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Articles 61 - 90 of 527
Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature
Hell As Colonizing Force: Postcolonialism In World Of Warcraft’S The Maw, Heather Bass
Hell As Colonizing Force: Postcolonialism In World Of Warcraft’S The Maw, Heather Bass
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The lore in World of Warcraft represents various global religions along with their multiple paths to the soul’s redemption. One quest asks players to approach various divintities and retrieve their sacred objects in order to save a paladin from the disease of undeath in desolate Icecrown. Scholars have also noticed World of Warcraft’s religious capacities with one such example being comparing Thrall to Jesus. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the World of Warcraft lore has its own version of Hell–a region known as the Maw–with its own version of Satan. The Maw is one of the new territories …
Hell Is School—And Other People—And Myself (But Mostly Other People): From Inferno To The Paradiso In The Scholomance Series By Naomi Novik, Nicole Duplessis
Hell Is School—And Other People—And Myself (But Mostly Other People): From Inferno To The Paradiso In The Scholomance Series By Naomi Novik, Nicole Duplessis
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In her novels A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik constructs a world in which school is Hell and the outside world is Heaven—or so it seems from the inside. From the competition and internal hierarchies that exist between the students, to the monsters, or “mals” that stalk students and devour them for their “mana,” to the brutal lessons, harsh punishments, and presumed Darwinism of the school itself, the inside of the Scholomance seems the embodiment of Hell to the novel’s protagonist and central consciousness “El,” short for Galadriel, even as she …
The Lord Of The Rings & Dante’S Inferno: The Pilgrim’S Path—A Descent Into Hell, Hayden Bilbrey
The Lord Of The Rings & Dante’S Inferno: The Pilgrim’S Path—A Descent Into Hell, Hayden Bilbrey
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
This project explores the parallels between the journeys of Dante’s Pilgrim in Inferno and Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. It asserts that these two examples are a variant of the hero’s journey, more akin to a divine pilgrimage. Through this analysis, each author’s use and repurposing of mythology and monsters to fit within a Christian narrative will be closely examined. Following the Pilgrim and Frodo, this project charts their voyages through hell (or hellish landscape) and the effects that has on each of them psychologically and spiritually. In essence, this project seeks to chart both external …
Orpheus, The Harrowing Of Hell, And Mary Magdalene In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile
Orpheus, The Harrowing Of Hell, And Mary Magdalene In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Tolkien has a wealth of precedents in giving his Orpheus and Eurydice, i.e., Beren and Lúthien, a happy ending. My paper proposes to survey these precedents in the Orphic tradition of Ancient Greece, in its subsequent Christening in late ancient and medieval literature, and in its connections with the Harrowing of Hell. Looking for a female Orpheus, an undiscussed parallelism is found in the figure of Mary Magdalene.
Through The Mirror Darkly: Link’S Journey To Hell And The Inversion Of Hyrule In The Legend Of Zelda’S Underworlds, Alicia Fox-Lenz
Through The Mirror Darkly: Link’S Journey To Hell And The Inversion Of Hyrule In The Legend Of Zelda’S Underworlds, Alicia Fox-Lenz
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
When talking about The Legend of Zelda, “underworld” can have a variety of definitions, from simple dungeons hidden beneath the ground to fully realized parallel dimensions. Since the first entry in the franchise, the subterranean dungeons have been where the player character, Link, learns new skills and battles colossal monsters, honing the player’s skills and advancing the narrative. While not as ubiquitous as dungeons, since A Link to the Past, Zelda games have often included travel to parallel worlds, whether those are parallel dimensions or alternate time periods, where the rules and mores of Hyrule have been upended creating truly …
Cloaked In Shadow: The Biopolitics Of Sauron’S Middle-Hell, Journee Cotton
Cloaked In Shadow: The Biopolitics Of Sauron’S Middle-Hell, Journee Cotton
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
This paper considers hellish aspects of The Lord of the Rings through an environmental bioethical framework focusing on the intersection of biopolitics, race, and ecology. Key figures that shall be examined include Sauron, Saruman, Uruk-hai, and the body of Middle-earth. Sauron shall be read as a Hades figure; they share numerous connections, such as their domain is hell, influence over invisibility (Hades’ cloak and Sauron’s Ring), characterization of giver of gifts, possession of dead bodies, and connection to the earth’s fertility (or lack). Sauron’s possession over dead bodies arises from the necropolitical power he incites over bodies in his sphere …
(Re)Visiting Hades: Depictions Of The Underworld In Virgil’S And Rick Riordan’S Work, Inês Vaz
