Ashlie M Kontos
Ashlie M. Kontos graduated from the University of Texas at Tyler with her M.A. in English in May 2017.
Her research interests are literature about war, trauma, loss, and shame; literary theory - specifically metamodernism; belief in the post-postmodern age; works by Jonathan Safran Foer; post-Holocaust Jewish literature; and the philosophy of David Foster Wallace.
She studied English literature (BA) minoring in History and classical studies, with Latin as her foreign language, at the University of Texas at Tyler.
She previously served as the Vice President for the International David Foster Wallace Society (dfwsociety.org).
“Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.”
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlie-contos-276730130/
Supervisors: Carolyn Tilghman, Ann Beebe, and Anett Jessop
Her research interests are literature about war, trauma, loss, and shame; literary theory - specifically metamodernism; belief in the post-postmodern age; works by Jonathan Safran Foer; post-Holocaust Jewish literature; and the philosophy of David Foster Wallace.
She studied English literature (BA) minoring in History and classical studies, with Latin as her foreign language, at the University of Texas at Tyler.
She previously served as the Vice President for the International David Foster Wallace Society (dfwsociety.org).
“Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.”
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlie-contos-276730130/
Supervisors: Carolyn Tilghman, Ann Beebe, and Anett Jessop
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Books edited by Ashlie M Kontos
easily ignored or pacified in our materialistic, consumer-driven culture. Gabor Maté’s In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction (2011) and the work of Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW, present claims for how the individual is a reflection of the community and vice-versa, thereby arguing for a greater commitment to understanding and aiding those plagued by addiction. Wallace recognized, “Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else” (Infinite Jest 205). Yet his fiction and scholars’ research suggests that human beings share more identical attributes than dissimilar ones, and that the addict—whether it be Lenz, Hal, or even Gately as he struggles with sobriety—is not so different from the community who ostracizes him/her (Infinite Jest 205). Wallace, Maté, and Brown encourage authenticity, sincerity, and vulnerability, which are all traits that help addicts overcome their struggle with substances, and almost ironically, it is these traits that also push the literary community out of the post-modern refrain of disillusionment, deconstruction, and irony, which Wallace admittedly strove to overcome.
Essays by Ashlie M Kontos
Concurrently, there is much discussion within academia as to what is presently occurring in literary and critical theory trends. Although there is still much debate about the beginning and end of (post)modernism and the definitions of both eras, researchers are now observing a shift in literary aesthetics, critical theories, and cultural dynamics. Leading scholars of this new movement, Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, assign the term “metamodernism” to this shift because the prefix “meta” signifies the fluidity of the movement: it is at once between and beyond (post)modernism.
It is with these two contemporary shifts in mind (both of which are decidedly influenced by previously held ideologies) that I examine how contemporary authors and their fiction depart from preceding paradigms. I draw a parallel between certain predominate characteristics of postmodern literary styles and critical theories (i.e. irony, play, cynicism, paranoia, etc.) and the discomfort that most addicts experience (i.e. shame, anxiety, cynicism, paranoia, etc.). I then analyze how metamodern authors–specifically David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Zadie Smith–and their novels continue postmodernism’s experimentation with form while moving away from postmodernism’s detachment to again explore modernism’s themes such as authenticity and sincerity. These attributes–sincerity, vulnerability, etc.–ultimately enable the addict to cognitively and behaviorally reframe their engagement with their addiction, and I argue that these very qualities also push the literary community out of the postmodern refrain.
Foer’s (re)construction of post-modern theories addresses the void left in deconstruction’s wake and creates a new kind of bridge between signs and meaning, and the creation of both individually and jointly. I propose that J. S. Foer is a post-postmodernist, meaning that through the expression of sentiment the author connects to the reader through the text thereby generating feeling and meaning in spite of deconstruction’s dismantling of words. This paper will briefly define post-postmodernism, explicate Foer’s use of semiotic-play in “A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease” and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and illustrate how he produces meaning and connection through these texts.
I explore shame in Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills, Salman Rushie’s Shame, and Ingrid Jonker's poetry. In order to refute Bewes’s claim, I reference current sociological and psychological research that assert that though shame is a detrimental experience it can be healed–“worked through”–by communicating one’s experience of it. Thus, literature is capable of speaking about shame, alleviating the isolation caused by it, and creating a place to illuminate readers’ understanding of it. Authors, like those detailed in this essay, take up the plight of those who suffer from shame and bring awareness to the wrong-doings of humanity; therefore, writing/reading enables an audience the space and intellectual medium to hear shame and practice an empathetic engagement thus legitimizing the power of imagination and the written word.
