The Slow Fuse of the Gradual Instant Reprised

• In Event: 47.015 - Biographical and Documentary Research SIG Business Meeting: Imagining an Activist Future for a Blue Guitar

Abstract

The opportunity to revisit and reflect upon one’s work over twenty years is a gift, the greatest of which is the realization of enduring influences that bring a centre of gravity to that work. Rereading allows a retrospective consideration that enables one to interpret her life and imbue it with meaning (Sumara 2002). In the novel, Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels describes history as the gradual instant, that moment when we recognize how things have continued to move and change even without our awareness. It is only in revisiting that we see the traces of rivulets in our experience that reveal how profoundly our engagement with others’ thinking brings depth and meaning to our own.
This paper recounts the author’s reflection on twenty years of her work that has been influenced by the philosophy of Maxine Greene; in particular, Greene’s writings about imagination and aesthetic practice. The aesthetic practice the author explores is literary, a source of much inspiration for Greene. Throughout her work, Greene drew from novelists such as Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison and poets such as Emily Dickenson and Wallace Stevens to argue that reading literature engages learners’ imaginations and encourages them to imagine “as-if.” Writing narratives and poetry further engages different interpretations of their experience. Through the practice of close reading and writing, students envision opportunities for different ways of being and acting, contributing to a deeper sense of empathy and a broadening of perspectives. With the current influences of standardized assessment and the proliferation of digital media, classrooms can be more constrained and hyperactive. In such a world, Greene’s call for educators to ignite imaginations is even more important for creative thinking and new possibilities. The opportunity to revisit and reflect upon one’s work over twenty years is a gift, the greatest of which is the realization of enduring influences that bring a centre of gravity to that work. Rereading allows a retrospective consideration that enables one to interpret her life and imbue it with meaning (Sumara 2002). In the novel, Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels describes history as the gradual instant, that moment when we recognize how things have continued to move and change even without our awareness. It is only in revisiting that we see the traces of rivulets in our experience that reveal how profoundly our engagement with others’ thinking brings depth and meaning to our own.

Author

• Rebecca J. Luce-Kapler, Queen's University