Gates, Canon, and the Norton Anthology

This video is a February 27, 1997 interview of Henry Louis Gates Jr., Nellie McKay, and Jamaica Kincaid. As discussed in class and noted in AIT, Gates and McKay are co-editors of the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature. Kincaid is an African-American author whom is included in the anthology.

This interview was taken shortly after the Norton Anthology was released. I found it interesting to hear Gates and McKay talk about the process of creating the work. When asked how they decided which writers to include, they note that the African-American literary tradition is still quite young and that many of those who are most adept are still alive. But still most of the choices were easier to make. Many of the relevant works had already been incorporated into other anthologies – it was just a matter of locating and compiling them. Gates and McKay are aware that they have effectively defined the African American canon with the anthology.

Another interesting topic that arises in the interview pertains to the exclusivity of the African American canon. Some writers wanted to be excluded because they feared being labeled as an African American writer only. Gates and McKay assert that this is not the case and to be considered and African American writer and an American writer are not mutually exclusive.

Kennan and Chomsky

George Kennan:
"Public opinion, or what passes for public opinion, is not invariably a moderating force in the jungle of politics. It may be true, and I suspect it is, that the mass of people everywhere are normally peace-loving and would accept many restraints and sacrifices in preference to the monstrous calamities of war. But I also suspect that what purports to be public opinion in most countries that consider themselves to have popular government is often not really the consensus of the feelings of the mass of the people at all, but rather the expression of the interests of special highly vocal minorities — politicians, commentators, and publicity-seekers of all sorts: people who live by their ability to draw attention to themselves and die, like fish out of water, if they are compelled to remain silent."

The sound byte

It seems to me that while George Kennan is often remembered as a major foreign policy architect for the United States, his policy of Containment was not followed by the United States beyond the presidency of Truman. Rollback in Korea and certain military actions in Vietnam and Cambodia seem to me to be major violations of Containment. This sound byte explains some of Kennan's concerns which sound very much like the ideas of Noam Chomsky. Both Kennan and Chomsky warn of the strong influence a small minority have on the decision to go to war especially in the United States. George Kennan's ideas on foreign policy evolved over time and I think it would be beneficial for students to pay attention to much of what Kennan said about war and American diplomacy in his later years.

The Chipko Movement

This is a video that recounts the Chipko Movement. The Chipko Movement began in India in 1974 in which activists following Gandhian non-violent resistance to prevent deforestation in Uttarakhand by the Indian Forest Service.

This video is particularly interesting becuase it is form the point of view of the women activists who tell the story from their first-hand experience. Their resistance eventually led to a national law prohibiting cutting of trees above 1000m.

The Chipko movement, while not originally a conservation movement, represents one the first organized environmentalist actions in the developing world. In addition, the Chipko movement is said to have coined the term "Tree-hugging" for the way the activists would block loggers from cutting the trees. (See image)