make for a pleasurable literary puzzle – but there’s a serious side to the novel’s complexity too. One convincing interpretation of Bella Baxter is as a feminist figure, who thwarts the attempts of men to control her and her narrative. </p>
<p>Authority is firmly in question in Poor Things, both the regular kind and the mantle taken on by authors themselves. It turns a critical eye on Victorian history and the British Empire, and the role of literature in that history.</p>
<h2>Glasgow made</h2>
<p>Poor Things was published in the same year as Gray’s <a href="https://canongate.co.uk/books/220-why-scots-should-rule-scotland-1997/">Why Scots Should Rule Scotland</a>, an anti-imperialist and democratic-socialist argument that advocated for civic nationalism where people are equal and active participants in Scottish society. He was an unapologetic supporter of an independent Scotland and a passionate Republican, which was emblematised by <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/politics/18137079.alasdair-gray-work-live-early-days-better-nation/">his repeated order</a> to “work as if you live in the early days of a better nation”.</p>
<p>The illustration of Bella in the novel is labelled as “Bella Caledonia”, suggesting her as Gray’s metaphor for Scotland: tangled up with a difficult history but oriented to the future, and full of potential. Calendonia is a romantic name used to refer to Scotland. The fact that Bella is English-born counter intuitively supports this argument. A civic nation is about the people in it, rather than people born there.</p>
<p>Transplanted to London, little of Glasgow or indeed Scotland can be perceived in Lanthimos’s film. But the intellectual history and social consciousness of Poor Things is not independent of its Glasgow setting. Gray was shaped by the radical spirit and unique architecture of the city, which inspired his fiction and artwork. </p>
<p>Gray studied at Glasgow School of Art, the experience of which is fictionalised in parts of his magnum opus <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/may2002.html">Lanark: A Life in Four Books</a> (1981). He produced unique portraiture, familiar and strange landscapes and ambitious murals which can still be seen in Glasgow. </p>
<p>For anyone yet to visit, the stereotype of Glasgow is a city of heavy industry now vanished, heavy Victorian tenements, heavy drinking and heavy rainfall. That idea has been difficult to dislodge. </p>
<p>In Lanark, the protagonist Duncan Thaw bemoans the difficulty in imagining Glasgow creatively, a task that Gray applied himself to assiduously through his career. Lanark itself, an epic that combines vivid fantasy with evocative realism, is where much of that imagination takes place. Its grandeur and ambition would suit the blockbuster treatment.</p>
<p>Lanthimos’s film and Gray’s text are independent but related works. It is worth remembering that adaptations are under no obligation to be faithful to source materials. There is no governing body adjudicating and no code of laws to apply. Traces remain, however. Look out for the interrogation of authority, the imagination of an alternative future, and the indomitable spirit of Bella Baxter. Then read some Alasdair Gray.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Jackson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A radical painter and writer, Alasdair Gray’s work was full of bold visions for an independent Scotland.Joe Jackson, Associate Professor in Twentieth-Century and Contemporary English Literature, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2187922024-01-03T20:27:17Z2024-01-03T20:27:17Z15 literary podcasts to make you laugh, learn and join conversations about books<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563571/original/file-20231205-29-cmuvtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6679%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karolina Grabowska/Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his “memoir of the craft”, <a href="https://stephenking.com/works/nonfiction/on-writing-a-memoir-of-the-craft.html">On Writing</a>, Stephen King lauds books as “a uniquely portable magic”. Among the world’s estimated <a href="https://www.demandsage.com/podcast-statistics/#:%7E:text=There%20are%20464.7%20million%20podcast,70%20million%20episodes%20between%20them.">5 million podcasts</a>, those devoted to books and reading are so plentiful that I’m tempted to call them the next best thing.</p>
<p>Literary podcasts offer comfort and convenience. Most are free. They’re available across multiple platforms. And while you could curl up in bed and simply listen (as I often do), they’re designed to be experienced while you’re doing something else – whether that’s enduring a long commute, sweating it out at the gym or tidying the house.</p>
<p>But the soaring popularity of podcasts like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-penguin-podcast/id89411073?mt=2">The Penguin Podcast</a> and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-penguin-podcast/id89411073?mt=2">NPR’s Book of the Day</a> reveals something more.</p>
<p>As writer <a href="https://themillions.com/2017/01/an-elaborate-extension-of-social-media-the-changing-role-of-podcasts-in-book-criticism.html">Tom McCallister</a> points out, while traditional reviews may be in decline, literary podcasts are not just “filling the void”. They’re “fracturing and reshaping” the “world of book discussion”.</p>
<p>Like community reviews and the more recent surge of #BookTok and #Bookstagram content on social media, literary podcasts feed the rich social networks that form around books. They transform what’s often a solitary activity – reading – into a widely (but intimately) shared experience.</p>
<p>Author interviews and various forms of criticism (from comprehensive reviews to casual banter) are mainstays of the format. But literary podcasts invite audiences to engage with books and writing in all kinds of ways.</p>
<p>Some are topical or focus on particular genres, as varied as <a href="https://evergreenpodcasts.com/novel-conversations">literary classics</a> and <a href="https://www.celebritymemoirbookclub.biz/">celebrity memoirs</a>. Others are avenues for authors to read work aloud, or for industry professionals, like editors and agents, to share insider knowledge.</p>
<p>They connect readers to media outlets and literary journals. They help us discover new titles and authors in a saturated publishing market. And they can be a valuable platform for emerging authors, providing exposure and amplifying diverse voices.</p>
<p>Here’s a taste of what’s out there – including my favourites.</p>
<h2>1. The Garret</h2>
<p>If books are divisive, literary podcasts are too. What’s enjoyable for one listener might not work for another.</p>
<p>My own listening habits are driven largely by curiosity rather than loyalty: I listen to episodes haphazardly, when a particular guest, topic or title tempts me, dropping down the rabbit hole of whichever book I happen to be reading.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563578/original/file-20231205-27-u6mqdp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That said, I return most often to <a href="https://thegarretpodcast.com/">The Garret</a>, an Australian podcast for “lovers of books and storytelling”. The Garret’s host – self-confessed bibliophile <a href="https://astridedwards.com/">Astrid Edwards</a>, who was among the judges of this year’s Stella Prize – releases new episodes almost every week. She interviews authors about craft, criticism and some of the stories behind the stories that have found their way to publication. </p>
<p>For something a little different, <a href="https://thegarretpodcast.com/melanie-ostell-what-it-takes-literary-agent/">Melanie Ostell’s episode</a> about what it takes to be a literary agent is one of my favourites.</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Secrets from the Green Room</h2>
<p>Australians are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-tops-the-world-for-podcast-listening-why-do-we-love-them-so-much-208937">some of the world’s most enthusiastic podcast listeners</a>, so it’s little surprise we produce some of the best bookish podcasts around. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563572/original/file-20231205-19-tu1uxn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/secrets-from-the-green-room/id1540540062">Secrets from the Green Room</a> is dedicated to author stories you “won’t hear anywhere else”.</p>
<p>Irma Gold and Karen Viggers publish new episodes every few weeks. They invite guests to candidly share their own experiences navigating the world of publication, landing on topics as varied as <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/season-3-episode-33-aaron-faaoso-and-michelle-scott-tucker/id1540540062?i=1000620837968">ghostwriting</a>, the “creep” of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/season-1-episode-11-nikki-gemmell/id1540540062?i=1000530249152">imposter syndrome</a>, and the challenges of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/season-2-episode-20-tony-birch/id1540540062?i=1000559531261">teaching writing at university</a>.</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Read This</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563573/original/file-20231205-15-lth4ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/">The Monthly</a>’s weekly offering, <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/readthis">Read This</a>, features interviews with prominent writers from Australia and around the world. </p>
<p>Its first episode took host Michael Williams (editor of The Monthly) to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/we-went-to-helen-garners-house/id1691035626?i=1000619338709">Helen Garner’s house</a> for “conversation and cake”. Later guests have included <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/rebecca-makkai-is-on-the-case/id1691035626?i=1000634146214">Rebecca Makkai</a> and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-three-words-that-made-george-saunders-a-writer/id1691035626?i=1000629407186">George Saunders</a>.</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Beyond the Zero</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563574/original/file-20231205-15-bjthp5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/beyond-the-zero/id1578980767">Beyond the Zero</a> also spotlights new titles through extended conversations with both local and international authors. Each episode is a deep dive into the books and writers that have influenced the guest, so far ranging from <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/paul-lynch-prophet-song/id1578980767?i=1000629306788">Booker winner Paul Lynch</a> to Australian literary authors like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/emmett-stinson-murnane/id1578980767?i=1000630670189">Emmett Stinson on Gerald Murnane</a>. </p>
<hr>
<h2>5. The First Time</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563579/original/file-20231205-29-3zb8uc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On <a href="https://thefirsttimepodcast.com/">The First Time</a> podcast, novelists Katherine Colette and Kate Mildenhall take readers behind the scenes, into the “logistics and feels of writing and publishing a book”. </p>
<p>They regularly feature debut authors, as part of their (paid) Featured Book series. There’s also a Masters series, with veteran writers like Richard Flanagan, and episodes that deal with “awkward” conversations, including <a href="https://thefirsttimepodcast.com/2023/06/05/awkward-convo-endorsements-plus-featured-book-search-history-by-amy-taylor/">how book endorsements work</a>.</p>
<hr>
<h2>6 & 7. ABC RN: The Bookshelf and The Book Show</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563581/original/file-20231205-23-82bjts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>ABC Radio National has two main literary podcasts. On <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-bookshelf">The Bookshelf</a>, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh review newly published fiction, alongside guest reviewers, in hour-long episodes broadcast every Friday. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-book-show">The Book Show</a>, hosted by Claire Nichols, also curates new fiction. Each episode brings together two or more guests whose work shares compelling themes or intersects in otherwise surprising ways. </p>
<p>This year, The Book Show also ran a fascinating four-part series on literary fakes and frauds, starting with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-book-show/alexis-wright-the-dogs-john-hughes-fakes-and-frauds/102184350">the John Hughes scandal</a>.</p>
<hr>
<h2>8 & 9. The New Yorker: Fiction and Poetry podcasts</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563582/original/file-20231205-25-w59ui7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The New Yorker’s <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-yorker-fiction/id256945396">Fiction</a> podcast has stood the test of time. Each month, the magazine’s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, invites some of the world’s most celebrated authors to read aloud from another author’s work. </p>
<p>In November, for example, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/margaret-atwood-reads-mavis-gallant-live/id256945396?i=1000633337503">Margaret Atwood</a> read and discussed Mavis Gallant’s story Varieties of Exile, live at Toronto’s Hot Docs podcast festival. (In 2019, Atwood chose <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/margaret-atwood-reads-alice-munro/id256945396?i=1000445909088">Alice Munro</a>.) </p>
<p>The archives go all the way back to 2007. (And if you’re a fan of the read-aloud format, you might also enjoy The New Yorker’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/poetry">Poetry</a> podcast.)</p>
<hr>
<h2>10. Backlisted</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563583/original/file-20231205-19-ylbgpf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Presented by John Mitchinson and Andy Miller, <a href="https://www.backlisted.fm/">Backlisted</a> solicits a writerly guest to choose a book they love and wax lyrical about why it deserves a wider audience (like <a href="https://www.backlisted.fm/episodes/170-elizabeth-gaskell-north-and-south">Jennifer Egan and Nell Stevens</a> on Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South). </p>
<p>Recently celebrating its 200th episode, Backlisted prides itself on “giving new life to old books” – a refreshing alternative to literary podcasts that focus almost exclusively on recent releases.</p>
<hr>
<h2>11. Overdue</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563588/original/file-20231205-29-wz2wmf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://overduepodcast.com/">Overdue</a>, a podcast “about the books you’ve been meaning to read”, is also sure to add some dog-eared classics to your to-be-read pile. It’s not all classics, though – the hosts’ “overdue” reading list includes Jenny Offill’s 2014 novel, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-603-dept-of-speculation-by-jenny-offill/id602003021?i=1000623665450">The Department of Speculation</a>, and Gabrielle Zevin’s 2022 gaming novel, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-622-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-by/id602003021?i=1000637415752">Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow</a>, as well as stone-cold classics like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-605-madame-bovary-by-gustave-flaubert/id602003021?i=1000625117362">Madame Bovary</a>.</p>
<p>Try the episode about <a href="https://overduepodcast.com/episodes/2023/11/13/ep-619-the-stranger-by-albert-camus">Camus’s The Stranger</a> if – like me – you only pretended to read it in high school.</p>
<hr>
<h2>12. Book Riot</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563584/original/file-20231205-23-1b7abx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For listeners interested in industry trends, the <a href="https://bookriot.com/listen/shows/thepodcast/">Book Riot</a> podcast publishes weekly episodes that revolve loosely around “what’s new, cool, and worth talking about in the world of books and reading”. </p>
<p>Jeff and Rebecca, who also edit <a href="https://bookriot.com/">the Book Riot website</a>, serve up a gratifying mix of book-related commentary and news, including reading recommendations, awards chatter and emerging or evolving issues (think <a href="https://bookriot.com/listen/a-new-thing-under-the-sun/">book bans</a> and <a href="https://bookriot.com/listen/the-internets-disappointed-mom/">generative AI</a>).</p>
<hr>
<h2>13. If Books Could Kill</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563585/original/file-20231205-25-666h5w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-books-could-kill/id1651876897">If Books Could Kill</a> offers a diverting but incisive take on “the airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds”. As a scholar of <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-self-help-books-help-with-depression-i-spoke-to-readers-to-find-out-211043">self-help books</a>, I was primed to regard this podcast with deep suspicion, but the episodes are well researched and thoroughly entertaining. </p>
<p>Start with <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rules/id1651876897?i=1000618727942">The Rules</a> and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-5-love-languages/id1651876897?i=1000609782068">The 5 Love Languages</a> to laugh out loud as you learn about some of the most pervasive but questionable relationship advice to surface in the 20th century.</p>
