On the road again...

[eldritchhobbit]

I have two out-of-state scholarly colloquia scheduled in the next two weeks, so I'll be away a good deal of the time. I'm getting ready to head off to participate in the first, an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion of David Hackett Fischer's landmark study Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America; next week's event focuses on a draft of Lawrence H. White's forthcoming book The Clash of Economic Ideas.

Just in case I'm unable to keep up online, I want to send early happy birthday wishes to pewterwolf, lexie_marie, and jalara. May all three of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!


A few links of interest:

*** Zittaw Press has launched a new journal, Studies in Gothic Fiction. The first issue is already available, and it includes articles as diverse as "'Did I Scare You?' The Curious Case of Michael Jackson as Gothic Narrative" and "The Nightmare of the Unknowable, or, Poe's Inscrutability."


*** As many of you already know, a new round of debate about fan fiction recently ignited after author Diana Gabaldon made posts in opposition to fan fiction in her blog. (She has since deleted these posts.) Another author who jumped on the bandwagon was George R.R. Martin. Of all of the exchanges that followed, I simply wanted to point out author Nick Mamatas's excellent and important rebuttal to Martin, specifically Martin's use of H.P. Lovecraft as an example of the perils of fan fiction: "George R.R. Martin Is Wrong about Lovecraft." (I won't climb onto a soapbox here. My support, both as a scholar and a writer, of fan fiction and other transformative works is a matter of public record.)

For those who are interested in learning specific author's attitudes about fan fiction, there is a well documented entry in the Fanlore wiki on "Professional Author Fanfic Policies."


*** The Hog's Head has featured some terrific posts recently on everything from Lost to wizard rock, and I recommend checking out the site. Recently Travis Prinzi noted the rekindling of public venom against Sir Michael Gambon's portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in the latest Harry Potter films. In the past, Gambon's admitted that he has not read J.K. Rowling's books and does not plan to do so.

Of his performance as Dumbledore, Gambon said last month in The Irish Times, “There’s no character really, it’s just me! Me dressed up in a costume! I’m essentially playing myself, that’s all I’m doing.”

As Travis suggests, Sir Michael may need Sir Ian McKellen's masterful help with his method. Enjoy:

"How do I act so well? What I do is I pretend to be the person I'm portraying in the film or play."
- Sir Ian McKellen, "On Acting"

Comments

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! The "four folkways" argument is fascinating to discuss. It has its problems, but it's a very useful "shorthand" way to think about the contrasting/conflicting currents in the English colonists' thought. I hope you enjoyed it, too!

I laughed even more. Me dressed up in a costume... where do they get this stuff.

Seriously! Considering how much his portrayal's been criticized, I'm not sure he really wants to claim that identity as his. ;)

I loved Sir Ian in this clip. When he wiped his teary eye at the end, I just about lost it.

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm in Indianapolis at the second event now, and all's going well. I hope things are good with you, too!

[abbie (from livejournal.com)]

We read it in America Compared by Carl J. Guarneri. It was compared to "As Various as Their Land" by Stephanie Grauman Wolf, which, if I remember correctly, had something to do with different family structures.

Do you know Dr. Brenda Jackson-Abernathy at all? I absolutely LOVED the American history course I took from her! I get REALLY jazzed when I think about it! (I mean, almost as jazzed as when I think about First Year Seminar...) ;)

I think I'm rambling. I don't have Internet access yet at my new living space, so I'm at Portland Brew, getting in all the communication I can. Hope you continue to enjoy the discussions!

P.S. How does one italicize in these comment boxes? Is it just an html tag? ???

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Very interesting!

I've only met Dr. Jackson-Abernathy briefly, I'm afraid. I'm so very glad you loved her course! It sounds fantastic.

How are things in your new place? Congrats on getting moved in and settled. I hope your summer's off to a great start.

Yes, you use regular html tags to italicize in the comments. I hope that helps!