What is literary theory and why am I here sitting in a literary theory class?

“This is not a ‘tool box’ course, meant to show you how to use theory as a method for producing readings of texts” (page 1, Engl 372 syllabus) .That one sentence about viewing theory as something besides only a tool for talking about literature made me realize why I have always secretly avoided studying literary theory or talking about it during literature classes and in my papers. While hearing others talk about the theoretical aspects of different works of art and literary pieces, I have not yet been able to fully utilize ‘theory’ in order to explain my thoughts about a poem, a story or an art work.
It is ironic that as a Comparative Literature major I have always been cautious of talking about ‘literary theory’. During conversations and discussions about various works of literature I am often hesitant sharing my thoughts on the theoretical aspects of the piece. Even though literary theory has been a part of my academic experience, it has always been a marginal aspect of my Oberlin classes. As a result, I think, I have not yet developed an active understanding of different schools of what we know as literary theory.
During my study abroad in Buenos Aires, I took two literature classes at University of Buenos Aires. The structure of my literature classes were in a way not comparable to my literature classes in Oberlin. I remember how confused I was when at first, I took a look at the syllabus for my literature class at UBA. The readings for each session were always divided into two separate sections of ‘literature’ and ‘literary theory’. Students would come to class having read the assigned theoretical texts in addition to the literary work of the day. Most of them seemed very comfortable talking about the theoretical aspect of the texts. They would always almost immediately classify the different pieces of literature that we were reading. It was as if everyone was supposed to wear their ‘theory’ glasses before entering these literature classes. This had made me think that as a Comparative Literature major I in fact, know nothing about literature and how to think about literary pieces.
Although I found these literature classes at UBA restricting in terms of thinking about the concept of ‘literature’ and what it could mean to individuals, I decided that I need to work on my knowledge of literary theory and that is mainly why I registered for this class while I was still in Argentina.

Kucinich Couple Continues the Fight for Peace

By Ariela Zamcheck

On a gloomy Tuesday afternoon, Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of current Ohio congressman and former Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich, set out from Oberlin College on a 10-day, 60-mile walking tour of the greater Cleveland area.

At a small gathering in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, she spoke of the motivating factors behind this “Peace Walk,” in which she plans to link the students and communities she encounters through a “combined movement of strength to advocate for environment sustainability, peace and prosperity.” The Peace Walk is Elizabeth Kucinich’s initiative to create an atmosphere of positive cross-cultural and interfaith interaction between college campuses and communities within the Greater Cleveland area.

She also hopes to garner support for a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

College senior Azadeh Pourzand, campus coordinator of the Student Peace Alliance, organized the Tuesday event and logistical details of Elizabeth’s walk. The Student Peace Alliance is a chapter of the larger nationwide group, the Peace Alliance, which was in partnership with Kucinich in organizing this march.

The Peace Alliance is an activist organization that promotes the creation of departments of peace and peace ministries in the United States and abroad. It was founded in April 2003, in conjunction with Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign and with the authorship of the Department of Peace legislation.

According to Pourzand, the Student Peace Alliance was recently initiated in order to “raise awareness on campus and create a space for students in local and urban communities to promote peace.” The group will hold its first meeting in the second week of October.

Elizabeth Kucinich said that a Department of Peace “would address violence at the local level,” dealing with issues such as domestic abuse and gang violence. She added that it would also address the international arena and would “look at threats to stability before [the instability] reaches the level of war.”

According to Kucinich, her husband began writing legislation for a Department of Peace two months prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The proposal is currently being considered in both houses of Congress. There are currently 75 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate.

Her walk was partly inspired by a recent trip she took to the Middle East with her husband. While visiting mass gravesites in heavily damaged villages such as Qana in Southern Lebanon, she and her husband were “blown away by the compassion extended to [them] by relatives of bomb victims.”

“People painted as so evil and militant expressed so much love,” she said.

As the two of them traveled through Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, they were able to speak to local citizens and “get a feel for what humanity was thinking devoid of politics.” Such a local approach, she felt, could be gained from a ground-level journey around Cleveland.