(Re)Visiting Hades: Depictions Of The Underworld In Virgil’S And Rick Riordan’S Work, Inês Vaz
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The hero’s journey is one of the most popular narrative patterns in storytelling, constituting a particular bridge between classical mythology and modern fantasy. One of the most captivating and poignant parts of the journey is none other than the descent to the underworld. Since the beginning of time, countless heroes have come and gone, but the underworld stays the same. Or does it . . .? From among the long tradition of classical texts that first helped bring the underworld to life, Virgil’s can be praised for providing some of the most detailed descriptions, as both Orpheus’ descent in Book …
From Fiery Pit Of Divine Fire To The Watery Caves Of Primordial Chaos: The Realm Of The Dead, A New Hell Of A Place, Gaëlle Abaléa
From Fiery Pit Of Divine Fire To The Watery Caves Of Primordial Chaos: The Realm Of The Dead, A New Hell Of A Place, Gaëlle Abaléa
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Representations of hell used to have an educational purpose, they conveyed edifying messages: be good or you will suffer for all eternity. Since the rise of psychology, the representations of Hell have evolved, losing their religious content yet, paradoxically, enduring. If they lost their religious purpose, they kept an ancient mythological architecture. Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series’ depiction of Hell is at the same time Greek, with the river running as an entry point to the realm of the dead, adding a Bachelardian influence to the picture with the omnipresence of water. Besides, travelling through hell is a journey through …
Mythopoeic Society Awards Ceremony, Mythsoc Stewards
Mythopoeic Society Awards Ceremony, Mythsoc Stewards
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Mythopoeic Society Awards Ceremony: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth & Fantasy Studies, and Alexei Kondratiev Student Paper Award.
C.S. Lewis’S Inferno: Did The Two Queens Wish To Leave Hell?, Kyoko Yuasa
C.S. Lewis’S Inferno: Did The Two Queens Wish To Leave Hell?, Kyoko Yuasa
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
C.S. Lewis depicts “inferno” not only as the otherworldly vision of Hell, but also as how you would choose your life in the present. In Beyond the Shadowlands, Wayne Martindale discussed, in separate chapters, how Jadis and Orual chose Hell. This presentation will add to his research a comparison of the two queens’ choice of “living in the self” and refusal to abandon themselves. In The Great Divorce and The Silver Chair, a protagonist moves out of the present world into a dimension of Inferno or Elysium, while Jadis in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Orual …
A Nostalgic Understanding Of Bureaucracy As Hell, Mayank Kejriwal
A Nostalgic Understanding Of Bureaucracy As Hell, Mayank Kejriwal
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
There is a wide body of visual and literary cultural media on interpreting the over-bureaucratization in modern society as modern hell. I argue that more recent post-modern depictions of bureaucracy, especially in visual media, have been less disquieting. Apple’s Severance tapped into deep uncertainties that modern workers face on issues like work-life balance and self-actualization, but if bureaucracy is present, it is well concealed under the gloss and efficiency of modern office buildings and technology. Hell is not the first word that comes to mind even when faced with such disquiet. Gone is the visceral fear associated with hell, or …
Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta
Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In this paper, I apply the eschatological framework of Michigan historian and Gothic horror writer Russell Kirk to the depictions of Purgatory and Hell in certain novels by Charles Williams and Stephen King. Although these authors represent a wide range of faith traditions, there are a number of surprising similarities between their respective depictions of the afterlife, aspects of which Kirk’s notion of “timeless moments” can help to clarify. All three authors, for instance, characterize the afterlife as a state of mind that is nevertheless closely associated with specific physical locations such as a castle in Scotland, the city of …
Hell In Anime And Manga, From Go Nagai’S Devilman, Kentaro Miura’S Berserk, Hell Girl Project’S Hell Girl, The Works Of Junji Ito And Everything In Between, Minna Nizam
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
This paper will explore the influence of Hell in Anime and Manga. The discussion will begin with Go Nagai’s Devilman then lead into other examples of anime/manga with the same theme. The focus will be on the titular character, Akira Fudo, his transformation, and the villains throughout the story. Then a larger discussion on Kentaro Miura’s Berserk and his interpretation of hell will be taken into account. From Griffith’s transformation to Femto, to the iconography of the monsters Guts battles. Then another popular anime franchise will be discussed: Hell Girl and its impact on modern media. The story of revenge …