<hr>
<h2>14. & 15. Reading Glasses and Marlon and Jake Read Dead People</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563589/original/file-20231205-21-u5mf2p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, I’d like to mention two new-to-me podcasts. <a href="https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/reading-glasses/">Reading Glasses</a> is a podcast about “reading better” that includes an episode on <a href="https://maximumfun.org/episodes/reading-glasses/ep-332-become-liam-neeson-getting-borrowed-books-back/">how to get borrowed books back</a>. And in <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/marlon-and-jake-read-dead-people/id1492163935">Marlon and Jake Read Dead People</a>, Man Booker Prize winning author Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, share big opinions on all things books, authors and writing – like our evergreen quandaries around reading <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/good-books-by-terrible-people/id1492163935?i=1000528124750">good books by terrible people</a> or <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/judging-a-book/id1492163935?i=1000605171360">judging a book by its cover</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amber Gwynne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Literary podcasts offer comfort, convenience and the ultimate distraction. Here’s a taste – including author interviews, deep dives into classic novels and critiques of self-help blockbusters.Amber Gwynne, Sessional Lecturer in Writing, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2185902023-12-26T20:29:56Z2023-12-26T20:29:56ZMy favourite fictional character: Maggie O'Farrell’s rebel Esme Lennox refuses to be the ‘perfect victim’ – even in an asylum<p>“It’s a common turn of phrase to speak of getting lost in a book … a book can also be where one finds oneself,” writes Rebecca Mead.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are books that seem to comprehend us just as much as we understand them, or even more. There are books that grow with the reader as the reader grows, like a graft to a tree. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>After a teacher introduced her to George Eliot, Middlemarch became the book of Mead’s life (eventually resulting in her bibliomemoir, <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-road-to-middlemarch">The Road to Middlemarch</a>). </p>
<p>When I was 16, <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/maggie-ofarrell/the-vanishing-act-of-esme-lennox">The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox</a> by British writer Maggie O’Farrell became the book of my life. </p>
<p>Set between the 1930s and the late 20th century, the novel is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/oct/02/socialcare.genderissues">inspired by the real-life stories</a> of incarcerated women that emerged in the aftermath of the Thatcher government’s policy of deinstitutionalisation. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562059/original/file-20231128-17-eamw43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1167&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It centres on Esme Lennox, who survives a childhood tragedy and a cholera epidemic in <a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-in-india-was-traumatic-including-for-some-of-the-british-officials-who-ruled-the-raj-77068">colonial India</a>. Shades of Mary Lennox from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-secret-garden-and-the-healing-power-of-nature-132269">The Secret Garden</a> (a book O’Farrell loved as a child) can be seen here. (In fact, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03zwwv8">she has said</a> she unconsciously drew on it.) However, Esme’s story can also be read as an homage to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-a-19th-century-short-story-of-nervous-exhaustion-and-the-perils-of-womens-rest-cures-92302">The Yellow Wallpaper</a>.</p>
<p>Upon the family’s return from India to Edinburgh, Esme grows up to become a “difficult” young woman. Burdened by Esme’s reluctance to find a husband and her disregard for banal social niceties, her parents incarcerate her in an asylum, where she spends the next six decades. </p>
<p>O’Farrell first read The Yellow Wallpaper at 16. She <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/09/women">was taken aback</a> by Gilman’s “clean, insouciant style” and the way she addressed the subjects of “oppression, illness, madness, marriage”. </p>
<p>And she saw in Perkins Gilman’s work a “demand to be heard, a demand to be under-stood, a demand to be acknowledged”. Those same demands underpin her depiction of Esme Lennox. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-a-19th-century-short-story-of-nervous-exhaustion-and-the-perils-of-womens-rest-cures-92302">The Yellow Wallpaper: a 19th-century short story of nervous exhaustion and the perils of women's 'rest cures'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘I recognised a kindred spirit’</h2>
<p>I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking when I took up my red biro and selected this novel from the summer reading catalogue my mother subscribed to, but it turned out to be an unexpectedly prescient choice. As I prepared to enter my final year of high school I was already getting ominous glimpses of the not-too-distant future. </p>
<p>My insular community in Perth’s northern suburbs still expected young women to have at least one eye trained on matrimony. While many of my peers and their parents were treating the forthcoming year 12 ball as a wedding rehearsal, I remained preoccupied by a “joke” told by a boy at a birthday party the previous year: “Why are women’s feet smaller than men’s? So they can stand closer to the kitchen sink!” </p>
<p>In Esme, I recognised a kindred spirit, and her experiences rendered visible the misogyny that pervaded my everyday life. I’ve re-read her story countless times: every time, it feels as urgent as ever. But now I’m in my early thirties, she speaks to me differently. </p>
<p>I can see beyond the immediate injustice of her situation and appreciate the subtle ways she resists oppression. Esme learns fighting back is not necessarily the most effective way to challenge power structures. Rather, she learns to “read” the logic of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-did-the-patriarchy-start-and-will-evolution-get-rid-of-it-189648">patriarchy</a> and switches from overtly defying authority to quietly subverting it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/girl-interrupted-interrogates-how-women-are-mad-when-they-refuse-to-conform-30-years-on-this-memoir-is-still-important-199211">Girl, Interrupted interrogates how women are 'mad' when they refuse to conform – 30 years on, this memoir is still important</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A campaign of disobedience</h2>
<p>Like all O’Farrell’s novels, The Vanishing Act offers a profound literary encounter. The writing is haunting and visceral, managing to be firmly grounded but simultaneously otherworldly. From childhood, Esme is naturally attuned to the minute and magical workings of the universe, finding wonder and serenity in the natural world: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>She shut her eyes, held her breath, and listened. There it was. The weeping, the slow weeping, of rubber trees leaking their fluid. It sounded like the crackle of leaves a mile away, like the creeping of minute creatures. […] Esme tilted her head this way and that, still with her eyes shut tight, and listened to the sound of trees crying.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Esme’s status-conscious family do their best to stamp out her natural curiosity. As a very young child, she is strapped to a chair at lunchtime “[b]ecause, as her mother announced to the room, Esme must learn to behave”. </p>
<p>The restraint prevents her slipping under the dining table where, ensconced within the “illicit privacy of the cloth”, she can see the guests’ “shoes, worn down in odd places, the idiosyncrasies in lace-tying, blisters, calluses, who crossed their ankles, who crossed their knees, whose stockings had holes, who wore mismatched socks, who sat with a hand in whose lap”. </p>
<p>This scene is simultaneously endearing and startling; while it epitomises Esme’s inherent disregard for social convention, it also offers a startling premonition of her constrained future. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562576/original/file-20231130-23-jmhih6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Like all Maggie O’Farrell’s novels, The Vanishing Act offers a profound literary encounter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Davidson/Hachette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite these punishments, Esme continues her campaign of disobedience as an adolescent. She hides her embroidery down the side of the sofa in attempt to buy herself time to read. She has the audacity to leave home without a hat and to play Chopin loudly on the piano. And at a ball, she is discovered in an armchair with “one leg slung over the arm, a book in her lap, her legs wide apart under her skirt”. </p>
<p>On occasion, she literally fights back. While walking home from school on a foggy winter evening, Esme is surprised by a family acquaintance, Jamie Dalziell, the scion of a wealthy local family and the object of Esme’s mother’s matrimonial hopes. </p>
<p>Believing she is about to be attacked, Esme belts him “round the head with all the combined weight of her books”. Jamie, momentarily offended that Esme did not recognise him, quickly recovers and pressures her to go out with him, but she refuses, reminding him “it’s up to me” and declaring that she’d “rather stick pins in my eyes”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-marriage-portrait-maggie-ofarrell-distorts-the-historical-record-to-suit-modern-sensibilities-192182">In The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell distorts the historical record to suit modern sensibilities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Restoring agency to the literary ‘mad woman’</h2>
<p>But Esme’s rebellion cannot continue forever. As she gets older, she finds her individual agency is no match for the weight of societal expectation. Following her incarceration, she develops her “vanishing act”, a creative strategy that allows her to rebel inwardly, while protecting her from the punitive gaze of the asylum authorities. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is most important to keep yourself very still. Even breathing can remind them that you are there, so only very short, very quick breaths. Just enough to stay alive. And no more … Think yourself stretched and thin, beaten to transparency. Concentrate. Really concentrate. You need to attain a state so that your being, the bit of you that makes you what you are, that makes you stand out, three-dimensional in a room, can flow out from the top of your head.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562577/original/file-20231130-15-hom44j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Esme’s ‘vanishing act’ allows her to rebel inwardly, protected from the punitive gaze of the asylum’s authorities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hans Eiskonen/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It may seem odd to valorise Esme’s wilful self-absence in light of contemporary feminism’s emphasis on women’s strength and agency, and our awareness of the effects of <a href="https://theconversation.com/trauma-is-trending-but-we-need-to-look-beyond-buzzwords-and-face-its-ugly-side-201564">trauma</a>. But while her vanishing act resembles traumatic dissociation, it remains wilful and subversive. And it permits Esme to subtly undermine the authority of the asylum’s doctors and nurses and reject their image of her as degraded and helpless.</p>
<p>This is conveyed most powerfully in the novel’s closing pages, which speak back to the degradation of the “mad woman” through centuries of literature, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-charlotte-bronte-still-speaks-to-us-200-years-after-her-birth-57802">Jane Eyre</a> onwards. I don’t want to give the ending away, so I’ll just say that when the asylum closes, Esme makes her unceremonious return to the “community” with vengeance in her heart. </p>
<p>There is a poignancy in Esme’s refusal to embody the <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/8/21/17760222/asia-argento-jimmy-bennett-sexual-assault-me-too">mythical “perfect victim”</a> – who is devoid of desire, hatred or blame. For my part, I will always cherish the way the older Esme is first introduced, staring through her cell window to conjure an entirely imagined freedom: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If Esme cares to gaze into the distance – that is to say, at what lies beyond the metal grille – she finds that, after a while, something happens to the focusing mechanism of her eyes. The squares of the grille will blur and, if she concentrates long enough, vanish. There is always a moment before her body reasserts itself, readjusting her eyes to the proper reality of the world, when it is just her and the trees, the road, and beyond. Nothing in between.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218590/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Walters does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Maggie O'Farrell’s homage to The Yellow Wallpaper inhabits a ‘difficult’ young woman who survives tragedy in colonial India and is incarcerated by her family for refusing gender and social norms.Amy Walters, PhD candidate, English Literature, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2192372023-12-25T08:58:53Z2023-12-25T08:58:53Z4 must-read books from east Africa: from Tanzanian masters to Ugandan queens<p>East African literature continues to grow and reshape itself in exciting new ways. The world really did take notice of the region when Tanzanian-British author Abdulrazak Gurnah won the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2021/gurnah/facts/">Nobel Prize</a> for Literature in 2021. Interest in Gurnah’s work continued last year when he made a homecoming to east Africa. </p>
<p>But it is in Tanzania that Gurnah made a proper homecoming in 2023 – through the first ever Kiswahili translation of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review-of-earthly-delights-paradise-abdulrazak-gurnah-hamish-hamilton-14-99-1428925.html">Paradise</a>, now out as <a href="https://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/peponi">Peponi</a>.</p>
<p>I am an interdisciplinary scholar with a research focus that cuts across journalism, creative writing, African literature and postcolonial studies. I’m also a big reader of books from the region. My highlights include a range from the masterful Gurnah to stunning newcomers, a bold biography to a pacy memoir.</p>
<h2>1. Abdulrazak Gurnah in Kiswahili</h2>
<p>Now aged 74, Gurnah has recently headlined a <a href="https://www.macondolitfest.org/abdulrazak-gurnah">literary festival</a> in Kenya which seeks to foster conversations between and among Anglophone (English-speaking) and Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) Africa. Just the other day in Uganda, his life and work was celebrated by the creative collective <a href="https://femrite.org/2023/11/18/femrite-pawa-and-kyambogo-university-to-host-an-international-conference-in-honour-of-the-life-works-of-nobel-prize-laureate-abdurazak-gurnah/">Femrite</a>.</p>
<p>But it is in Tanzania that Gurnah made a proper splash through the first ever Swahili translation of his Booker Prize-nominated historical fiction, Paradise, now out as <a href="https://mkukinanyota.com/product/peponi/">Peponi</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, Gurnah’s literary interests have always hovered around east Africa, from his seminal <a href="https://www.google.co.za/books/edition/Memory_of_Departure/On1SEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Memory+of+Departure&printsec=frontcover">Memory of Departure</a>, which chronicles the sojourns of a young immigrant in search of education abroad. Haunted by the life left behind, and roiled by the uncertainties of the new lands, he seeks meaning to his life.</p>
<p>This echoes the author’s own pursuit, after his dislocation from Zanzibar. In his many interviews, Gurnah has maintained that immigrants do not arrive on European shores, or any others, <a href="https://newafricanmagazine.com/27089/">empty handed</a>: they have their unique tales and histories and ways of seeing the world that should enrich their adopted lands.</p>
<p>But it is Paradise, first published in 1994, that propelled Gurnah to international fame, following its nomination for the Booker Prize in the same year. A coming-of-age tale of Yusuf, a lad who is pawned to a merchant to offset his father’s debt, it’s a story that’s at once heart-breaking and spellbinding.</p>
<p>Some critics read the novel as a retake of the Biblical saga of Joseph (Yusuf in Swahili) who is sold into captivity by his envious siblings, while others read it as a parody of Polish-British novelist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Conrad">Joseph Conrad</a>’s Heart of Darkness. Whatever the case, Swahili readers who have not encountered the text in other languages are in for a great treat, and Peponi is a good place to start in their exploration of Gurnah’s work.</p>
