Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“Strange Faces, Other Minds” Tennyson’S Idylls Of The King And The Alien Other, Rebecca Umland

Mythcon

Encounters with the alien other commonly conjure images from science fiction film and literature—advanced spacecraft, alien species in human form from remote places of the galaxy, or in alternate places either in the subterranean realms or on the planet Earth. Varied as they are, a ubiquitous quality of strangeness accompanies these encounters, from those in nineteenth-century writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, through early 20th-century Lovecraft narratives, and in contemporary fiction and film. A writer who may not come immediately to mind is Alfred Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of England from 1850 until his death in 1892. …

Aliens And Others In The Inklings, David Bratman, Janet Brennan Croft, Robin Anne Reid, John Rosegrant

Mythcon

David Bratman, Janet Brennan Croft, Robin Reid, and John Rosegrant discuss the alien and the Other in the works of the Inklings, with time for audience conversation.

Common Elements In Ya Mythic Portal Fantasies, Sultana Raza

Mythcon

While Tolkien was inspired by Norse and Anglo-Saxon myths, he incorporated certain plot structures from Greco- Roman myths in Beren and Lúthien and Fall of Gondolin. Contemporary authors continue to be inspired by myths as well. This paper will explore mythic YA fantasy, and common elements mainly in the works of Rick Riordan, Michael Scott, Eoin Colfer, and Cassandra Clare, all of whom use portals to enable their main characters to enter parallel universes. Riordan often uses museums/artefacts as portals to fantastical dimensions. His Percy Jackson series, the Heroes of Olympus series, and the Kane Chronicles are well-researched, while the …

Reading By Jo Walton, Jo Walton

Mythcon

Award-winning author and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award finalist Jo Walton will read from her works and answer questions from the audience.

New Mexico Speculative Fiction Authors, Leslie Donovan, David Bratman, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Grace Moon, Rivera Sun, Joseph Young

Mythcon

New Mexico is not only a place of many enchanting sunsets and landscapes, but also home to many authors of speculative fiction. Join us in this roundtable as we discuss and introduce a few works of fantasy and science fiction by New Mexico-linked writers that our roundtable members have found particularly interesting, enjoyable, or mythopoeic. Just a few New Mexico speculative fiction writers you may have heard of are Roger Zelazny, George R. R. Martin, Diana Gabaldon, Suzy McKee Charnas, James S. A. Corey, Stephen R. Donaldson, Rebecca Roanhorse, Daniel Abraham, Fred Saberhagen, Walter Jon Williams, Melinda Snodgrass, S. M. …

Et Phone Camelot: Alien Life Forms In Arthurian Fiction, Michael Torregrossa

Mythcon

As a living tradition, the Matter of Britain displays a voracious appetite as it grows over the centuries, absorbing characters, legends, motifs, stories, and even genres to create new Arthurian narratives. Science fiction is one genre that has recently found a place within the Arthurian tradition. Inspired by Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, tales abound of time travelers journeying to Arthur’s realm, but a smaller, less well-known subset of Arthurianthemed science fiction brings various extraterrestrial creatures to Camelot. Sometimes, these beings are hostile, but, more often, they try to make the realm a better place. Most …

“Crossings In Mist”: Kantian Transformations In The Lathe Of Heaven, Daniel Viorica

Mythcon

A theme for this year’s Mythcon is ‘The Alien’; there is perhaps nothing more alien to contemporary science fiction and fantasy discourse than Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant. He represents much of what today’s fantasy, especially under the influence of Ursula K. Le Guin, opposes: a human-privileged universe predicated on rational control. But I argue that a Kantian reading of a scene in Le Guin’s novel The Lathe of Heaven can in fact enrich our understanding of Le Guin’s noted Taoist themes of action and inaction, complicating the preexisting scholarly consensus that the novel provides a straightforward critique of Western culture. …

“Let’S Start With The End Of The World, Why Don’T We?” The Disorienting Phenomenology Of N. K. Jemisin’S The Stone Sky, Robin Anne Reid

