Sometimes all you need is a good book along with your lunch to make the lunch more palatable. Here is a range of intersectional books which will rejuvenate you in the workplace!
The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The current situation has caused us all to feel trapped and isolated. This sentiment is reflected in the stream of consciousness short story by Gilman called ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. The story, now a classic, is considered a cornerstone in feminist literature. The story follows a woman, slowly losing her mind as the uncaring world goes on – sentiment we can all relate to presently.
Gilman lived in a time where writing about women’s life was deemed, at best, trivial, and, at worst, harmful. The narrative is an essential look at the position of women in marriage and society, and it will most certainly become a fixture in the feminist literary canon.
Matigari By Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o
Nyugi is a celebrated post-colonial writer who works in semantic research and colonial activism. Matigari stands as a testament to post-colonial neo liberal sentiment in the third world nations. We walk with the titular character, Matigari, a saviour as he gets slowly disillusioned with the post-colonial dream of justice, freedom and equality in a world rabid with socio-cultural and economic oppression and disparities. Nyugi’s character exists in a certain charm and naivete, making the story extremely palatable.
With Matigari Nyugi has tried to bring nuance into Kenya’s rich culture and history. It was one of the first books he wrote in his native language and its revolutionary tone is meant to provoke masses into action.
Quand Prime Le Spirituel By Simone De Beauvoir
‘When Things of the Spirit Come First’ is Simone De Beauvoir’s earlier completed collection of fictional short stories. She one of the most important icons in feminist literature and philosophy. Beauvoir’s early satire mostly criticizes the bourgeois Catholic dogma that she was reared with, but her later work parodies the technocratic fantasies and media-generated images of 1960s France. However, both novels highlight how overprotected children of privilege learn passivity, and later hypocrisy. Her charm and wit, which shines even in her non-fiction, really elevate the satire under which her characters exist.
Beauvoir demonstrates how the tales and pictures we receive teach us to view people as manufactured objects rather as free individuals and fellow humans.
Azadi By Arundhati Roy
Azadi, meaning freedom, is a book of essays written by Indian Booker prize winner and activist Arundhati Roy. The beauty in her writing shines through in her fictional worlds or rural India as she brings characters vividly to life. But in her latest collection of essays, she pulls no punches. It is a raw account of the abuse of fundamental rights which the people in her country have endured. Her raw writing still brings her earlier work to mind but its nonchalant conversational tone really sets stage for her message, which is reclamation.
It’s a great read, especially if well-written non-fiction is your genre. Arundhati Roy really engages the intersectional feminist in you!
The Thing Around Your Neck By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Every time Adichie writes, you know it is going to wreck you emotionally. As the foremost voice in post-colonial feminist literature, Adichie touches on the sincerest existential topics which plague colonized minds. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” Chimamanda Adichie explains how the American Dream is not what it appears to be. Her short tale follows Akunna as she faces with all of the difficulties that come with migrating to the United States, such as stereotypes, racism, and the difficulties of finding a decent existence.
It’s a great read, especially as you are sipping your coffee in your break room, comprehending how the floor beneath your feet just shifted because of Adichie’s lucid writing.
Ariel By Sylvia Plath
Plath is a landmark confessional poet and writer, who is often considered to have a huge part in the feminist awakening. Because of the accuracy and richness of its imagery, Ariel is likely Plath’s greatest single creation. Plath perfects her approach of leaping from picture to image in order to portray mental activity in her narrative of the ceremonial trip to the heart of life and death.
Plath’s melancholia and abstraction is a great read whenever you have a second to space.
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
Notes of a Native son is a collection of essays by James Baldwin, which is his first series of non-fiction essays. It’s reflective of the relationship fathers and sons share. Even though the relationship of these sons to their father is discussed throughout the chapter, the major goal of the discussion is Baldwin’s attempt to comprehend the role of black people in the development of America as we know it today. Baldwin constantly questions if the position of black people in American culture is so significant that most individuals are still obsessed with personal importance, while others experience personal nonentity.
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