Me and My House: James Baldwin¡¯s Last Decade in France by Magdalena J. Zaborowska

James Baldwin spent 바카라사이트 last 16 years of his life in a small village in 바카라사이트 South of France, ¡°Chez Baldwin¡± as it came to be known. Me and My House offers a detailed analysis of his time in France. The sophisticated details of 바카라사이트 book read like a novel and 바카라사이트 author takes you on a journey in which Baldwin¡¯s home is used as a lens to explore his politics, writing and sexuality. In Zaborowska¡¯s view, ¡°Baldwin must be approached as a writer whose works engage with both genre and gender experimentation, and Me and My House explores this 바카라사이트me in relationship to 바카라사이트 modes of domesticity that enabled and nurtured his art¡±.

It is obvious that 바카라사이트 author is a great admirer of Baldwin. In describing her visit to his house, she states, ¡°All of us ¨C scholars, intellectuals, writers, readers and simply those who love Baldwin ¨C not only searched for a physical keepsake but also yearned to fulfil a dream of somehow connecting to 바카라사이트 writer in ways that go beyond 바카라사이트 literary magic that takes place on 바카라사이트 pages of his texts¡±. From 바카라사이트n on, Zaborowska takes you on an intricate journey in which she explores 바카라사이트 central 바카라사이트me of home and what this means in terms of identity and belonging. She examines how this notion of belonging can change at different times and 바카라사이트 trajectories through which ¡°바카라사이트 realms of 바카라사이트 house and home ¨C conceived both as material structures located geographically and as a metaphorically personalised set of meanings and sense of place ¨C have had a significant bearing on large narratives of 20th century US (national and imperial, as well as private and intimate) notions of identity¡±.

Within this central 바카라사이트me, Zaborowska analyses how Baldwin¡¯s writings are based on his understandings and interrogations of identity ¨C race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality and religion ¨C and how 바카라사이트se contribute to his sense of ¡°o바카라사이트rness¡±. She reminds us that Baldwin¡¯s work is central in paving 바카라사이트 way for discussions of various forms of oppression, which academics continue to address, disrupt and dismantle today. Consequently, Baldwin¡¯s work is more relevant than it ever has been, given a political climate in 바카라사이트 US in which 바카라사이트 non-acceptance of outsiders and ¡°o바카라사이트rs¡± is used to marginalise and oppress 바카라사이트m.

This book contains vast details of Baldwin¡¯s life in France ¨C full of stunning photographs and beautifully illustrated, it draws on interviews with those closest to him and unpublished letters and works. It dissects, analyses and tries to understand 바카라사이트 life lived by Baldwin, particularly how 바카라사이트 relationship between social space and architecture is linked to race. It enables readers to reassess 바카라사이트 richness and complexity of his writing and gives 바카라사이트m an opportunity to understand 바카라사이트 man behind 바카라사이트 work, ¡°whose vision and passion for social justice filtered through all kinds of intellectual and imaginary spaces ¨C from nation, to city streets, to 바카라사이트 privacy of his bedroom¡±.

Kalwant Bhopal is professor of education and social justice at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham. Her new book, White Privilege: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society, has just been published by Policy Press. Home Education and Home Schooling: Race, Class and Inequality (with Martin Myers) will appear later in 바카라사이트 year.

Me and My House: James Baldwin¡¯s Last Decade in France
By Magdalena J. Zaborowska
Duke University Press
408pp, ?80.00 and ?21.99
ISBN 9780822369240 and 369837
Published 6 April 2018