#Oroonoko

[paranoiahaven]

My unhealthy obsession with enjoying works that were created to physically hurt me all began with Titanic. What about you?

[artbydungeon]

Happy Calibration @novafigura! I hope I've done your Oroonoko justice! I really liked her vibes.

[still-the-river-flows]

Oroonoko is a great character. African royal gets enslaved and is mortified by the injustice of the situation, that situation being of course that HE is enslaved when really that's something that should only happen to the lower classes. It's played completely straight, too, like the author will praise how virtuous and honorable Oroonoko is up and down, and then you get the scene after his enslavement where he's so desperate that he wants to kill himself, and because he's so beloved by his also-captured subjects, they get desperate and are always making trouble for the slavers (you'd think they'd do that just because if they could but w/e); so in order to stop him from harming himself and the other slaves from rioting, the slaver captain promises him to let him and his friends (not all the other slaves, just a few) go when they reach port. This is a lie, of course, but Oroonoko spends the rest of the trip walking around the ship telling the other slaves to bear the chains courageously. Like my dude you were trying to die rather than be enslaved like five minutes ago, where was that courage then?? Once he's actually on the plantation he does no labor at all literally the guy just goes tiger hunting for his leisure (idk where they got tigers from in Brazil but maybe it's just used as a general term for big cat), travels through South America with the English that run the place, and has zero hardships at all. Then he tries to buy his freedom by offering them "a vast amount of slaves" from his home country in return. Unambiguously presented as a virtuous and heroic protagonist. Was Behn calling out hypocrisy and arrogance in the upper classes? Yes actually that's a solid part of what the book was clearly meant to do, but more in the "look I made the Europeans bad people whose oaths mean nothing and who swear hollowly on Christ. We should all be more like Oroonoko, who is flawless" kinda way.

[linusjf]

Aphra Behn: Happy Lover's Hour

A sketch of Aphra Behn by George Scharf from a portrait believed to be lost. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) “Each moment of a happy lover’s hour is worth an age of dull and common life. ” —Aphra Behn.

[chaoticliterarystudying]

currently read these for classes (17th and 18th century lit)!

oroonoko has some questionable™ themes and plots and everything; i love the writing style though.

going to start moll flnaders tonight!

[agent160akaastrea]

take me back

[cpryoreng381]

"This great and just character of Oroonoko gave me an extreme curiosity to see him, especially when I knew he spoke French and English, and that I could talk with him"

[haveyoureadthispoll]

When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic views of native peoples as being in "the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin." The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude toward slavery: while she favored it as a means to strengthen England's power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.

[vodkas-sand]

Thanks to Oroonoko by Aphra Behn Ive been forced to read the sentence

“his Indian mistress sucked the wound”

TWICE in the span of three pages

Never wanna hear or read those words again thank you very much

[nejjcollectsbooks]

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch Oroonoko & Other Writings by Aphra Behn A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

Summer is for basking in the more light and romantic aspects of academia; fiction and poetry, long airy skirts, oversized dress shirts, ruminating on miscellaneous topics with siblings and cousins, reading outside, tote bags, sunglasses, ice-cold drinks, annotating books under sunlight, instigating debates among friends in public gardens, pressing flowers, recording favourite quotes at the back of pretty cards, long pale dresses, grass-stained paper and clothes, leaves as bookmarks.

[paranoiahaven]

Go hence to have more talk of these sad things:

Some shall be pardon'd and some punished.

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Thus died this great Man, worthy of a better Fate, and a more sublime Wit than mine to write his Praise: Yet, I hope, the Reputation of my Pen is considerable enough to make his glorious Name to survive to all Ages, with that of the brave, the beautiful and the constant Imoinda.

-Aphra Behn, Oroonko

[25centsoda]

Fuckin mood. Whoever said that Oroonoko was "ambiguous" was RIGHT

i have to read oroonoko for my 18th century lit class and because of how it’s written i have almost no idea what’s going on

[the-english-student-studyblr]

Book Recommendations (from a lit grad student)

So, as I have come to the end of my MA in world lit, I thought I should give you a list of some of the best books I've read, or learnt from. I ignore established canon and give to you recommendations from across the globe and across all genres. Books that defined their genre, or made an impact, or are just really cool and enjoyable to read. This list is not all dead white men.

