The Indiana Academy offers a plethora of literature courses, ranging from the broad spectrum of American and World Literature, to smaller niches, like Speculative Fiction and Ecohorror. What is the importance of these classes? What is the importance of literature as a whole? To dig deeper into this question, I went to Dr. Lobo, an assistant teaching professor of literature here at the Academy. I received some incredibly insightful responses from him on his personal passion for literature and why he believes it is so crucial in our society.
(Author’s note: Most of the information here is paraphrased and is not a direct, one-to-one quote.)
“Just to start, state your name and your job here at the Academy.”
“I’m Dr. Phillip Lobo, and my job is technically assistant teaching professor of English.” He went on to explain that if you have your master’s degree, you are assigned the position of lecturer, while if you have your PhD, you are assigned the position of teaching professor.
“What originally inspired you to pursue your PhD in literature? Was it a long-time aspiration of yours or a decision you made later on in life?”
“It was an idea I first started to have in undergrad, when I saw college professors and they seemed pretty cool.” He elaborated that his original aspiration going into college was to be a novelist, but as time progressed, he began to question it. He told me that he spoke to his advisor, novelist Jay Cantor, about the pursuit of a PhD, and his advisor warned him that he should still make time to write. He added that the 2008 Great Recession was another factor in deciding to pursue a PhD, saying that it was difficult to find a satisfactory job at the time.
“What would you say is your favorite thing about literature and studying it?”
He led this explanation by saying, “I like that literature allows you to explore profoundly important questions for humanity, free from the pretense of pure empiricism or fact.” He explained how historians are plagued by the question of what actually happened in historical events, but with literature, it is not so objective. He claimed that we find out about historical events through narratives, and studying literature opens up the interpretive process for us to analyze the genealogy of specific ideas and events.
“What is your favorite form of literature?”
“Fiction. Easy.”
“What’s your favorite literary work of all time? Give me a couple if you can’t pinpoint one exact work.”
“Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.” He went on to describe the book, its remarkable page count of just over a thousand, and its impressive killer to filler ratio. He praised it as hysterically funny, yet enormously thoughtful.
“What makes you as passionate as you are about literature?”
Dr. Lobo pinpointed the English language as something that he feels very confident and strong in. He explained that studying literature is where he feels the most capable and powerful, and that is what fuels his passion for the subject.
“What is your main goal for the students in your literature classes? What would you like them to take away from the class?”
He looped back into the concept of “genealogy of ideas,” saying that the origin of students’ opinions and ideas should be further examined. He said that he will not try to change a student’s mind, but that he will always encourage them to have confidence in their beliefs and the origins of their ideas.
“How would you say that you’ve seen literature impacting the students in your classes?”
He told me he feels that the best moments are when students find themselves in the literature. He went on to explain that he once had a student who saw aspects of his mother in a text he read for the class, which encouraged him to further think about his cultural heritage and personal identity.
“How would you say that you’ve observed literature impacting you?”
He said that he hopes it has done the same for him as it has done for his students, “which is, make me challenge my own ideas and my own beliefs and to either modify them with humility or to reaffirm my commitment to them.” He explained that he likes the challenge, and that he tends to like writing papers on works that he found difficult to understand.
“How do you think literature plays a role in our social and political environment?”
“It is a field of contestation.” He explained that interpretations of important works (giving the Bible as an example) shape parts of our society. He further described how reading literature from certain time periods and certain people can reveal the fantasies of a culture, which unlocks knowledge about the social and political climate of said culture.
“How do you think literature might affect personal identity?”
He reiterated that people find themselves in literature, and went on to say that we build more passionate relationships with characters in fiction than people in our real lives. He claimed that we build our identities off of things that we find in literature.
“What would you consider the most impactful work you have ever seen, or the most impactful author?”
After giving the question some thought, he replied with Toni Morrison. “If you want to talk about impact, she hurts.” He explained Morrison’s short story “Recitatif,” in which you are aware that there are two women, one white and one black, but she never tells you which woman is which. It is a powerful message about race and how we view it, because readers make assumptions about which woman is which based on their personal ideas of race, calling attention to racial biases that we often don’t notice in ourselves.
“Would you say that every piece of literature is impactful in some way?”
“To the right person.” He claimed that part of the fun of teaching his courses the way he does is that he does not know if a piece will resonate with students, and sometimes, the most unexpected pieces will resonate deeply with the class.
“Would you say that fun, carefree pieces hold just as much impact as more profound and deep pieces?”
“Oh, sure!” He elaborated further, saying “anything can have importance” and “lightness and unseriousness are just as important as seriousness.”
“What pieces or authors have influenced you as a writer specifically? Give a few.”
“Stephen King, David Foster Wallace, Richard Adams, and Margaret Atwood.”
“Looping back to you as a teacher, how do you encourage your students to see the importance of the works that they read?”
He described how he attempts to give students the context of their assigned works, and how the context may shed light on larger points or ideas. He also revisited the idea of encouraging students to challenge their beliefs and either reinforce those beliefs confidently or change them after being presented with new information. He said that he enjoys seeing students “suddenly realize that the reverse of things they thought were true, might be true.”
“For anyone reading this interview, do you have any recommendations of specific authors or works that you think are especially important to read?”
After giving a quick disclaimer that his answer changes depending on what semester he is asked in, he answered with Ursula K. Le Guin. He applauded her as “an unparalleled writer, in some regards.”
“Anything else you want to add or mention?”
“I love books, and I do not trust them.” He detailed how he feels that the study of literature is unique, in the sense that with other fields of study, you slowly gain more confidence in your skill level as you absorb more information. Literature, however, continues to challenge you no matter how long you study it for. He explained how in the 18th century, reading novels was considered a dangerous pastime, and people were warned that novels might make them lose touch with reality. “They are full of beautiful lies, and that is why they are good and important, and why we should not be too romantic about them, or temper the romance with seriousness.”
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