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| I needed an image to go with this post (because an imageless post seemed so very wrong, and because I LOVE this picture from a recent trip to Portland AND because there are no decent images of "fa d'accordo," I posted this. Hey, it's my blog, right?! |
So it would appear that I have taken another hiatus from writing. This time it is largely because I have also taken a mini break from my reading project. I recently discovered that my absence from academia (and the world of history in particular) has renewed my interest in and my fondness for the study of history. Much of this realization came to me as I was helping a good friend study for an intense history exam. As she explained various books and studies of women and gender in American history, I found myself more and more intrigued and I quickly compiled list of ten or so books that I wanted to read. I have justified keeping this blog to myself because I like to think that I might have a unique (or at least interesting) perspective. I believe that literature is greatly affected by history--authors like Trollope, disillusioned by the world around him, constructed a scathing social commentary, and as I noted in my last post, authors like Buchan and Childers were affected by the patriotic fervor that swept Britain in the years preceding the Great War. Literature, too, can affect history (I’m thinking of novels like Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom’s Cabin). I see the two subjects as interconnected. I wouldn’t say that the two are two sides of the same coin--as I have often said in an effort to explain the idea of my college major, political economy--but the idea is similar. In Italy, the Italians say “fa d’accordo” to show agreement; they are of the same mind. When they do this, they often bring their extended forefingers together, side by side. I was told by an old political economy professor that, when paired with the phrase “fa d’accordo,” this gesture is meant to symbolize two legs in the same pair of pants. When I think of history and literature, I often conjure up images of the two working together as a pair in a three-legged-race. When I started this blog, I named it "cercando di" because I was searching for...something. I'm still searching, but as I write, I realize that the essential harmony that I was seeking seems less elusive. Like my scholastic interests, the elements in my life seem to be more fa d'accordo.
All of this is to say that I’m taking a break from great novels to read a work of history. More specifically, I’m reading Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England by Elizabeth Reis. This is a remarkable analysis of the Salem Witch Trials that I have been absolutely loving. I won’t offer any analysis here (primarily because my analytical skills are not up to par after a year’s absence from academia, but also because my two years of grad school cured me of any desire to write another critical response), but I hope that this post explains my most recent absence from this blog. My greater hope, though, is that in time I will be able to incorporate more history into my writing and my analysis of the books I read, whether they’re novels from my list or other studies of history that I sneak into my reading from time to time.