At the Tuesday gathering, Elizabeth Kucinich invited every audience member to share a recent positive experience, a time of great courage or a moment when he or she felt the closest connection to humanity.

At her prompting, the mood seemed to be more that of an intimate discussion than an anonymous lecture. Elizabeth Kucinich plans to use similar techniques throughout the whole of her walk and also on her blog, called the “9-10 forum,” which explores how Americans’ aspirations and experiences have changed since 9/11. The blog was created to launch a national dialogue to reaffirm dreams dashed by the fear of terrorism, the current war and the tightening of political power that followed.

“9/11 marks two key events,” said Kucinich, “the attack on the World Trade Center, and Gandhi’s first non-violent resistance. We can take the avenue of peace or pursue a war on terror, in which we destroy our environment and our communities.”

She plans to continue on to Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH, and then walk back to Cleveland on Sept. 19. She will arrive in Cleveland on Sept. 21 and attend events at Case Western, Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College.

Download file

Hello.
I read your recent article about stoning to death.
Reading your article reminded me of the bleeding bruises in my heart once again.
You wrote about murdering by stoning?
Have you ever held a bloody tool in your hands with which they have murdered your mother?
Have you ever touched the bloody skin and hair of your mother who has just been killed in a deep hole?
Have you ever followed the line of your mother’s blood in order to find her corpse thrown at the back of a truck?
Have you ever seen the fresh grave of that dearest being with a small piece of paper on which they have written her name wrapped around a small branch of tree?
Has anyone ever said a word about the children of the people who have been stoned to death?
I was fourteen and now I am forty.
To quote psychologists, I am one of the most fortunate people on this planet. I am fortunate, because despite this contempt in my life I have been able to continue my higher education and find myself a wife, children and a credible job without letting a single black spot remain in my life.
Do you even understand what it means to be the child of a person who has been shamefully stoned to death?
If Islamic clerics tell you that you could not win over the Islamic laws, they have, indeed told you the truth.
My mother used to tell me that she had become a sex-worker in order to feed us and to support us. She used to command us in being real men. She used to tell us to stand on our own feet and to never lose our hope in Ali (the first imam in shiasm).
Seriously who would want to sell her body, to sell her sex to anonymous men except for those women who have no other way of feeding their children?
If the husband knows how to make money, the wife and the mother of the family does not have to go and seek customers.
The economic situation needs to improve and single mothers or those mothers whose husbands do not have the ability or the willpower to work, should be able to seek help from the government.
You must establish an organization for supporting these women. It does not have to be a very rich organization in the beginning. No one has the right to condemn you for seeking financial support from different sources for these types of support organizations. Women like my mother who was eventually stoned to death need your help. They need the world’s help and support. Their forgotten families, too, need the world’s help. Help them!
Executing people for having not immoral actions is not going to have an effective result.
Tell me how many people have been executed and stoned to death since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution in Iran…What is the result of all of this violence other than the fact that the evil is now truly dominating our society?
I never forget the last words of my mother’s Islamic judge:
“I issued a verdict for stoning this woman to death so that other individuals learn a lesson from her doomed fate and to avoid sins of such nature. To execute by shooting would not have made her suffer enough!”
Alas. Twenty six years ago my mother was stoned to death before my eyes. Has these women’s tragic fate helped our society improve? Statistics show that the rates of prostitution and corruption have increased exponentially.
God bless you!

