Eng. 609 – Week 8 Blog 1

Aristotle’s topoi of “definition” relates to Susan Stanford Friedman’s essay and its map of cultural and literature studies by defining this exciting “new” field. Friedmann’s essay and its extensive description piqued my interest. Friedmann quotes many authors unfamiliar to me, yet the quotes felt familiar because they were impassioned words that arose from the writers’ hearts. I imagine all of us have been part of a diaspora of sorts–maybe for some the simple expulsion from their parents secure borderlands, while others have endured fates similar to those we read about in Friedmann’s essay. Either way, our collective human experience is wrapped up in these persecuted writers’ works; further, it’s comforting to know there is a field growing whose intent it is to bring these voices to the world…

Susan Stanford Friedmann, in “Migrations, Diasporas, and Borders” (2005), offers a wide and comprehensive map of literature and cultural studies in regards to history, geography, and language. Friedmann builds her chart of literature and cultural theory by focusing on human migrations, diasporas, and physical and metaphorical borders that she believes have suffused into a new field of literature studies. Friedmann’s intent is to add and lay groundwork for future research into the relatively new field of study. Friedmann creates an informal relationship with her audience of graduate students, instructors and scholars who are interested in understanding the expanding world of English studies and its ever-growing borders.