I have split the list by era/year of publication primarily for easy reading. A lot of the sections are arbitrary. Some of them are not.

Note: This list is not conclusive! This is based on my own readings, and my own, personal, opinions. You have the right to your own opinions and preferences. If you have any suggestions, add them on below.

Classic lit (pre-1700)

Aristole - Poetics (c. 335 BCE)

As much as I hate it...this one is actually pretty important. I know I said 'contributions to literary canon don't matter', and here I am, immediately doing the opposite. But! Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest treatise on literary theory that has survived to the modern day. You want to know where our ideas of comedy and tragedy come from? Poetics. Three act structure? Poetics. Plot and character? Poetics. Key terms like catharsis, hubris, hamartia? Poetics. We had to read this for creative writing, and did I hate it? Yes. Am I a better writer for having read it? Also yes

Plato - The Republic (c. 375 BCE)

Plato is quite easy to read, of the classical philosophers. His works are mostly dialogues between characters, which makes them more engaging that some other dry philosophy texts. I wrote out a longer post with an explanation of Plato's Republic specifically here.

Genji Monogatari (pre-1021)

The first novel ever! Originally written in Japanese, be careful of your translations because most are of questionable quality. I've only read the first one by Suematsu and that's uhhhhh Bad™ but I think the current waterstones edition is decent?

The Völsunga saga OR The Vinland sagas (early 13th century)

Ah, how to choose just one Norse saga? These are both pretty solid examples of their style, and short (always a plus). The Völsunga saga was the inspiration behind Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (famous for the piece The Valkyrie), and most likely Tolkien's works. The Vinland sagas supposedly have an anime/manga series inspired by them, though looking at the synopsis I cannot see where the inspiration was other than time period. Norse sagas - especially the Icelandic ones such as Vinland - are actually pretty good guides to real historic events, which is very cool. I could go on for hours about this, but I'll spare you the rambling.

Thomas More - Utopia (1516)

Lovely little sarcastic book about tudor politics and human nature all wrapped up in the original 'utopian text'. Surprisingly funny for something written so long ago, and very easy to read. I wrote a longer post about it here

Aphra Behn - Oroonoko (1688)

Hated it, but the themes are interesting and wow did the author lead an interesting life. Widely considered to be the first novel written in English, deals with colonialism, slavery, and honour, and Aphra Behn was a spy? I'm sure some of you will eat that up. Be warned, very 'noble savage'-y book, but less racist than it could've been so cool, I guess?

Early Modern Drama

Christopher Marlowe - Edward II (1592)

Gay. So gay. We're not supposed to call it gay (because of a whole host of reasons that I can and will explain if anyone shows up in my askbox complaining about academics) but it is a very very queer play and Kit Marlowe was too which is even better. Also our one and only history play on this list. Anyone who already knows how Edward II died (thanks horrible histories) do not spoil the ending.

Shakespeare - Twelfth Night (1602)

As with any Shakespeare, watch a performance if you can. I highly recommend the National Theatre version that was up on youtube in 2020. Very gay, no one is cishet. Lots of singing and dancing. Prime example of Shakespeare's comedies with added gender shenanigans.

Shakespeare - Hamlet (1609)

Yes I'm basic. Yes I like Hamlet. In the same way that Twelfth Night is a great example of Shakespeare's comedies, Hamlet is a good example of his tragedies. Mostly, though, I'm recommending this because the castle it's set in in Denmark (Elsinore) a) actually exists and b) does an amazing educational programme, with live actors performing scenes all across the castle! Watching the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy in the banquet hall just adds a whole other level to the experience of reading the play.

Shakespeare - Measure for Measure OR The Tempest

Shakespeare's problem plays. I couldn't pick just one, because they're both fantastic in different ways. Measure for Measure features what can only be described as the early-modern version of an ace protagonist - Isabella - who I adore. The Tempest has a really interesting portrayal of early colonialism and slavery. The reason they are 'problem plays' is they check all the boxes for a comedy...but they're not funny. At all. And they also check some of the boxes for a tragedy. They're certainly interesting reading

Ben Jonson - The Alchemist (1610)

Just a really good, solid play. Very funny. Bunch of con artists set up an elaborate scheme to rob rich people. Also very good for showing class structures of the time. Shakespeare gets all the recognition for this era but Jonson is just as good really, and definitely as clever.

