[Vwoolf] Compulsory Able-Mindedness, the Listserv, and Teaching

[Elisa Sparks]

I would assume the phrase is an extension of "compulsory heterosexuality"coined by adrienne rich in her 1980? Essay: "compulsory heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," a truly great essay that generally boggles my students' minds, or used to
Elisa
Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 13, 2018, at 4:25 PM, Laurie Reiche via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>> wrote:

How wonderful, Ann! Wonderful adventure for your student! ~ L.



On Mar 13, 2018, at 1:15 PM, Martin, Ann via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>> wrote:

To follow up on your comments/questions, Laurie: yes.  Two weeks ago in my grad course, Modernism and the Fashioned Self, I was setting up a move from Woolf (Mrs Dalloway) to Hemingway, and one of the first queries that was posed had to do with Hemingway's biography and his mental health. The listserv discussions of Woolf, bipolar disorders, and the classroom were immensely valuable in my follow-up the next day; as a direct result, a student is now working on compulsory able-bodiedness in The Sun Also Rises and Timothy Findley's The Wars.

While I'm here: they're wondering, Madelyn, if you (and Brenda?) coined the phrase "compulsory able-mindedness," or whether it has another provenance. It's such an appropriate and productive term: any information on that front would be most welcome.

With best wishes,
Ann


Message: 1
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2018 13:04:02 -0700
From: Laurie Reiche <lauriereiche at gmail.com<mailto:lauriereiche at gmail.com>>
To: "Brenda S. Helt" <helt0010 at umn.edu<mailto:helt0010 at umn.edu>>
Cc: Woolf list <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf bipolar
Message-ID: <1114039E-BF9E-4D35-9E96-13D75CEEFC45 at gmail.com<mailto:1114039E-BF9E-4D35-9E96-13D75CEEFC45 at gmail.com>>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Yes; yes. I think this is so spot-on. We/I have veered off track from your original question! It is such a hot/passionate trigger-issue! I don?t have time for much of a lengthy response except to say you might share with your students this exchange that you?re having with Woolf scholars (don?t share the emails, but share it as a verbal story)- share with them how hard, it is, indeed, even for scholars and professors to separate things we know about Woolf and can?t not know, can?t unknow; and ask them if they have any suggestions?.. But also, I?m interested to know if this knowing a person?s psychological history etc., is a gender thing. For instance, does knowing Hemmingway shot himself in the head impact our reading of his work or have people just put it aside, so to speak. Why does it come up for Plath and not Berryman or Nerval? I?ve noticed this in classes, people have forgotten Hemmingway killed himself, at least when reading his work it hardly seems to become an issue,
 and it kind of makes me fume a little! Again, this is a hot distracting topic!!!!
        cheerio!
        Laurie

Laurie Reiche
lauriereiche at gmail.com<mailto:lauriereiche at gmail.com>
www.laurie-reiche.squarespace.com<http://www.laurie-reiche.squarespace.com/>

Dr. Ann Martin
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair
Department of English | College of Arts and Science | University of Saskatchewan
420 Arts Tower
Saskatoon SK  S7N 5A5  Canada
306.966.5527

Our Department acknowledges that the land on which we gather is Treaty Six territory and traditional Metis homeland, and we acknowledge the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps have marked this territory for centuries.
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