Mythcon

N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy made history: each novel won the Best Hugo for Novel (2016-2017-2018). Jemisin is not only the First person to win the novel award three years running, but also the First Black person and the First woman of color to win the novel award. Sony Entertainment purchased the series for adaptation in 2018 (Fleming), and Jemisin will be adapting her series for Film. The Fifth Season has an epic structure (beginning in media res, a quest, world-changing events and characters, and supernatural forces). Given the conventions of the epic genre, my interest in this …

The Environmental Bioethics Of Space Travel: ‘Alien’ Bodies In C. S. Lewis’ Cosmic Trilogy, Journee Cotton

Mythcon

C. S. Lewis lived through numerous significant historic events. Notably, he was alive during the space race and spoke to the potential philosophical and ethical dilemmas that may arise through space travel, especially concerning contact with ‘alien’ life. While the idea may be found in other parts of his oeuvre, Lewis explicitly considers space travel and contact with aliens in The Cosmic Trilogy. His texts offer unique perspectives on space travel that is not centric to the earth-born ‘human,’ rather it notes man’s destructive attitudes towards progress and the potential harms man may enact on other sentient beings and environments …

Mythcon Memories, Lynne Maudlin, David Bratman, Lee Speth

Mythcon

Come hear long-time Mythies Lee Speth, David Bratman, and Lynn Maudlin talk about 50+ years of Mythcons past, conference memories (and hijinks!) from a pre-pandemic world.

"Something Which Ought To Be Done When All Else Fails”: The Experiential Education Of Arthur In The Once And Future King, Anne Acker

Mythcon

Critical attention to T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, particularly the book’s description of Arthur’s education, has necessarily focused on the political themes in the book. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, some critics have found those themes outdated, a relic of the bloody wars of the 20th century. In the third decade of the 21st century, it has become apparent that while fascism and Stalinism went away, they did not go far. The tendencies and tensions within society that made them possible before confronting us once again. With this in mind, it may be helpful …

Writing Mythopoeia For Social Justice, Rivera Sun

Mythcon

From the Binti Trilogy to Broken Earth to Fifth Sacred Thing to some of the solutionary cli-fi short stories, contemporary writers have provided many powerful examples for exploring issues of social justice. In this workshop, our Author Guest of Honor will use writing prompts and activities to lead attendees to explore how mythopoeic writing can change how we think about our world and others around us in powerful and positive ways. Whether you are a writer yourself or a reader eager to encourage better futures for us all, join us in this fun and interactive workshop.

Encanto Discussion, Berni Phillips Bratman, Lynn Maudlin

Mythcon

No abstract provided.

"The Most Precious Of All Things Is Life Itself – Ultimate Cost For Perfect Value”: The Alien And The Struggle Of Life And Death In Starship Troopers, Christopher J V Loughlin

Mythcon

This paper will consider Hegelian and post-Hegelian discussion of the struggle of life and death in relationship to Starship Troopers. Robert Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers in 1959 and it has been interpreted as a right-wing, “fascist,” and Greco- Roman-inspired discussion of citizen-soldiership. At the centre of Heinlein’s work lies an explicit political and civil morality: there are many human bodies, but only some that have earned full political citizenship by staking their life in military service. But what significance does the Other have in Heinlein’s book? Why is the Other destroyed, occupied, alienated? How does this struggle form the basis …

The Space Alien As A Multitude In Latinx Science Fiction, Matthew Goodwin

Mythcon

One of the central claims of my book The Latinx Files: Race, Migration, and Space Aliens, is that the cultural figure of the space alien is more fruitfully conceived of as a Multitude rather than an Other. The space alien framed as Other may be helpful in critiquing Anglo-American works of science fiction, but it is less useful when it comes to the space alien in Latinx science fiction. This essay will examine a number of works of Latinx science fiction to draw out the details of this claim. I will begin by pointing to the multiplicity of allegories and …

Scholar Goh David Bratman Speech, David Bratman

Mythcon

Scholar Guest of Honor David Bratman gives his speech during the opening ceremonies of Mythcon 52 in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 30th, 2022.

