The Launch

Greetings! Later in the semester Salman Rushdie will tell us how newness enters the world, but for now all we know is that it enters via a blog. Whether this venue provides a second or a third space for the business of our Spring 2009 course together is debatable, but it seemed appropriate to adopt one of Homi Bhabha's metaphors/locales for our blog title. In any event, we'll use this space to continue and extend the discussions begun in class (and maybe even bring a little irreverence to the proceedings) -- i.e., to debate the fine art of droving, the antidotes for the loneliness of londoners, the poetics and heresies of satanic verses, the solemnities of last orders, etc. I'll use this space for an occasional announcement, perhaps, or to share interesting links on the web, or for other miscellaneous musings both mundane and momentous. We can also use the space to try to find some complexity in the crystalline purities (!) of Bhabha's prose. You, of course, are welcome and encouraged to comment on an existing posting or (assuming you've created your own account) to start a new thread. I'm excited about the upcoming fifteen weeks, and grateful to be able to work with each of you; in addition to the films and critical supplements, we have a half-dozen truly wonderful novels waiting for us.