Dickens Lost: A Study on the Spatial Practice in Paul Beatty’s The Sellout
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsSince Lefebre is the key theoretical source here, it is important to explain for readers exactly what the spatial triad is. You cannot assume that all readers will be familiar with it and see how it is linked to the discussion of the novel.
I am not sure that you need all the historical and sociological references to slavery.Aspects of slavery are, including those about how it limits space for its victims, are generally accepted.
You also need to show more clearly why Hominy chooses slavery as his way of relating to Bonbon. Beatty seems almost to be satirizing the moral notion that if you save a life, you are then responsible for that life.
Related to that point, it would be useful to have a clear definition of satire here.
Finally, you need to work on grammatical constructions. The most common example is the use or non-use of the definite article "the." It often appears where it is not needed and does not appear where it would be used in standard English.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThere are a number of grammatical errors in this essay that need to be addressed. It does not consistently follow Standard English practice.
Author Response
Dear Editors and Reviewer
We would like to thank you for your careful reading, helpful comments, and constructive suggestions, which are significantly helpful to improve the demonstration of our manuscript.
Your comment: Since Lefebvre is the key theoretical source here, it is important to explain for readers exactly what the spatial triad is. You cannot assume that all readers will be familiar with it and see how it is linked to the discussion of the novel.
Response: We have added the explanation of Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad in the Introduction part.
Your comment: I am not sure that you need all the historical and sociological references to slavery. Aspects of slavery are, including those about how it limits space for its victims, are generally accepted.
Response: We have deleted unnecessary historical and sociological references in the article.
Your comment: You also need to show more clearly why Hominy chooses slavery as his way of relating to Bonbon. Beatty seems almost to be satirizing the moral notion that if you save a life, you are then responsible for that life.
Response: We prefer to relate Hominy’s choice of being a slave to a sacrificial ritual, which highlights the characteristic of his space, and compensates for his loss of identity.
Your comment: Related to that point, it would be useful to have a clear definition of satire here.
Response: We have given a clear definition of satire in the article, but we didn’t discuss too much about it because we think that the focus of the article is the essence of characters’ spatial practices.
Your comment: Finally, you need to work on grammatical constructions. The most common example is the use or non-use of the definite article "the." It often appears where it is not needed and does not appear where it would be used in standard English.
Response: We have carefully corrected the grammatical errors in the article, and have reviewed every sentence to ensure that the article follows the standard English practice.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper provides an interesting reading of Paul Beatty's novel The Sellout that adequately accounts for the existing research on Beatty's work and focuses on the aspect of spatial practices. While this is a worth-while endeavor, the argumentative structure needs to be improved to offer a more substantive rationale for the theoretical and methodological choices and to clarify the scholarly contribution of the paper.
The abstract already seems to make a promise that the article does not - and cannot - deliver on: That the paper will uncover "the truth of race relations in the contemporary American society" through its analysis of the novel. This immediately raises questions about the relationship between literary representation and 'real world' issues that are left unanswered throughout the paper (see for example lines 140-160 and lines 343-358). The conclusion similarly suggests that the analysis of Beatty's novel allows for generalized statements about the situation of African Americans in the US. My recommendation would be to focus more clearly on the representation of spatial practices, the cultural work of literature and satire specifically, and perhaps even delineate explicitly how the literary text engages with extratextual discourses.
Throughout the paper, it is also not always clear how the theoretical and secondary sources relate to the reading and analysis presented. This is particularly obvious in the instances when longer quotes from relevant texts are simply embedded into the text without commentary or argumentative transition (see for example lines 347-48 or lines 388-390). While Lefevre and Merleau-Ponty are without doubt important thinkers on space, it is not quite clear to me why the expansive scholarship from the spatial turn in literary and cultural studies is not referenced - specifically with regard to the racialized structures of (urban) space and African American literature. Delving deeper into the existing scholarship on race/space might help to flesh out the argument further and/or to explain why working with the selected theorists offers a particularly relevant perspective on the text. (For a quick overview of the research on space/place and race, see for example, Bamert and Hsu's chapter "The Spatial Turn and Critical Race Theory" in The City in American Literature and Culture, ed. by Kevin McNamara, Cambridge UP, 2021.)
