early modern literature, race, religion, politics, and pop culture
Some years ago, during a seminar at a Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) meeting in Atlanta, Ayanna Thompson proclaimed that Othello was “white property.” Commenting on the function of Othello’s Blackness in early modern culture as well as our own, Thompson signaled the importance of remembering that considerations of Othello and his racial identity must, … Continue reading Review: Blackface by Ayanna Thompson
Image copyright Marjane Satrapi and Pantheon Marjane Satrapi’s searing graphic memoir Persepolis continues to remain controversial and relevant over 15 years after its publication in North America. The memoir follows the childhood trauma endured by Satrapi as she came of age during the student--and then-- Islamic revolution in Iran in the 1970s. Satrapi depicts the … Continue reading Banning Persepolis is not how we defeat Islamophobia
If there’s still some debate as to whether the safety and freedoms that American Muslims and Muslims in America can enjoy are in some way impinged by the War on Terror and its resulting Islamophobia, the three incidents of violence just this week should dispel them: a New York woman tried to rip the … Continue reading Review: Arsalan Iftikhar’s Scapegoats
Ambereen Dadabhoy 