<h2>2. Kenya’s rising star</h2>
<p>In Kenya, it was the emergence of a new author, <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/327239/nairobi-takes-centre-role-in-linda-musitas-stories/">Linda Musita</a>, that caused excitement.</p>
<p>Her debut book of short stories called <a href="https://downriverroad.org/2023/02/12/mtama-road-stories-linda-musita/">Mtama Road</a> has been <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/327239/nairobi-takes-centre-role-in-linda-musitas-stories/">well received</a> locally. </p>
<p>The seven short stories (although perhaps short-shorts is more appropriate – the book comes in at under 100 pages) are all set on one road in Nairobi’s Parklands.</p>
<p>The protagonists of Musita’s stories all find themselves having to navigate different elements of adulting.</p>
<h2>3. Rebirth of the biography</h2>
<p>After nearly 30 years of obscurity, the Kenyan biography appeared to enjoy a rebirth this year, with the publication of <a href="https://msomi.africa/en/home/4320-for-the-record-the-inside-story-of-power-politics-lawmaking-leadership-in-kenya-aden-duale.html">For The Record</a>: The Inside Story of Power, Politics, Lawmaking & Leadership in Kenya, ghostwritten for Kenya’s defence minister, Aden Duale.</p>
<p>A foreword is authored by the Kenyan president, William Ruto, and it prologues the crux of the story: a peep into the machinations that define Kenyan politics, with a particularly penetrating gaze into the fallout between former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and his successor.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the book found immediate traction with readers soon after its release in the middle of 2023, following its serialisation in the local press, precipitating five reprints in six months.</p>
<p>Still, the Kenyan biography represents a literary oddity: it’s often staid and formulaic, parroting a predictable trajectory to explain successes, never failures, of politicians and technocrats, as they look back on their lives.</p>
<p>In Duale’s For The Record, we come close to approximating the truth of his political motivations and his quest for power, even though we cannot infer what he intends to do with the power, now that he’s among the most powerful men in the land.</p>
<p>The sprightly diction deployed in the narrative could help buffer readers from the obvious flaws in a story that’s peppered as a rags-to-riches fable, even though his trading parents were people of reasonable means, within their context.</p>
<h2>4. Uganda’s action-packed memoir</h2>
<p>If the new memoir by the Buganda queen is anything to go by, Uganda took literary candour a notch higher in 2023. In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=adE1elPgR98">The Nnnabagereka</a>, Queen Sylvia Nagginda Luswata, the journalist-turned-monarch, recalls her eventful journey from New York, where she lived through most of her childhood, to her unconventional dating of <a href="https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/life/kabaka-30-years-of-roses-and-thorns-4320302">Prince Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II</a> of Uganda. The tale includes a proposal via email.</p>
<p>“Dear Sylvia, I think I am ready if you are,” Mutebi is reported to have written to his future wife. Another elliptical line in the memoir records another milestone, thus: “On December 6, 2010, I was blessed with two more girls Jade Nakato and Jasmine Babirye born in Kampala… They’re two amazing kids.”</p>
<p>The phraseology does not indicate if they belong to the Kabaka (or king). A statement from the Buganda king’s office clarified the twins did not receive the special drum sounded to herald the Kabaka’s biological children, which fanned online speculation about their paternity. The royal family is blended as the Kabaka has three other children from three different women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219237/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Kimani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Swahili readers who have not encountered Abdulrazak Gurnah’s work in other languages are in for a great treat.Peter Kimani, Professor of Practice, Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2191482023-12-22T10:51:33Z2023-12-22T10:51:33ZSix books (and one play) to read to understand British politics today<p><em>With a general election on the horizon in 2024, this holiday season is a good time to curl up with a book that explains the state of British politics and society today. We asked politics experts for their recommendations.</em></p>
<h2>Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying To Me? by Rob Burley</h2>
<p>Don’t let the colourful title put you off. Rob Burley is the former editor of BBC political programming, including The Andrew Marr Show and Politics Live – his book is both a hard-hitting expose of his time in the industry and a <a href="https://www.politicos.co.uk/products/why-is-this-lying-bastard-lying-to-me-25-years-of-searching-for-the-truth-on-political-tv-by-rob-burley-coming-23-february-2023">“deliciously irreverent”</a> read.</p>
<p>In its pages, Burley considers the future of the iconic long interview to grill politicians. And he expresses visceral anger at wilful, even blithe misuse of facts and figures by politicians that have led to the loss of trust in British politics overall. The question he poses isn’t why are there so many lying bastards, or even their propensity to lie – but simply “why?”</p>
<p>On one side, Burley pins the argument emphatically on politicians themselves. Permanently compromised by the pressure of politics, he suggests that many are unable to speak without artifice at best, and are pathologically misleading at worst. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/18032b7a-ecbd-11ed-8ea4-131f6a9039fb?shareToken=c41707463b5ffd9511b63b8a5a7ed6d6">Examples abound</a>: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and more. </p>
<p>But, keen to ensure a balance, Burley suggests that the public has come to largely expect unrelenting untruthfulness from its political leaders. This, he argues, is connected to the approach of television inquisitors. They combine hard-hitting approaches with forensic research to ensure journalistic rigour, but in doing so, push interviewees on to the back foot.</p>
<p>The policies and negotiations constructed and defended by politicians over the last 25 years is, as Burley observes, something of a theatre. Critics might suggest it’s more of a circus in which untruthfulness has become second nature. In the words of post-interview Paddy Ashdown, “I had to say something to get out of the hole.”</p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Amelia Hadfield, head of politics at the University of Surrey</em></p>
<h2>Brexit Unfolded by Chris Grey</h2>
<p>There are some great books on Brexit out there, but if I had to pick just one, it would be Brexit Unfolded by Chris Grey, the new edition of which has just been published. </p>
<p>Grey is a former academic whose brilliant <a href="https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/">long-form blog</a> has gained something of a cult (and then a mass) following among people keen to gain a deeper understanding of the conduct during, and implications of, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. He has written a passionate-yet-penetrating work that covers the economics, the politics and the diplomacy of Britain’s tortuous departure from the bloc.</p>
<p>Forensically detailed and footnoted but approachably written, this book is an invaluable guide to what Grey (and, if the polls are <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/987347/brexit-opinion-poll/#">to be believed</a>, more and more Brits) clearly regards as a very bad idea, if not an unmitigated disaster. </p>
<p>For anyone wanting a deep dive into the whole sorry (and, sadly, ongoing) mess, this is the truly authoritative account of the post-referendum era. When you’ve finished it (and providing your anger at those responsible hasn’t totally boiled over), you can then subscribe, for free, to his weekly blog for updates. </p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London</em></p>
<h2>Finding Home: A Windrush Story by Alford and Howard Gardner</h2>
<p>This year marked the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/windrush-75-139220">75th anniversary</a> of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain. This book eloquently chronicles that 1948 voyage and the journey of Alford Dalrymple Gardner, one of its passengers. An intimate and poignant narrative, it encapsulates the resilience and determination of Caribbean migrants and settlers.</p>
<p>Gardner vividly recounts his service in the British military during the second world war, his initial encounters in Britain, and eventual migration aboard the Empire Windrush. He shares stories about the challenges he faced upon arrival in a country not always welcoming to those of his heritage. </p>
<p>The narrative captures the essence of Gardner’s resilience, and his eventual establishment of a fulfilling life and family in an often unwelcoming environment. It transcends mere historical documentation, serving as a first-hand, sometimes humorous testament to the courage and sacrifices of those who paved the way for future generations to call Britain home. </p>
<p>Finding Home is an exceptional addition to the collection of Windrush literature, and exemplifies the power of storytelling to articulate the complexities of cultural identity. </p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Les Johnson, founder and chair of the National Windrush Museum and researcher in black popular culture at Birmingham City University</em></p>
<h2>The Liberal Democrats: From Hope to Despair to Where? by David Cutts, Andrew Russell and Joshua Townsley</h2>
<p>As a member of the Liberal Democrats, the slow car crash of the 2015 election is still burned into my brain. The temptation to read parts of this book through my fingers was great at times, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of it.</p>
<p>As we look towards a general election increasingly dominated by the polling gap between Labour and the Conservatives, it is tempting to ask why a book about a third party helps our understanding of the political landscape.</p>
<p>The Lib Dems are impressively persistent and present. Former leader Tim Farron <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/05/10/the-cockroach-party-britains-lib-dems-cling-on">once joked</a> that after a nuclear holocaust, we would be left with cockroaches – and Lib Dems campaigning against the cockroaches. This is a party, in other words, which survives.</p>
<p>David Cutts, Andrew Russell and Joshua Townsley are longtime observers of the party and its significance. Drawing on British election survey material alongside a host of other sources, they interrogate not just why things happened, but what the party’s future prospects might be.</p>
<p>Lib Dem candidates will of course win seats, byelection victories will continue to come, and local parties will take control of councils. But their real destiny, the authors argue, may be to become “change agents rather than electoral victors”.</p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Paula Keaveney, senior lecturer in politics at Edge Hill University</em></p>
<h2>The Trials by Dawn King</h2>
<p>The world is sliding toward irreversible environmental catastrophe, and it’s the next generation who must cope with the disaster. It’s a measure of the relevance of Dawn King’s powerful play that, while it is set in the future, it feels like a future that might be very near indeed.</p>
<p>In it, a group of 12 teenagers conduct a bizarre legal process, denouncing the adults of the generation above and trying them for environmental crimes. The adults are only allowed a brief monologue to justify their actions, and the entire process takes barely 15 minutes to deal with each of them.</p>
<p>The defendants are a representative group who make the arguments we all tell ourselves. There’s the well-off businessman who has lived a comfortable life, for which he now feels regret. There’s the liberal author who claims she has always tried to do her bit to protect the environment. And, there’s the oil executive who confesses her guilt and throws herself at the mercy of the court. The teenagers must then decide their fate.</p>
<p>The trouble is teenagers are not always diligent and dutiful: they get bored, angry, distracted. The process is neither fair nor thorough, and there is a sense that the whole thing is just random and vengeful. Moreover, there is something deeply troubling about the younger generation turning on the adults. This is a warning for the present as much as the future, where the political “adults” stand charged with gross negligence, but can only offer lame excuses while continuing to cover for vested interests. </p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill, lecturer in creative writing at the Open University</em></p>
<h2>Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala</h2>
<p>Natives is a beautifully written memoir that explores themes of race, racism and the post-colonial experience in Britain through the life of Akala (or Kingslee James McLean Daley). A compelling writer, Akala’s wit and intellect beams throughout the book as he skilfully navigates the complexities of structural racism, making it accessible even to those who find such concepts abstract. </p>
<p>Vividly recounting his upbringing as a poor, mixed-race person in the politically charged Britain of the 1980s and ’90s, he uses personal experiences to illuminate and flesh out these intricate themes. For some, this will be a difficult book to read, because it forces you to face the reality of what Britain is and has been for many people of colour. As a young man, Akala faced discrimination at the hands of law enforcement and even his schoolteachers – his experiences will speak to many. </p>
<p>Akala writes this book as a successful rapper, poet and activist. While no longer poor, he does not adopt the tone of “well, if I can make it despite these experiences, so can you”. Instead, he forces us to grapple with the fact that he has made it in life despite such levels of racism. He views his escape from poverty not as a sign of personal exceptionalism, but as a reflection of the unpredictable and unjust nature of race, class and privilege. </p>
<p>With the current government involving racial politics in its agenda (as seen in its <a href="https://theconversation.com/minority-ethnic-politicians-are-pushing-harsh-immigration-policies-why-representation-doesnt-always-mean-racial-justice-206885">approach to immigration policy</a>), this is a relevant book that will help readers rise to the challenge of calling out structural racism in society. </p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Michael Bankole, lecturer in politics at Royal Holloway University of London</em></p>
<h2>The Plot: the Political Assassination of Boris Johnson by Nadine Dorries</h2>
<p>At dusk, in a country punch-drunk from pandemics and populism, this book stands out as a beacon, illuminating conspiracies and conservatives both inside parliament and outside: <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/media/itv-nigel-farage-im-a-celeb-2775275?ico=most_popular">in jungles</a>, on GB News and TalkTV (<a href="https://watch.talk.tv/shows/c5aea154-9e5d-11ed-a950-020f80c0527e">the author’s own berth</a>). Each a battleground in the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/battles-on-the-backbenches-what-are-the-different-factions-in-the-conservative-party-12964275">Conservatives’ civil war</a> which will commence the moment the exit polls are revealed one Thursday evening next year.</p>
<p>A page-turner of a political potboiler, this has more than a single plot. The denouement of one has a country seemingly unable to function – and not least its government, elected with a substantial majority only four years before. A second plotline has three prime ministers, four chancellors and four home secretaries in four months, a cast turnover fit for a CSI: Westminster. Another culminates in that third prime minister, unelected by his colleagues, his activists or the electorate, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-04/sunak-polling-worse-than-truss-with-key-uk-voters-study-finds?leadSource=uverify%20wall">polling lower than his derided predecessor</a>. Each a plot worthy of Ian Fleming, whose characters inexplicably infiltrate these pages. </p>
<p>Suitably, this catalogue of censure – creature of the author and her publisher’s lawyers – owes its existence to her being <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65888166">denied a lifetime peerage</a>. It is peppered with assaults on Rishi Sunak, Dominic Cummings and, <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1834198/Nadine-Dorries-Michael-Gove-BBC-protest">especially</a>, Michael Gove.</p>
<p>Throughout, irreproachable, sits the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/08/claims-and-conspiracies-and-pulling-the-trigger-on-johnson-dorries-book-tells-all">“coiled mamba”</a>, to the adoration of whom all this serves. What an age it has been. A time capsule to convey the Britain of 2023 need contain only this publication.</p>
