Kritish Rajbhandari studied Chinese, climbed Mount St. Helens, tutored Hum, and wrote his thesis on Stevens and Pound. Photo by Matt D'Annunzio
Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal
Adviser: Nathalia King [English 1987–]
Thesis: Materiality to Abstraction in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens and Ezra Pound
What it’s about: I analyze Stevens’s “Comedian as the Letter C” and Pound’s canto 85 and argue that both poems exploit the materiality of language with sounds and typography as fundamental means of expression to break into abstractions that project their own visions of the world.
What it’s really about: Words always say more than what they mean.
Who I was when I got to ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó: I thought the world was a turnip, which is my way of saying I had a naïve and simplistic view of the world. Adapting to America and to ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó was the biggest challenge I faced. Now I think of ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó as my second home.
Influential book: Heidegger’s Being and Time changed the way I look at the world and how I conceive of myself. It attempts to answer the questions, “What does it mean to be human in a community where everything is interrelated to each other? Where does that line between you and others appear?” It helped me make sense of everyday life and what the theme of my life should be.
Favorite spot: The front lawn on a sunny day feels like a festival.
Random thoughts: I really loved the professors here. Their commitment, dedication, and love for the students are very important and made my ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó experience even better.
Cool stuff I did: Learned Chinese, wrote and translated poetry, climbed Mount St. Helens, organized ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó’s first international festival, and tutored Hum, physics, and Chinese.
How ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó changed me: ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó taught me to push the boundaries in whatever I do and helped me recognize my passion and my abilities. To have a satisfying life I need to be challenged and learn a new thing every day.
Scholarships, awards, financial aid: I’m very thankful for the financial aid I got from ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó, without which it would have been impossible to attend. Eddings Opportunity Grant, ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó grants, Kaspar T. Locher Creative Scholarship, McGill Lawrence Internship Award to work for Namaste Kathmandu.
What’s next: Freelance writing for a year while translating Nepali poetry.
LATEST COMMENTS
I knew Steve Jobs when he was on the second floor of Quincy. (Fall...
- 2 weeks ago
Prof. Mason Drukman [political science 1964–70] This is gold, pure gold. God bless, Prof. Drukman.
puredog - 1 month ago
Such a good friend & compatriot in the day of Satyricon...
- 4 months ago
John died of a broken heart from losing his mom and then his...
- 7 months ago
Who wrote this obit? I'm writing something about Carol Sawyer...
- 8 months ago
...and THREE sisters. Sabra, the oldest, Mary, the middle, and...
- 10 months ago