Week 8--Welcome (back) to the promised land!

No I would not. In The Promised Land by Bill T. Jones I understand and appreciate what he was doing, but I would not be comfortable lending my naked body to his performance. It takes a very strong person to be naked in front of others judging eyes. 

Another thing I wanted to talk about was the use of bodies rather than costumes or a set. This was innovative and it definitely helps tell the story.  It reminds me of Stowe's use of dialect to tell a stronger story. Maybe other authors and creators could use unusual elements to help tell their stories. That will gain more attention, which is usually what people want in spreading messages. 

I kind of like watching people squirm uncomfortably in situations that they don’t like. We wiggle when we see naked men dancing on a giant screen in the middle of English class. We writhe when the word “nigger” is written on a page in a book. We do an uncomfortable jig when sexism materializes before our eyes.

To me, that nervous little laugh sounds of music, that dismissive face is the Mona Lisa smile, and the repressive comments are an invitation to feast! Dear lord! Bask in uncomfortable situations for that feeling is ambrosia in the sense of life; the food of the gods that walk this earth. My goodness there would exist no atheists or homosexuals or feminists were it not for those brave souls who step into the blaring heat of controversy, discontentment, and *uncomfortableness.*

So to those atheists, anti-racists, and feminists: read deep into Uncle Tom’s Cabin for it is there that we search for peace in our judgments. And no true seeker of truth should ever be happy with their decisions for there is evidence galore, unfounded or not, to betroth and divorce you from your beliefs. Oh my: that is the beauty of life. For if we went through life with the answer, how boring would our thoughts be? With no questions to amuse us, we are but monkeys picking fleas off of one another; the ability to ponder would escape us.

Seek out the uncomfortable situations and reflect upon them. Woe to those who go out of their way to dodge the worst of life. The ignorant, upon reflection, will always come last.

Anyways…Here is a cool website with reference to a utopian society. We discussed the possibility of a society where each person is an individual and has no contact with other humans and is self sufficient. The topic of feral children was raised and this website is a very interesting reference to that. Also, please indulge me in a little squirming/laughing.

I expect some replies to this message, maybe even a few questions. Let’s actually get the dialogue rolling here, people. Expect exuberant replies.

Apathy

I wouldn’t say that thinking about UTC as a romantic representation increases its use-value, but it does change my perspective on it.  I think its use-value lies in the social context in which it was written.  It may be offensive to people now, and it may be a story skewed by the author, but it was still a critical catalyst for social change, and that’s where I think its value lies.  If this book hadn’t made the social impact it did, I really doubt that people would still be reading it today, or even recognize the title.  Thinking about it from the perspective of romance does, however, change my reading of it.  I still don’t really like its style from a purely artistic perspective, but I can appreciate its structure a little more.  My problem is that if Stowe really did feel that she was writing a realistic story, is it worth it to think about the novel as a romance?  If her intention was to depict these people realistically (and in my opinion, none of her characters are consistently believable as real people), then should we still consider these new meanings we’ve given to the work?  I’m inclined to say that the author’s intent should be taken into account if the author herself has made it known, because she clearly believes it’s important that the reader know it.  However, I think it’s very possible that, had this story been written more realistically without all the melodrama and sentimentality, it may not have had the same social effect on its readers. Stowe’s goal to tell this story realistically and believably was not met (not for me), but her goal to create social change was, and surely that was her greater goal.  Stowe’s melodramatic style, which would’ve been a hindrance in writing what we think of as “serious literature,” was a boon in creating social change.  That’s why I continue to believe that there are different kinds of classics, and that UTC is a very valuable social or historical classic.  But I don’t consider it great literature.

Because I couldn't remember what I wanted to say in class. And late because I apparently never finished writing this and submitting it.

On resurrecting fringe characters:

The woman/the African in a Eurocentric market: While I haven't read The Joys of Motherhood, I have read a play, "Anowa", by Ama Ata Aidoo which takes a folktale and tells it in a form of the oral tradition (which is in itself a conscious criticism of African society and the Western influence). http://www.enotes.com/anowa/ It's been a few years since I've read it, but it does reclaim to some degree, the telling of post-colonialism through a more female-centric view (though whether the piece is a feminist one or not is debated).

Fictional characters: Having come to some degree of fame over the past few years, Jasper Fforde writes books about fictional characters. "Poppycock, that's what all fiction authors do!"-- except his novels actually contain other people's fictional characters (classics and nursery rhymes mainly)- and they're the characters who police the books to make sure nothing gets buggered up in novel when the characters go AWOL etc.

His first novel was The Eyre Affair and yes. It is about that Eyre.

Basically, he makes an entire world of characters using already-created characters and labels them as fictional. And then he has the "real world" which is also fictional because he's writing it and it has distinct differences from the world in which we live (and there are more layers of "real" within that)... and relatively bad things happen when too much of them overlaps, so there are policing organizations on either side to make sure that they don't leak in too much. There is also a fantastic blurring of genres from metafiction, classic fantasy and sci-fi, classic literature, verse, and parody. But I really think I'm just getting excited now.

Have a few links: http://www.thursdaynext.com/index2.html

http://www.nurserycrime.co.uk/home.html

http://www.jasperfforde.com/

Click around-- he's created a virtual world to some degree- based on his "real" made in his writing but also incorporating some pictures of the actual world in which we live--, which is slightly entertaining even if one doesn't know the story.

Over the break, I was reading Writer's Digest, and came across an interview with Laurell K. Hamilton. She is the author of the Anita Blake series, of which she is on her 16th book, and the Merry Gentry Series, of which she is on book 6. What I found interesting about this interview was how the term genre was used. The article was titled "Genre Bended." One quote from Maria Schneider, the articles author, said "Hamilton is a genre writer to the core, and she was writing fantasy, when fantasy wasn't cool. But she never let the accepted conventions of genre fiction constrain her creativity - instead she forged new genres from well-honed formulas." I've read some of Hamilton's work, and as a person whose read a lot of horror, fantasy, paranormal work, I can say that she has melded the genres in an interesting way.

However, what I am really interested here is the use of the word "genre" as referring only to a certain class of fiction, namely fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery, and romance. Also, I am interested by the idea that "good" creative writing in genreless. Later in the article, Hamilton explains why she was kicked out of Marion College's writing school. "I submitted two horror stories to get into the writing program; I made no pretense that I wanted to write anything else... She (her teacher) told me that all genre was garbage, but I refused to write anything else. And within two to three weeks, half the class was writing genre." In talking with my creative writing friends, I found that there seems to be a stigma in traditional creative writing classes around "genre work."

The term genre came up later in the magazine as well in an article by Michael J. Vaughn, "The Popular Fiction Report." The article was supposed to give a "genre-by-genre market report," but it dealt with the similar categories as was described by Hamilton in her interview. On one page there was even a tree labeled "Sub-genres" and branching off into mystery/crime, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, and Thriller. Each of these branches had leaves of even more specific categories. This is the link the magazine suggests looking at for further information of "sub-genre."

http://www.writersdigest.com/genredefinitions.asp

What I am finding interesting is the hierarchical nature of genre listed here. This is no emergent story. Some genres seem to be clearly the favored... and then those that are favored are classified really without the word "genre" in their definition. We've been dealing with "genre" as a term that can be applied to any piece of literature, and even to many other grouping found in the world. However, the story present by this magazine is that "genre" is itself a classification.