On the "essay"

In the section of the course I teach, "Reading Literature: Theory and Practice," we do a fair amount of what might be called "traditional" essay-writing. Although I think there are many other very helpful and important writing projects, I do have an investment in the "essay as form" to use Adorno's term, because I think that, depending on how you teach it, it can actually open up thought and the world tremendously. It's true that the practice of essay-writing has become almost synonymous with a formulaic and tamed way of writing and thinking; it is something that might feel absolutely suffocating to students. However...I try to unsettle the concept of the "essay" itself, by going back to the genesis of the essay, at least in terms of the modern world. Yes, Montaigne! Who would think that a Renaissance, humanist philosopher and bourgeois gentleman could have penned a form that is so--well, earth-shaking? Or, at least I think it is. Let me try to flesh this out:

So, you probably know that the notion of the essay is linked to the French verb "essayer," which is most commonly defined as "to try" or "to attempt." However, in different historical moments--and in some cases still today--this term has also referred to the following: to try on (like clothing), to try out (like a new tool), to experiment, to test, and....my favorite: to taste! (In my own writing, I've framed the essay as a "path"...or rather "a walking"...an attempt to "go in quest of what is". These are all other images that emerge from Montaigne's writing as well.) With my students, we try to think through these multiple valences, and to see what "problems" or "questions" these meanings might pose to our own work.

I also attempt to talk with my students about the conditions in which Montaigne himself wrote the famous--and enormous Essays. I think this is important, because...he is usually cast as someone who epitomizes a way of writing that celebrates and affirms the "single, individual" (and white, and male) subject. However, I tend to read his Essays as a call for friendship, for society, for relationships. He wrote this work after he lost his father and his best friend, Etienne de La Boetie, who was his most cherished interlocutor, and who had an enormous impact on his thought on society. Anyway...in face of these great losses, and, I think, as a result of his grief, he essentially settled into a solitary condition, pretty much locking himself in his library...only to find that "the world" did not leave him alone...and that, as much as he was able to "build a little workshop" for himself that would enable him to live again, he realized that he could never achieve a singular self. And...the presence of so many different figures in his own work--from Greek and Latin thinkers, to the words of the workers in his town, to those of contemporary kings, and...yes, even his cat--goes to prove that thought and life are never individual enterprises. They constantly cast us back into the world...and they are never finished, either.

Anyway, there's much more that I could say about this subject, but...suffice for now to say that I think there is actually power in the essay form that could be used to critically re-invent how we write and think. That said, I do have problems with Montaigne. One of the biggest ones: as much as he does "try out" and "test" himself as much as other ideas, as much as he does invite a mode of experimentation, I worry about the status of RESPONSIBILITY in this form. To what extent does this text suggest that how we think and what we think, how we act on our knowledge, matters...and not only in terms of some individual ethics, but in terms of SOCIETY? (There are ways in which Montaigne can tend toward a bit of a solipsistic and semi-irresponsible mode of being). That's where I think he's a bit shaky, and...also where I think I have to ask some serious questions about my own investment in his work.

Also, one problem in teaching him: As much as I encourage students to "experiment" with their own mode of essay-writing, in light of reading Montaigne, I then also ask that they conform to certain parameters: font, MLA guidelines, smooth-flowing transitions, etc. So...perhaps I am giving them mixed messages, which I think is potentially dangerous. I leave my comments on this subject with a question: What can I do about this? Would it be better to try a new form rather than the "essay" for writing, or does some immanent critique of the form seem in order? If so, how can I more fully embody the essay process, by not reverting back to the standardized forms? Or, does it do a disservice to students if I don't teach them those standardizations?

Below, I give you one example of the "essay-writing" assignment that I have given students in light of Montaigne, that perhaps best illustrates the tensions I have tried to express:

CSCL 1401, Section 3

Essay No. 2

DUE: Friday, April 23^rd

Assignment (General Requirements):

Please write a 3-5 page essay in response to one of the prompts below. You may choose to write this essay in the more “standard” contemporary fashion. Having read Montaigne, you may also write your paper in a way that reflects the notion of “essay” as he conceived it, or in light of the broader definitions of the verb “essayer” that we have encountered: to attempt, to experiment, to experience, to try out, to try on, to taste. If you do choose to write this way, I would ask that you provide a short statement before your essay, telling us why you’ve decided to write this way, and what you hope to accomplish by doing so. Consider this statement your own “To the Reader”.

Either way, I would ask that your essay still follow standard MLA citation procedures (today, making sure to reference the work of another is essential). In part, this means including a “Works Cited” page. Also, I would ask that your essay be typewritten, double-spaced, and in 12 pt Times New Roman font, with standard 1-inch margins. Finally, do be sure to include a title.

* As always, please feel free to contact me or stop by my office hours if you wish to discuss this assignment! *

Prompts:

1. Revisiting “On the art of conversation”

Montaigne (whom fellow countryman and philosopher Blaise Pascal called “the incomparable author of the Art of Conversation”), considers conversation the most enjoyable and fruitful exercise of human life. In addition to seeing it as a pleasurable activity, Montaigne also tells us that conversation is both something in which we participate on a daily basis, but also something that we should understand and cultivate as an “art”. What is this “art of conversation” for Montaigne? How does he understand it? Why, for him, is it an “art”? How does his “art of conversation” relate to (resemble, differ from, challenge…) other forms of “dialogue” or other forms of language more broadly (writing, singing, etc) with which you are familiar, or which we have encountered in class? Could you, for example, engage Montaigne’s “art of conversation” with Cixous’ “écriture féminine” (feminine writing) and/or with Christine de Pisan’s “book of the city of ladies,” or perhaps imagine how someone like Frantz Fanon might respond to Montaigne’s “art of conversation”? You may also write of Montaigne by himself, responding in your own voice to different aspects of his “art of conversation,” or positing an alternative “art” or theory of conversation.

2. Writing a “Voice” of Poverty

We spoke in class about how The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes is, to some extent, an on-going meditation on hunger; the figure of hunger is a central one in this celebrated “Golden Age” novel. Not only that: it seems that the author of this text finds a particular way to “write” not just hunger, but something of which hunger plays a key part—poverty—in and through his text. I would argue, though, that poverty exists in this novel not as an exact “reflection” of society at large (consider all the churches and artwork that were being created at this time in Spain, as well as its overseas endeavors), but emerges largely through some other mechanism.

With that said: How is poverty crafted in this novel? What does it sound (or taste or feel) like? What are the figures, themes, and techniques that create a “voice” (or maybe voices) of poverty in this text? Why focus so directly on poverty here? Or, are there other voices besides that of poverty and dearth that you think emerge loudly from this novel? What are they, and how do they operate here?

For this question, you could also compare the figure of poverty in Lazarillo de Tormes with that of something else we have read or are reading. César Vallejo’s poetry (which we did not get to analyze together), the film “Before Night Falls,” or the short story “Dhowli” are potential sites you might look at to engage in a comparative project.

3. Your Choice

You may develop a paper on any other topic of your choosing that relates to any of the texts we have read since School Days. I would only ask that you discuss and confirm your topic with me before writing.