The American International Journal of Contemporary Research (Vol. 4, No 3; March 2014) recently published a paper on John Updike and Lorraine Adams written by three international scholars.

“Islamophobic Irony in American Fiction: a Critical Analysis of Lorraine Adams’ Harbor and John Updike’s Terrorist“ was written by Riyad Abdurahman Manqoush (Asst. Prof. of English Literature, Hadhramout University, Yemen), Noraini Md. Yusof (Assoc. Prof. of English Literature, National University of Malaysia), and Ruzy Suliza Hashim (Prof. of English Literature, National University of Malaysia).

Microsoft Word – 9.doc

Abstract
In this paper, we intend to examine two contemporary American novels, Lorraine Adams’ Harbor (2004) and John Updike’s Terrorist (2006) with the aim of investigating the Islamophobic irony in their descriptions of characters, views and incidents that are relevant to the Middle East. Our analysis of these novels is framed based on the modes of irony as discussed by Edwin Barton, Glenda Hudson, Claire Colebrook, Ellen O’Gorman, J. Jorgensen, Herbert Colston, Henry Conserva, Ross Murfin and Supriyia Ray. Through our discussions of the employment of verbal irony, situational irony and dramatic irony, we conclude that the two writers make fun of the Muslim fanatics who view the wearer of hijab as a good Muslim. They also imply that the Muslim worldview is one-dimensional. In addition to that, they criticise the US employment of Muslim minorities in places which require high security because the loyalty of these workers, according to those authors, are questionable. In the same vein, they ridicule the voices that relate all the problems of the Middle East to the USA. In general, the different types of irony uncover the Islamophobic traits that pervade the two novels.

Here’s a link to the entire paper.

More and more scholarship is making its way online, and another thesis on Updike has come to our attention:  “The Cultural Consciousness of John Updike: Rhetorical Spaces as Representations of Americana through the ‘Rabbit’ Series,” by Michael Bonifacio (Governors State University, Spring 2012).

Abstract
This thesis is a scholarly examination of John Updike’s first two novels of the Rabbit saga: Rabbit, Run and Rabbit Redux. The discussion is centered on the cultural artifacts and geographic spaces that populate the novels and how they are a reflection of popular cultural and contemporary sociological, economic, and political climates. These items are also closely considered with respect to their rhetorical significance and how Updike makes use of rhetorical spaces to influence his readers. What may seem like ordinary places are, through Updike’s writing, imbued with rhetorical significance that sheds light on his contemporary culture and that of his readers. Updike’s writing over the span of two decades readers provides readers an opportunity to experience culture of two important but seemingly antipodal decades: the 1950s and 60s. Furthermore, by choosing characters that reflect “Middle America” for the first novel and by then integrating characters from the fringes of society in the second novel, Updike shows that he is keenly aware of his changing society.

Here’s a link to download the entire thesis.

This past June 5-6, the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference at Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tenn.) featured an emphasis on John Updike. In addition to  attending the world premier of “John Updike’s Roger’s Version,” which was announced in an earlier post, attendees could sit in on a session convened by Kimberly Reed (Lipscomb University) on “John’s Version: Updike and Christian Faith,” with panelists Ralph C. Wood (Baylor University), Ami McConnell (Sr. Fiction Editor, Thomas Nelson Publishers), and David Dark (Belmont University).

Another session on “John Updike and Christian Thought” was convened by Steve Weathers (Abilene Christian University) and featured papers on “Impudence and Desperation: John Updike and his Childhood’s Faith” (Mark Cullum, Abilene Christian University), “John Updike’s ‘Pigeon Feathers,’ Fear of Annihilation, and God” (Michael Potts, Methodist University), and “Run on Home: Updike’s Celebration of Ceremonies in ‘Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, a Dying Cat, a Traded Car'” (James W. Thomas, Pepperdine University).

A third session was offered on the topic of “The Flesh Became Word: A Discussion of the Themes From and Sciences Behind the Stage Adaptation of John Updike’s Roger’s Version,” with Greg Greene of Blackbird Theater convening a panel featuring the play’s director, Wes Driver, and Clifford Anderson (Vanderbilt University).

Here’s the link to the complete schedule.

FlaglerLive.com, an online Florida publication named after the man whose railroad brought tourists to the Florida Keys, has published a series of summaries and analyses of short stories from the recent Library of America editions of Updike’s short fiction.

“This series is a re-reading of John Updike’s short stories in the wake of publication of ‘The Collected Early Stories’ and ‘The Collected Later Stories,’ the twin-volume set by the Library of America (2013).” It includes a “comprehensive table of the complete stories with links to each story summary” and a consideration of the Maple and Bech stories, “most of which are excluded from the Library of America edition.”

Thirteen summaries/analyses have been posted thus far:

John Updike: The Complete Stories (Click on Links for Summaries and Analysis)

Not much information is available, but Updike scholars have kindred spirits in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Asad Al-Ghalith (The University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia) and Mahmoud Zaidan (The University of Jordan) will present a paper on “John Updike’s Treatment of Islam in The Coup” at The Clute Institute International Academic Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 5-8, 2014. Here is the abstract.

In 2009, Ziadan wrote his Master’s thesis on “The Image of Islam in John Updike’s Terrorist and The Coup.”

more information is available.