About Me
rburton@csuchico.eduRecent Entries
Blogs + Education
Blogster is about to be hit by another tidal wave of weekly writings, all rippling out of the small college town of Chico in northern Calif... read more
Rushdie and Satire
The irony about satire (if you catch my drift) is that most satirists actually seem to take themselves quite seriously. On the surface, they appear to... read more
Mukherjee + Subalterns
"Can the subaltern speak?" It's a question that is often asked in the field of literary s... read more
Bessie Head + a Frameless World
We take frames for granted. By frames, I don't necessarily mean the four-sided structure... read more
Ishiguro and the Bridge of Hesitation
Some time in our lives, we inevitably experience that Robert Frost moment when we find ourselves at a crossroads, and wonder ... read more
China: Part Five (Smog)
You can't avoid the smog in China. Even in the relatively deindustrialized city of Chengdu, a dull grey smog lingers in the air most of t... read more
China: Part Four (The 8th. C. Poet Du Fu)
Chengdu is associated with many prominent writers--Li Bai and Xue Tao (late Tang Dynasty poets), Pa Chin (auth... read more
China: Part Three (Crossing the Road)
On my daily walk to South-West University for Nationalities in Chengdu, I had to cross a particularly tricky c... read more
China: Part Two (Glorious Hyperbole)
During my five-week stay in Chengdu, I became more and more enamored of the public signposts (at least, those that ... read more
China: Part One (Overview)
I recently returned from a six-week visit to China. I spent five weeks studying Mandarin at South-West University for Nationalities in Chengdu (... read more