The final sentence of the paper points out that the text under consideration can be seen as a satire. This should be reflected on more explicitly and earlier in the analysis, which would - in general - benefit from consequently taking into account that it pertains to a work of fiction (e.g. by considering in greater detail questions and effects of genre, literary devices, narrative perspective, etc.).
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe texts needs a final round of copy-editing to correct some typos and (minor) grammatical errors, but overall it makes for a good read as it is and it certainly displays a solid command of academic English.
Author Response
Dear Editors and Reviewer
We would like to thank you for your careful reading, helpful comments, and
constructive suggestions, which are significantly helpful to improve the demonstration
of our manuscript. Below are our responses to your comments:
Your comment: The paper provides an interesting reading of Paul Beatty's novel The Sellout that adequately accounts for the existing research on Beatty's work and focuses on the aspect of spatial practices. While this is a worth-while endeavor, the argumentative structure needs to be improved to offer a more substantive rationale for the theoretical and methodological choices and to clarify the scholarly contribution of the paper.
Response: we have tried our best to improve our argumentative structure. The article is written based on the theory of Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad. The main body of the article is divided into three parts, which are oppressive nature of the marginal space, desperate struggles for the living space, and interracial intimacy in the urban space. The scholarly contribution of the paper is also clarified, which is that Beatty criticizes the history of racial discrimination against black people, expresses his concerns on the possible vulnerability of contemporary African Americans, and provides a new insight into their survival strategy in the so-called post-racial era through characters’ peculiar spatial practices.
Your comment: The abstract already seems to make a promise that the article does not - and cannot - deliver on: That the paper will uncover "the truth of race relations in the contemporary American society" through its analysis of the novel. This immediately raises questions about the relationship between literary representation and 'real world' issues that are left unanswered throughout the paper (see for example lines 140-160 and lines 343-358). The conclusion similarly suggests that the analysis of Beatty's novel allows for generalized statements about the situation of African Americans in the US. My recommendation would be to focus more clearly on the representation of spatial practices, the cultural work of literature and satire specifically, and perhaps even delineate explicitly how the literary text engages with extratextual discourses.
Response: We have readjusted the article to make it focus on the representations of spatial practices as well as the cultural, historical, and satiric elements reflected by the novel to show the interconnection between the novel and the real world.
Your comment: Throughout the paper, it is also not always clear how the theoretical and secondary sources relate to the reading and analysis presented. This is particularly obvious in the instances when longer quotes from relevant texts are simply embedded into the text without commentary or argumentative transition (see for example lines 347-48 or lines 388-390). While Lefevre and Merleau-Ponty are without doubt important thinkers on space, it is not quite clear to me why the expansive scholarship from the spatial turn in literary and cultural studies is not referenced - specifically with regard to the racialized structures of (urban) space and African American literature. Delving deeper into the existing scholarship on race/space might help to flesh out the argument further and/or to explain why working with the selected theorists offers a particularly relevant perspective on the text. (For a quick overview of the research on space/place and race, see for example, Bamert and Hsu's chapter "The Spatial Turn and Critical Race Theory" in The City in American Literature and Culture, ed. by Kevin McNamara, Cambridge UP, 2021.)
Response: We have deepened the relation between our analysis and theoretical and
secondary sources, and added commentary and arguments regarding quotes in the
article. The main theory used is Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad for we want to ensure the
consistency. Meanwhile, we didn’t find the electronic version of the book that you had
recommended. However, following your suggestion, we have read many qualified
articles and publications related to space and race before our revision to better improve
our demonstration of the argument.
Your comment: The final sentence of the paper points out that the text under consideration can be seen as a satire. This should be reflected on more explicitly and earlier in the analysis, which would - in general - benefit from consequently taking into account that it pertains to a work of fiction (e.g. by considering in greater detail questions and effects of genre, literary devices, narrative perspective, etc.).
Response : We mainly analyze the different meanings of characters’ spatial practices,
and only peripherally touch on satire, considering that the focus of the article is spatial
practice.
Your comment: The texts needs a final round of copy-editing to correct some typos and (minor) grammatical errors, but overall it makes for a good read as it is and it certainly displays a solid command of academic English.
Response: We have corrected the grammatical errors of the article, and carefully
reviewed every sentence to ensure that the article follows the standard English practice.
Thank you very much.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article has been significantly improved with regard to language, structure, and argument. While its range of scholarly references could still be a bit more expansive, I think its main argument is sufficiently supported as is, and the article can be published in its current version.