Washington, D.C.--The IAAB staff is excitedly counting down the days to the first Iranian-American Leadership Camp, which will take place the week of June 25-30, 2006 on Thompson Island, Massachusetts. IAAB will be bringing together some of the brightest and most accomplished young members of the Iranian-American community for a week of friendship, learning, and fun!
We are thrilled to be able to provide the next generation of Iranian-American leaders with this unique opportunity. Our campers represent a wide variety of Iranian communities in the United States, and have been selected for their excellence in an array of fields, from mastering the art of the santoor to receiving honors in the sciences.
Campers will be working closely with IAAB's Leadership Camp team of accomplished Counselors and Staff from across the United States, representing numerous prestigious universities and diverse experiences. Our carefully selected team is trained in leadership building, peer mediation, advocacy, and health education and have all demonstrated their enthusiasm for leadership and the Iranian-American community this camp.
Nasim, a Counselor from Portland, Oregan, was particularly mindful of the necessity for community building amongst our youth. “Helping to develop Iranian-American youths into leaders ensures that our community will have the resources it needs to function, grow and prosper,” Nasim said.
The Camp will have a weblog (http://www.iranianalliances.org/blog/2006camp.htm) that campers and staff will update regularly during the week. Stay in tune with us as the week develops.
If you have any questions/concerns about IAAB's 2006 Iranian-American Leadership Camp, please do not hesitate to contact us at 703-362-7003 or 617-680-7982.
For more information, please visit our website: http://www.iranianalliances.org.

Dear Islamic Republic of Iran, “Happy belated Father’s Day! Give my father back to me!”

My Father Siamak Pourzand is now 75 years old. He was temporarily released from prison after a couple of years of cruelty and torture. When they released him, he was already in coma. He was taken to the intensive care of a public hospital in Tehran, chained to bed with two guards watching him all the times. Only when the international human rights organizations sent their representatives to the hospital, he was unchained. Since then, my beloved father has gone under multiple surgeries for his heart, bone problems due to the physical violations that took place during the time that he was disappeared and other health problems. He has no documents in hand which technically means that he is still a prisoner and that his conditional freedom could be taken away any time. Once in a while suspicious individuals call him or come to visit him while he is alone in his apartment. Except for my lovely aunt who is old and very sick, there is no other family member left in Iran. My father does not have his passport. He is reasonably terrified of going to the authorities and asking for his passport or other forms of travel documents. The government does not give his wife , my mother, Mehrangiz Kar any guarantee for safety to go back to Iran and see her sick husband after all of these years of hardship and separation. As the youngest member of the family I took the risk and went to visit him for 10 days last year. My trip to Iran was not a pleasant trip and due to cautionary reasons I still do not want to talk in details about that trip.
Yesterday was Father’s Day and I was angry. I want my father back.
Dear Islamic Republic of Iran, “Give my father back to me!”
Anger is a dangerous feeling. It reminds me of revenge. It reminds me of more violation which is something that my beloved parents have taught me to avoid.
Give my father back to me!

On Women’s Demonstration
I have stayed at home. I have a final exam tomorrow. My father didn’t let me participate in today’s demonstration. I am worried. I am sending Elnaz an SMS. She is not answering. Amir is saying that they are beating up our friends. He is saying that they are very violent. It reminds me of the way they were beating up people on International Women’s Day.
I talked with Elnaz. They have seriously beaten them all up. They have arrested some. I am nervous. They have arrested some of the students of my university…
Kosoof http://www.kosoof.com/archive/2006/Jun/12/425.php
(look how wildly they are pulling my friend away on the ground!)

According last news form our friends and from websits, radios, .... many of my collegues , arressted
by police and the others have beated too hard and some of them are wanted by court for tomarrow( such as Noushin ahmadi) and the mother and sisters of Parwin Ardalan (our website editor) have arrested by police , instead of Parwin!!...

Women’s Voice Seems Very Close!

