DEPRESSION: A PUBLIC FEELING inn Cyetkovich Toone univers reese) ‘What if depression isnot an iso- Jated medical condition treatable through diagnosis and drugs, but instead a collective phenomena whose roots lie in socal, cul tural, and political dislocation? ‘Ann Gretkovich, a professor of ‘women's and gender studies at the University of Texas-Austin, ‘unpacks this concept in her “acer academic selChelp book,” Depression: A Public Feling. Half memoir, half speculative academic essay, Depression grew ‘out of Cvetkovich’s work with ‘the Public Feolings Group, a col- lective of scholars that opposes a Fixed divide between emotions ‘and intellect in both acadernia and activism, ‘The book begins with Gretkovich's own "Depression Journals” a 6o-page collection of stories about her struggle to ad- ‘dress depression both with medi- ‘ation and ritualistic everyday activity. or what she calls “the sacred everyday” Cvetkovich’s academic contemporaries, as well a8 mainstream cultural critics ‘and social justice activist, often scorn memoirs, in particular depression memoiss as self involved or narcissistic. But she insite that personal storytelling grants us richer language to dis ‘cuss feelings of political, racal, and social despair. Im the book's second sec- tion, Cvetkovich traces how depression has historically been framed, from its spiritual con- notations inthe fourth century to the secular medical status itholds today. She goes on to explore winat depression looks like to people who live outside & patriarchal or capitalist model, "The att ofthe domestic looks different when it leaves the confines ofthe normative white ‘midale-cass home, which i] the ‘eat bitch rexmmisy aesponse ro 9: ya ou N) breeding ground for what gets classified as depression,” writes CCvetkovich. Black feminist wri ers Saidiya Hartman and Jacqut Alexander's examination of ‘despair in the diasporic experi ence, esbian craftartsts Sheila Pepe and Allyson Mitchell's reworked ideas of domesticity in a capitalist society, and cabaret antists Kiki and Herb’ satiti- cal modern domestics through cabaret all speak to experiences ‘of depression that are expected to be managed in the privacy of one's home. Atone end, Depression is cal to expand how we Frame land engage with depression, and atthe other i's an internal appeal to academia to accept ‘personal experience as a valid N CVETK source material for scholarship, By melding the personal and the academic, Cvetkovich is creating aan important new forum for how ‘we discuss depression, Yet the awbwardness of the newborn form is apparent, and at times, exhausting. The material is totally fascinating, but the sheer breadth of cultural and histor cal narrative inthe text could fill several books, Depression is an ‘example ofits own premise: its very structure illustrates the challenge of integrating personal narratives into a capitalist mode! that emphasizes scientific knowl ‘edge above all. NINA LARY DELVE DEEPER: Follow vp by reading the authors whe inspired Cvathovich to keep going when she hit rock bottom—Lynda Barry, David Foster Wallace, Audee Lorde, and Eileen Myles. (See epilogue for specific works) CROSSINGS Bey Lambert {anata ute oaess) ‘When Crossings was first pub lished in 1979, William French ‘wrote in The Globe and Mail that it was “the kind of a novel that feminists will applaud because the central male character, Mik O'Brien, is an almost grotesque ‘model ofthe male chawvinis, ‘who glories in the power of his penis and uses i to dominate, teward, and punish his women.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, French was wrong: Many readers saw this portrayal of Mik, and of bis violent relationship with pro tagonist Vicky, not as rebuke but a8 endorsement of abuse, Betty Lambert's first (and only) novel found itself banned from some {erninist bookstores and subse ‘quently forgotten ‘After more than 20 years ‘out of print, Cassings has been reissued in honor of the rasth birthday of Vancouver, Canada. “The novel, set in British Co- lamba in the early 19608, Is @ searing, intimate account of the unrelentingly abusive relation- ship between Vicky a bright and intellectual writer, and Mike, 2 violent and controlling logger. Waa thorny and unsettling relationship: Vicky cleaey grasps Mik’s manipulative and abusive patterns and acknowledges her own suffering, yet she continues toache for selfdestruction. The territory is uncomfortable— Vieky feels simultaneous disgust and sympathy for Mik-—but Lambert never sinks to vietim blaming. The occasional line may appear antifeminist ("7d always read that no one could be raped itshe didn't really want tobe"), but Lamber’s characterization