The Good, The Bad, And The Mind-Body Problem: Dualistic Punishment And Torture In The Good Place, Katelynn Baerg
The Good, The Bad, And The Mind-Body Problem: Dualistic Punishment And Torture In The Good Place, Katelynn Baerg
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Theories about the afterlife have been a constant fixation of humanity throughout history, illustrated through diverse mediums and genres. Literary and philosophical movements reflect and influence the shifts between the worldviews of traditional and modern writers. In comparing Michael Schur’s sitcom The Good Place with Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, this paper demonstrates how the writer’s depictions of torture and punishment reflect their respective positions on philosophical concepts of the human self. Through the lens of the mind-body problem proposed by Rene Descartes, I analyze how the relationship between the mind and body in the afterlife is explored in each depiction. …
Panel: Deep Places Of The World: Journeys In The Underworlds Of Middle-Earth, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Laura Grabowski, Constance Wagner, Jim Wert
Panel: Deep Places Of The World: Journeys In The Underworlds Of Middle-Earth, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Laura Grabowski, Constance Wagner, Jim Wert
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In many world mythologies, underworlds are typically subterranean lands that house the dead. Sometimes these underworlds are visited by living heroes who pass trials only to return to the land of the living transformed. Tolkien uses this mythological theme to great effect throughout his legendarium. From The Hobbit to the Silmarillion, Tolkien’s world is littered with underworlds through which characters journey and emerge forever changed. Join us for a lively discussion of Tolkien’s underworlds and how they transform the characters who enter them, as well as the shape the larger events of Middle-earth.
"Nor Am I Out Of It": The Modern Bureaucratic Hell On Page And Screen, Janet Brennan Croft
"Nor Am I Out Of It": The Modern Bureaucratic Hell On Page And Screen, Janet Brennan Croft
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
SESSION VI
5:30 PM—6:20 Eastern
4:30 PM—5:20 Central
3:30 PM—4:20Mountain
2:30 PM—3:20 Pacific
9:30 PM—10:20 GMT
Reforming Xibalba In Gods Of Jade And Shadow, Anne Acker
Reforming Xibalba In Gods Of Jade And Shadow, Anne Acker
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
When Gods of Jade and Shadow was published in 2019, it was acclaimed both for its excellent writing and its revisioning of Mesoamerican mythology. While there is certainly a centering of indigenous American myth over the Western religion, depicted as alien and imposed, the novel also belongs to a growing body of feminist literature in the #MeToo era that critiques and reimagines the power structures of the original stories. This paper explores the literary reconstruction of Xibalba, the underworld of Mayan myth, as Casiopea Tun seeks to restore the god Hun-Kame to his rightful throne at great personal cost. The …
Grey Town: The Practical Theology Of The Great Divorce, Reggie Weems
Grey Town: The Practical Theology Of The Great Divorce, Reggie Weems
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
As one of the most-read Protestant authors of the last two centuries, the legacy of C.S. Lewis is surprisingly rooted in his various writings about Hell. And yet, even though his works are permeated with the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, Lewis rarely spoke directly or clearly about Hell, such as he did in a single chapter in The Problem of Pain (1940). He nonetheless attempted to demythologize Hell from God’s viewpoint in The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933), Satan’s outlook in The Screwtape Letters (1942), and the human perspective in The Great Divorce (1945), his last and perhaps, most insightful …
Thinking Makes It So? Hell As A (Fixable) State Of Mind In The Good Place And Lucifer, Erin Giannini
Thinking Makes It So? Hell As A (Fixable) State Of Mind In The Good Place And Lucifer, Erin Giannini
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
While different in genre, sitcom The Good Place and drama Lucifer share a certain irreverent tone and a somewhat unique approach to the afterlife. In The Good Place, there is no mention of gods or devils, only demons, a Good Place committee, and a judge. Lucifer, loosely based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels, however, features angels, demons, God, and the Devil, providing its own spin on established cosmology with embodied versions of prominent figures such as the archangel Michael and biblical brothers Cain and Abel. Yet what ties The Good Place and Lucifer together is a focus on …
Re-Visioning Underland: C. S. Lewis’S The Silver Chair As Dystopian Fiction, William Thompson
Re-Visioning Underland: C. S. Lewis’S The Silver Chair As Dystopian Fiction, William Thompson
