--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A…" description: "\"“Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A. Harvard. Ph.D. Sorbonne, Oxford. Somewhere certificates pasted in full-of-truth blue book. At points we dive..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/john-edgar-wideman-7347_blue-book_professor-of-comparative-literature-b-a_3173777.jpg" --- # Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A. Harvard. Ph.D… ![“Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A. Harvard. Ph.D. Sorbonne, Oxford. Somewhere certificates pasted in full-of-truth blue book. At points we diverge, essential points in fact. Always a clean white page to begin on. Où sont les neiges. The boy had been strangely unreluctant. Although detached…” quote by John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/john-edgar-wideman-7347_blue-book_professor-of-comparative-literature-b-a_3173777.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/john-edgar-wideman-7347_blue-book_professor-of-comparative-literature-b-a_3173777.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/john-edgar-wideman-7347_blue-book_professor-of-comparative-literature-b-a_3173777.jpg) > ““Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A. Harvard. Ph.D. Sorbonne, Oxford. Somewhere certificates pasted in full-of-truth blue book. At points we diverge, essential points in fact. Always a clean white page to begin on. Où sont les neiges. The boy had been strangely unreluctant. Although detached, even cold in a numb, childish fashion, the boy had willingly submitted. First his shoes, then his socks and trousers pulled off by the Doctor’s trembling white hands, his priest hands moving of themselves, mechanical but infused with timeless primordial mystery that guided his fingers with a logic more powerful and comprehending than his own being. The flesh presented to his lips, staleness of his own groin floating up to meet him as he knelt. Breath of a dying wino. With this kiss I thee wed, the lean black bridegroom puff of veiled white beside him arm curled into his as they stood rigid with grotesque, confectionary smiles atop the pyramid of cake. Stale cake toppling then as knife keenly enters collapsing with a wheeze the creamy icing. He gave of himself in grudged thin spasms. The hierophant rose on stiff knees.”” [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal, ritualistic scene explores themes of submission, authority, and the uncanny, blending academic titles with grotesque imagery. **In simple terms:** A bizarre ritual examines power and surrender. Key Takeaway Question authority and its impact. Themes power submission surrealism Mood dark intense Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - theatrical performance - literary analysis - psychological study Key Concepts ritual authority psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does the ritual symbolize for you? - How does the academic tone affect the narrative? A Different Perspective The vividness may alienate some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-book/) [Comparative literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparative-literature/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) ## Related quotes > [Studying literature at Harvard is like learning about women at the Mayo Clinic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/studying-literature-at-harvard-is-like-learning-about-women-at-the/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [What I teach is literary criticism and comparative literature and so on and that's my function, but from time to time it's possible for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/what-i-teach-is-literary-criticism-and-comparative-literature-and-so/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [English is, from my point of view as an Americanist, an ethnicity. And English literature should be studied in Comparative Literature. And American literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/english-is-from-my-point-of-view-as-an-americanist-an-ethnicity-and/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [I went to college at Harvard, then did three years of graduate school at Yale. At both places I studied comparative literature. People find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-went-to-college-at-harvard-then-did-three-years-of-graduate-school/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I studied Comparative Literature at Cornell. Structuralism was real big then. The idea of reading and writing as being this language game. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/i-studied-comparative-literature-at-cornell-structuralism-was-real/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [God bless my father, but he always spoke in this continental, literary accent, probably because he was a professor of comparative literature and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/god-bless-my-father-but-he-always-spoke-in-this-continental-literary/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [I'm a professor of comparative literature, among other things, so I'm able to read in a couple of other languages, and I understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-m-a-professor-of-comparative-literature-among-other-things-so-i-m/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I went to Princeton to major in comparative literature. I never went to film school, but I studied storytelling across mediums - poems, literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi/i-went-to-princeton-to-major-in-comparative-literature-i-never-went/) [Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi/) > [If a comparative-literature major had existed at Harvard College for undergraduates I would have surely gone in that direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-begley/if-a-comparative-literature-major-had-existed-at-harvard-college-for/) [Louis Begley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-begley/) > [The phrase I like to use to describe my sense of time-a play on comparative literature - is comparative time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/the-phrase-i-like-to-use-to-describe-my-sense-of-time-a-play-on/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [I have found there are real objects under in intelligent control being seen on the ground and in our skies worldwire. The unknowns have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-fawcett/i-have-found-there-are-real-objects-under-in-intelligent-control/) George Fawcett > [Coach Wooden, when he speaks, you listen. I've taken a lot of things from him and his little blue book because to him, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-love/coach-wooden-when-he-speaks-you-listen-i-ve-taken-a-lot-of-things/) [Kevin Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-love/) > [Don't be scared of me because you can't get around like I get around. You gotta have a blue book to follow me. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lavar-ball/don-t-be-scared-of-me-because-you-can-t-get-around-like-i-get-around/) [LaVar Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lavar-ball/) > [“summary, I personally think that, as I said in The Blue Book of The John Birch Society, democracy is a weapon of demagoguery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-welch/summary-i-personally-think-that-as-i-said-in-the-blue-book-of-the/) Robert Welch > [Donald Trump has defied practically every playbook or blue book technique in dispatching an opponent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-has-defied-practically-every-playbook-or-blue-book/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) ## More by John Edgar Wideman > [My mother loved my father. From my view, she let him get away with too much. 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That's what basketball is, too: it's imagining the game as a world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-what-writing-is-it-s-imagining-that-you-can-make-a-world-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [I'm very hard-nosed and cold-blooded and I can walk past a drowning man. If I have someplace else to go, well, tough s\*\*t. