Jean Genet’s The Balcony
The Methods of Cultural Appropriation in Jean Genet’s “The Balcony”
The now-famous story of Jean Genet’s ascension to literary sainthood begins with an accusation. The young Genet, an orphan and an outcast in the rural Morvan, was subject to suspicion and, due to his dubious origins, finally accused of thievery. However, instead of shaking the label, Genet decided to embrace it to fulfill all the mordant potential that it promised. From this inaugurating act sprang the literary Genet. As Sartre says in his monumental study Saint Genet: “For him, to compose is to recreate himself”(584). As a result, Genet’s persona is as famous (or notorious) as his works are.
Genet’s early initiation into a mental, if not physical, sort of underworld predicates his awareness of the problems of subcultural existence in a society ruled by signs, symbols, and rituals. His writing often focuses on the detailed qualities of inanimate objects, attributing meaning to them and in the process forging almost personal relationships with them. This is important because Genet is highly aware of the effects of the proliferation of images in the media and their uses for various interests. In his literary career, Genet moves from a consciousness of the importance of symbols and images in identifying and defining a particular subcultural milieu to an awareness of the ways in which these symbols can be appropriated by dominant culture, thus losing their subversive edge. It is in this way that dominant culture disarms potentially dangerous subversive or criminal elements. “The Balcony” illustrates to a superlative degree his awareness of image and symbol for subcultural elements and the danger of approp...
... middle of paper ...
...ame time casts a leery eye towards the use of images to facilitate this process. However, by exposing the means of appropriation Genet allows leeway for re-appropriation, a way for subcultures to assert their own self-representation. This leads to a kind of cultural barter or negotiation between subculture and dominant culture; the methods of this barter must therefore become the primary concern of subcultures.
Works Cited
Genet, Jean. “The Balcony”. New York: Grove Press. 1966.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Saint Genet. New York: Mentor Books. 1963.
Hebdige, Dick. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge. 1979.
Plotz, John. “Objects of Abjection: The Animation of Difference in Jean Genet’s Novels”. Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 44, No. 1. (Spring, 1998). 100-118.
White, Edmund. Genet: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1993.
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. "Tartuffe." The Norton Anthology Western Literature. 8th ed. Eds. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 2. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 19-67. Print.
France, Marie De. Lanval. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton & Company, Inc., 2000. 127-140.
I have chosen to do a paper on Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar is a disorder in when a person’s mood inappropriately alternates between feelings of mania and depression. A bipolar mania is a mental illness classified by psychiatry as a mood disorder. Also individuals with bipolar disorder experience episodes of an elevated or agitated mood known as mania or hypomania, depending on the severity alternating with episodes of depression.
UK, The Week. “Cultural Appropriation: What Is It and Why Is It Wrong?” The Week UK,
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Meyer, M., Ed., (1999). Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin.
American Literature. 6th Edition. Vol. A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2003. 783-791
Bipolar Disorder, an illness in the brain where it controls someone or something to have mood swings, depression, and thoughts on others and other things. Bipolar Disorder is the common name for Borderline Personality Disorder, it can be distressing, not only for the person with the disorder, but for the people around them. Persons with Bipolar Disorder have a difficult time controlling their emotions and many times are in a state of upheaval. Childhood experiences or a brain dysfunction are potential reasons why. Bipolar Disorder can be changed or helped by medication, therapy, and counseling. Bipolar is not an illness that can stand alone it is changed by other variables. Bipolar Disorder, is something not to be mess with. In (MANNING, JS.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton anthology of English literature. 9th ed., A, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pp
Bipolar disorder not only affects the person living with it but the the people closest to them. It can be stressful on the family. It may also be difficult being the parent of a child with bipolar. As a family member or close friend learning to cope with the mood and behavior can be very helpful. Make sure to not take care of the loved one but take care of self too is important to manage bipolar disorder.
...hope that diagnosis is found when the individual is still young and the symptoms will not worsen over time. Response of treatments varies in each individual and some studies suggest that medication and behavioral therapy are the most effective in relieving the symptoms of OCD (What is OCD?, 2014). While there is still a small percentage of individuals with OCD that neither medication nor behavioral treatment produces no significant change at all their symptoms. The combination of both methods has been found in several cases to be superior to either treatment on its own. Most individuals who have received effective treatments find that the symptoms are reduced drastically by 40% to 50%. That makes it enough to change their lives where upon they are to go back to school, work and their families. In other words they can become a functioning part of society again.
De France, Marie. Lanval. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 127-40.
OCD is an anxiety disorder that is described as someone with obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behavior. People with OCD are caught up in repetitive behavior and thoughts that they cannot stop. Obsession is defined as unwanted, recurrent, and disturbing thoughts that a person cannot stop. These thoughts are unable to be suppressed and can result in severe anxiety. Compulsions are the result of the obsession. These are repetitive, ritualized behaviors that are done to alleviate the anxiety caused by the obsession. (2) The most common obsessions are fear of contamination, fear of causing harm to another, fear of making a mistake, fear of behaving in a socially unacceptable manner, need for symmetry or exactness, and excessive doubt. The most common compulsions are cleaning/washing, checking, arranging/organizing, collecting/hoarding, and counting/repeating. (3) Some people with OCD have rituals that help relieve the anxiety; however, that relief is only temporary. (4) Most patients (at least 80%) with OCD have both obs...
Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Anthology Of English Literature. 8th. A. W W Norton & Co Inc, 2006.
...n & Co., Inc., 1962); excerpted and reprinted in Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 3, ed. Carolyn Riley (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1975), p. 526.
OCD is known as one of the anxieties disorders (geocities). It can be a crippling condition that can persist throughout a person’s life (geocities). Someone who suffers from OCD can become trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that are senseless and distressing but very difficult to overcome (geocities). OCD is linked to a kind of “short-circuit” in the way the brain processes worry thoughts (kids health). People with OCD have obsessions and compulsions.