<p><em>Reviewed by Martin Farr, senior lecturer in contemporary British history at Newcastle University</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula Keaveney is a member of the Liberal Democrats</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amelia Hadfield, Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill, Les Johnson, Martin Farr, Michael Bankole, and Tim Bale do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With an election on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to curl up with one of our expert recommendations.Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of LondonAmelia Hadfield, Head of Department of Politics, University of SurreyDónall Mac Cathmhaoill, Lecturer in Creative Writing, The Open UniversityLes Johnson, Visiting Research Fellow, Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City UniversityMartin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History, Newcastle UniversityMichael Bankole, Lecturer in Politics, Royal Holloway University of LondonPaula Keaveney, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200652023-12-20T17:06:16Z2023-12-20T17:06:16ZThe seven best books of 2023 reviewed by our experts<p><em>We have covered a lot of new releases this year but these seven really impressed our experts. There’s a feminist retelling of a classic, a twist on the murder mystery from the greatest voice in horror and a giggle-inducing ride through the Middle Ages – not mention one of the most hotly anticipated autobiographies of all time.</em></p>
<h2>1. The Fraud by Zadie Smith</h2>
<p>Zadie Smith’s latest novel, The Fraud, is her first foray into the world of historical fiction. The result is a stunning, well-studied examination of Victorian colonial England and some of its inhabitants.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uJK8ACIRAgc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>As with other works by Smith, the novel takes a patchwork approach, with several interwoven plots taking place over a period of about 50 years. Centrally placed in the plot is the real-life and highly bizarre trial of a man claiming to be a Sir Roger Tichborne, thought to have been killed at sea and heir to a substantial fortune.</p>
<p>The absurd and very long trial, which had people from all communities in 1870s England hooked, is seen in the novel through the eyes of Eliza Touchet, cousin and companion of William Ainsworth, a novelist well known in Victorian England but relatively forgotten today.</p>
<p><em>By Leighan M. Renaud, Lecturer in Caribbean Literatures and Cultures</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fraud-by-zadie-smith-review-a-dazzling-depiction-of-victorian-colonial-england-212808">The Fraud by Zadie Smith review: a dazzling depiction of Victorian colonial England</a></p>
<h2>2. Holly by Stephen King</h2>
<p>At the age of 76, with nearly 70 novels and short story collections behind him, American author Stephen King shows few signs of slowing down. His latest novel Holly, hefty in scale and elaborate in plotting, is the work of an energetic writer, not one who is getting tired.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cEsRSQcy_Q0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The book is a compelling composite of the crime and horror genres, as addictive as the cigarettes which the title character finds herself smoking, as she investigates a spate of abductions in a midwest town.</p>
<p>One of the incidental pleasures offered by Holly is its allusion to books from earlier in King’s long literary career. The terrifying incarceration experienced by the novel’s victims, for example, recalls that of the central figure in Misery (1987). A reference to blood poured over a high school prom queen summons up thoughts of Carrie (1974), King’s first novel.</p>
<p>That said, this new book shows King experimenting and innovating, rather than simply being content to reactivate the tropes of his previous fiction.</p>
<p><em>By Andrew Dix, Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Film</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/holly-by-stephen-king-a-timely-work-of-crime-fiction-about-not-judging-a-book-by-its-cover-214649">Holly by Stephen King: a timely work of crime fiction about not judging a book by its cover</a></p>
<h2>3.Julia by Sandra Newman</h2>
<p>Given the relatively cardboard cut-out nature of the original character in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the foregrounding of [Julia’s] sexual experiences and sexuality as well as her early life gives her a vitality in this retelling lacking in Orwell’s portrait.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgrantabooks%2Fvideos%2F601472464780643%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="100%" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>
<p>This is not so surprising. Orwell’s female characters (even Dorothy Hare, the eponymous heroine of A Clergyman’s Daughter, 1935) tend to be slight figures. By contrast, Newman’s Julia Worthing is anchored and adventurous. She’s willing to take risks and to suffer for her actions in ways that might seem unlikely if not impossible with Orwell’s Julia.</p>
<p><em>By Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History and Peter Marks, Emeritus Professor in English and Writing</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/julia-by-sandra-newman-a-vibrant-retelling-of-george-orwells-nineteen-eighty-four-215735">Julia by Sandra Newman: a vibrant retelling of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four</a></p>
<h2>4. Victory City by Salman Rushdie</h2>
<p>Victory City is an epic chronicle of the rise and fall of Vijayanagar (the capital city of the historic southern Indian Vijayanagara empire), which acquires the name “Bisnaga” through ill-fated attempts at pronunciation by a Portuguese traveller … Throughout the novel, Rushdie explores the process of writing history – how it is recorded and how significance is apportioned. As Pampa Kampana states: “History is the consequence not only of people’s actions but also their forgetfulness.”</p>
<p>Rushdie is interested in how history is argued over and rewritten in contemporary moments. In particular, he takes aim at the populist exploitation of historical narratives for political gain. We hear that “fictions could be as powerful as histories” and that – paradoxically – “they were no more than make believe but they created truth”.</p>
<p><em>By Florian Stadtler, Lecturer in Literature and Migration</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/salman-rushdies-victory-city-review-a-storyteller-at-the-height-of-his-powers-199619">Salman Rushdie’s Victory City review: a storyteller at the height of his powers</a></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-seven-best-tv-shows-of-2023-reviewed-by-our-experts-218196">The seven best TV shows of 2023 reviewed by our experts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears</h2>
<p>Britney Spears’ new memoir, The Woman in Me, illustrates once again the potential lifelong damage that can be caused by being a child star. Like many before her, including Judy Garland and Michael Jackson, Spears was ushered into the dangerous terrain of childhood fame by the adults who were supposed to be protecting her, and was utterly unprepared to deal with the fallout.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oYXBBIdrzzg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Spears’ father’s conservatorship, controlling every aspect of her personal and professional life, was finally rescinded in 2021. She is now able to share the details of her extraordinary years in the limelight and beyond.</p>
<p><em>By Jane O’Connor, Reader in Childhood Studies</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/britney-spears-memoir-is-a-reminder-of-the-stigma-and-potential-damage-of-child-stardom-216545">Britney Spears’ memoir is a reminder of the stigma and potential damage of child stardom</a></p>
<h2>6. My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand</h2>
<p>As a diva, Streisand has consistently defied instructions not to do something by doubling up her efforts. For example, at the start of her career when she was auditioning for record labels, one of the executives said she had a nice voice but was “too ethnic”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DhBbHJJC_p0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Her response was to loudly embrace her Jewish identity. She played explicitly Jewish characters in her first two and only stage roles, in the musicals I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962) and Funny Girl (1964). She refused to get a nose job and drew attention to her nose a lot in her work. And she co-wrote, produced, directed and appeared in the hit film Yentl (1983), about a Jewish woman who pretends to be a man in order to get an education.</p>
<p>Success has often come to Streisand by doing things people have told her not to do: a twist on the negative diva trope.</p>
<p><em>By Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, Professor of Musicology</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/barbra-streisands-autobiography-my-name-is-barbra-shows-how-she-redefined-the-diva-217328">Barbra Streisand’s autobiography My Name is Barbra shows how she redefined the diva</a></p>
<h2>7. Weird Medieval Guys by Olivia Swarthout</h2>
<p>Packed full of satire, stunning imagery and interactive maps and quizzes, Weird Medieval Guys is a deep-dive into some of the most extraordinary – and quirky – aspects of medieval daily life. This little book, which should appeal to older children as well as adults, is split into two parts: The Struggle: Surviving Life, Love, and Death, and The Bestiary.</p>
<p>Weird Medieval Guys is a riot, packed full of brilliant medieval facts. Its author, Olivia Swarthout, has been creative in using quizzes and puzzles to engage readers who might like history but don’t get on with dense scholarly texts in the wonderful, wacky world that is the Middle Ages.</p>
<p>What is particularly evident to me as an expert in medieval literature, is the number of hours she has spent consulting digitised manuscripts from the first century onwards, as well as old and recent scholarship on medieval manuscript culture and life in general.</p>
<p><em>By Madeleine S Killacky, PhD Candidate in Medieval Literature</em></p>
<p><strong>Read our full review:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/weird-medieval-guys-this-deeply-researched-book-takes-you-on-a-romp-through-the-middle-ages-217138">Weird Medieval Guys: this deeply researched book takes you on a romp through the Middle Ages</a></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These books had our academics gripped until their final pages.Leighan M Renaud, Lecturer in Caribbean Literatures and Cultures, Department of English, University of BristolAndrew Dix, Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Film, Loughborough UniversityDominic Broomfield-McHugh, Professor of Musicology, University of SheffieldFlorian Stadtler, Lecturer in Literature and Migration, University of BristolJane O’Connor, Reader in Childhood Studies, Birmingham City UniversityMadeleine S. Killacky, PhD Candidate, Medieval Literature, Bangor UniversitySimon Potter, Professor of Modern History, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2179882023-12-14T15:54:09Z2023-12-14T15:54:09Z‘American Fiction’ is a scathing satire that challenges pop-culture stereotypes of Blackness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563028/original/file-20231201-27-tecr8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=134%2C0%2C4250%2C2910&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Erika Alexander is Coraline and Jeffrey Wright is Monk in 'American Fiction.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Claire Folger/Orion)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In this episode, Vinita sits down with two experts to break down the many layers — and Black stereotypes — in the much anticipated new film, American Fiction.</em></p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/edde9889-d430-40cb-b879-4b21d58d2936?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The lead character of the new movie <em>American Fiction</em> is Monk. He’s a Black man but never feels ‘Black’ enough: he graduated from Harvard, his siblings are doctors, he doesn’t play basketball and he writes literary novels. </p>
<p>Directed and written by former journalist Cord Jefferson, <em>American Fiction</em> won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it has its much anticipated North American release in theatres this month. It’s been called an “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/10/american-fiction-review-cord-jefferson-jeffrey-wright">incisive literary satire</a>” by the <em>Guardian</em>. </p>
<p>The film, starring Jeffrey Wright, is an adaption of the 2001 novel <em>Erasure</em> by Percival Everett. The book and the film are centred on Monk, a novelist who’s fed up with a white-led publishing industry that profits from Black entertainment and tired tropes. As a Black man who thinks about race but also rages against having to talk about it, Monk gets so frustrated that he decides to poke fun of those who uncritically consume what they are sold as “Black culture.”</p>
<p>He uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own. It’s about “thug life” and is called “My Pafology.” But plot twist: his attempt at satire is lost on his audience and the book ends up becoming wildly successful. Suddenly, Monk is among those profiting off the stereotypes he so despises. The rest of the story explores “<a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/american-fiction-review-jeffrey-wright-1235718392/">the unfairness of asking individual artists to represent the entire Black experience</a>.”</p>
<p>In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, Prof. Vershawn Ashanti Young of University of Waterloo and Prof. Anthony Stewart of Bucknell University join forces to break down the many layers of Monk’s story and why Black stereotypes remain so persistent in pop culture.</p>
<h2>Read more in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-stories-about-alternate-worlds-can-help-us-imagine-a-better-future-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-7-165933">How stories about alternate worlds can help us imagine a better future: Don't Call Me Resilient EP 7</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-appropriation-and-the-whiteness-of-book-publishing-79095">Cultural appropriation and the whiteness of book publishing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blackkklansman-a-deadly-serious-comedy-101432">'BlacKkKlansman' -- a deadly serious comedy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/harriet-tubman-film-does-not-deserve-the-twitter-hate-127493">Harriet Tubman film does not deserve the Twitter hate</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/american-fiction-asks-who-gets-to-decide-blackness-219704">'American Fiction' asks who gets to decide Blackness</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://lsupress.org/9780807172643/"><em>Approximate Gestures: Infinite Spaces in the Fiction of Percival Everett</em></a> by Anthony Stewart</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/08/awards-insider-first-look-american-fiction">First Look: American Fiction Challenges Hollywood’s “Poverty of Imagination” About Black People </a> (<em>Vanity Fair</em>)</p>
<p>“<a href="https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/how-amos-n-andy-paved-the-way-for-black-stars-on-tv.html">How Amos ’n’ Andy paved the way for Black Stars on TV</a>” (<em>Slate</em>)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/native-son-richard-wright?variant=41224345419810"><em>Native Son</em></a> by Richard Wright</p>
<h2>Listen and follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_mJBLBznANz6ID9rBCUk7gv_ZRC4Og9-">YouTube</a> or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dontcallmeresilientpodcast/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i0MbLCpYJPA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for ‘American Fiction’ (Orion)</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In this episode, Vinita sits down with two experts to break down the many layers — and Black stereotypes — in the much anticipated new film, ‘American Fiction.’Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientDannielle Piper, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me Resilient, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145202023-12-08T13:35:54Z2023-12-08T13:35:54ZMichigan is spending $107M more on pre-K − here’s what the money will buy<p><em>About <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/YB2022_FullReport.pdf">one-third</a> of the nation’s 4-year-olds are enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs.</em></p>
<p><em>In Michigan, 32% of 4-year-olds attend the state’s public pre-K program. However, the state has invested an additional <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/08/16/expansions-to-gsrp-will-benefit-thousands-of-children-and-families">US$107 million</a> from its 2023-24 budget to educate 4-year-olds, 20% more money compared to the prior year.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://marsal.umich.edu/directory/faculty-staff/christina-j-weiland">Christina Weiland</a>, associate professor of education at the University of Michigan, and <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/ajay-chaudry">Ajay Chaudry</a>, research scholar at New York University, are co-authors of “<a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/cradle-kindergarten-2ndEdition">Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality</a>,” a book about how to make affordable, high-quality early care and education available for all U.S. families.</em></p>
