Thenceforward-just like the dominant elites-they try to conquer the people: they become messianic; t

[ciroccoj]

ohGOD how I resent Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

It's important. I know it is. And when I read the same paragraph five times, I do get it. But GAH I loathe the slogging it takes to finally get there... especially since, when I finally understand, what I understand the most is that the understanding really wasn't worth the five repetitious of dreary self-important prose.

And it's 58 pages long. And then once I'm done that, I've got another 68 pages of articles to read. As well as 155 pages of cases - which, no, I'm not going to do, other than the 17-page case I just finished reading.

And the best part? This is the "pared-down" reading list, since we've got a paper outline and bibliography to hand in for tomorrow as well and our prof wanted to give us a break, so she dropped the 61-page Frantz Fanon article. Thank god, because Fanon and Freire together would cause my frontal cortex to short out my occular nerves in a desperate bid to protect itself from the superabundance of tiresome intellectuals dancing on the head of a pin.

Remind me again, please, why I filled in a positively gushing feedback form for this course.

Oh, that's right. Because it's incredibly informative and interesting and thought-provoking, and the prof is one of the best I've had in more years of post-secondary education than I can count.

Right.

::deep breath::

::plunging back in::

Comments

[umbo.livejournal.com]

You have to know it made me giggle out loud to see you have an author named "Fanon." Too bad it's not really fanon--that would probably be a lot more fun (and quicker) to read!

*hugs*

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

You have to know it made me giggle out loud to see you have an author named "Fanon."
LOL!!!

I can't believe that always takes me by surprise :D :D :D I just hear his name said a lot, and it's pronounced "Fah-NOH" (French accent, the final N is dropped), so until somebody points it out to me, I forget it's "fanon".

Ah, how I wish. I could use some fanon-Tim right about now, with his soulful gazes, his endearingly shy confusion, and his lovely sensitive hands.

::sigh::

Anyway, thanks for the giggle!

[bandgeek.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Actually, I really liked Freire, but that might be because I've never had to read it as an assignment. My dad's a big fan, and that's how I ended up reading him.

He can be dense, though, you're right.

Good luck with all that. I certainly know the feeling. :P

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Actually, I really liked Freire, but that might be because I've never had to read it as an assignment.
Actually, I was one of only two people in my class who didn't fall in love with Freire. And we do our class by circle discussion, so imagine my delight at hearing almost every one of my classmates start out their turn by saying, "Well, I didn't get Author X or Y, but wow! Freire's just... wow! He's so clear, and so real, you know? Brilliant!" and then going on to sing his praises. I felt like I had an IQ of about 60 by the time it was my turn and I had to confess I'd found him almost impenetrable.

Then again, I was one of the few who loved our bell hooks readings, so there you go. To each his own :)

[bandgeek.livejournal.com]

Sometimes a particular author's brainwaves just don't jibe with our own. Doesn't mean anything about intelligence, really.

I don't remember much about the wee bit of bell hooks I've read, but I remember not liking it very much, so you're officially off the hook for the Freire thing. ;)

[mama-rana.livejournal.com]

ugh, I confess I NEVER made it all the way through Pedagogy of the Oppressed. And what little I did read, I don't think I absorbed more than a few words.
And sadly it was a reading for one of the worst classes I've ever taken. We spent half the class period, every time complaining about the huge reading load while the profs complained that if we didn't do the readings we wouldn't have anything to discuss. *laffs*

Good luck!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

ugh, I confess I NEVER made it all the way through Pedagogy of the Oppressed. And what little I did read, I don't think I absorbed more than a few words.
Yeah, same here. I hope I got something out of it. It's a seminal work and has influenced activists and revolutionaries and academics for over thirty years; it's got to have some merit. We just can't find it, I guess ;)