Blog 8 -Social Movements 1960s-80s & the Emergence of Minority and Ethnic Literatures

 The reading which we covered during this course, Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried,” could be considered both a post-war and modernist novel. The story contains loss, fragmentation, and other, modernist elements, giving the reader a closer look at the inhumanities of the Vietnam War. It was also written by a veteran of the Vietnam War, giving it the proper history to be considered post-war.

 In the story, O'Brien's closest friend, Kiowa, is killed after their group mistakenly camps in a sewage field. This represents the characteristic of loss, which O'Brien uses to show the uncertainty and cruelty of the war. This is an element of modernist literature because it covers a controversial topic which would not be present in most stories. There is also a deep sense of loss of memory The characters in the story each carry a thing to remind them of the world outside the war.

 In my opinion, American identity is what a person chooses to identify as, no matter what anyone else tries to tell them. I think that “American” is an unnecessary addition to the definition, as I believe both “identity” and “American identity” are exactly the same, and that race would only blur the freedom of choice. I think that literature is any written text, and that it can be expressed through any medium as long as it was written or typed at any point. “American Literature,” on the other hand, is any literature that was written by someone that identifies as “American,” as put forth by our course readings and provocations. I might consider a piece of work about America, but not necessary by an American, American Literature.

 I believe that the American Literary Canon is a collection of the greatest works that our country has produced. Therefore, I don't see how I couldn't have a positive opinion on it. I think that all of the readings that we have covered in this class, especially “Smoke, Lillies and Jade” and “The Things They Carried,” could be considered part of the American Literary Canon because of their historical and artistic significance. In regard to deeper, ideological concepts and philosophies that I understand at a deeper level now than before I started this course, I would consider identity soothing that I know more about now. Because this course has spent so much time on identity, I can see now that it plays a great role in our lives and represents how we express ourselves to others every day.