It’s Lit! [Unabridged]

Breaking down the fantasy genre and how its roots in an often Western vision of “the past” has been slowly changing with Afro-Futurism and more mainstream BIPOC actors.

Unabridged is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom.

Since performance was a thing, crafting adaptations of beloved and epic stories has been a part of storytelling. The highest grossing film of all time, Gone with the Wind is an adaptation and the amount of Jane Austen adaptations could fill a whole textbook (and probably has). Today we are gonna talk about book adaptations. What makes a good one, a bad one, and what impact the big screen has had on the novel itself. Especially when only certain kinds of books get adapted.

Unabridged is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom.

The Western literary canon is a subject of discourse. Where does it fit in the modern world? While the works of Shakespeare, Plato, and Jane Austen, among others, are important works that have been the framework of our collective literary heritage, how does that impact those kept traditionally left out of those conversations? Marginalized voices have advocated for reimagining these stories to make them more diverse, expanding the canon to be more inclusive and/or just chucking the idea of a “western canon” in general.

Unabridged is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom.

Speaking about how comics and other visual/text mediums like comics have allowed people to see themselves in stories. Also, how it can be a useful tool for people who have a harder time reading traditional books.

Writer V.E. Schwab joins the podcast to talk with Princess about the impact of graphic novels and other illustrated texts.

Unabridged is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom.

Throughout history, Black voices have been outspoken about the institutional oppression they have faced. From the slave narratives like those of Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs white audiences were given a glimpse into the emotional, physical, and psychological horrors of enslavement. Authors like Frances Harper tackled the rebuilding of the Black family in books like Iola Leroy. In the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance created an entire generation of Black American and Caribbean American authors who gave voice to the new burdens that racist society held for freed Blacks. We also began to see Black female authors speak more openly about the double oppression of gender and race. Ida B Wells-Barnett, was one of the most influential Black journalists of her time, and still today, with her reporting on lynching in the American south. Literature is filled with Black rage, Black pain, but also Black hope for a future in which their descendants will not have to march for the same rights we fight for in the present. Today we are going to talk about verbalizing Black rage, especially that of Black women and Black queer folk, and what we gain today by looking closely at the literary history of the Black revolution.

Unabridged is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom.