Literature and Writing @classicaries - Tumblr Blog

no dude it's so cool how attached you are to that character who is singled out and ostracized due to the external monstrousness that clashes with their internal spark of humanity. and i love how drawn you are to themes of horror and love, nature versus nurture, otherness, isolation, and the abject. i bet you have normal feelings about your own personhood

fluoresensitives

Do not waste your tears over fascists. "He was somebody's this, he was somebody's that". Michael Brown was someone's son, and so was Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Emmett Till. Sandra Bland was someone's daughter, and so was Breonna Taylor, while she slept. Sonya Massey, too, was someone's baby girl. Latasha Harlins was someone's baby. Martin Luther King Jr was somebody's son, husband and father, and yet the FBI killed him. Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba. Hind Rajab, someone's baby. Khaled Nabhan, and his granddaughter, soul of his soul. Refaat Alareer. And on and on and on, every martyr, every Black and Palestinian person whose been told over and over again how cheap our blood is, how NOTHING our life is. I do not weep over the death of white supremacist, I fucking cheer. One less of them means a Black or brown child can live another day.

Reading Mitchell Dean & Daniel Zamora’s The Last Man Takes LSD - Foucault and the End of Revolution (2023) and honestly cannot recommend it enough to people who want to read more into leftist post-modern philosophy.

The issues Foucault raises around neoliberalism can directly relate to not just class issues, but trans issues, queer issues, disability, challenging anti-immigration sentiment and the struggles we all face that the ability to “purchase” is intrinsic on our merit (when it most definitely IS NOT). But beyond that, it details the means by which Foucault dissects neoliberalist means of power in the political, heavily influenced by his later works, to which I truly recommend to read prior to engaging directly with Foucault’s work (as it’s more digestible, and easy to read).

‘Of course, none of this represents an alternative to power since, for Foucault, power is omnipresent. It is not a question of trying to free oneself from all types of power, but of finding an alternative solution to particular types of power and regulation.’ (Dean and Zamora 2023: 168)

Foucault crops up in all kinds of disciplinary research, and is also cropping up more and more in literary studies, legal studies, and medical and health humanities. He created ‘Biopolitics’ which is a cornerstone in modern philosophy - which Dean and Zamora (2023) directly explain and engage with.

If even the term ‘neoliberalism’ gets you a little confused (and don’t worry - it’s kind of supposed to!) check out this free article by The Guardian that’s a quick 5-minute read:

Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump – neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the le

dinant | brussels

weird to be back home and hitting the grind :/

(all pics are mine)

#aesthetic #landscape #literature #studyblr #travel #belgium #getting back to work

angelgrovepubliclibrary

one of my favorite lenses to read classic literature through is the queer lens and the neurodiversity lens. once you do, you can't help but notice how many of these authors were lowkey a little fruity and probably autistic.

classicaries

not just classics but postmodern books too! i did a study on rachel cusk’s narrator/protagonist being neurodivergent for a post-modernism class and since it’s autofiction she may be a little too…

#literature #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #modern classics #rachel cusk #the outline trilogy

I hate when people prescribe gender fluidity (particularly trangenderism) as a “modern phenomenon” and base it purely around medicinal documentation. Like Queen Elizabeth I was literally gender-non conforming, preferred he/him pronouns and is speculated to have been either on the ace spectrum or queer. The renaissance period quite literally had more acceptance of gender fluidity than we do now, although they didn’t use those terms.

#not to mention James I of England was also exclusively gay #gender and drag is a KEY FEATURE of all renaissance plays #especially with the boy players #renaissance #can’t forget Mary Bly (my beloved)#lgbtqia #history #lgbtq history #literature #transgender #transmasc #nonbinary #acespec

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."

- John Milton, Book I of Paradise Lost (1667)

Thought I’d link a little article, which has found that 8 weeks of daily meditation (yes, even 5-10 minutes) can sharpen focus, improve memory, and reduce anxiety, even under stress.

‘Compared to our control group, we found that 8 but not 4 weeks of brief, daily meditation decreased negative mood state and enhanced attention, working memory, and recognition memory as well as decreased state anxiety scores on the TSST. Furthermore, we report that meditation-induced changes in emotional regulation are more strongly linked to improved affective state than improved cognition.’

With many of us finding time off work or study for summer - it’s the perfect time to add a little something to our routines. This isn’t about perfection or hours on a cushion. It’s about showing up, gently and consistently, for yourself. Whether you’re new to meditation or returning after a pause, the invitation is the same: breathe, begin again, and trust the process.

I am not the sun, my love; I do not graze your skin with intense heat, I cannot get you out of bed in the mornings, I am not beautiful upon your rising nor do I capture attention in the evenings. I often long to bring out the freckles on your cheeks and a smile on your face, but burning you would never be in my capability.

I am rain, my love - cold and a little heavy. I drown your skin so as you know I am with you, I bring whispers when you’re home alone sitting through the glass, begging you to join me. It may seem, my love, that I am unpleasant; rather, I work to ensure the world around you grows, for you to have water to drink and plants to eat and flowers to admire when I am gone.

Come dance with me, my love, and I promise all will become apparent.

- A.R.

#couple #literature #spilled words #landscape #writing #poetry #sunlight #rainyday