“If there is such a thing as UFO abduction discourse, that discourse has a lot of penises in it.”

—from Luise White's “Alien Nation ”

 

TRANSITION 63: Table of Contents

 

UNDER REVIEW ____________________

Porn Free
In Catherine MacKinnon's topsy-turvy feminism, freedom is a foe and the state is a bedfellow. Ellen Willis unravels the contradictions of the new antipornthink.

Alien Nation
The race for space takes on a new meaning as contemporary UFO abduction stories seem to encode racial anxieties as extraterrestrial sex fantasies. Luis White ponders the parallels.

For Said
Edward Said's celebrated work on culture and imperialism speaks to a larger critical predicament. Bogumil Jewsiewicki and V.Y. Mudimbe reflect on the dilemmas of the “postcolonial” intellectual.

Disturbing the Peace
Is the musical “Showboat” irredeemably racist? Is Canada itself? For the answer to these and other questions, Selwyn Cudjoe lingers with a north-of-the-border firebrand.

Latin Lessons
What is it that Latinos share, exactly: a world — or just a word? Róman de la Campa considers the vagaries of New World identity.

A Nice Place to Visit
Reading America through the travel accounts of foreign visitors can be a chagrining experience — also an illuminating one. Phil Burnham reports.

Mayhem as a Way of Life
The art of low-intensity warfare has harrowed Mozambique and turned the promise of independence into a Hobbesian nightmare. Andrew McCord reviews the latest accounts of an African killing field.

The Same Difference
Does “diversity” make a difference? Lucien Taylor elucidates a Martinican master of obscurity.

Black Body Politic
The Congressional Black Caucus has been hampered by parochial notions of race and representation, Carol M. Swain argues; and the problems just start there.

EXCHANGES____________________

Paz as “Dictator” Eliot Weinberger

The Task of the Translator Ilan Stavans

CONVERSATIONS____________________

After Identity
Poet and essayist June Jordan discusses identity, politics — and the fallacy of identity politics — with the critic Peter Erickson.

Toward an African Cinema
Prolific Nigerian director Chief Eddie Ugbomah discusses film, finances, and the future of African film with critic N. Frank Ukadike.

Blood Brothers
Hollywood's new “gangsta” filmmakers, Albert and Allen Hughes, expand on the perils and promise of blaxploitation with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

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