I arrived at the park at 5 p.m. Nothing seemed to be happening, but some things were indeed happening. The news was under the skin of the park. The news was sitting on the benches of the park. I, too, sat down. And then I noticed my surroundings. There were many people around talking in the groups of two or more. They came. They came with their sticks to beat us. They walked straight towards us. We were talking with Mrs. Moghaddam and others. They told us “to land”*. We said that we are not doing anything and that we are only sitting here. They said, “Get up”!
We said that that sitting in the park is not a crime. They said, “Get up before we proceed to using other methods!” And we did not have the opportunity to speak anymore. We had different objectives and both sides knew this pretty well. They said that they are being very serious and we asked, “Why?”
They kicked us out of the park. They beat us and kicked us out. We walked. Calm and peaceful. We walked around the park. They kicked us out. They beat us up. Someone yelled and said, “I am your mother. Shame on you!” The answer was the following: “ I do not have a bitch as my mother!” And then she pushed the older lady very harshly. We left. They took us. Around the square we were holding papers on which it was written, “Change the anti-woman laws!”, “We demand the rights of a complete human being!” and then we started to whisper collectively, “ We are women. We are humans. And yet we have no rights...” This time they started to beat us from all sides. Not only men were beating us. There were also women with chador (the garment) who were screaming: “Do not argue with the police!” and as soon as someone would start to argue, they would start to curse and kick them all over.
We walked around the square. They took our papers away and torn them into pieces. They pulled the crowd of young and old women who were yelling out slogans and took them to their assigned busses. The crowd resisted their forces. But there were many policemen and policewomen around. It was odd. All of a sudden it seemed as if everyone around us was a member of the moral police. We heard them over and over saying, “No worries. We are not strangers!” I do not really know how many of us were there. All I know is that it was not a small crowd and that we will increase in number.
The square was pact with people! I bumped into friends left and right. It was around that time when they took Jila away. They took her with handcuffs. They took her husband, Bahman, too. They also took her sister, Taraneh. Their busses were now full. They left. They took our friends away and we don’t know where to... In one of the minibuses they took 19 people and in the other one they took 9...They pulled Mosavi Khoini from the other side of the street and took him, too. Moosavi Khoini and his group of 111 people (Edvar Tahkim) had declared their support of the demonstration yesterday.

Then we heard some more names of the people who were taken by the moral police. But since I am not sure, I am not going to say their names. But I do know that they took many people. There are some that I didn’t even know before. Maybe they were students and maybe they were everyday women who had just joined the crowd.

Many of us including myself followed the previous plans and left the park at 6 pm. And we advised others to leave so that later participants don’t get blamed for the violence that was taking place.
My head hurts. And my one foot that was kicked hurts .I was beaten by their sticks on the back and it hurts .My hands that were pulled over and over hurt. Though, I don’t feel pain in my heart. There is an uproar in my heart and it is so strong that does not let me even feel the pain.
It was a good day. The voice of freedom was too close to not be heard.

* Asieh has used the English verb, “to land”. It probably means giving in to the police.

June 12, 2006, 5:20 PM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian police with batons and shields beat women's rights demonstrators in a downtown Tehran square Monday, injuring one protester and detaining 20.

The injured woman was taken to a hospital with wounds to her face and head. Her identity and further details were not immediately available.

The protest by about 200 women was organized by a previously unknown group calling itself the Labor and Communist Party. An invitation delivered to The Associated Press on Sunday demanded equal rights for women and the nullification of a law allowing Iranian men to have four wives.

"We are women, we are human, but we don't have any rights!" protesters chanted.

Some 100 police, including female officers, attacked the demonstrators and dispersed them about an hour after the protest began.

Throughout most of the confrontation, female officers beat female protesters and male police beat male protesters there to support the women. Male police generally are not permitted to touch female suspects.

"I don't care about the police charging us with batons," said Laila, 21, who would not give her last name. "I would attend any pro-human rights demonstration in the future," she said.

None of Iran's state-run media reported on the protest.

"They won't report it (because) they don't like people who think about their quality of life," said Marzia, a 34-year-old protester who also would not give her last name.

In March, police attacked about 200 women's rights demonstrators at a Tehran park, beating women and their male supporters with batons.

Iran's Islamic law imposes tight restrictions on women. They need a male guardian's permission to work or travel. Women are not allowed to become judges, and a man's court testimony is considered twice as important as a woman's.

Despite such restrictions, Iranian women have more rights than their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and some other conservative Muslim countries. They can drive, vote and run for office.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

No weblog has written about it, and Herland, the organizing magazine of the demonstration, has not written anything about it. This is not good. Transparency and spreading the word are the most important factors in such moves. Organizers of the demonstration are being threatened by the authorities. Public should know about it; first to become aware of the probable dangers awaiting them; and second, to publicize it as much as possible to get the attention of the media and the international community.

