Interiority and Polyphony

First day in my Interiority and polyphony class. I came away feeling really good. Really full. Like I’m ready to get to it. M, our instructor, gave us an overveiw of the class. He gave us some definitions of INteriority and Polyphony:

Interiority: It’s the hallmark of the novel. The reader feels as if they are inside a character’s head

Polyphony: Many voices that combine to create a whole that’s greater than the sum of it’s parts

It was helpful to have those two concepts defined like that. Like, I know those because I’ve read so many books that use them. It’s really nice to feel a recognition. At first though, I was worried, I began to feel like I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s weird. This voice just interrupted me and basically told me that this is too hard for me.

I took a breath and told it to fuck off.

Then we read some excerpts from The Fifth Season by N.K Jemison. We broke off into breakout rooms of four, and we were to read the three or so pages and discuss the voice of the piece. I was annoyed at first because I couldn’t read it fast enough and my group was talking. I couldn’t concentrate. So I had to mute them and really concentrate and gather my thoughts.

I didn’t say much to my group because my brain just wouldn’t generate my thoughts coherently for me to articulate them. But when we went back into the main room, I was able to say my thoughts. That was cool. I got to participate and actually feel like I had something useful to say.

Again, it was so good to hear everyone talking about the different pieces we read. Folks are so smart, fam! I’m actually in awe and love to sit back listen to the critical gold that drops from some people’s mouths….like, how did you get to that thought? Pretty cool.

What’s also nice is that people who are in different stages of their MFA are in the class. Like we have some people that are in their second year, and others who are in their fourth. This is really nice because they have learned a lot and offer us newcomers really dope perspectives and knowledge. Yes, drop that knowledge on me, please!

M is so sweet, too. He is really passionate about this class and subject and I even felt like I was gonna cry at one moment when he was expressing this and thanking us for being on the journey with him and vice versa. That was super nice.

But then again, I kind of already knew that he was real sweet. This summer, before I started classes, I joined a student/faculty working group to discuss ways in which Black and Brown/ Queer/ Disabled students can be supported by faculty, the Creative Writing’s department attempt at actiely working on Anti-racist pedagogy and creating safe spaces for students.

M is a part of this group and he’s very attentive and helpful. You can tell that he really understands that systemic racism is something that needs action in order to combat it. I’ve been really vocal about intersectional feminist anti-racism. It’s kind of a mouthful and can make people recoil. But when I brought it up, the group was very receptive. I, too, have a lot to unlearn, which is a lifelong thing, I think!

The department had many of their faculty take anti-racist workshops in the summer because students were vocal about racism in the classroom. They are also hiring more folks of color and this is imperative in my opinion because to be frank, students should see themselves reflected in the classroom. The level of microaggressions is likely to diminish if we have faculty that are actively intersectional in their anti-racist unlearning.

So for the next class, we have to read The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead and a chapter out of The Art of Perspective. I better get reading!