A Brief Note on Notes from Underground

Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel Notes from Underground features the inner monologue of an unnamed man whose general disgust with 19th century civilization leads to his spiteful behavior and alienation from the community. The Underground Man is also an archetype that one sees reproduced in modern (by modern, 20th or even 21st century) literature, films and cultural productions dealing with man's discontent in mass society.

In your own words, how would you characterize the Underground Man's personality and philosophy? Does his inter-personal behavior seem bewildering, or are you able to make sense of his social alienation? And, if you would like to tackle this question, are there any personalities in contemporary literature or media that have a disposition similar to that of the Underground Man?

Frederick Douglass

The reason I believe Douglass uses such rhetoric as “barbarous” and “savage” is to give readers who have never seen first hand the work of slavery a lasting, terrifying image. He wishes to describe his captors as negatively as possible to inspire readers to join his movement against slavery. If he used less negative descriptions of the slaveholders it wouldn’t create this lasting impression. By giving his readers descriptions which they can relate to it allows his autobiography to have more effect. The readers begin to feel injustice for another human, brought into a world where he has little choice of freedom, and everywhere he turns he must seek the permission of others or be beat savagely like an animal. He describes several instances of punishment brought onto him, fellow slaves, and even family members. These serve the purpose of again showing the brutality of slavery and how slaveholders treat their property worse than that of animals. All of which is to inspire readers to fight against such a terrible practice.

Frederick Douglass

“The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave” was published in 1845, well before emancipation; however, Frederick Douglass had already escaped from slavery prior to its publication and upon its release moved to Great Britain. In 1847, two British abolitionist women helped Douglass to purchase his freedom and he returned to the US to pursue a career in writing and politics.

Douglass was not only an abolitionist, but was also very closely involved in the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. In 1848 he attended the Seneca Falls Convention, one of the first major women’s rights conventions and met the spearhead of the women’s suffrage movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At the convention he was quoted saying in his support of women’s rights:

“In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world.”

I think it is important to note the close relationship between the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage movement in the 19th century. Also, it is interesting to think about what a progressive thinker Douglass must have been to understand that the advancement of the society as a whole is dependent on the elimination of both racist and sexist policies in government.

And now for your prompt: Please choose ONE of the following questions to write on:

1. Both Frederick Douglass’ narrative and Rousseau’s Confessions are written in a similar auto-biographical/ memoir form. How are these two texts similar and in what important ways do they differ?

2. In Chapter IV Douglass uses language such as “barbarous” or “savage” to describe many of the slave masters. What might be the intended effect of this rhetoric on the reader?

3. What is Douglass’ opinion on the role of religion in maintaining the institution of slavery? Is this a valid position?

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"

For the second half of the class, we will be discussing many questions surrounding imperialism, capitalism, nationalism, racism, and sexism (a lot of isms) that are important in understanding where we are today as a society. I would like this blog post to help us think about the writers that we will encounter in the following weeks (and of course this reading is relevant for the next quiz and final).

Alfred Lord Tennyson is a seminal writer in the Victorian era in English Literature, which is considered to be a period of rapid European "exploration" (although, how can you explore lands that have been previously inhabited by civilizations for thousands of years?), ethnographic study (cultural anthropology), and imperial and colonial expansion. It is also a time in which a lot of anxiety arises from the expansion of the empire and questions begin to arise surrounding what it means to be British.

Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" is inspired by the ancient Greek epic "The Odyssey" and its eponymous king Odysseus. It is a poem that draws upon the idealization of "empire" that dates back to Greek civilization (and before). Although Tennyson does not reference the British empire explicitly in this poem, some literature scholars consider it to be inspired by the contemporary colonial project in Tennyson's time.

My first question: in general, what was your reaction to Tennyson's "Ulysses?" Did you find it to be personally affective? Did you find it to be a well written? (Be critical if you would like, just tell us why).

My second question: Do you find that the poem is in any way promoting imperialism, or rather does it seem critical? (Cite lines if useful)

I am interested to read your opinions... **Note: You will have until March 15th to complete this post. Have a great spring break! 8-)