<p><em>Here, they answer five questions about Michigan’s new investment in preschool education.</em></p>
<p><strong>How many kids attend public pre-K in Michigan?</strong></p>
<p>Michigan’s <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/early-childhood-education/early-learners-and-care/gsrp">Great Start Readiness Program</a> is a voluntary public pre-K program for 4-year-olds operating in all but one of Michigan’s 83 counties. Classrooms are offered in both public schools and in community-based partner organizations.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">majority of children</a> who attend qualify based on their family’s income. Kids whose parents earn up to 300% of the federal poverty line, or <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1c92a9207f3ed5915ca020d58fe77696/detailed-guidelines-2023.pdf">$90,000 for a family of 4</a>, are eligible. Children can also <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/gsrp/implementation/risk_factor_definitions.pdf?rev=578c7255aee44ef4a94199f6956bf3d8">gain access to the program</a> if they have a disability, at least one of their parents has not graduated from high school or is illiterate, or English is not the primary language in their home. </p>
<p>In the 2021-22 school year, <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">the program operated</a> in 2,524 classrooms and enrolled 30,872 children across Michigan. By our team’s estimates, enrollment increased to 33,200 in 2022-23. </p>
<p><iframe id="JAMAW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JAMAW/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>What are the strengths of the program, and where could it do better?</strong> </p>
<p>Michigan is <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/YB2022_FullReport.pdf">one of only five states</a> to meet all 10 quality benchmarks set by the National Institute for Early Education Research, a research institution based at Rutgers University. </p>
<p>Some of the program’s notable strengths include requiring universal developmental and health screenings for students, offering in-classroom coaching for all Great Start teachers and requiring lead teachers to have a college degree and specialized early education training. Nationally, only about half of state pre-K programs require a college degree for teachers and only about a third require coaching. </p>
<p>Like all state-funded pre-K programs, Great Start also has some room for improvement. In a recent <a href="https://edpolicy.umich.edu/sites/epi/files/2023-12/MI%20Pre-K%20for%20All%20Report_v8_0.pdf">policy brief</a>, our team highlighted several critical areas for further investment. For example, there are large gaps in pay and benefits for Great Start teachers compared with K-12 teachers in the state. <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">These gaps</a> amount to an average of $17,500 less per year for state pre-K teachers in public schools and $25,000 less per year for those in community-based programs. </p>
<p>These pay gaps help explain why 18% of lead teachers and 28% of assistant teachers still needed additional courses to meet the program’s educational requirements in the 2021-22 school year. </p>
<p>Pay parity for Great Start teachers would help Michigan school systems recruit additional qualified teachers. In 2021-22, <a href="https://cep.msu.edu/upload/gsrp/GSRP%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf">the vacancy rate</a> was 4% for lead teachers and 6% for assistant teachers.</p>
<p>Also, Michigan ranks <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SE_FullReport.pdf">near the bottom</a> of states in early childhood inclusion, a model that allows children with special needs to attend preschool alongside their typically developing peers.</p>
<p>And finally, just as in most public pre-K programs nationally, most Great Start classrooms use curricula that have been repeatedly outperformed by other options. Children – especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds – learn more from <a href="https://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/resources/FINAL_SRCDCEB-CurriculaCoaching.pdf">evidence-based curricula</a>. However, less effective curricula persist in preschool programs around the country due in part to the history of early childhood education but also because of policy decisions.</p>
<p><strong>What is Michigan’s new investment slated to fund?</strong></p>
<p>The $107 million in additional funding for Great Start covers three critical areas. </p>
<p>First, new funding is meant to increase the number of children served and get kids off waitlists. </p>
<p>Second, additional funding is targeted to better meet the needs of working families. Historically, Great Start programs have served children four days per week for 30 weeks per year. With this new investment, some programs will offer children instruction five days per week and 36 weeks per year, bringing Great Start in line with the public school calendar. The expanded schedule stands to boost child learning, better match family work schedules and enable some families who were previously shut out to enroll.</p>
<p>Finally, $35 million is slated for classroom startup grants of $25,000 to help open new classrooms and expand existing programs in public schools and community-based organizations. </p>
<p><strong>What does research say about the benefits of public pre-K?</strong></p>
<p>Decades of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/puzzling-it-out-the-current-state-of-scientific-knowledge-on-pre-kindergarten-effects/">rigorous research</a> show that children who attend high-quality pre-K programs are more ready for kindergarten, meaning they have on average stronger language, literacy, math, social emotional and executive function skills than their peers who did not attend preschool. Dual-language learners, children of color, children from families with low incomes and children with disabilities <a href="https://www.srcd.org/news/investing-our-future-evidence-base-preschool-education">particularly benefit</a> from high-quality pre-K. </p>
<p>Pre-K also <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/effects-universal-preschool-washington-d-c/">supports families</a> by giving parents time to work. </p>
<p>The benefits of preschool can <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/puzzling-it-out-the-current-state-of-scientific-knowledge-on-pre-kindergarten-effects/">last into adulthood</a>, improving high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates and the long-term health of kids who attend.</p>
<p>Families with higher incomes in the U.S. have historically had <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/do-we-already-have-universal-preschool/">more access</a> to high-quality preschool than families with less means. Public pre-K programs help fill that gap.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young Black boy pushes a car along a colorful playmat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562226/original/file-20231128-23-czpy93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children who attend high-quality preschools can reap benefits into adulthood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/boy-playing-chevrolet-camaro-toy-on-floor-3BztcJxliEM">Segun Osunyomi/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What’s next in Michigan?</strong></p>
<p>Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/01/26/michigans-children-to-benefit-from-governor-whitmers-education-proposals">announced intentions</a> to continue to expand public pre-K, including a goal of offering universal pre-K to all Michigan 4-year-olds by <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2023/08/16/expansions-to-gsrp-will-benefit-thousands-of-children-and-families">the end of 2026</a>.</p>
<p>To date, only six states – Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin – plus D.C. have achieved <a href="https://nieer.org/the-state-of-preschool-yearbook-2022">universal preschool</a> for 4-year-olds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina J. Weiland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scholars who study disparities in early care and education answer five questions about Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program.Christina J. Weiland, Associate Professor of Education, University of MichiganAjay Chaudry, Research Scholar, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2074252023-11-20T19:00:42Z2023-11-20T19:00:42ZThe Ethical Slut has been called ‘the bible’ of non-monogamy – but its sexual utopia is oversimplified<p><em>Our cultural touchstones series looks at books that have made an impact.</em></p>
<p>In 2022, University of Melbourne evolutionary psychologist Dr Khandis Blake <a href="https://www.houseofwellness.com.au/wellbeing/relationships/polyamorous-relationships">estimated that among young people</a>, “around 4-5 per cent of people might be involved in a polyamorous relationship, and about 20 per cent have probably tried one”. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/more-romantic-partners-means-more-support-say-polyamorous-couples-125867">Polyamory</a> statistics in Australia are limited. But <a href="https://blogs.iu.edu/kinseyinstitute/2022/06/17/polyamory-and-consensual-non-monogamy-in-the-us/">recent research</a> in the US shows just over 11% of people are currently in polyamorous relationships, while 20% have engaged in some form of non-monogamy. In the UK, just under <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/relationships/trackers/how-brits-feel-about-polyamory">10% of people </a> would be open to a non-monogamous relationship. </p>
<p>“To us, a slut is a person of any gender who celebrates sexuality according to the radical proposition that sex is nice and pleasure is good for you,” write the co-authors of <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-ethical-slut-third-edition-9780399579660">The Ethical Slut</a>, a now-classic guide to non-monogamy (tagged “the Poly Bible”). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559819/original/file-20231116-19-owcqp7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Janet W. Hardy and Dossie Easton are the co-authors of The Ethical Slut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/105320/dossie-easton/">Stephanie Mohan/Penguin Random House</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When it was first published more than 25 years ago, the book shattered social norms and stigma around non-traditional relationship styles. Now in its third edition, revised to address cultural changes like gender diversity and new technological innovations (like dating apps), it has sold over 200,000 copies since its first publication in 1997.</p>
<p>As a non-monogamous practitioner myself, I welcome literature that aims to destigmatise relationships that sit outside monogamy. </p>
<p>Sexual educator Janet W. Hardy and psychotherapist Dossie Easton, two self-described queer, polyamorous “ethical sluts” – friends, lovers and frequent collaborators – bring readers into their world of multiple partners and multiple kinds of sex. It encourages them to think about their own desires, and how they might be achieved in ethical ways.</p>
<p>Easton decided against monogamy after leaving a traumatic relationship, with a newborn daughter, in 1969. She taught her first class in “unlearning jealousy” in 1973. Hardy left a 13-year marriage in 1988, after realising she was no longer interested in monogamy. The pair met in 1992, through a San Francisco BDSM group.</p>
<p>Two years later, sick in bed, Hardy stumbled on the film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107211/">Indecent Proposal</a>, where a marriage crumbles after millionaire Robert Redford offers a madly-in-love (but struggling with money) married couple, played by Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore, a million dollars for one night with Demi.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gIM004ECWhQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The 1993 film Indecent Proposal sparked The Ethical Slut.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“A million dollars and Robert Redford, and they have a problem with this? It made no sense to me,” Hardy <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/the-ethical-slut-inside-americas-growing-acceptance-of-polyamory-112319/">told Rolling Stone</a>. “I really got it at that point, how distant I had become from mainstream sexual ethics.” And so she reached out to Easton to propose they collaborate on a book on non-monogamy.</p>
<p>The Ethical Slut is a significant guide to navigating sexual freedom, open relationships and polyamory – responsibly and thoughtfully. It’s aimed at readers exploring non-monogamy, or supporting loved ones to do so.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hook-ups-pansexuals-and-holy-connection-love-in-the-time-of-millennials-and-generation-z-182226">Hook-ups, pansexuals and holy connection: love in the time of millennials and Generation Z</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is The Ethical Slut?</h2>
<p>The book is divided into four parts, each offering mental exercises to help readers embrace a sexually diverse lifestyle. It aims to support those interested in exploring non-monogamous relationships, free from stigma or shame.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559820/original/file-20231116-26-nj8mzr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first part offers an overview of non-monogamy. An ethical slut approaches their relationships with communication and care for their partner(s), whether casual or committed, while staying true to their desires.</p>
<p>In the second part, the authors urge readers to break free from the “<a href="https://sydneyinclusivecounselling.com.au/the-ways-the-concept-of-starvation-economy-negatively-affects-both-monogamous-and-non-monogamous-relationships/#:%7E:text=It%20is%20a%20core%20belief,similar%20but%20also%20different%20ways.">starvation economy</a>” mindset, which conditions us to think love and intimacy are scarce resources. This is what leads to fear and possessiveness in dating, sex and relationships, they explain.</p>
<p>In part three, readers learn how to handle jealousy and insecurity, while managing conflicts effectively.</p>
<p>Finally, the authors cover various non-monogamous sexual practices. There are tips for navigating swinging and open relationships as a single person, group sex (orgies), and advice on asking for what you want in a sexual encounter. </p>
<h2>‘Everything’s out on a big buffet’</h2>
<p>The Ethical Slut’s appeal lies in its ability to help people shift their mindset about monogamy, in a society where other forms of relationships have often been deemed immoral. (Though this is changing.)</p>
<p>Co-author Hardy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/25/truth-about-polyamory-monogamy-open-relationships">told the Guardian</a> in 2018:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What I’m seeing among young people is that they don’t have the same need to self-define by what they like to do in bed, or in relationships, like my generation did. Everything’s out on a big buffet, and they try a little of everything.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Five years later, in 2023, many celebrities openly identify as polyamorous. Ezra Miller has talked about his “<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-polycule-an-expert-on-polyamory-explains-195083">polycule</a>” (a network of people in non-monogamous relationships with one another), musician Yungblud has called himself polyamorous, and Shailene Woodley has been in and out of open relationships. </p>
<p>Books like Neil Strauss’s <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-game">The Game</a> (2005) view sex and relationships as ongoing competitions, requiring varied strategies to effectively land a partner. Instead, The Ethical Slut encourages developing genuine, consensual connections through communication and honesty. Relationships are seen as fluid and open to change, with endings viewed as opportunities for growth and development, not failures. </p>
<p>Rather than teach readers to mimic a social norm that will “win” them sex or relationships, The Ethical Slut pushes readers to think beyond what is “normal”. </p>
<p>Dating apps like <a href="https://feeld.co/">Feeld</a>, <a href="https://polyfinda.com/">PolyFinda</a> and <a href="https://www.okcupid.com/">OkCupid</a> enable individuals to link profiles with their partners, promoting transparency and openness about their relationship status and desire for diverse sexual experiences.</p>
<p>And more books with varied and nuanced takes on non-monogamy have emerged since 1997, such as <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/More-Than-Two-Practical-Polyamory/dp/0991399706">More than Two</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Opening-Up-Tristan-Taormino/dp/157344295X">Opening Up</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Many-Love-Memoir-Polyamory-Finding/dp/1501189786">Many Love</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ethical-non-monogamy-what-to-know-about-these-often-misunderstood-relationships-200785">Ethical non-monogamy: what to know about these often misunderstood relationships</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A utopian mirage?</h2>
<p>There’s much to appreciate in the messages The Ethical Slut conveys. However, it’s framed with a utopia in mind – one that doesn’t quite exist. </p>
