Students,

Thank you for your varied and insightful comments on Sui Sin Far, Emma Lazarus, and ZitKala Sa, powerful voices asking America to treat ALL of its citizens fairly.

How we treat those outside our borders and the consequences of our actions and attitudes is our concern for this week.

Let’s first turn to the topic of American and Global Imperialism, which played a part in two major military conflicts, the Spanish-American War and then World War I. These wars significantly affected both the content, style, and aims of art and literature of the 20^th century.

The Spanish-American War (or “Splendid Little War”) took place first in Cuba in 1898, when American troops “rescued” Cubans from their Spanish oppressors (“Cuba Libre!”). The war was short and Americans won not only Cuba, but Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The Filipinos, however, soon wanted to be free of American rule and fought fervently (albeit unsuccessfully) against our troops in a war (1899-1902) that cost more American casualties than the Vietnam War.

While the “Yellow Press” pushed pro-war propaganda (watch HERE), several American authors resisted the war.

Stephen Crane, author of the famed Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, wrote this magnificent (highly ironic) anti-war poem:

War is Kind

Mark Twain, author of the anti-racist Huckleberry Finn, turned his attention to the feelings and thoughts of those America sought to “civilize” via conquest.

“To a Person Sitting in Darkness”

The brilliant African American author W.E.B. Dubois, in varied writings, warned of the ill effects of global imperialism on Africa. Watch the first 15 minutes of this fascinating lecture on his important work, entitled: “The Wounded World: W.E.B. Dubois and World War I”

The Spanish-American War was followed by the horrors of World War I (really a war amongst major European nations–and America–for the conquest of territories around the globe).  The most famous anti-war novel of all time is All Quiet on the Western Front, recently made into a film.

Watch clip HERE

As this clip shows, World War I shattered “everything.”  It brought attention to mankind’s power to destroy and the continued inequality across the Globe.

While many questioned the purpose of such a bloodbath, in “If We Must Die,” Jamaican American Claude Mckay asks why African American soldiers who fought in World War I (in segregated units) now had to come home to face racism here.

Art and Literature too was “shattered” leading to a new movement called Literary Modernism.  It also led to a celebration that the war was over leading to “The Jazz Age” (or “Roaring 1920s) and the NYC-based “Harlem Renaissance.”

This week I ask you to review this material (find a poet/writer you might wish to discuss for next week’s post). 

Next week, I will also introduce our LAF author (Akwaeke Emezi) and place her novel alongside the ideas I’m introducing here.

REMINDER: In April, we will be reading Freshwater by Emezi.

Here is her biography:  Akwaeke Emezi .

To obtain a copy of this book, please fill out the following form so that a copy can be mailed to your address (on the form you can also arrange to pick the book up in my office in Namm 503). 

Book Mailing Request Form for Online Students

Emezi will be our featured speaker at this year’s Literary Arts Festival on April 27, 2023 (in our new theatre), which I hope you can attend.

The Festival includes the 2023 Literary Arts Festival Writing Competition, which is now open for submissions!  Students may submit their work on the City Tech Literary Arts Festival OpenLab website:
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/literaryartsfestival/submission-guidelines/

All creative work is welcome and must be submitted by March 20, 2023.