One such anti-rebel is the photographer Dylan Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth’s work includes conceptual photographs of surreal landscapes and raw footage of average individuals from N.Y.C. to Nicaragua. His photography always focuses on “people, stories and events that have universal meaning and the potential to remind us of the broader life we often miss while lost in our own immediate journeys” (Hollingsworth). He recently confessed that, “[m]ore than aesthetic or technique, I watch for emotion and depth…those will always take precedent over creating a perfectly exposed and framed photograph” (Dallas Observer). Indeed, if anything, Hollingsworth presents himself as one of those anti-rebels whose time has come. It is in light of his departure from postmodern gimmicks – kitsch, play, or pastiche – and his reinvestment in sentimentality, sincere and interpersonal connections among artist, art, and audience, that I interviewed Hollingsworth.
Blog Posts by Ashlie M Kontos
(1) Women’s scholarly pieces on DFW
(2) Women’s theses/dissertations on DFW
(3) Women whose work on DFW is available for free on Academia.edu!
(4) Women writers whom Wallace read/praised/taught
(5) If you like DFW, check out these female authors – recommendations from the Diversity Team
Conference Presentations by Ashlie M Kontos
[1] “Host,” “Up, Simba,” and “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s” from Consider the Lobster and “Just Asking” from Both Flesh and Not.
[2] “The purpose of writing…is not to find closure, but to resist it, to frame the possibilities of meaning, not to achieve, and so to close them. Failure, then, read as the absence of closure, is the primary positivity of Wallace’s writing” (2).
[3] http://hudsonreview.com/2014/02/on-david-foster-wallaces-conservatism/#.VzuK9DUrJQI
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-conservative-david-foster-wallace/
easily ignored or pacified in our materialistic, consumer-driven culture. Gabor Maté’s In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction (2011) and the work of Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW, present claims for how the individual is a reflection of the community and vice-versa, thereby arguing for a greater commitment to understanding and aiding those plagued by addiction. Wallace recognized, “Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else” (Infinite Jest 205). Yet his fiction and scholars’ research suggests that human beings share more identical attributes than dissimilar ones, and that the addict—whether it be Lenz, Hal, or even Gately as he struggles with sobriety—is not so different from the community who ostracizes him/her (Infinite Jest 205). Wallace, Maté, and Brown encourage authenticity, sincerity, and vulnerability, which are all traits that help addicts overcome their struggle with substances, and almost ironically, it is these traits that also push the literary community out of the post-modern refrain of disillusionment, deconstruction, and irony, which Wallace admittedly strove to overcome.
Concurrently, there is much discussion within academia as to what is presently occurring in literary and critical theory trends. Although there is still much debate about the beginning and end of (post)modernism and the definitions of both eras, researchers are now observing a shift in literary aesthetics, critical theories, and cultural dynamics. Leading scholars of this new movement, Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, assign the term “metamodernism” to this shift because the prefix “meta” signifies the fluidity of the movement: it is at once between and beyond (post)modernism.
It is with these two contemporary shifts in mind (both of which are decidedly influenced by previously held ideologies) that I examine how contemporary authors and their fiction depart from preceding paradigms. I draw a parallel between certain predominate characteristics of postmodern literary styles and critical theories (i.e. irony, play, cynicism, paranoia, etc.) and the discomfort that most addicts experience (i.e. shame, anxiety, cynicism, paranoia, etc.). I then analyze how metamodern authors–specifically David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Zadie Smith–and their novels continue postmodernism’s experimentation with form while moving away from postmodernism’s detachment to again explore modernism’s themes such as authenticity and sincerity. These attributes–sincerity, vulnerability, etc.–ultimately enable the addict to cognitively and behaviorally reframe their engagement with their addiction, and I argue that these very qualities also push the literary community out of the postmodern refrain.
Foer’s (re)construction of post-modern theories addresses the void left in deconstruction’s wake and creates a new kind of bridge between signs and meaning, and the creation of both individually and jointly. I propose that J. S. Foer is a post-postmodernist, meaning that through the expression of sentiment the author connects to the reader through the text thereby generating feeling and meaning in spite of deconstruction’s dismantling of words. This paper will briefly define post-postmodernism, explicate Foer’s use of semiotic-play in “A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease” and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and illustrate how he produces meaning and connection through these texts.