<p>A key aspect of this book is challenging the starvation economy that influences monogamous relationships. In an ideal world, breaking free from this mindset about love and intimacy seems like paradise. The idea of loving more than one person is beautiful, connected and certainly achievable. But it’s also a significant challenge. </p>
<p>For many, longing for love and connection is not just a concept but a real, lived experience. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/why-bad-looks-good/202212/what-happens-when-you-withhold-emotion-from-your-partner">Withholding affection</a> in relationships can be emotionally abusive and manipulative. It’s essential to recognise non-monogamous people may still be susceptible to – or even perpetuate – these behaviours.</p>
<p>The authors present themselves as spiritually and morally enlightened in their non-monogamous choices and their sexual practices. Monogamy is framed as a negative byproduct of a regressive culture, rather than a genuine choice in its own right. Substance use is severely frowned on, echoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-have-used-drugs-with-sex-for-millennia-the-reasons-are-much-broader-than-you-think-151133">longstanding taboos</a> around the use of drugs in sexual play. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559860/original/file-20231116-25-3bn4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ethical Slut frames monogamy as ‘a negative byproduct of a regressive culture’, rather than a choice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cottonbro Studio/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Ethical Slut makes universal assumptions about people’s experiences without considering broader social and personal influences. For instance, the section on flirting assumes a global understanding on what constitutes flirting cues between people. It lacks cultural, gendered and neurodiversity awareness.</p>
<h2>Rejecting sex is not always easy</h2>
<p>The authors assert “being asked [for sex], even by someone you don’t find attractive, is a compliment and deserves a thank-you”. Yet a simple “Thank you, I am not interested” is not always easy. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0265407519865615">Research has shown</a> women need to find ways to gently reject cisgender, heterosexual men to avoid violence (like “I have a boyfriend/husband”). And many men often do not take no as an answer. Thanking men for compliments can also lead to further <a href="https://www.stylist.co.uk/people/women-agree-with-compliments-tinder-message-dating-feminista-jones/33760">hostility and aggression</a>.</p>
<p>The authors advocate for women to say yes more, assuming women only say no due to shame and stigma. But the real fear of experiencing violence is a major deterrent. For example, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-14050-1_7">recent research</a> in the UK on recreational sex clubs has found that cisgender, heterosexual men may show sexual interest in trans women, only to immediately become violent with them. </p>
<p>These assumptions are echoed in discussions about barrier methods, sexual health testing, birth control and abortion options. The Ethical Slut assumes everyone has equitable access to sexual health education, and reproductive health services and products.</p>
<p>Yet the overturn of <a href="https://theconversation.com/roe-v-wade-overturned-will-more-americans-travel-to-canada-and-mexico-for-abortions-185563">Roe vs Wade</a> in the US has shown this is not the case. People who experience menstruation and pregnancy are increasingly losing – or never had – those reproductive freedoms. </p>
<h2>Emotions are ‘choices’</h2>
<p>The book envisions an idealised world where emotion and logic unite to challenge social constructs of monogamy, possessiveness and control. It’s underpinned by a belief our <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/science-choice/201712/choose-your-feelings">emotions (including jealousy) are choices</a> we make about life events.</p>
<p>In The Ethical Slut, jealousy is solely attributed to the person experiencing it, overlooking its <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/jealousy#:%7E:text=Jealousy%20is%20a%20complex%20emotion,may%20be%20real%20or%20imagined.">complexity in various contexts</a>. Jealousy can be a sign of insecurity, grief or relationship issues, among other things. </p>
<p>Managing jealousy is presented as something an individual needs to address on their own. The book lacks guidance for dealing with partners who might contribute to jealousy by not fulfilling emotional needs, breaking boundaries, failing to communicating effectively, or purposely trying to evoke the feeling. </p>
<p>The person experiencing jealousy is held solely responsible for their emotion, ignoring the role of the non-jealous partner. Suggested responses, like “I’m sorry you feel that way, I have to go on my date now”, reaffirm this mindset. </p>
<p>Jealous partners are advised to write journal entries, practice mindfulness or go on a walk to deal with their emotion. In a book about sex that is fundamentally about relations with others, jealousy becomes lost in the hyperfocus on the individual.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559864/original/file-20231116-21-knacv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The person experiencing jealousy is held solely responsible for their emotion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vera Arsic/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The book’s explanation that emotions like jealousy are normal and natural, may emerge unexpectedly and should not be shamed, contradicts the idea that emotions are choices. People don’t necessarily choose to feel grief, anxiety, insecurity or sadness. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/intellectualization">Intellectualising emotions</a> as conscious choices does more <a href="https://www.innermelbpsychology.com.au/defence-mechanisms/">harm than good</a>. </p>
<p>The book also praises <a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a42111962/compersion/">compersion</a>, the act of feeling joy at your partner’s happiness – even with other partners – as a positive experience, possible when a partner feels secure. “A lot of us experience jealousy that we don’t want, so compersion can offer a pathway to a better place,” says Easton. Yet the book provides little guidance in how this can be achieved. </p>
<p>Compersion can also be <a href="https://www.polyphilia.blog/polyamory-tip-of-the-day">weaponised</a> against those who experience insecurities, with statements like “if you were really poly/non-monogamous, you’d feel compersion for me”. <a href="https://openrelating.love/compersion/">Some have suggested</a> compersion should be seen as a bonus, not a requirement, in non-monogamy. </p>
<h2>‘A too-perfect picture’</h2>
<p>Non-monogamists may face challenging conversations about emotional needs. The book’s advice assumes a certain level of emotional intelligence, experience and good intentions. It lacks guidance on dealing with emotionally unintelligent partners, malicious intentions, potential abuse, or what to do when conversations go terribly awry. </p>
<p>While I applaud the book’s push towards destigmatising non-monogamy, it paints a too-perfect picture. The odd sense of censorship is even there in its depictions of potential challenges, which seem cherry-picked to demonstrate a sense of ease with the lifestyle. </p>
<p>Stories about managing jealousy come to neat and tidy endings. One example is Janet’s story about falling in love with another partner and having the discussion about it with her “primary” partner. Her primary handles the discussion well and they go on to have a fulfilling relationship. There are few genuinely negative examples. </p>
<p>As a result, The Ethical Slut feels like it’s working to hide any potential downfalls to embracing a non-monogamous lifestyle. But providing examples of where things do not work and how people manage that could be quite useful. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the book is an important introduction to non-monogamy. Perhaps it’s best used as a stepping stone for deeper exploration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Waling receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Health</span></em></p>The publication 25 years ago of The Ethical Slut shattered social norms and stigma about non-monogamy. It’s now sold over 200,000 copies – and continues to be important.Andrea Waling, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow in Sex & Sexuality, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177492023-11-15T17:45:16Z2023-11-15T17:45:16ZSaltburn: why you should read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, the book that inspired the new film<p>Ever since I first read Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited as a master’s students many years ago, I have been smitten. Literary trends and fashions come and go, but I still return to Brideshead every couple of years for sheer reading pleasure.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly Waugh’s most famous novel, Brideshead Revisited was first published in 1945 after the second world war. Its narrative is deeply imbued with nostalgia for an unspoilt, quasi-mythical rural England of stately homes and bright young upper-class people that, it can be argued, never really existed in the first place. </p>
<p>Waugh’s protagonist is Charles Ryder, a young middle-class man with social aspirations, whio meets and befriends the upper-class Sebastian Flyte while at Oxford. Ryder is seduced by the easy charm and carefree attitude of Sebastian, an infatuation that only increases once Ryder accompanies Sebastian to his ancestral home, Brideshead, and meets his family. </p>
<p>This storyline is emulated in English director Emerald Fennel’s new film, Saltburn. The film follows Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), an awkward student who is trying to find his place at Oxford. Quick is taken under the wing of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to spend a memorable summer at his sprawling family estate Saltburn. </p>
<p>A riveting thriller, the film is also deeply nostalgic for an England of stately homes full of hedonistic, bright young things. It shows the timelessness of Waugh’s story and your appreciation for Saltburn will only be strengthened by getting to know the novel that inspired it.</p>
<h2>A lost upper-class world</h2>
<p>For Ryder, life at Brideshead offers glimpses into a world he aspires to – a world of connections, money, and an assured self-confidence that comes from generations of privilege. Seduced by the lifestyle, Ryder fails to see that Flyte battles his own demons and the pressures of his Catholic family. Eventually, Flyte succumbs to alcoholism and the friends lose touch with each other.</p>
<p>Years later, during a cruise, Ryder, now a relatively successful painter and unhappily married, meets Flyte’s sister Julia and the two start an affair. Both plan to divorce their respective partners and start a life together at Brideshead. But, once again, Ryder fails to read the signs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lALMdJf6UUE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Julia, also raised a Catholic, caves in to pressure and renounces the relationship, which her faith judges immoral and wrong. The novel ends as it has started – at a war-time Brideshead which, requisitioned by the army, has fallen into disrepair. Ryder now has also converted to Catholicism and is reminiscing about the past while seeking solace in the chapel.</p>
<p>This brief plot summary does not do justice to a novel that stands out because of its beautiful and haunting prose and its depictions of pre-war British society. Waugh was a gifted writer and the evocation of a lost upper-class world was something particularly close to his own heart. </p>
<p>Brought up in a literary middle-class family – his father was the writer, publisher and literary critic <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Times/1943/Obituary/Arthur_Waugh">Arthur Waugh</a>, his older brother was the novelist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alec-Waugh">Alexander “Alec” Waugh</a> – he had considerable social aspirations. Barred from Eton due to the scandalous publication of his brother’s novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1205804.The_Loom_of_Youth">The Loom of Youth</a> (1917), he was educated at Lancing College and Oxford University. </p>
<p>Waugh always maintained that not having been at Eton precluded him from being fully accepted by his many upper-class friends. After a brief – and pretty disastrous – career as a public-school teacher, Waugh turned to writing full-time, both as a journalist and as a novelist. </p>
<p>His early novels stand for through their social satire and modernist style, satirising the fast and furious lifestyle of what he came to term the “<a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Bright-Young-Things/">Bright Young Things</a>” of upper-class society, flitting from entertainment to entertainment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-1920s-high-society-fashion-pushed-gender-boundaries-through-freaking-parties-205893">How 1920s high society fashion pushed gender boundaries through 'freaking' parties</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Modern invocations</h2>
<p>Waugh converted to Catholicism in 1930 and his writing style changed considerably from that point onwards. His novels became more nostalgic and wistful in tone. </p>
<p>Brideshead is the culmination of that later career stage, bringing together several preoccupations close to Waugh’s own heart. Although it is no longer fashionable to combine an author’s biography with literary criticism, it is certainly possible to say that there is a lot of Waugh himself, albeit probably subconsciously, in the depiction of Charles Ryder who tries so hard – via Sebastian, via Julia, via Catholicism – to become a part of Brideshead and its family. </p>
<p>While Waugh subtitled Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder, giving it the framework of a biographical coming-of-age story, it is, from a 21st-century perspective, particularly rewarding to read the novel in a way that might have been unintended by Waugh. That is as the story of a relentless social climber who will change, chameleon-like, love, interests and affiliations in the pursuit of social status. This 21st century take is also what is being teased out in Fennel’s re-imagined Brideshead, Saltburn. </p>
<p>The stylistic beauty of Brideshead Revisited, its character dynamics and thematic focal points, have been the inspiration for many other novels – Alan Hollinghurst’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/22/line-of-beauty-alan-hollinghurst-book-club">The Line of Beauty</a> (2004) or Sarah Waters’ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/7234875">The Little Stranger</a> (2009), for instance. Despite being published in 1945 and seemingly dealing with societal issues no longer considered of relevance in contemporary society, Brideshead has a perennial influence in British literature and culture – a modern classic that is always worth reading and rereading.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Berberich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The tale lamenting the loss of a mythical British upper class is as sharp now as ever.Christine Berberich, Reader in Literature, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2097762023-11-02T21:11:32Z2023-11-02T21:11:32ZJewish women’s illustrated memoirs of the Holocaust cover matrilineal relationships<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557290/original/file-20231102-21-2mtyf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C13%2C800%2C751&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Images from Bernice Eisenstein’s ‘I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors’ and Miriam Katin’s We Are on Our Own.’</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(National Film Board/Drawn & Quarterly) </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/jewish-womens-illustrated-memoirs-of-the-holocaust-cover-matrilineal-relationships" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mandatory-holocaust-education-schools-1.7015118">The Ontario government recently made a welcome announcement</a> that as of September 2025, lessons on the Holocaust will be included in the mandatory history class for Grade 10 students. The announcement precedes <a href="https://torontoholocaustmuseum.org/participate/signature-programs/neuberger-holocaust-education-week">Neuberger Holocaust Education Week at the Toronto Holocaust Museum</a>, which runs Nov. 1–9.</p>
<p>As someone who teaches the Holocaust through literary works, I have found that illustrated graphic memoirs serve as an excellent entry point to this important but difficult subject.</p>
<p>Art Spiegelman is recognized for having launched a new genre of Holocaust memoir with <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-maus-only-exposes-the-significance-of-this-searing-graphic-novel-about-the-holocaust-175999">Maus: A Survivor’s Tale</a></em> (1986; 1991), a two-volume graphic work that focused on a father-son relationship.</p>