Regency and Victorian lit (1700-1900)

Jane Austen

Literally anything by Austen. She is just so funny, so witty, and I wholeheartedly believe she'd be a feminist today. Master of the female gaze in literature, but beyond that she is basically credited with the invention of free indirect discourse, which is super cool. I have only read Pride and Prejudice, but I have heard good things about most of her books, so I don't feel bad recommending all of them.

William Blake

There's one poem by Blake about a London street urchin that breaks my heart every time I read it and that is the sole reason behind this recommendation I hate Romantic poets.

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (1818)

You knew it was coming. First sci-fi, gothic horror, teenage girl writer. Gotta love Shelley.

Frederik Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederik Douglass (1845)

You know those books that are horrifying because they're real? That's this book. Doesn't shy away from the horrors of slavery and for a reason. This is an autobiography. It is not fiction.

Gowongo Mohawk - Wep-ton-no-mah (1890s)

My favourite play of all time. You will need to do a trip to either the British Library or the Library of Congress to read it because there are no other copies, but I did do a whole podcast episode about it because I'm apparently the expert? You can find it here.

Bram Stoker - Dracula (1894)

I know here on tumblr we adore Dracula, and for good reason. It's horrifying, it's got a blorbo, if you haven't read it already, go with a dracula daily read-through or @re-dracula for the best experience. (Re:Dracula also has episodes where they get scholars on to talk about things like racism and gender and queer theory surrounding the text which is SO COOL as an ex-lit student I love listening to those episodes.

Post-1900

Oscar Wilde - De Profundis (1905)

We had to read a snippet of this for A-Level and I wish it had been more because wow. Most lists like this will recommend Dorian Gray because it's a novel, but De Prof is so heartfelt and beautiful and sad and deserves to be read.

Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)

First masked vigilante/superhero! If you like comic books or superhero media, this is where it all started (funny how all the firsts so far have been written by women 🤔)

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

If you only read one book in your life about WW1 make it this one! It is heartbreaking and beautifully written and makes you feel so many things. It was banned in...a lot of places for being anti-war (especially as WW2 came closer) and also because it was written by a German who was anti-war which was apparently impossible to comprehend. The prose is truly something to behold.

Modern lit (Post-war era)

George Orwell - 1984 (1948) OR Animal Farm (1945)

Which one you should read depends a lot on how long your preferred book is and how metaphorical your tastes are. Both are very good explorations of corrupt governments. Animal Farm is an easier read and shorter and is much more allegorical. 1984 is very in-your-face about how much authoritarian governments suck. Do not discount 1984 just because Winston is a terrible person. Everyone knows he's terrible. That's the whole point. He is a normal terrible person, not a cartoonishly evil terrible person, or an angelically perfect revolutionary. All the characters are realistic for their situation.

Maya Angelou - I know why the caged bird sings (1969)

Another one with some beautiful prose. She's a poet and you can tell. It's an autobiography, plus there's a lot of clever stuff going on with how it's written. You could write an essay about this. I did.

Ghassan Khanafani - Return to Haifa (1969)

A short story by a Palestinian author - we were given this by our Palestinian lecturer as an intro to the conflict and the terrible things that colonialism has done to the region. Additionally, there are notes throughout that help explain the significance of things and background and all that jazz. There is a play version that is probably easier to find because it was published more recently but it's not as good.

Ben Okri - The Famished Road (1993)

I did not read this book for uni and I think that may have influenced my opinion of it slightly but I still credit it as one of the reasons I got interested in world lit and translation. It's a really beautiful exploration of Nigerian mythological tradition and its effect on family and politics in this kind of fascinatingly weird style that's both magical realism and modernist? I hate modernism but love magical realism more so.

Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House (2019)

What a book oh wow. It reads like poetry. I cannot think of anything coherent to say my brain is screaming. The novel explores abuse in queer relationships, which is something people don't normally talk about, through some very interesting motifs and I love it so much. It is hard to read, but very rewarding.

[247reader]

Day 15: Aphra Behn!

The childhood of Aphra Behn is shrouded in mystery - much of it mystery of her own making. She was likely born to working-class parents in England; she likely spent some years living in colonial Suriname; she seems to have briefly been married to a merchant surnamed Behn. What is almost certain is that young Aphra was self-educated, lacking a classical education but becoming a ferocious and talented writer.

Aphra, born during the chaos of the English Civil War, was devoted to the restored monarchy. She willingly took up a dangerous occupation - foreign espionage. During the Second Anglo-Dutch war, she spied for England in the Netherlands, attempting to bring over double agents. But her target betrayed her, cash-strapped King Charles never paid the promised wages, and Aphra returned to England heavily in debt.

It was time to turn her writing into a career. Aphra wrote plays, rollicking Restoration comedies and tragicomedies. Many critics scorned the idea of a female playwright - particularly a somewhat raunchy female playwright- but a string of successes brought Aphra to the forefront.

If plays were her bread and butter, poetry was where she poured out her heart. Aphra wrote reflections on the female condition, love poems to both men and women, and even erotica - a topic common among the lettered libertines at court, but downright scandalous for a woman. Her greatest prose work, Oroonoko, a tragedy about the heroic leader of a doomed slave rebellion, is considered one of the first anti-slavery works in English. Aphra died in 1689; she was buried in Westminster Abbey.

[orlaite]

I know I said I was gonna start straight on E.M. Forster's bibliography when I finished North and South but I think I'm gonna try and give some of the unread books in my bookshelf my time of day first, starting with Oroonoko. It's also nice to be reading some female authors for once after spending the last 6 months in the male bubble that was my thesis bibliography

[shiftingpath]

Exalted Secret Santa 2022 Complete!

That wraps up another year, friends. I think it’s safe to say the extended due date is a success, given how many of us were sick over the holidays, so we’ll keep that for the future, though I hope less of us will need it. Thank you all for participating despite your cold/flu/covid/injury/chronic conditions/work/family/moving stress! Together we’ve made another great collection of gifts to enjoy, and I hope the enjoyment from making and receiving them helps start the new year off on a good foot.

Take the time to check out everyone’s submissions and fascinating characters! Happy Calibration. See you next year!

-Path

to @afancyartblerg from @morpheousxo: Mountain Heart Empress to @akaittou from @mechanicalriddle: 047 “Theta” to @brimstone-and-helianthus from @maribunart: The Phantom Apiarist to @butch-king-frankenstein from @rotten-partty: Jem and Sha to @delvesdaily from @fiontan: Mystic Veil to @eatenbyfaeries from @shiftingpath: Vervain (and Sweet Jealous Penelope) to @fiontan from @delvesdaily: Gale to @fullmoonspecial from @hilow: Jo to @grimmjowjaegerjaquez from @eatenbyfaeries: Black Ice Shadow to @heedra from @moonstar-mush: Daia Shan to @hilow from @novafigura: Jumping Rabbit of the North to @hornstusksandmagic from @theuncrucified: Avery of Clan Rit'Mount (and Sugar) to @keirangoldenwatch from @hornstusksandmagic: Neiko Whisperstep to @maribunart from @raeliyah: Cathak Kilani to @mechanicalriddle from @toxinfox: Last Candle Lit Against the Dark to @moonstar-mush from @paint-lady: Tendaji Greenwich to @morpheousxo from @heedra: Seraiah to @novafigura from @delvesdaily: Oroonoko to @paint-lady from @fullmoonspecial: K’Tai to @raeliyah from @akaittou: Khulan Suchan-de to @rotten-partty from @keirangoldenwatch: Follower of Autumn Leaves to @shiftingpath from @butch-king-frankenstein: Grave Goods Gardener to @sly-works from @grimmjowjaegerjaquez: Exquisite Toffee Spinifex (and Jackal) to @theuncrucified from @afancyartblerg: Kalara Vadras to @toxinfox from @sly-works: Kaveri Shendo