A Letter from the Editors

The story behind this edition of The Vassar Critical Journal is a bit different from those of its predecessors. For our senior editors, this journal was founded during our freshman year, and so our journeys as students have run in parallel with the development of the Critical Journal. While the journal has retained the intellectual spirit which has fueled this project since its founding in 2016, it has undergone significant changes since then.

Most notably, the journal has been fortunate enough to see its entry into the college curriculum as an “intensive”—a course which provides students with learning experiences which differ from those offered by traditional classes. We would like to thank our wonderful faculty advisor and fearless advocate, Wendy Graham, for implementing the VCJ’s shift from extracurricular activity to academic intensive. The Vassar student, as Wendy well knows, is too often a glutton for punishment, eager to tackle new responsibilities whether or not they are borne out on a student’s transcripts. The addition of the VCJ to the curriculum is not only a victory for the students who work on it, but also a testament to the legitimacy of their work, and an important step for the continuity of the journal.

In prior years, each VCJ editor would be assigned only a handful of submissions to read due to students’ time constraints. Because of the VCJ’s new intensive status this year, the editorial board was able to implement its first truly democratic screening process, wherein every board member thoroughly reviewed each submission, and consulted the merits of each as a collective. We are extremely grateful to our entire editorial board for so boldly taking on their expanded roles in this effort. The range of critical analyses, authorial styles, primary and secondary sources, and cultural perspectives we saw in our submissions reflects the importance of such a comprehensive process.

This edition is also unprecedented in less fortuitous ways. The editing process was delayed and complicated by the outbreak of COVID-19, a pandemic which threatens to situate itself as the defining event of our time. Like so many historical tragedies, this outbreak feels inscrutable, impervious to the questions of meaning and significance which find their way into many of this edition’s essays. It does not offer us the kind of solace one would hope to find in a good novel, nor does it seem yet to offer us the wistful wisdom of a cautionary tale. However, in times of tragedy, we must remind ourselves of the indispensability of our critical and interpretive sensibilities. When we learn how to interpret texts within the walls of a classroom, we are also learning how to interpret the texts of our daily lives; we are empowering ourselves to forge and uncover moments of humanity in the most unyielding of situations.

It is our humble hope that you might find some of these moments of humanity within these pages.

We are delighted to present you with the fourth edition of The Vassar Critical Journal.

Thank you for reading,

Ben Papsun ‘20, Kayla Gonzalez ‘20, Gaby Caballero ‘20

Vassar College, 2020

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