<p>Lesser known are two groundbreaking graphic works published in 2006 that foreground matrilineal connections and women’s survival during the war years: Miriam Katin’s <em><a href="https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/we-are-on-our-own-paperback/">We Are on Our Own</a></em> and Bernice Eisenstein’s <em><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/books/i-was-a-child-of-holocaust-survivors-1.5063197">I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors</a></em>.</p>
<p>These memoirs emphasize women’s embodied, gendered experience and show their intelligence, agency and resolve. </p>
<p>In documenting women’s bravery in the face of Nazi persecution, they help balance the field of Holocaust writing, which <a href="https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/bib1690">still is dominated by the experiences and perspectives of men</a>.</p>
<h2>Miriam Katin’s <em>We Are on Our Own</em></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Drawing of a person bent over a letter with a sombre face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554360/original/file-20231017-29-utrjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘We Are on Our Own’ by Miriam Katin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Drawn & Quarterly)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>We Are on Our Own</em> recounts how Katin and her mother manage to survive in wartime Hungary. Katin was a small child during the war. She grew up with family stories and, as noted in the coda to her graphic memoir, “could somehow imagine the places and people my mother told me about.” </p>
<p>The memoir traces Katin and her mother’s departure from Budapest in 1944 for the Hungarian countryside, where they lived until the end of the war under the guise of a peasant woman with an illegitimate child.</p>
<p>Katin highlights her mother’s heroism. First, her mother procures false identity documents for herself and her daughter. She then burns all photographs, letters, books and other documentation that record her true family history. After a loyal housemaid helps fake her death by suicide, she adopts the facade that is essential to her life in <a href="https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/resistance/hiding/">open hiding</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"696377640027078657"}"></div></p>
<p>Katin also records her mother’s experiences of harassment, rape, pregnancy and abortion. Her mother confronts jeering soldiers. She endures repeated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kmgKAnDniI">rape by a Nazi commandant</a>, knowing the aberrant relationship ensures her survival and her ability to protect her toddler. She offers herself to a Soviet soldier, saving her daughter from untold harm.</p>
<p>And when she becomes pregnant, she overcomes intense anxiety, even thoughts of suicide, to act pragmatically and seek an abortion.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-women-change-their-stories-of-sexual-assault-holocaust-testimonies-may-provide-clues-138705">Why do women change their stories of sexual assault? Holocaust testimonies may provide clues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Bernice Eisenstein’s <strong><em>I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors</em></strong></h2>
<p><em>I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors</em> features Bernice Eisenstein’s mother’s story of survival, transcribed from a 1995 videotaped interview with Regina Eisenstein for the <a href="https://sfi.usc.edu/collections/holocaust">University of Southern California Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive</a>. </p>
<p>Eisenstein describes her mother’s “unfaltering voice” and “the precision and directness of her words,” which extend over several pages to constitute a presence in her daughter’s graphic memoir and in the history she recalls. </p>
<p>In the very act of incorporating “my mother’s story as she told it,” Eisenstein is valuing Regina’s gendered wartime experience, the judgement she showed then and “the courage she has always possessed.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VDr434wxb90?wmode=transparent&start=4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Bernice Eisenstein’s <em>I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors</em> was adapted into an animated film by Ann Marie Fleming for the National Film Board.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In September 1939, when the Germans first enter her hometown of <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bedzin">Bedzin, Poland</a>, Regina grasps at any opportunity to survive amid the chaos. She understands that being assigned to work duty makes her useful and less of a target. As the only family member with a work permit — she sews uniforms for German soldiers — she is able to hide her relations when the SS stand outside her door. </p>
<p>Towards the end of the war, she herself hides to avoid the <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocaust/1942-1945/death-march-from-auschwitz">death march from Auschwitz</a>. In mid-January 1945, she and a few friends decide to bury themselves under clothing stored in a warehouse. They wait until dark to emerge and race to an abandoned barrack, where they “hid for four more days without food or water. At night, we stepped out and ate snow.”</p>
<p>It is the presence and love of her mother and sister that most succour Regina. <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz">In Auschwitz-Birkenau</a>, her mother helps Regina recover from dysentery by giving her a mixture of burned coal and water. When typhus sends Regina into a coma, she later learns her mother visited the hospital to be by her side. </p>
<p>Her mother and sister also prevent Regina from being sent to work on an officer’s farm somewhere in Germany. Later, when Regina is transferred from Birkenau to Auschwitz and the three women are forcibly parted, a sense of their abiding bond prevents a descent into hopelessness.</p>
<p>When Regina cannot find language to “describe what it was like when I am reunited with my mother and sister” after liberation, Eisenstein accepts her silence. She characterizes the experience of listening to and watching Regina on videotape as her own “silent journey,” which suggests the degree to which she connects with her mother’s experience of falling silent at the close of her 1995 interview.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1213692464625786880"}"></div></p>
<h2>Breaking silence</h2>
<p>In their graphic memoirs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_CfLIB16RE">Katin</a> and <a href="https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/scl/2018-v43-n1-scl04443/1058071ar/">Eisenstein</a> break the silence that once shrouded their mothers’ suffering. </p>
<p>Each daughter centres her mother’s wartime story, asserts her mother’s fortitude in the face of affliction and shows her mother’s capacity to live with deep wounds.</p>
<p>Each records a singular story in an effort to validate her mother’s particular experience under Nazism and to restore women’s lived experiences to Holocaust literature and history.</p>
<p>Teachers might consider bringing these memoirs into their classrooms. My own experience confirms that students are moved by these texts and learn a great deal from the stories they tell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Panofsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Memoirs about the Holocaust by women emphasize women’s embodied, gendered experiences, and show their intelligence, agency and resolve in the face of Nazi persecution.Ruth Panofsky, Professor, Department of English, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158892023-10-26T12:31:10Z2023-10-26T12:31:10ZTo better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555246/original/file-20231023-15-kxsfnv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C31%2C5152%2C3383&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Characters in books can teach lessons about addiction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/open-book-and-glass-of-white-wine-in-sunlight-royalty-free-image/1219727594?phrase=wine+literature&adppopup=true">Nataliia Shcherbyna via iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>Alcohol in American Literature</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>I got the idea for the course when I was writing a chapter on the temperance movement in American literature for my doctoral dissertation. I ended up reading a lot of fiction and poetry about alcohol and the anti-alcohol movement. I thought it would be fun to teach a class that <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12903259/_Temperance_Novels_and_Moral_Reform_in_Oxford_History_of_the_Novel_in_English_Oxford_UP_2014_">surveyed American literature through a booze-themed lens</a>. </p>
<p>Since alcohol affects and disables people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or class, it is easy to find literature about the impact of alcohol from many points of view. </p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>I pair my course with a medical doctor who teaches a course on the <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/addiction-4157312">biology of addiction</a>. In the biology course, students learn about the <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/addiction-overview-4581803">biological and physiological effects</a> of diseases of addiction, <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/substance-use-vs-substance-use-disorder-whats-the-difference-6385961">substance use and abuse</a>, dependency and recovery.</p>
<p>The core curriculum at John Carroll University requires students to take paired courses from different departments that are linked together. A colleague who teaches biology courses approached me about linking my alcohol class to her addiction class. Students must take both of our courses during the same semester. The combined courses give students both a scientific and literary view of addiction. </p>
<p>Students read fiction, poetry and drama about many aspects of alcohol and other addictive substances: celebrating them, struggling with them, even prohibiting and regulating them. Students compare the literary representations of substance and alcohol abuse with medical descriptions and impacts. For example, when my class reads Kristen Roupenian’s viral short story “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person">Cat Person,</a>” we talk about the role of alcohol in reducing inhibition when casually dating.</p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>My goal is for students to come to a better understanding of how alcohol influences literature. They learn how some writers portray the way alcoholism further marginalizes minorities. For example, characters in <a href="https://fallsapart.com/">Sherman Alexie</a>’s “<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lone-ranger-and-tonto-fistfight-in-heaven-20th-anniversary-edition-sherman-alexie/12459512?ean=9780802121998">The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven</a>” are enrolled members of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. They live on the reservation and have great difficulty finding or keeping a job. Many characters suffer from intergenerational trauma, poverty and a pervasive addiction to alcohol. </p>
<p>For their final project, students must pitch a movie that offers a compelling plot with relatable characters. The storyline must be backed up by a deep understanding of the science of disease and addiction. </p>
<h2>What materials does the course feature?</h2>
<p>• “<a href="https://tinhouse.com/book/night-of-the-living-rez/">Night of the Living Rez</a>,” by Morgan Talty, explores addiction and poverty among the Penobscot Nation.</p>
<p>• “<a href="https://www.hemingwayhome.com/store/p/the-sun-also-rises-softcover">The Sun Also Rises</a>,” by Ernest Hemingway, is a classic novel set in 1920s Paris about a set of heavy-drinking American ex-pats dealing with the trauma of World War I.</p>
<p>• We visit <a href="https://karamuhouse.org/">Karamu House</a>, the U.S.’s oldest continuing African American theater, to watch a performance of “<a href="https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=6301">Clyde’s</a>,” a popular play by Lynn Nottage that is set in a truck stop sandwich shop that employs the recently incarcerated.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>Students can be better advocates for their own personal health, and the health of others, if they understand how addictive substances affect their minds and bodies. Pre-health students in particular get a general introduction to medical issues related to addiction and how American authors have long portrayed booze. </p>
<p>For example, Frances Watkins Harper’s “<a href="https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/full-texts-of-classic-works/the-two-offers-by-frances-watkins-harper/">The Two Offers</a>,” written in the 1850s, is believed to be the first short story ever published by an African American woman. It is a temperance story that encourages young women not to marry a drunkard, highlighting the antebellum Black community’s concerns about sobriety and domestic well-being, in addition to freedom.</p>
<p>The course hones students’ critical reading and writing skills while challenging them to think about the role of alcohol, substance abuse, sobriety and recovery in their lives and in American culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debra J. Rosenthal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This course beckons students to examine how alcoholic beverages are portrayed in books by American authors.Debra J. Rosenthal, Professor of English, John Carroll UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2162012023-10-25T12:48:10Z2023-10-25T12:48:10ZMinor Detail book: how the language of the past can help us read the present situation in Palestine<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555399/original/file-20231023-19-4omogc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=164%2C8%2C1832%2C1188&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fitzcarraldo Editions</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On August 12 1949, members of an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) unit at the Nirim outpost in the Negev desert were celebrating the successful establishment of their new camp, close to the recently agreed armistice line with Egypt. What happened at that party was long-hidden, until <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230512034211/https:/www.haaretz.com/2003-10-29/ty-article/i-saw-fit-to-remove-her-from-the-world/0000017f-db62-d856-a37f-ffe2fa5b0000">a 2003 investigation</a> by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz brought to light the horrific events. </p>
<p>Earlier in the day, the unit had captured a Bedouin girl who at that party was gang-raped, then later executed and buried in a shallow grave. Twenty soldiers, including the unit’s commander, were sent to prison for their actions. The investigation inspired the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli’s book <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/02/minor-detail-by-adania-shibli-review-between-the-lines-horror">Minor Detail</a> (2020), which tells the story of this event alongside that of a fictional woman investigating the crime decades later in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. </p>
<p>Minor Detail is a sparse but searing novel that shows how the horrors of the past continue to shape Palestinian life today. It has been widely critically acclaimed, including being nominated in the US for the National Book Award and for the International Booker Prize in the UK. It has also won Germany’s prestigious <a href="https://www.litprom.de/en/best-books/liberaturpreis/the-winner-2023/">LiBeraturpreis</a>, which Shibli was supposed to accept at the Frankfurt Book Fair.</p>
<p>Instead, the award’s ceremony was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/books/frankfurt-book-fair-cancels-award-adania-shibli.html">cancelled</a> – the organisers of the prize, <a href="https://www.litprom.de/en/best-books/liberaturpreis/the-winner-2023/">LitProm</a>, explained this was because of the situation in Israel and Palestine and plan to reschedule the event for a later date. Over 1,000 authors have <a href="https://arablit.org/2023/10/16/an-open-letter-in-support-of-adania-shiblis-minor-detail-and-palestinian-literary-voices/">signed a letter</a> in protest at the decision and what they felt was the silencing of a Palestinian voice. The book, however, has also received mixed reviews in the German press, with some <a href="https://taz.de/Debatte-um-Autorin-Adania-Shibli/!5965811/">dubbing it antisemitic</a> and anti-Israel. </p>
<p>The award’s cancellation, in my view, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-palestinian-authors-award-ceremony-has-been-cancelled-at-frankfurt-book-fair-this-sends-the-wrong-signals-at-the-wrong-time-215712">sends the wrong signal</a> by shutting down opportunities for conversation. Shibli’s book offers insight into what’s happening in Gaza today, and the way language has been – and continues to be – used in shaping the conflict.</p>
<h2>A history of dehumanisation</h2>
<p>Part of Minor Detail follows the IDF unit who in 1949 were assigned to securing the new southern borderline between Israel and Egypt, by removing Palestinian “infiltrators”. </p>
