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Reclaiming Identity: Realist Theory and the Predicament of Postmodernism
"Identity" is one of the most hotly debated topics in literary theory and cultural studies. This bold and groundbreaking collection of ten essays argues that identity is not just socially constructed but has real epistemic and political consequences for how people experience the world. Advocating a "postpositivist realist" approach to identity, the essays examine the ways in which theory, politics, and activism clash with or complement each other, providing an alternative to the widely influential postmodernist understandings of identity. Although theoretical in orientation, this dynamic collection deals with specific social groups—Chicanas/os, African Americans, gay men and lesbians, Asian Americans, and others—and concrete social issues directly related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, epistemology, and political resistance.
Satya Mohanty's brilliant exegesis of Toni Morrison's Beloved serves as a launching pad for the collection. The essays that follow, written by prominent and up-and-coming scholars, address a range of topics—from the writings of Cherrie Moraga, Franz Fanon, Joy Kogawa, and Michael Nava to the controversy surrounding racial program housing on college campuses—and work toward a truly interdisciplinary approach to identity.
Satya Mohanty's brilliant exegesis of Toni Morrison's Beloved serves as a launching pad for the collection. The essays that follow, written by prominent and up-and-coming scholars, address a range of topics—from the writings of Cherrie Moraga, Franz Fanon, Joy Kogawa, and Michael Nava to the controversy surrounding racial program housing on college campuses—and work toward a truly interdisciplinary approach to identity.
- GenresTheory
382 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2000
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About the author
Paula M.L. Moya
4 books1 followerPaula M. L. Moya is Assistant Professor of English at Stanford University and coeditor of Reclaiming Identity: Realist Theory and the Predicament of Postmodernism (California, 2000).
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March 8, 2009
I'm an advocate for post-positivist realism (gasp!), but some of the chapters in this book seemed to wander away from PPR in order to do their own thing. Also, overlooking a few pages of Paula Moya's chapter, there was very little comprehensible explanation of PPR and the pseudo-help of post-modernism that most people of American culture currently fall victim to. Basically, if you are new to PPR or PM, don't tackle this book just yet. I wish I could direct you to better materials, but I have yet to find an understandable, straightforward explanation of PPR theory, goals, and basics without first knowing a bit about PPR to begin with. (Paradoxical, ain't it?)
I hate to say that some of the chapters were also a bit redundant. Although they may discuss individual problems, they also seemed to have the same format of (1) quoting Satya Mohanty for explanation, and (2) giving pages of plotline to unknown novels in order to establish a link to PPR. Although these tactics are great in themselves, they came off as repetitious when collected for the book's publication. The biggest problem with (1) was that Mohanty himself contributed a chapter to this book, which, as would be appropriate, was excerpted from the original book that every succeeding author is quoting! The variation to (2) was when the philosophical authors came into play, in which they in turn spent pages of explanation of other philosophers' ideas, showing how they either did or did not support a PPR system.
Altogether, this book lost points with me not because of its content, but because of the editing and placement of said content. Each essay appropriately starts itself from scratch (though assuming the PPR foundation is already in play), but as chapters I feel they should be building upon each other. It begins to perpetuate the Lone Genius concept, which is ironic for PPR-ists. There simply wasn't enough solidarity. Or, at least, I couldn't feel its presence. It seems like each author simply contributed a piece of writing from existing publications of their own instead of collectively sitting down to discuss this book in its own essence.
This is a shame, since I not only have had the pleasure of meeting Mohanty and a few of the other authors, but also have been able to sit in on a Future of Minority Studies conference. They're all great people with great ideas, but this book makes them difficult to understand.
I hate to say that some of the chapters were also a bit redundant. Although they may discuss individual problems, they also seemed to have the same format of (1) quoting Satya Mohanty for explanation, and (2) giving pages of plotline to unknown novels in order to establish a link to PPR. Although these tactics are great in themselves, they came off as repetitious when collected for the book's publication. The biggest problem with (1) was that Mohanty himself contributed a chapter to this book, which, as would be appropriate, was excerpted from the original book that every succeeding author is quoting! The variation to (2) was when the philosophical authors came into play, in which they in turn spent pages of explanation of other philosophers' ideas, showing how they either did or did not support a PPR system.
Altogether, this book lost points with me not because of its content, but because of the editing and placement of said content. Each essay appropriately starts itself from scratch (though assuming the PPR foundation is already in play), but as chapters I feel they should be building upon each other. It begins to perpetuate the Lone Genius concept, which is ironic for PPR-ists. There simply wasn't enough solidarity. Or, at least, I couldn't feel its presence. It seems like each author simply contributed a piece of writing from existing publications of their own instead of collectively sitting down to discuss this book in its own essence.
This is a shame, since I not only have had the pleasure of meeting Mohanty and a few of the other authors, but also have been able to sit in on a Future of Minority Studies conference. They're all great people with great ideas, but this book makes them difficult to understand.
Displaying 1 of 1 review