A section of frozen video and no audio was removed from the recording at 0:30:53 of about 30 seconds.

Graduation Ceremonies, Leslie Donovan, Bruce Leonard

Mythcon

Due to the pandemic, many students around the world did not get to attend their own respective graduation ceremonies. MythSoc provided those present a chance to have a real graduation amongst fellows and peers.

Welcome To Mythcon!, Megan Abrahamson, Leslie Donovan

Mythcon

Mythcon 52 Opening Ceremonies presented by Megan Abrahamson and Leslie Donovan.

"The Rings Of Power" Book Club (Part 2): Open Discussion On ‘The Peoples Of Middle-Earth: Tar-Elmar', Tim Lenz, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Grace Moone, Pablo Guss

Mythcon

Participate in or spectate a hybrid in-person/online MythCon edition of ‘The Rings of Power Book Club,’ where we discuss excerpts from Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, and how they could relate to the upcoming Amazon streaming series. We will be discussing the following passage: The History of Middle-earth XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth: Tar-Elmar (422-427).

"The Rings Of Power" Book Club (Part 1): Seduction, Knowledge, And Metallurgy In The Second Age Of Middle-Earth, Tim Lenz, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Grace Moon, Pablo Guss

Mythcon

The upcoming Amazon-produced streaming series The Rings of Power represents the most expensive adaptation of Tolkien’s Middle-earth to date, and will explore the Second Age, of which Tolkien wrote relatively little. This adaptation has generated massive buzz, both positive and negative, prior to its airing, often centered around issues of race, gender, and diversity. Over the past 5 months, a group of Mythies have gathered periodically on the Mythopoeic Society’s Discord server to pore over Tolkien’s meager writings about the Second Age, and how this material could be adapted into a live action streaming series. We will revisit some of …

'Long Dark Hair In Great Plaits Braided With Gold': Black Fingon And Racebending In Transformative Tolkien Fanworks, Megan Abrahamson, Maria K. Alberto

Mythcon

Tolkien fandom has often pointed to “diversity” in Middle-earth, but this term has long been limited to dwarves and elves and hobbits coexisting. The vast majority of fan art produced of Tolkien’s works in the past 75 years has featured fictional races all with fair skin and white features. That seemed to change on Tumblr in 2013, when fans created fan art and edits that cast Black model Cykeem White as the “face claim” for Fingon the Valiant, the Elven prince who becomes High King of the Noldor in Beleriand. The selection became relatively popular on the platform, picking up …

Sterner Stuff: Sansa Stark And The System Of Gothic Fantasy, Joseph Young

Mythcon

George R.R. Martin’s characterisation of Sansa Stark is among the contentious aspects of the reception of A Song of Ice and Fire. The violence, indignities and threats heaped upon Sansa have been described as gratuitous, cited as evidence of an unusually cold-hearted writer, and marshalled as evidence by those querying the story’s feminist credibility. Sansa’s passive acceptance of such mistreatment could mark her as a character denuded of agency, which would seem either tasteless or a serious misstep by an author of stated feminist sympathies.

In an alternate reading, however, Sansa’s travails and her capacity to absorb them mark …

Spray-Painting The Sistine Chapel: Aesthetic Problems In Leaf By Niggle, John Holmes

Mythcon

No work of the allegoriphobic Tolkien is more manifestly allegorical than his short story “Leaf By Niggle.” Because of the story’s unmistakably allegorical nature, when the reader encounters the four-word sentence that opens the second paragraph—“Niggle was a painter”—the initial response might justly be to read “painter” in a more generic sense to mean “artist in general.” Indeed, the best criticism of this story tends to read Niggle’s problem as an analogue of Tolkien’s problem as sub-creator of Middle-earth, primarily in writing. But because Tolkien’s rendering of Middle-earth sometimes took form in pencil sketches and watercolors as well, Niggle’s painterly …

