Friday 21 meeting

I'd like to tell you that our monthly meeting is going to take place this Friday at 18h rather than 17:30. There is a teachers' meeting before.

I thought you may like to listen to the author talking about his first novel with the BBC Book Club.
Hanif Kureishi The Buddha of Suburbia
Listen to Hanif Kureishi
First broadcast January 2003

See you at the school!
M.ª José

Time for the next meeting

Since nobody said anything about having our next meeting on Friday 30 April, I take it that you're fine with that date. We can meet at 17:30 in Room 15, as usual.

Hope to see you all there!

Cristina

Today's session

I'm sorry but today's session has to be postponed because of a School meeting. Most of you have been told so by phone, but I'd like to make sure that everybody knows.

My suggestion is to have the session on Oscar Wao on 30 April. If everybody's fine with this date, we'll arrange the time and place in another post.

This hopefully gives you more time to reflect upon the book, finish it if you hadn't had enough time, or even read it and join us if you hadn't started ;-)

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Cristina

April and May

Hi there!

For our next meeting on Friday, April 16th we'll read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. We'll meet at 19:30

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukú-the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

After April, our next meeting will take place on May 21st at 17:30. The discussion will be on The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), written by the British writer Hanif Kureishi.

Glossary of Terms for Disgrace

I thought it might be a good idea to list here some terms which may be clarifying when reading "Disgrace". Check the comment as well.

Apartheid

Apartheid literally means "apartness" in Afrikaans and Dutch. The apartheid system segregated groups along racial lines. The groups were mainly White, Black, Indian, and Coloured. These classifications determined one's geography, job, economic status, and access to resources such as education and healthcare. Although apartheid was not legally put in place until the takeover by the white Afrikaaner-run National Party in 1948, it has its roots in South Africa's colonial past under British rule. Under colonial rule the object was political separation, termed "grand apartheid." Segregation, termed "petty apartheid," did not come into play until National Party came into rule.

During apartheid not only mixed-race marriages but also interracial sex was prohibited. Every individual was classified by race. If the race of an individual was ambiguous, a committee was formed to settle the matter. Just as in America, the society claimed to uphold a standard of "separate but equal" treatment that led to wild disparity in practice. Black hospitals were inadequately funded and staffed; housing in black areas rarely had plumbing and electricity.

Resistance to Apartheid came in the form of the African National Congress (ANC) and other political entities. They staged protests, marches, and strikes. As the atrocities of apartheid gained Western attention in the 80's, the apartheid state was swiftly weakened. In the final years of apartheid, South Africa was in a state of emergency. The most violent years were from 1985-1988, during which the government became a police state crushing any opposition or threat to its authority. In 1994, Nelson Mandela won the first post-apartheid election by a landslide and became the first president of South Africa.

The arts in 2009

How about a photograph review of the arts in 2009?