Whether or how much a book draws from real life isn’t strictly quantifiable . . . Part of this mystery is due to the chaotic consciousness native to the novel-writing process, which requires a degree of possession . . . To dig a book out of the ground can be backbreaking, hand-tearing work; you need to forget what you … Continue reading Writing Fiction: “A Degree of Possession”
Category: Quote of the Week (本周精彩语录)
27 Million Reasons Why
The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $27m to settle a civil lawsuit with the family of George Floyd, who died under the knee of a white policeman. The Guardian cites the family’s lawyer, Chris Stewart, about the huge settlement figure: . . . what happens is that trickles down to decisions in the communities across this country. … Continue reading 27 Million Reasons Why
Quote of the Week: A Shipwrecked Mother Tongue
For me, linguistic displacement is a mark of origin. When I was five years old, I learned French at the Alliance Française in Santiago; at seven years old, when we moved to California, I learned English and forgot my French. From that moment forward, I have remained sandwiched between Spanish and English, feeling comfortable to a … Continue reading Quote of the Week: A Shipwrecked Mother Tongue
Quote of the Week: Querying the Maori Canon
Canons have real-world effects. When I first talked about teaching Māori literature in an English department in New Zealand, a number of people questioned whether there would be enough writing to justify a whole course, let alone a whole job. This assumption is not accidental – it grows out of a colonial view that Indigenous … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Querying the Maori Canon
Excerpt of the Week: China as a Mere “Borderland” in Eyes of Ancient Indian Buddhist Clergy
According to academic Tansen Sen, the curious issue of a "borderland complex" among Buddhist clergy --- earlier suggested in the work of Faxian (337-442) --- is clearly expressed in the account of Xuanzang's travel to India, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. Writes Tan: In a conversation between his Indian hosts at the Nalanda … Continue reading Excerpt of the Week: China as a Mere “Borderland” in Eyes of Ancient Indian Buddhist Clergy
Excerpt/Quote of the Week: “Meine Liste ist fertig”
Opening of the 2020.5.11 newsletter (Unser Newsletter zu Özgürüz) from Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper, and now exiled in Germany: Letzten Sonntag haben ein paar Sätze in einer TV-Sendung die Türkei zum Schaukeln gebracht. Die, die es sagte, war keine wichtige Person, aber das, was gesagt wurde, war wichtig. Sevda Noyan, die … Continue reading Excerpt/Quote of the Week: “Meine Liste ist fertig”
Quote of the Week: Can Dündar on Leadership in the Time of the Coronavirus
Leider können sich die Menschen vor einer schlechten Führung nicht effektiv schützen, selbst wenn sie sich jede Stunde die Hände waschen, eine Maske tragen und Abstand halten. (Translation from the German original: Unfortunately, people cannot effectively protect themselves from poor leadership, even if they wash their hands every hour, wear a mask, and maintain distance … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Can Dündar on Leadership in the Time of the Coronavirus
Quote of the Week: Fear in the Time of the Coronavirus
With F.D.R. and the Great Depression, the only thing to fear was fear itself. With Trump and our new abyss, we have to fear not only fear but also the ignorance and misdirection of the White House and the profiteering of senators. Not to mention the virus. (Excerpted from NYT columnist's Thank God the Doctor … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Fear in the Time of the Coronavirus
Quote of the Week: “Que cette épidémie fasse de nous des hommes-mémoire”
L’épidémie n’est pas vraiment sous contrôle, la contagion est loin d’avoir cessé et d’appartenir au passé ; pourtant, alors même que, dans la ville de Wuhan, la province du Hubei et de nombreux autres endroits dans tout le pays, les gens meurent, des familles sont détruites, et que retentit partout le bruit des pleurs, on peut … Continue reading Quote of the Week: “Que cette épidémie fasse de nous des hommes-mémoire”
Quote of the Week: Shutting People’s Mouths
Shutting People’s Mouths Everyone must understand, first of all, that this epidemic was allowed to spread for a period of more than forty days before any of the abovementioned [14 Hubei] cities were closed off, or any decisive action taken. In fact, if we look at the main efforts undertaken by the leadership, and by provincial and city … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Shutting People’s Mouths