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me., John Rosegrant

Mythcon

In this presentation I explore why Tolkien singled out for particular appreciation the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Juniper Tree, which Tatar (Annotated Grimm 209) has called “the most shocking of all fairy tales.” In On Fairy-Stories, Tolkien described its effect on him as follows: “The beauty and horror of The Juniper Tree…with its exquisite and tragic beginning, the abominable cannibal stew, the gruesome bones, the gay and vengeful bird-spirit coming out of a mist that rose from the tree, has remained with me since childhood; and yet always the chief flavor of that tale lingering in …

Faerie Reality In The Spiral Dance By Rodrigo Garcia Y Robertson, Robert Tredray

Mythcon

Garcia y Robertson's The Spiral Dance begins as a historical novel set in the time of the rebellion led by the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmoreland against Elizabeth I in 1569, told from the point of view of Anne, Countess of Northumberland. It is also an epic or heroic fantasy; besides Lady Anne, two of its main characters are a werewolf named Jock and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their adventures carry them not only to the highlands of Scotland but to the realm of Faerie. The author's theme is that one must lose all one has before …

How Mythopoeic Stories Carve Space For Change, Rivera Sun

Mythcon

Mythopoeic writings have the capacity to carve out space for new visions, radical thought, and social change. Join Rivera Sun for a roundtable discussion on how this has impacted us as readers (or writers) in our own lives. We'll also explore how far these writings can push the envelope before society starts pushing back. Where are the boundaries that can't be crossed, and how can mythopoeic stories help shift those boundaries on behalf of social change? What role does perceived market demand or pushback play in how publishers either constrain or support stories that help us imagine a new world …

The Personhood Of Nature In J. R. R. Tolkien’S Legendarium, Sophia Parrila

Mythcon

This paper argues that J. R. R. Tolkien’s portrayal of plants, animals, and geographical features as morally complex persons is central to the ecocentric model of environmental stewardship developed within Tolkien’s Legendarium. Tolkien’s Middle-earth writings endow non-human beings such as animals, plants, and even rivers with personhood by emphasizing their individuality, their capacity for interpersonal relationships, and their agency to make moral choices. I build on work done by critics such as Susan Jeffers (Arda Inhabited), and Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans (Ents, Elves, and Eriador) to find a practicable and inspirational environmental ethic in Tolkien’s …

Q&A With Unofficial Mythsoc Historian Lee Speth, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Lee Speth

Mythcon

An attendee of Mythcon 3 and a Steward since 1979, Lee Speth has been called the Mythopoeic Society's unofficial historian. Usually "trapped" behind the Mythopoeic Society Merchandise Table at Mythcons, this year he is free to contribute to programming and regale us with stories from bygone times. Come ask Lee about the history of the Mythopoeic Society, Golfimbul, and general shenanigans.

Moderator: Alicia Fox-Lenz
Tech Mod: Megan Abrahamson.

“Long Anguish And Self-Murdering Thought”: Gollum And The Figure Of Jealousy In The Faerie Queene, Anne Acker

Mythcon

This paper argues that Gollum’s story has parallels to the story of Malbecco in The Faerie Queene, and that Gollum should be read as an exploration of jealousy and its relationship to power, represented by the Ring that Gollum covets. In Spenser’s allegory, Malbecco is cuckolded and robbed and retreats to a cave in the mountains where he is transformed into the inhuman shape of Jealousy. While The Lord of the Rings is not an allegory and should not be read as one, Smeagol’s transformation into Gollum has striking similarities to this and other strange metamorphoses of characters who …

Fairy Tale Retellings For The Modern World., Sarena Ulibarri, Reese Hogan, Charlotte Honigman, Wendy Nikel, Lissa Sloan

Mythcon

Fairy tales have timeless appeal for both audiences and creators, especially when they’re updated in a way that speaks to modern sensibilities or are mashed up with another genre to create something familiar yet fresh. Several authors will discuss what’s behind the impulse to retell fairy tales, as well as the challenges of transferring a traditional tale into a non-traditional setting, such as a steampunk world or a different historical setting.

Moderator: Sarena Ulibarri
Panelist: Reese Hogan
Panelist: Charlotte Honigman
Panelist: Wendy Nikel
Panelist: Lissa Sloan
Tech Mod: Joan Marie Verba.