Silence is the worst thing when people become threatened or arrested by the authorities. The authorities like this silence and they usually intimidate the people they have threatened or arrested not to publicize it. Ganji wasn’t killed because media was following up his story. Sina Motallebi and other bloggers were released because the international community and the media were covering their news, and some lobbying with more moderated members of the government took place. If these people are summoned by the intelligence authorities, people should be informed about it.

I have no role in tomorrow’s demonstration. The women’s website I worked for has topped working since a few months ago so I have no role in updating any news or photos about the demonstrations. We had some serious conflicts with the organizers of the demonstration. But I supported them and I sent lots of emails to different organizations and individuals, including Amnesty, to get their support. No matter what I think about this women’s group, they are organizing a protest for women’s rights in Iran, so I support them. But I wish they would open up their campaign, take the advice of people who have some experience in media or online campaigns, and would welcome the support of people who don’t necessarily think like them.

I wish I could tell them that they should have publicized the intelligence authorities’ threat. I wish I could tell them that they should all erase the hard of their computers, save some new files on their hard so that their previous information will not be retrieved. They should disable their blogs’ archives and erase their blogrolls. When Sina was arrested, they interrogated him about any single hyperlink he put in his blog. They asked him why he linked to site X or Y or why linked to blog X or Y. They asked him whether he had any illicit relationship with the female bloggers he has linked to. They took his computer with them and interrogated him about any single file in his computer. I hope the people who are summoned to the intelligence (and might probably, god forbids, get arrested) will take these security issues into matter.

They should assign some trusted people who live outside Iran to keep the track of their probable arrest. They should instruct them what to do if they get arrested. I just cross my fingers and hope that they know all this and they have prepared themselves and have organized a group to follow up the probable arrests. Also, I hope they will instruct the people who will participate tomorrow how to react if they will be beaten or arrested.

Herland published a piece yesterday which included some good instructions such as not chanting any slogans and not obstructing the traffic on Hafte Tir Square (the location of the demonstration.) They have insisted that people should not make any drastic move and they should be very peaceful. March 8 sitting was also peaceful but women were brutally beaten. So, I hope people will be ready for the same thing tomorrow no matter how peaceful their sitting will be.

Also, I hope they will have a journalist sitting at home at her computer, ready to cover the news live by getting the news through phone from other journalists attending the demonstration. A women’s website did it last year and it was quite effective.

Silence is the worst thing in these situations…

My dear friends,

Last year, many of you endorsed this pro-women's rights demonstration waged by a coalition of Iranian women activists inside Iran. Your names stand distinctively in their documents published in Iran as supporters of women's rights in Iran. Would you kindly consider signing this appeal again (see below and also the attachment) for they want to stage another demo in the anniversary of that successful action which is considered a turning point in Iranian women's movement, hence June 12th (22nd of Khordad) has been designated as the Iranian Women's National Day. Last year it was evident that such international supports, especially by prominent human rights advocates can give women activists some protection and may help minimize the police attack and violence against them. Over 600 Iranian prominent women and men activists and journalists, including Shirin Ebadi, Simin Behbahani, Mehrangiz Kar, and Pouran Farrokhzad have already joined this call.

You can support this action either by adding the name of your organization or your own name and affiliation as an individual by emailing at: info@herlandmag.com

We, the undersigned, would like to express our support for Iranian women in their continued struggle to gain equal rights under the civil and penal codes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Specifically, we support Iranian women in their peaceful protest scheduled for June 12, 2006 demanding the end to all forms of legal discrimination and changes to the following laws: Banning of polygamy; equal divorce rights Equal child custody rights for mothers and fathers; Equal rights in marriage (like women's right to choose her own employment, travel freely, etc); Increase in the legal age of children to 18 years of age (currently girls are viewed as adults at 9 years of age and boys at 15 years of age, making them eligible to be tried as adults); Equal value placed on women's testimony in court; and Elimination of temporary work contracts which disproportionately and negatively impact women.

You can support this action either by adding the name of your organization or your own name and affiliation as an individual by emailing at: info@herlandmag.com
http://herlandmag.com/issue6/06,06,04,12,39,37/
http://herlandmag.com/news/06,06,07,12,33,14/.