<p>A year before the events covered by the book, in 1948, the newly independent state of Israel had expanded to control <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/history/">77% of the Mandate for Palestine territory</a>. Over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled and <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/about-the-nakba/">permanently displaced</a> – tens of thousands of whom sought refuge in the Gaza Strip. </p>
<p>Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nakba-75-years-after-losing-their-home-the-palestinians-are-still-experiencing-the-catastrophe-205413">Nakba</a> or “catastrophe”.</p>
<p>In Minor Detail, the unit’s commander describes the Negev as “a barren desert, prey to neglect and misuse by Arabs and their animals … Under Israeli control,” he says, the desert will become “a flourishing, civilised region, and a thriving centre of learning, development and culture”. Here, Shibli echoes the words of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in his 1954 <a href="https://merip.org/2010/09/blueprint-negev/">declaration</a>: “For those who make the desert bloom there is room for hundreds, thousands and even millions.” </p>
<p>Shibli’s choice of words also draws on a tendency of Israel’s politicians and supporters to invoke a language of “progress” (technological and the like) when seeking western support. This is seen most commonly today in celebrations of Israel as a “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0263775820911949?casa_token=7Ia6KXQe_LQAAAAA%3AE9j9Ij0kMDAr8lpNmjnwyieEIfK_8r6pkAvs49X20pn36Rx1OYBV-gsHC9c3XUU_I9O9M8H6ACHh3uw">start-up nation</a>”.</p>
<p>Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking after Hamas’s recent attack and about Israel’s response, <a href="https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/excerpt-from-pm-netanyahu-s-remarks-at-the-opening-of-the-knesset-s-winter-assembly-16-oct-2023">said</a> the war was a “struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle”.</p>
<p>This sort of dehumanising language – widening out from the attack by Hamas to a broader comment on the Palestinian people – is used to justify violence, and is not new to this conflict. Minor Detail shows the longer history of such tactics in Israeli warfare. </p>
<p>Shibli records the commander’s thoughts through close third-person narration. When he sees the girl after the first rape, all he hears from her is “crying and babbling incomprehensible fragments that intertwined with the dog’s ceaseless barking”. The barking and Arabic are one and the same to him. </p>
<p>A connection between Palestinians and animals was made recently by Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/09/israel-declares-siege-on-gaza-as-hamas-claims-israeli-strikes-killed-captives">declared</a> when enacting a “complete siege” of Gaza that has cut off water, food and fuel, that Israel “[is] fighting against human animals”. </p>
<p>In Minor Detail, dehumanising treatment and language is a precursor to the Palestinian girl’s murder. Following the Hamas attack on Israel, similar language has been used as a precursor to the mass killing of Palestinians. </p>
<h2>Acts of memory</h2>
<p>The second half of Minor Detail is set in the present. Shibli describes the efforts of a Palestinian woman in Ramallah, the West Bank’s de facto capital, to uncover the girl’s story.</p>
<p>Shibli’s protagonist (who is unnamed) is struck by the “minor detail” that the rape took place 25 years before her birth. This single atrocity may seem unremarkable amid the everyday violence of Israel’s occupation, but she believes that minor details are “the only way to arrive at the truth” of a bigger story.</p>
<p>She embarks with great difficulty, given the very real <a href="https://www.btselem.org/topic/freedom_of_movement">restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians</a>, on a trip to Israeli archives in Tel Aviv and the north-west Negev and, finally, the outpost. She sees the result of Israel’s 1948 project of depopulation and replacement as her old maps direct her along roads that no longer exist, and show Palestinian villages that have been erased. She also sees the blooming desert – full of mangoes, avocados and bananas – that testifies to the success of the commander’s project.</p>
<p>The protagonist’s attempt to recover one life lost in the Nakba is ultimately impossible. But this act of memory reminds us of our responsibility to every person killed in Israel and Palestine this month.</p>
<p>By focusing on one story from 1948, Minor Detail shows how current events in Gaza are rooted in the longer history of violence in Israel and Palestine. We must reckon with this past to understand what is taking place now. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Boast does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail is a sparse but searing novel that shows how the horrors of the past continue to shape Palestinian life todayHannah Boast, Chancellor's Fellow, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149292023-10-23T12:24:40Z2023-10-23T12:24:40ZFor the Osage Nation, the betrayal of the murders depicted in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ still lingers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555069/original/file-20231020-17-onzwxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C76%2C5520%2C3623&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Osage man on the Arkansas River sometime between 1910 and 1918 – about a decade before the Osage Reign of Terror.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photograph-of-an-osage-man-on-the-arkansas-river-between-news-photo/956086514?adppopup=true">Vince Dillion/Oklahoma Historical Society via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article contains plot spoilers of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”</em></p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>The sheriff disguised her death as whiskey poisoning.
Because, when he carved her body up,
he saw the bullet hole in her skull.
Because, when she was murdered,
the leg clutchers bloomed.
But then froze under the weight of frost.
During Xtha-cka Zhi-ga Tze-the,
the Killer of the Flowers Moon.
</code></pre>
<p>The excerpt is from the poem “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Wi’-gi-e</a>,” or “Prayer,” which Osage author Elise Paschen wrote in 2009 to honor Anna Kyle Brown, who was thought to be the first victim of the Osage Reign of Terror.</p>
<p>Brown’s body was found at the bottom of a ravine near Fairfax, Oklahoma, in 1921, with the cause of death ruled as “whiskey poisoning.” In truth she’d been murdered for her share of the hereditary mineral rights that had made her wealthy. Years later, a widespread investigation would reveal that Brown clearly died by gun violence and her cause of death was a cover-up.</p>
<p>“Killers of the Flower Moon” refers to the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Osage lunar cycle during which late frosts will often kill young flowers</a>. It’s also the title of Martin Scorsese’s new film, which was adapted from <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/208562/killers-of-the-flower-moon-movie-tie-in-edition-by-david-grann/">the bestselling book</a> written by David Grann. </p>
<p>The film and book trace the true story of greed, brutality and government complicity in the assassination of wealthy Osage citizens.</p>
<p>Brown was one of many Osage people murdered for their money in 1920s Oklahoma. Accurate numbers of the victims are hard to come by, but Geoffrey Standing Bear, the Osage Nation’s current principal chief, estimates that at least <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">5% of the tribe were murdered</a>, or roughly 150 people.</p>
<p>In 1923, the Osage Nation asked the Bureau of Investigation – the predecessor to the FBI – to look into a string of mysterious deaths. After a long investigation, the bureau uncovered a massive conspiracy masterminded by white men like <a href="https://ualr.edu/sequoyah/thisday/hale-given-life-sentence-february-1-1929/">William King Hale</a>, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005">Ernest Burkhart</a> and other non-Osage members in the community of Fairfax, Oklahoma, particularly those in positions of authority. By 1929, Hale, Burkhart and some of their co-conspirators had been tried and <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/osage-murders-case">sentenced to prison</a>. </p>
<p>But for the Osage, the story didn’t end there. Existing federal policies and persistent anti-Indigenous sentiment still left Osage people vulnerable to further violence and exploitation. </p>
<h2>Guardians in name only</h2>
<p><a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/english/toll-shannon.php">As a scholar of Indigenous literary and cultural studies</a>, I’ll often teach the political and social landscape of early Oklahoma.</p>
<p>When I tell my students at the University of Dayton about this spate of unchecked violence, someone inevitably asks how this was allowed to happen. </p>
<p>There is no one answer. But there is a central cause: laws that enabled settlers’ access to – and control over – Osage capital and, by extension, Osage lives.</p>
<p>In 1872, the Osage were forced from their homelands <a href="https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/osage.htm">in Kansas and sent to Indian Territory</a>, a region that became the state of Oklahoma. Once resettled, the Osage Nation was compelled to negotiate with the federal government. Through the resulting <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807872901/colonial-entanglement/">Osage Allotment Act of 1906</a>, the Osage retained all rights to minerals found on the land, or subsurface rights.</p>
<p>There was also a legal policy known as “guardianship” that purported to protect Native American lands and investments. But it actually functioned as a way to give local courts in Oklahoma <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-disturbing-history-of-how-conservatorships-were-used-to-exploit-swindle-native-americans-165140">jurisdiction over land, persons and property of Indian minors and incompetents</a>.</p>
<p>When oil drilling <a href="https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/news-events/news/did-you-know">began in earnest in 1896</a> on Osage lands, the Osage became one of the richest communities on the planet, with many citizens receiving substantial annual payments. This money fueled resentment among the non-Indigenous public, and guardianship became a means for them to get their hands on it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eight women and girls, young and old, pose for a group photograph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555068/original/file-20231020-21-fl0ylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of Osage Nation pictured in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/postcard-features-a-photograph-of-a-group-of-unidentified-news-photo/1311286595?adppopup=true">William J Boag/Oklahoma Historical Society via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Affluent Osage citizens – who no longer fit <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807872901/colonial-entanglement/">the stereotype of the impoverished Indian</a> – were criticized for their spending habits. So <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2021/11/24/terror-on-the-osage-reservation/">in 1921, Congress passed a law</a> that required Osage people to prove themselves competent enough to manage their vast wealth, with competence often based on their percentage of Osage blood: The more one had, the more likely one would be declared incompetent. </p>
<p>Enter guardianship. Once deemed “incompetent,” an Osage citizen would have a guardian appointed to help manage their assets. It was also common for young Osage people to have a guardian appointed to them until they turned 21. Ultimately this law, as Grann explained in a 2023 interview with the Oklahoma Historical Society, “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">ushered in one of the largest state-and-federally-sanctioned criminal enterprises</a>.” Many guardians recklessly spent or embezzled their ward’s assets, while facing little or no consequences. </p>
<p>Increasingly, Osage people under guardianship began to die under mysterious circumstances, with their guardian set to inherit their share of oil royalties. Tax documents from that era reveal a number of white guardians with multiple Osage wards, <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">the majority of whom were dead within a few years</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of oil derricks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554845/original/file-20231019-27-7dgj12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once oil was discovered on Osage land, the tribe became wealthy overnight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/osage-hominy-ca-1918-1919-news-photo/1371405766?adppopup=true">HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Osage actor Yancy Red Corn pointed out, once the Bureau of Investigation closed the case, “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/red-corn-yancey/">the killings just kept going on</a>.” While the bureau’s focus was on the murders that took place in the Gray Horse community, many more cases went unsolved in <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">other Osage communities, including Pawhuska and Hominy</a>. Standing Bear describes walking through those local cemeteries <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">and noting how</a> many “young people whose grave markers show ‘deceased: 1920 … 1921 … 1919 … 1923 … 1925.‘”</p>
<p>Red Corn notes that his grandparents kept a close eye on their children, never knowing who they could trust, even after the murders had been exposed and prosecuted; many Osage left Oklahoma altogether, moving to states like <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/chief-geoffrey-standing-bear/">California and Texas to escape the violence</a>. </p>
<h2>Denial and disrespect</h2>
<p>Despite the truth of these murders being brought to light, anti-Indigenous sentiment still roiled in the area. The families of conspirators, survivors and those who continued to exploit guardianship laws had to coexist, at times with great tension. While Hale and Burkhart were both convicted and spent time in prison, they were eventually freed.</p>
<p>After Hale was paroled in 1947, some Fairfax inhabitants even welcomed him with open arms.</p>
<p>“The word went around town, 'Bill Hale is here,’” <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">recalled Dr. Joe Conner</a>, an Osage citizen who had lost relatives during the Reign of Terror. “And people gathered as if there was a parade.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005">Burkhart received a pardon</a> from Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon in 1965, despite protests from the Osage. </p>
<p>To the Osage still living in the area, many of whom had endured the Reign of Terror, excusing the actions of men who masterminded so many deaths spoke volumes.</p>
<p>Years later, in the 1970s, an Osage teacher named Mary Jo Webb conducted her own painstaking research into the murders and created a small booklet detailing her findings. She donated the book to the Fairfax Library. <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">Within a week, it vanished</a>.</p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">Grann mentioned</a> that while he was conducting research for his book, some of the descendants of guardians resisted being interviewed and attempted to dodge him. Dr. Carole Conner explains that it seems as though white community members would “<a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/conner-joe-carol/">rather just ignore the whole topic than have the feeling that they might be blamed</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a jean jacket and sunglasses gazes at gravestones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555066/original/file-20231020-23-cmjk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Margie Burkhart visits the cemetery where some of her murdered Osage ancestors are buried.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-granddaughter-of-mollie-burkhart-margie-burkhart-visits-news-photo/1721271931?adppopup=true">Chandan Khana/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether the film might create openings for new conversations, or new opportunities for reckoning in these communities, remains to be seen. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/this-osage-writer-remembers-one-of-the-first-victims-of-infamous-reign-of-terror">Paschen’s poem</a> concludes with the lines, “I will wade across the river of the blackfish, the otter, the beaver. / I will climb the bank where the willow never dies.” </p>
<p>I see this poem as both an act of remembrance and a call to action: It is up to the speaker – and perhaps the reader – to explore, rather than ignore, spaces of loss and injustice. </p>
<p>It is also a testament to the fact that the stories of the Osage people neither begin nor end with the events that will be portrayed in Scorsese’s film; <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/grann-david/">as one Osage citizen declared</a>, “We were victims of these crimes. We don’t live as victims.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Toll does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the perpetrators being tried and convicted, anti-Indigenous sentiment roiled the area for decades.Shannon Toll, Associate Professor of Indigenous Literatures, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.