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/i-m-very-hard-nosed-and-cold-blooded-and-i-can-walk-past-a-drowning/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [I get off on anticipating and waiting much more than I get off on the actual event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/i-get-off-on-anticipating-and-waiting-much-more-than-i-get-off-on-the/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [You have to be a minor superhero just to get to be a dignified man, and that's kind of exacerbated for men of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/you-have-to-be-a-minor-superhero-just-to-get-to-be-a-dignified-man/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Stories are told over time, and so they naturally accrue meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/stories-are-told-over-time-and-so-they-naturally-accrue-meanings/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's been my routine for years and years... Up early before everybody else, before I get connected, before I get bugged, before I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-been-my-routine-for-years-and-years-up-early-before-everybody/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [My father was intelligent and closed-mouthed. He knew a lot more than what he was ever going to tell you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-father-was-intelligent-and-closed-mouthed-he-knew-a-lot-more-than/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [What I wanted to do in talking about basketball in 'Hoop Roots' was retrieve the game as something to participate in, not to watch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/what-i-wanted-to-do-in-talking-about-basketball-in-hoop-roots-was/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Books are an attempt to control something that's uncontrollable. That's one of the beauties of African American life. There was this thing called slavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/books-are-an-attempt-to-control-something-that-s-uncontrollable-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's one of the beauties, I think, of African American life. There was this thing called slavery and adjustments were made. It literally destroyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-one-of-the-beauties-i-think-of-african-american-life-there-was/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Things seem to fall apart inevitably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/things-seem-to-fall-apart-inevitably/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [My aunt Geraldine was the unofficial historian and storyteller. She had all the information about family members and the gossip that came out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-aunt-geraldine-was-the-unofficial-historian-and-storyteller-she/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) [Explore all 92 John Edgar Wideman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) ## More Blue book quotes > [Donald Trump has defied practically every playbook or blue book technique in dispatching an opponent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-has-defied-practically-every-playbook-or-blue-book/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“summary, I personally think that, as I said in The Blue Book of The John Birch Society, democracy is a weapon of demagoguery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-welch/summary-i-personally-think-that-as-i-said-in-the-blue-book-of-the/) Robert Welch > [Coach Wooden, when he speaks, you listen. I've taken a lot of things from him and his little blue book because to him, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-love/coach-wooden-when-he-speaks-you-listen-i-ve-taken-a-lot-of-things/) [Kevin Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-love/) > [I have found there are real objects under in intelligent control being seen on the ground and in our skies worldwire. The unknowns have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-fawcett/i-have-found-there-are-real-objects-under-in-intelligent-control/) George Fawcett > [Don't be scared of me because you can't get around like I get around. You gotta have a blue book to follow me. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lavar-ball/don-t-be-scared-of-me-because-you-can-t-get-around-like-i-get-around/) [LaVar Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lavar-ball/) > [Blue Book was now under direct orders to debunk. . . I remember the conversations around the conference table in which it was suggested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-allen-hynek/blue-book-was-now-under-direct-orders-to-debunk-i-remember-the/) [J. Allen Hynek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-allen-hynek/) > [“The little blue book was rattling around in my purse. I took it out and turned to the last thing he had said ("You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-russ/the-little-blue-book-was-rattling-around-in-my-purse-i-took-it-out/) [Joanna Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-russ/) > [You might be a redneck if... the blue book value of your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/you-might-be-a-redneck-if-the-blue-book-value-of-your-truck-goes-up/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [Kelley Blue Book is raising awareness for distracted driving and trying to grow that awareness for people to make our roads safer. The biggest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-elliott/kelley-blue-book-is-raising-awareness-for-distracted-driving-and/) [Chase Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-elliott/) > [Reading student papers, blue books, etc., a form of torture ... a matter of rubbing an iron file over one's teeth, or holding urine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newton-arvin/reading-student-papers-blue-books-etc-a-form-of-torture-a-matter-of/) Newton Arvin > [When I was a young child, professional aspiration was synonymous to me with the clatter of my mother's high-heeled boots as she went off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/when-i-was-a-young-child-professional-aspiration-was-synonymous-to-me/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [“I had started out as an outright 'debunker,' taking great joy in cracking what seemed at first to be puzzling cases. I was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-allen-hynek/i-had-started-out-as-an-outright-debunker-taking-great-joy-in/) [J. Allen Hynek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-allen-hynek/) [Browse all 13 Blue book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Professor of Comparative Literature, B.A. Harvard. Ph.D. Sorbonne, Oxford. Somewhere certificates pasted in full-of-truth blue book. At points we diverge, essential points in fact. Always a clean white page to begin on. Où sont les neiges. The boy had been strangely unreluctant. Although detached, even cold in a numb, childish fashion, the boy had willingly submitted. First his shoes, then his socks and trousers pulled off by the Doctor’s trembling white hands, his priest hands moving of themselves, mechanical but infused with timeless primordial mystery that guided his fingers with a logic more powerful and comprehending than his own being. The flesh presented to his lips, staleness of his own groin floating up to meet him as he knelt. Breath of a dying wino. With this kiss I thee wed, the lean black bridegroom puff of veiled white beside him arm curled into his as they stood rigid with grotesque, confectionary smiles atop the pyramid of cake. Stale cake toppling then as knife keenly enters collapsing with a wheeze the creamy icing. He gave of himself in grudged thin spasms. 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