Table Of Content

Literary Journalism and Social Justice Edited by Robert Alexander · Willa McDonald Literary Journalism and Social Justice “Editors Willa McDonald and Robert Alexander have compiled an excellent collection of scholarly essays focused on not just literary journalism as a whole, but, burrowing down, issues specifically revolving around social justice—rather than, say, Wolfe’s predilection for getting inside subcultures of all types. This focus yields important essays from major literary journalism scholars from around the world and spotlights the urgent need to accelerate research into this afflicting-the- comfortable realm as we move deeper into the third decade of this tumultuous, increasingly anti-democratic century.” —Bill Reynolds, Professor of Journalism at The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, and Editor of Literary Journalism Studies “It is my contention that the volume is likely to be a milestone in the field of global literary journalism studies, but will also be of interest in other fields, such as journalism and communication studies, comparative literature, sociology, ethnog- raphy, and the humanities at large. This original book presents many provocative ideas and bold approaches, evidence that literary journalism studies is playing a crucial part in advancing social justice.” —Isabelle Meuret, Senior Lecturer, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Robert Alexander • Willa McDonald Editors Literary Journalism and Social Justice Editors Robert Alexander Willa McDonald Department of English Language Faculty of Arts and Literature Department of Media, Brock University Communications, Creative Arts, St. Catharines, ON, Canada Language and Literature (MCCALL) Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia ISBN 978-3-030-89419-1 ISBN 978-3-030-89420-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89420-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Val Blokowski / EyeEm / Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland A cknowledgments The editors would like to thank the many people who were involved in this book throughout the many stages of its production. In particular, we would like to thank the researchers whose work appears in the following pages who have shared their knowledge and insights on the topic—the intersection of literary journalism and social justice—enriching our under- standing of this nascent academic field. Thanks as well to the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies for supporting us, circulating our call for papers, and hosting two panels we proposed on Literary Journalism and Social Justice at its 14th annual conference held at Stony Brook University, Long Island, New York, in May 2019, and to the contributors to these panels. We would also like to thank the staff at Palgrave Macmillan—in particular, Mala Sanghera- Warren and Emily Wood for their patience and expert guidance through the editorial process, and the reviewers whose thoughtful comments have strengthened this collection. Thanks also go to Sue Spearey, Nancy Cook, and David Butz for their invaluable assistance in the early days of this project, as well as to Bunty Avieson, Sue Joseph, and Matthew Ricketson who provided advice or v vi ACkNOWLEDGMENTS were early readers along the way. We also thank friends and colleagues at our respective universities. And finally to our families: Carolyn, William, Madeleine, and Mango Tian, Mingy and Freddles faithful companions who shared their suddenly shrunken world of 2020 and 2021 with this book as it came into being. c ontents 1 Introduction: Literary Journalism and Social Justice 1 Robert Alexander and Willa McDonald Part I Approach: An Appetite for Justice 19 2 “Throw the Rich Woman’s Castoffs Back in Her Face”: Moa Martinson’s Rejection of Charity in Favour of Class-Based Solidarity 21 Anna Hoyles 3 Louis Roubaud, Social Justice and Lost Children 35 kari Evanson 4 The Poetics of Resistance: The Literary Journalism of India’s Dalit Protest Movement 49 David O. Dowling Part II Encounter: Engaging Subjects 67 5 Witnessing and the Theorization of Reportage 69 Pascal Sigg vii viii CONTENTS 6 Telling a True Story No One Wants to Read: Literary Journalism and Child Sexual Abuse 83 Matthew Ricketson 7 Standpoint Theory and Trauma: Giving Voice to the Voiceless 99 Sue Joseph 8 Making Visible the Invisible: George Orwell’s “Marrakech” 117 Russell Frank 9 Bearing Witness to Epistemic Injustice: Joan Baxter’s The Mill 129 Callie Long 10 Young Voices, an Old Problem: When Latin American Chroniclers Tell Stories About Childhood and Youth 143 Laura Ventura Part III Representation: Strategies for Change 155 11 Social Justice as a Political Act: Action and Memory in the Journalism of Rodolfo Walsh 157 Pablo Calvi 12 American Literary Journalism as Liberatory Praxis: Narrative Experimentation and Social Justice 175 William E. Dow 13 Literary Journalism and the Scales of Justice: A New Mobilities Approach 195 Robert Alexander 14 Literary Journalism and the American Prison Press 209 kate McQueen CONTENTS ix 15 Communication Across Borders: Testimonial Memoir as Literary Journalism for Mobility Justice 225 Willa McDonald 16 Territorial Rights, Identity, and Environmental Challenges in Latin American Literary Journalism 243 Dolors Palau-Sampio 17 Literary Journalism and Critical Social Practice: Latino and African Immigrant Communities in the Works of Gabriel Thompson and Rui Simões 259 Isabel Soares, Rita Amorim, and Raquel Baltazar Part IV Response: Changing Attitudes and Prompting Action 277 18 Phronetic Journalism: How One Reporter’s Story Helped Women “Mutilated” by Their Gynaecologist Fight for Social Justice 279 Jennifer Martin 19 Stories, Students, and Social Justice: Literary Journalism as a Teaching Tool for Change 293 Mitzi Lewis and Jeffrey C. Neely Index 311 n c otes on ontributors Robert Alexander is Associate Professor of English at Brock University. With Christine Isager (University of Copenhagen), he is the editor of Fear and Loathing Worldwide: Gonzo Journalism Beyond Hunter S. Thompson (2018). Rita Amorim is an assistant professor at the School for Social and Political Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, where she teaches English for Specific Purposes. She is a research fellow at Centre for Public Administration and Policies (CAPP) and the Group for African Studies (GEA), and her research interests cover the fields of literary journalism and travel literature, African Lusophone culture, transatlantic studies, and English as a global language. Raquel Baltazar is an assistant professor at the School for Social and Political Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, where she teaches English for Specific Purposes and Written and Oral Expression. She is a research fellow at Centre for Public Administration and Policies and her research interests are in foreign-language learning, literary journalism and travel literature, African Lusophone culture, and transatlantic studies. Pablo Calvi is the author of Latin American Adventures in Literary Journalism (2019). An associate professor at Stony Brook University School of Journalism, he is also the associate director for Latin America at the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting. His writing appears in The Believer, Guernica, El Mercurio, and other publications. xi