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Literary expert focuses students on "the body" in today's fiction

Greg Hampton

Fellow Greg Hampton challenged IU students to relate race, class and gender to images of "the body" in contemporary literature.

The Duke University Ph.D. in comparative literature and literary theory taught "Introduction to Fiction: Colonization and Contemporary World Literature," this summer, while wrapping up a topical article and his version of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Hampton's second session course and writing projects reflected his dissertation research in African American studies and world literature. His 1999 dissertation was titled "Changing Bodies: Some Matters of the Body in the Fiction of Octavia E. Butler." He said the themes of race, class, and gender, in conjunction with the idea of "marginalized bodies," are crucial to contemporary literary studies.

He explained "the body," as a "collection of socially constructed identities that are constantly changing in literature and in the imagination of American popular culture." He teaches that many contemporary authors employ "marginalized bodies," in their work. Such characters usually are women and/or people of color who play a major role in the development of plot and setting. "Unfortunately," he said, "these same marginalized bodies often help propagate derogatory stereotypes of race, gender, sex, and class."

Hampton demonstrated some of the theories, using the popular science fiction/horror films Aliens and Alien Resurrection. The "aliens" in both movies are presented as a hindrance and mortal threat to colonizing humans. They are presented as dark, tall, and slender "Others," which breed en masse and live in a steamy, jungle atmosphere.

"Think about what makes them scary," he said. "These films reveal what frightens the American most: tall, dark bodies with the abilities to propagate and defend themselves when necessary."

Hampton teaches his students to recognize how such imagery influences popular thought on race, gender, and class. While exposing students to new ideas about familiar works, Hampton also introduces them to less familiar Native American, African American, and African literature.

"One of the main points of my course is to expose students to the literature of the 'Other'," he said. "In doing this, it is my hope that the students will become familiar with the aesthetic and value system of the 'Other'. Literature directly reflects the people and the people's aesthetics who produce it."

Based on a longer course he taught at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts, Hampton's IU course curriculum included several authors whom students were not familiar with. Among others, Hampton used the texts, A Tempest, by Afro Caribbean author Aime Cesaire; Things Fall Apart, by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe; Bloodchild, and other stories, by African American author Octavia Butler; and Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, by Laguna Indian author Leslie Marmon Silko.

Hampton said his students, including Caucasian men, seem to love the material, even though some might feel uncomfortable at first. He suspects that because the material is centered on traditionally marginalized characters and non-white, non-male bodies, few Caucasian men join his classes. But those who do sign up usually become comfortable and glean a positive impression.

Notions of the body and difference are among the most important themes for young people to study in contemporary literature, Hampton said.

Hampton began teaching the material at Salem State in 1999. Before, he'd taught it alongside writing and American literature at Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts.

This summer, he wrapped up a comprehensive article about alien bodies and colonization in film and literature.

He also wrote a short parody of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in the current year. His version includes an African American Macbeth, who's fighting a glass ceiling to become a business executive in corporate America. He described his main character as "an affirmative action warrior."

After work, Hampton had fun exercising. He rode daily on a new bicycle he bought in Bloomington. He played basketball at the on-campus Student Recreational Sports Center, swam, and participated in the IU Aikido Club.

Also a jazz musician, he looked for opportunities to play his trumpet.

Hampton hopes to teach about the works of Octavia Butler, and other 20th century African American writers, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he began a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of African American Literature this fall.

"I hope to mix it up, cross the boundaries," he said, "because I think that's what it's all about - multi-culturalism."

He and his wife, Dr. Maria Trent, moved from Boston to Baltimore, Maryland, before he came to IU Bloomington this summer. Trent has just accepted an assistant professor position in the Adolescent Medicine Department at Johns Hopkins University.

Hampton's academic success is especially noteworthy to his family, as he represents the first generation to attend college.

- Written by Regina Galer