Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay Contributor(s): Kirklighter, Cristina (Author), Okawa, Gail Y. (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 0791454681 ISBN-13: 9780791454688 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $32.25 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2002 Annotation: Scholarship on the personal essay has focused on Western European and U. S. varieties of the form. In Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay, Cristina Kirklighter extends these boundaries by reading the Latin-American and Latino/a essayists Paulo Freire, Victor Villanueva, and Ruth Behar, alongside such canonical figures as Montaigne, Bacon, Emerson, and Thoreau. In this fascinating journey into the commonalities and differences among these essayists, Kirklighter focuses on various elements of the personal essay -- self-reflexivity, accessibility, spontaneity, and a rhetoric of sincerity -- in order to argue for a more democratic form of writing in academia, one that would democratize the academy and promote nation-building. By using these elements in their teachings and writings, Kirklighter argues, educators can play a significant role in helping others who experience academic alienation achieve a better sense of belonging as they slowly dismantle the walls of the ivory tower. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Semiotics & Theory - Literary Criticism | Books & Reading - Literary Criticism | Caribbean & Latin American |
Dewey: 809.4 |
LCCN: 2002017733 |
Physical Information: 0.39" H x 6.06" W x 8.96" (0.51 lbs) 172 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Scholarship on the personal essay has focused on Western European and U. S. varieties of the form. In Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay, Cristina Kirklighter extends these boundaries by reading the Latin American and Latino/a essayists Paulo Freire, Victor Villanueva, and Ruth Behar, alongside such canonical figures as Montaigne, Bacon, Emerson, and Thoreau. In this fascinating journey into the commonalities and differences among these essayists, Kirklighter focuses on various elements of the personal essay--self-reflexivity, accessibility, spontaneity, and a rhetoric of sincerity--in order to argue for a more democratic form of writing in academia, one that would democratize the academy and promote nation-building. By using these elements in their teachings and writings, Kirklighter argues, educators can play a significant role in helping others who experience academic alienation achieve a better sense of belonging as they slowly dismantle the walls of the ivory tower. |