Summary

In "Art Song": "Words that Wound," Nelson considers the relationship between language and hurt. She refers to editor Mari Matsuda's 1993 anthology. Matsuda's text, "brought together essays by legal scholars aiming to complicate the orthodoxy of free speech in the United States" (38). This work helps Nelson consider how freedom of speech relates to hate speech. All expression, she decides, "needs context," and art "is one such context" (39). She references several artistic projects which recontextualize or reclaim derogatory speech (40). Though art might conjure strong feelings in its viewers, in the end, Nelson wonders if disposing of the art object can really heal the wounded audience.

In "Cops in the Head," Nelson questions the privilege that white writers possess. White artists, unlike their BIPOC counterparts, have more freedom in their modes of expression. Nelson references a passage from Claudia Rankine and Beth Loffreda's writings...