In his work Interdisciplinarity Moran mentions that, “There is a sense in which the contemporary field of ‘cultural studies’ could be said to be synonymous with interdisciplinarity itself….” (45). At first reading this I didn’t quite understand how my specific cultural experience could impact how I approached a discipline or interpreted a text. Jean Toomer quickly proved me wrong through the mention of a simple object in the short story titled “Fern”.
This transformative yet highly simplistic object that built a cultural bridge between interpretation and experience, was dirt. That’s right, red dirt. When I first noticed the mention of red dirt in the text, I visualized the small community in Jamaica where I grew up. I remember the red dirt that was always around and more specifically a massive red mud lake, just a little beyond the hills that was visible no matter what angle it was approached from. I wanted to understand more about why Toomer would mention red dirt, why not just say dirt? Was there something special about red dirt? I mean, Dirt is dirt right?
After a bit of digging my interest on the red mud lake back in Jamaica prevailed in my mind. I asked my father about it and his responses were pivotal in my interpretation of the red dirt. “It’s been there since the 50’s” He began, “It’s a waste product of making aluminum by using bauxite. They built a lake to keep all the waste in and never got rid of it.” I asked him why couldn’t they just use the dirt for farming or in some other way and he proceeded to answer, “It doesn’t have a use. It’s too dried out to provide nutrients for crops.” My mother, who grew up in this community, also mentioned that people living nearby the lake would get compensated by the government because of the effect the dirt had on the things around it, “Once it touches something it doesn’t leave it. Clothing, houses, even your skin would get stained by it, especially in the dryer windy seasons.”
With all this information in mind I go back to Toomer’s “Fern” and what the story really spoke about. In this section of the novel I found it imperative to take note of Toomer’s description of Fern’s physical location in the community as well as the diction used to describe her effect on men. Fern lived at the end of the Dixie Pike, which was described earlier in the novel as a red dirt road, meaning to get to her people would have to walk through red dirt, possibly staining their shoes, the ends of their pants or even portions of their legs. In their journey to her they literally get stained by red dirt. In describing Fern’s effect on men Toomer used phrases such as, “they became attached to her,” (21 ),
“they felt bound to her” (21). These men became just as fixed on her as red dirt does on anything around it. The Dixie Pike could represent the journey of attachment that these men experienced, their infatuation with Fern and the hope of being able to satisfy her. Or it could be something more symbolic. Perhaps, a stain that never truly leaves, much like the impact of a traumatic event that still haunts those who experienced it.
In a literal sense, red dirt has no purpose and doesn’t provide growth, but rather it pollutes the environment that it is in. It prevents those affected by it, to forget that it was once there. Whether that has a more symbolic meaning I can only guess.