I explore shame in Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills, Salman Rushie’s Shame, and Ingrid Jonker's poetry. In order to refute Bewes’s claim, I reference current sociological and psychological research that assert that though shame is a detrimental experience it can be healed–“worked through”–by communicating one’s experience of it. Thus, literature is capable of speaking about shame, alleviating the isolation caused by it, and creating a place to illuminate readers’ understanding of it. Authors, like those detailed in this essay, take up the plight of those who suffer from shame and bring awareness to the wrong-doings of humanity; therefore, writing/reading enables an audience the space and intellectual medium to hear shame and practice an empathetic engagement thus legitimizing the power of imagination and the written word.
One such anti-rebel is the photographer Dylan Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth’s work includes conceptual photographs of surreal landscapes and raw footage of average individuals from N.Y.C. to Nicaragua. His photography always focuses on “people, stories and events that have universal meaning and the potential to remind us of the broader life we often miss while lost in our own immediate journeys” (Hollingsworth). He recently confessed that, “[m]ore than aesthetic or technique, I watch for emotion and depth…those will always take precedent over creating a perfectly exposed and framed photograph” (Dallas Observer). Indeed, if anything, Hollingsworth presents himself as one of those anti-rebels whose time has come. It is in light of his departure from postmodern gimmicks – kitsch, play, or pastiche – and his reinvestment in sentimentality, sincere and interpersonal connections among artist, art, and audience, that I interviewed Hollingsworth.
(1) Women’s scholarly pieces on DFW
(2) Women’s theses/dissertations on DFW
(3) Women whose work on DFW is available for free on Academia.edu!
(4) Women writers whom Wallace read/praised/taught
(5) If you like DFW, check out these female authors – recommendations from the Diversity Team
[1] “Host,” “Up, Simba,” and “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s” from Consider the Lobster and “Just Asking” from Both Flesh and Not.
[2] “The purpose of writing…is not to find closure, but to resist it, to frame the possibilities of meaning, not to achieve, and so to close them. Failure, then, read as the absence of closure, is the primary positivity of Wallace’s writing” (2).
[3] http://hudsonreview.com/2014/02/on-david-foster-wallaces-conservatism/#.VzuK9DUrJQI
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-conservative-david-foster-wallace/
For the purpose of this conference, I limit my analysis to Salman Rushie’s Shame (1983). In order to refute Bewes’s claim, I reference current sociological and psychological research that assert that though shame is a detrimental experience it can be healed–“worked through”–by communicating one’s experience of it. Thus, literature is capable of speaking about shame, alleviating the isolation caused by it, and creating a place to illuminate readers’ understanding of it. Authors, like Rushdie, take up the plight of those who suffer from shame and bring awareness to the wrong-doings of humanity; therefore, writing/reading enables an audience the space and intellectual medium to hear shame and practice an empathetic engagement thus legitimizing the power of imagination and the written word."
“ICELAND, 22:13:36. April 11, 2006, Variable Point.”
“‘{I want to love and be loved.}’
‘↓’
‘↓’
Within the narrative worlds created by Jonathan Safran Foer, each of the above symbols carries meaning of great depth. Foer’s characters are set upon by trauma of various degrees: death, alienation, aphasia, loss of a parent/spouse/son in the September 11 terrorist attacks, heart disease, the Holocaust, “the prison-house of language,” loss of a pregnant girlfriend in the bombing at Dresden, loss of a pregnant sister at Dresden, and the list goes on. In writing about events that remain delicate, even over seventy years later (i.e. the Holocaust), Foer addresses the horrors of these occurrences and does so by creating new expressions for these indescribable experiences. Foer continually manipulates words, emoticons, and narrative structures to further demonstrate language’s limitations, especially when it fails as a means of conveying suffering, grief, angst, and death. Yet unlike many deconstructionists’ conclusions–that linguistics as a form of communication is unstable and meaning is therefore unattainable–Foer does portray some kind of resolution or existential meaning even in the face of these tragedies.
Foer’s (re)construction of post-modern theories addresses the void left in deconstruction’s wake and creates a new kind of bridge between signs and meaning, and the creation of both individually and jointly. I propose that J. S. Foer is a post-postmodernist, meaning that through the expression of sentiment the author connects to the reader through the text thereby generating feeling and meaning in spite of deconstruction’s dismantling of words. This paper will briefly define post-postmodernism, explicate Foer’s use of semiotic-play in “A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease” and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and illustrate how he produces meaning and connection through these texts."