Food, race, and literature
Jul. 6th, 2019 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
opusculasedfera posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
50books_pocSri Owen's Indonesian Food by Sri Owen
This is the sort of cookbook that also functions as a memoir: most chapters begin with a sort of essay about some part of Owen's life. As is often the case, we get much more childhood than the years in which she became a well-known food writer and frequently consulted Public Expert, but that's my own quibble and there's nothing wrong with the essays themselves. It also functions as a decent introduction to Indonesian cuisine: there are sections explaining categories of food and which recipes are just one option among the many, many things that could be included in a dish. The instructions are clear and I desperately want to try several of her recipes.
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice
I think the title here must have been decided at least partially by the publisher because the least good parts of this book are when Justice is trying to answer that question and you can just feel the underlying resentment that he even has to answer it pouring through his polite and reasonable logical explanations. Fortunately, the rest of the book is very, very good. It covers several themes and uses that he considers common to many literatures produced by Indigenous peoples (focusing primarily on the Indigenous peoples of North America, though not exclusively) and how different worldviews appear in these different texts, as well as discussing the importance of those worldviews and having a place to share them. The works Justice chose as examples are specifically (he has a whole discussion of his choices) selected from the lesser known portions of the canon, so it's also an excellent place to find more work to read.
Thick and Other Essays by Tressie McMillam Cottom
Cottom is a sociologist, and although these are more personal essays, her deep understanding of systemic problems and oppressions is very refreshing. She's the antithesis to that genre of personal essays where you sometimes wonder if the (often very young) author really understood how much they were leaving on the page, and then just as I was appreciating that about her, she had a whole essay about that precise problem of young, Black writers being taken advantage of and expected to perform their most personal feelings for an unsympathetic audience. I adored every word.
Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry by Essex Hemphill
Beautifully vivid poetry and prose about the experience of being a gay, Black man in the late 80s/early 90s. He's angry about AIDS, but he's angry about all the things threatening his communities and he's furious that anyone thinks they can pick one battle when they're beleaguered on all fronts. Not that everything is fury: Hemphill has a great deal to say about the joys of being both gay and Black, all described with that same facility for the perfect image.
This is the sort of cookbook that also functions as a memoir: most chapters begin with a sort of essay about some part of Owen's life. As is often the case, we get much more childhood than the years in which she became a well-known food writer and frequently consulted Public Expert, but that's my own quibble and there's nothing wrong with the essays themselves. It also functions as a decent introduction to Indonesian cuisine: there are sections explaining categories of food and which recipes are just one option among the many, many things that could be included in a dish. The instructions are clear and I desperately want to try several of her recipes.
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice
I think the title here must have been decided at least partially by the publisher because the least good parts of this book are when Justice is trying to answer that question and you can just feel the underlying resentment that he even has to answer it pouring through his polite and reasonable logical explanations. Fortunately, the rest of the book is very, very good. It covers several themes and uses that he considers common to many literatures produced by Indigenous peoples (focusing primarily on the Indigenous peoples of North America, though not exclusively) and how different worldviews appear in these different texts, as well as discussing the importance of those worldviews and having a place to share them. The works Justice chose as examples are specifically (he has a whole discussion of his choices) selected from the lesser known portions of the canon, so it's also an excellent place to find more work to read.
Thick and Other Essays by Tressie McMillam Cottom
Cottom is a sociologist, and although these are more personal essays, her deep understanding of systemic problems and oppressions is very refreshing. She's the antithesis to that genre of personal essays where you sometimes wonder if the (often very young) author really understood how much they were leaving on the page, and then just as I was appreciating that about her, she had a whole essay about that precise problem of young, Black writers being taken advantage of and expected to perform their most personal feelings for an unsympathetic audience. I adored every word.
Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry by Essex Hemphill
Beautifully vivid poetry and prose about the experience of being a gay, Black man in the late 80s/early 90s. He's angry about AIDS, but he's angry about all the things threatening his communities and he's furious that anyone thinks they can pick one battle when they're beleaguered on all fronts. Not that everything is fury: Hemphill has a great deal to say about the joys of being both gay and Black, all described with that same facility for the perfect image.
