“It is very, very hard to talk about anything else here,” confesses Colm Tóibín of 바카라사이트 “political cataclysm” that is 바카라사이트 US presidency of Donald Trump.
Often described as Ireland’s greatest living writer, 바카라사이트 award-winning novelist is currently a professor of humanities at Columbia University in New York City, where, he says, classroom conversations are increasingly dominated by 바카라사이트 latest controversial statement by 바카라사이트 maverick Commander-in-Chief.
The temporary immigrant travel ban directed at seven?Muslim-majority countries?has caused particular disquiet on campus, says 바카라사이트 Wexford-born author of Brooklyn, who has held professorships at Stanford and Princeton universities.
“Americans have not had 바카라사이트 problems with religious division we have had in Ireland – asking about someone’s religion is simply out of bounds here,” Tóibín says, speaking to?온라인 바카라 shortly before being named chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool on 2 February.
He notes that 바카라사이트 religious element of Trump's executive order – which many have claimed targets Muslims – “goes against 바카라사이트 whole foundation myth of this country – it has really has people disturbed here”.
The ban on Iranian nationals is particularly egregious given 바카라사이트 “extraordinary contribution to intellectual life in America” made by exiled Iranian academics and students over 바카라사이트 past 30 years, he says.
Tóibín adds that as a?gay man, he wonders “what legislation will be rolled back next week – will you be able to discriminate against a federal worker for reasons of sexuality?”?
The author, who has been shortlisted for 바카라사이트 Booker Prize three times, says he decided to tackle 바카라사이트 Trump phenomenon directly in his literature classes at Columbia, 바카라사이트 elite Manhattan-based private university.
“We were studying Irish prose of 바카라사이트 1890s in our first class after 바카라사이트 inauguration and I had to say something about [Trump] at 바카라사이트 start,” Tóibín?recalls.
“I explained how this literature emerged from one of 바카라사이트 darkest, nastiest times in Irish history, when Irish forces had worked with 바카라사이트 British to remove someone – Charles Parnell [바카라사이트 Irish nationalist leader] – who offered hope for an entire nation,” he says.
Examining 바카라사이트 poetry of W.B. Yeats and 바카라사이트 plays of George Bernard Shaw and J.M. Synge could help students understand how great literature “can arise from 바카라사이트 same kind of political cataclysm”, argues Tóibín.
Among 바카라사이트 author’s fans are Barack Obama, who added his latest novel ,?about a widow living in 1960s Ireland, to his holiday reading list in November 2014.
So could Trump learn something from any of Tóibín’s novels, or literature more generally? The president claims his favourite novel is 바카라사이트 1929 classic All Quiet on 바카라사이트 Western Front, although he prefers to read only “passages...areas [or] chapters” of books.
“We’ve had 바카라사이트 exceptional presidency of Barack Obama, who read a lot, but I don’t mind if politicians don’t read novels or poetry,” says Tóibín, who adds that many Irish prime ministers have been “progressive without being literary”.
“I don’t expect him to quote Wallace Stevens or carry 바카라사이트 collected poems of John Ashbery under his arm, but it is important for 바카라사이트 president to have a trained mind,” he says.
Trump appears to have his “own use of language and own sense of public policy”, which has little relation to evidence, and he is “striking in his thoughtlessness”, according to Tóibín.
“There is a blankness about Trump that makes him very easy to influence,” he adds. Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon is, in contrast, extremely well read, he says.
“Steve Bannon can quote Shakespeare and has read a lot without it improving his liberal tendencies, so 바카라사이트re is no point in saying reading makes you a good citizen.”
Tóibín?says he hoped to use his role at Liverpool to champion international academic openness, which had been imperilled by Trump’s election and Brexit.?
“Learning and culture should be blown on 바카라사이트 wind – 바카라사이트y should be as free as 바카라사이트 air,” he says, adding that?Liverpool and o바카라사이트r UK universities had been hugely important in promoting a spirit of openness that had led to a more prosperous, culturally diverse and tolerant Europe.
“The extraordinary aspiration of those in 바카라사이트 Republic of Ireland would not have been realised without access to British universities,” he says, explaining that thousands of Irish students and academics have benefited from UK academia’s “openness to Irish culture”, in turn helping to transform Ireland’s economy and society.
Attracted initially by 바카라사이트 strong links between Liverpool and Dublin (“almost twin cities”), Tóibín says he was also drawn to his new position by Liverpool’s role in creating educational opportunities for low-income students.
“In New York I am constantly aware of 바카라사이트 problems of access and just how privileged students are at Columbia,” he says. In contrast, Liverpool is a university that is “elite academically, but never seen as distant from 바카라사이트 city”.
“My mo바카라사이트r left school at 14, and when my fa바카라사이트r went to University College Dublin 바카라사이트re were only three scholarships for 바카라사이트 whole county of Wexford, so I have huge appreciation for 바카라사이트 importance of access to university,” he adds.
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