 |
| [b] Oasis RF |
Let's be clear. Every week we will read a month of New Yorker back issues and half a book—right up through the relaxing and well-deserved autumn break students will take in the middle of October. What do those readings look like? Let's take a look. You will remember that in the first week of the term we examined the inaugural issues of The New Yorker, published during Calvin Coolidge's administration in February and March of 1925. We also read the twentieth century narrative of an American history written by Paul Johnson.
Week Two follows the same format, but the details begin to change. Students will read the November 1929 issues of The New Yorker, as well as the first half of Ben Yagoda's book, The New Yorker and the World It Made. You may or may not believe me (I think that you should) when I say that writing this sentence was the first time that I noticed the relationship between Yagoda's book title and my course title. Your decision, but I am utterly serious.
In any case, the four issues in November 1929 are meant to hit upon the aftermath (not fully present in the November 4, 1929 issue) of a truly major economic and political event—the great stock market crash of October 29, 1929. Black Tuesday. As with all complex historical events, the everyday narrative is a great deal more complicated than the way we talk about it hither and tither. Black Tuesday was enabled, we shall say, by Black Thursday, and everything was in flux (this is possible to say in historical retrospect) after early September 1929. Suffice (it) to say that the American economy was in shambles, and just about everything in American life would be forced to adjust for the next twelve...or so years.
 |
| [c] Central RF |
Week Three (as with all of the odd-numbered weeks from here on during the first half of the term) will be a continuation of last week's material and a fresh look at a new set of "historical" New Yorker issues. We will finish Ben Yagoda's book, which engages the editorship of William Shawn, the longest-serving editor in the history of the magazine. Shawn was editor of The New Yorker from 1952-1987, and the termination of his employment on March 13, 1987 figures prominently in the course's narrative. Yagoda's book concludes with the three editorships since 1987. We will consider this period, of course, but the vast bulk of our reading will focus on The New Yorker that was created by Harold Ross and William Shawn.
The intriguing editorship of David Remnick (since 1998) will percolate in the background as we move through the course materials, and students will understand it better to the extent that they know the magazine's history (as Remnick does). During it all, we will look at the issues of The New Yorker published during the month of August 1936. This date may or may not be obvious to the careful reader of these posts. It was the middle of a struggling economic story, the month leading up to a general election campaign (FDR and Alf Landon). Landon was projected to win big through polling of those with phones in their homes). He did win the "phone vote"...and lost the election by historic standards only Goldwater and McGovern could fathom. The reason for these issues, however, is the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936. It should be an interesting month of articles—Jesse Owens to Adolf Hitler, and beyond—and we'll know for sure soon.
 |
| [d] Perusal RF |
December 1941 will not soon be forgotten, nor will issues of The New Yorker that start with the publication on December 8, 1941—an issue that predated the attack by at least a week (all issues are finalized at least three weeks before the publication date). The purpose of my choice of dates is to show a little bit of "before" and "after." The American world before December 7th is something that cursory readings of historical texts (such as those dealing with very great generations) often lack. Let us at least say that Americans were highly ambivalent about the war that had been going on for more than two years already. The issues of The New Yorker that preview (if not "predate"—in terms of actual publication) the Pearl Harbor attack should show an ambivalence about American involvement (and lack thereof) in world conflict. The issues at the end of the month only begin to show a new world situation.
By August 1945, everything had shifted again. Powerfully. In the first issues of August 1945, the post-European war situation was etched into the consciousness of readers. They were not prepared for the end of the Pacific War, though—and The New Yorker was hardly the first publication to let them know that it was all over (no matter the horror of the ending...which would occupy a full issue—every page—of the magazine in 1948). They knew. Reading The New Yorker would bring readers to a different level in their understanding of the matters that occupied them in newspaper and radio accounts. This magazine is always slow to catch up with daily events (sometimes up to three weeks or more) but the overall power it exudes is enormous. This is the reason why I have tried to thread the needle for critical periods in American history throughout the syllabus.
We are right about at my personally-imposed word-limit for my Round and Square posts, so I will leave weeks six, seven, and the midterm assignment until tomorrow. We are cranking along, and we will learn more about the syllabus in the next few days.
*** ***
Click here for other sections of "The New Yorker and the World—Course Descriptions."
No comments:
Post a Comment