{"id":113,"date":"2023-01-26T20:52:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T02:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/?p=113"},"modified":"2023-01-28T15:11:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T21:11:52","slug":"reading-the-intuitionist-by-colson-whitehead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/2023\/01\/26\/reading-the-intuitionist-by-colson-whitehead\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2023\/01\/16.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2023\/01\/16.jpg 650w, https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2023\/01\/16-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By Howard Rambsy II<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reading Colson Whitehead\u2019s debut novel, <em>The Intuitionist<\/em> (1999) in 2000 was a rewarding intellectual activity for me and, in retrospect, proved foundational for my later experiences as a professor and scholar of black literature. I was then in my second year of graduate school at Pennsylvania State University. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A friend recommended the book. \u201cIt\u2019s about elevators,\u201d I was told. Obviously, I was intrigued. Who was this black writer \u2013 blending aspects of detective fiction, science fiction, narratives of passing, and African American history?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of my graduate school courses focused on historical and canonical literature, so reading a contemporary novelist felt like something of an escape, an extracurricular endeavor. I was drawn to the philosophical musings in the novel and the playful combination of language associated with elevators and racial uplift exemplified in Whitehead\u2019s line: \u201c<em>horizontal thinking in a vertical world is the race&#8217;s<\/em>&nbsp;curse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My introduction to Whitehead\u2019s writing coincided with my early encounters with <a href=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/2023\/01\/24\/afrofuturism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Afrofuturism<\/a> through my participation on the AF listserv created by Alondra Nelson. So I was reading <em>The Intuitionist <\/em>through the lens of this exciting critical approach that focused on examining the intersections between black culture, technology, and speculative narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I began my career as a college professor, I often assigned <em>The Intuitionist <\/em>or other works by Whitehead. Returning to this fascinating novel about elevators seemed to always lead me in one direction: up.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Howard Rambsy II Reading Colson Whitehead\u2019s debut novel, The Intuitionist (1999) in 2000 was a rewarding intellectual activity for me and, in retrospect, proved foundational for my later experiences as a professor and scholar of black literature. I was then in my second year of graduate school at Pennsylvania State University. &nbsp; A friend <a href=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/2023\/01\/26\/reading-the-intuitionist-by-colson-whitehead\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Reading The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading-teaching-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/briefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}