Schedule of Events

Controversies surround the modern romance novel, today’s most popular mass market-literary genre. Often critiqued as sophomoric “chick-lit” that reinforces the oppressive patriarchy, it has also been valued as accessible, feminist literature that advocates for women’s freedom from male oppression. Described as substandard literature because of its ‘uninspired’ form by some, it has been defended by others as purposely clichéd in order to simplify plot so the reader can focus on the strong qualities of the female character. Even the historical roots of the modern romance novel are a subject of contention. Katherine Orazem points out that even though it is generally thought the romance novel began in the 1970s, others have argued that the genre dates back to Fielding’s epistolary novel Pamela, published in 1740. Wherever the true roots of modern romance fall, my research has shown there are commonalities that run through all of these novels, one of which is the perpetual theme of women gaining and maintaining their independence from men. 

Many American liberal writers have been and continue to be under the impression that their work will help mitigate negative perceptions about black culture by offering positive interpretations of its quality of life, speech patterns, and values. But these writers, with the best of intentions, and no conscious racial dispositions, lack the black cultural experience that can come only from growing up black and with the influences, traditions and social norms specific to black communities. Reader response theory identifies all texts as fluid (in that they become different texts as different readers respond to them), but texts written by white authors about black culture seem to demonstrate this theory especially clearly--mainly because black readers so obviously create subtexts from ideological materials that are unfamiliar to white writers.  Individual white readers certainly form their own unique interpretations of these texts, and so will black readers—but the black reader is likely to read a categorical subtext unintended by the author.  A white eye may be writing and reading about racial misconceptions, while a black eye may be uncovering a connotative subtext of racist innuendo. Jacques Derrida and others have argued that racism is embedded into language, and is recognizable as a racist subtext. Critics Yollette Trigg and Ann Holstelter have identified these subtexts in the writings of Harryette Mullen and Gertrude Stein. My goal is to detail some of the more obvious elements of racial subtexts so that it becomes easier to recognize them not only in literature, but in the language surrounding us every day as well.

The words of both poets and politicians have helped in shaping the ongoing American narrative.  Poets like Emma Lazarus, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, and Claudia Rankine have graced that narrative with tangible descriptions of individuality, freedom, and equality. Politicians have relied for the most part on argumentative prose to communicate their stated values, although they often use poetry to mitigate the harsh edges of their political rhetoric. Quoting poetry or borrowing poetic devices such as repetition and alliteration can help politicians connect with voters. When they quote poetry, craft campaign slogans, and use symbolism and imagery in political speeches, politicians are able to convey an appearance of sincerity and human understanding. In this way, poetry can strengthen the impact of a speech, enhance a personal image, and sway public opinion. But even as poets are used by politicians to make their messages accessible on an emotional level, poetry, especially political poetry, can also act as a form of protest that provides a moral check to the disengaged talking points of politics. These texts can change the undercurrents of American politics by giving voice to individual and collective identities and thus incorporating them into our ever-expanding national dialogue. A particular case in point, Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, offers a quiet resistence to the racial microaggressions that are often ignored by the broad rhetoric of politics. Such interchanges between American poets and the political spectrum reveal how the interrelations of poetry and politics have contributed to the unfolding history of America.

The American advertising industry became increasingly solidified when, in the early twentieth century, an oversupply of assembly line products was flooding the U.S. markets. Manufacturers needed to motivate consumers to purchase products, and the advertising industry went to work to help them accomplish this goal. An evolving post World War II society intensified changes in the industry. In the 1950s, the shift from a passive "cookie-cutter" population to a more splintered society challenged advertisers to create innovative marketing strategies that would appeal to an accelerating individualized market. Many advertising companies used these inventive approaches to meet new objectives that were being shaped by the fragmenting postmodern population. Other companies, however, retained a one-size-fits-all marketing approach - contemporary examples of which include televiison commercials directed to a mass audience. "Programmatic advertising" is currently replacign these and other traditional advertising techniques with methods that combine creative and technology-based marketing to appeal to specific demographics and individual tastes rather than to the perceived interests of a bundled, aggregate population. My review of programmatic advertising's processes and procedures demonsrates how major cultural shifts can radiaclly affect a U.S. industry. 

Though the ancient world was overwhelmingly male-dominated, the occasional woman understood the influence of gender roles on cultural notions of power. While Egyptian 18th dynasty female king Hatshepsut adopted masculine imagery, traditions, and titles to justify her unusual reign, Cleopatra effectively exploited Egypt’s culturally imbedded feminine roles. Borrowing techniques from traditional Ancient Egyptian queens as well as from pharaohs, she adapted societal expectations for women to her own advantage, whereas Hatshepsut inverted them by appropriating the expected standards of male rulers. In Rome, Octavian’s propaganda campaign against Cleopatra reflected the strict, repressive cultural ideals for Roman women which he sought to re-emphasize and strengthen. Octavian manipulated Cleopatra’s foreignness and sexuality through a Roman lens, demonizing her as a stereotypical dangerously powerful woman. Ironically, after her death, Cleopatra’s power became an inspiration for upper-class Roman women even as their roles shifted, at least theoretically, to further support male dominance. Like both Cleopatra and Hatshepsut, Octavian’s wife Livia gained her own power by embracing cultural gender expectations and adapting them to suit her needs.