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In C. S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair, Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum follow the four signs given to them by Aslan and descend into the underworld in order to rescue the lost prince. They find the enchanted Prince Rilian, along with thousands of Earthmen, enslaved to the Green Lady, who has a plan to subjugate the people and creatures of Narnia. Michael Ward, in Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens and the Imagination of C. S. Lewis, takes a primarily Christological approach to the Narnia series, but finds a further analogue to Underland of The Silver Chair in the underworld …
The Road To Hell: Rebirth And Relevance In Musical Adaptations Of Katabatic Myth, Jarrod Deprado
The Road To Hell: Rebirth And Relevance In Musical Adaptations Of Katabatic Myth, Jarrod Deprado
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Adapting Greek mythology provides a framework to reapproach classic works through a contemporary lens to better understand the present. Of particular interest is the depiction of characters traveling to Hell in search of a better future. Looking at two myth-inspired musicals—The Frogs by Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove and Hadestown by Anaïs Michell—we see two disparate journeys to the Underworld given contemporary relevance. The Frogs (1974) depicts Dionysus’ journey to Hades to bring back a poet (originally Euripides, now George Bernard Shaw). However, it was not until the 2004 Broadway adaptation that overtly anti-authoritarian messages were added, aimed at …
Substance Abuse: C.S. Lewis And The Symbolic Geography Of Hell, Richard Angelo Bergen
Substance Abuse: C.S. Lewis And The Symbolic Geography Of Hell, Richard Angelo Bergen
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake the Romantic, proffers a Romantic vision of hell, and a geographical representation of capacity and scope with an energetic apology. On the other hand, C.S. Lewis’s vision of hell in The Great Divorce is that of a land without substance: a land of addiction to mental maladies, an endless mental substance abuse, an emptying of presence. As one surveys the conversations throughout the book, one gets an increasing sense of the importance of understanding place correctly, as a matter of eternal consequence. One chapter concerns a well-travelled ghost who repeats his …
“Hell Is Only A Word. The Reality Is Much, Much Worse”: Black Holes As Fantasy Gateways To Hell, Kristine Larsen
“Hell Is Only A Word. The Reality Is Much, Much Worse”: Black Holes As Fantasy Gateways To Hell, Kristine Larsen
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Black holes are frequently described as the scariest objects in the universe, even by the normally staid scientists who study them. Like the warning on the gate of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, any (hu)man or matter that dares to cross the event horizon abandons all hope before literally being ripped to shreds by the object’s extreme tidal forces. As the heart of the beast is approached, the laws of physics break down, time loses its simple everyday meaning, and mathematical madness reigns supreme. It is no wonder that Hollywood has repeatedly adopted the black hole as more than merely …
Panel: “Hell Is Other People: Looking At The Political Rage Machine In Tolkien Fan Spaces And Media”, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Grace Moone, Cara Marta Messina
Panel: “Hell Is Other People: Looking At The Political Rage Machine In Tolkien Fan Spaces And Media”, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Grace Moone, Cara Marta Messina
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Following the backlash against the Tolkien Society’s “Tolkien and Diversity” seminar and the airing of the first season of Rings of Power, social media fan spaces for Tolkien remain politically charged and reactionary. Building on the foundation of Mythcon 51’s Roundtable “Race, Racisms, and Tolkien,” and Craig Franson’s work showcased there and on the podcast “American Id,” we will discuss the current state of Tolkien discourse on social media and how to navigate the landscape as safely as possible.
Those Queer Devils: Queercoding Villains, Devils, And Demons In Mythopoeic Film And Media, Grace Moone
Those Queer Devils: Queercoding Villains, Devils, And Demons In Mythopoeic Film And Media, Grace Moone
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In the early years of Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Hays Code functioned as a rigid morality code designed to shape the norms of Western culture. Its far-reaching impacts remain visible even decades after its enforcement was no longer required. In this talk, we will explore one of the most pervasive elements of the code’s legacy: the prohibition against showing LGBTQ characters in a positive light, and the resulting phenomenon of “queer-coding” characters. The practice of portraying LGBT+ characters through a lens of villainy and stereotype to adhere to the Hays Code requirement that queerness be punished and depicted as undesirable …
From Hell (Or Not): Representations Of Merlin And His Origins In The Comics, Michael A. Torregrossa
From Hell (Or Not): Representations Of Merlin And His Origins In The Comics, Michael A. Torregrossa
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The Arthurian figure of Merlin has a long literary history, but he never seems able to shake off the effects of his parentage. In medieval tradition, Merlin is sired by inhuman powers: first a seemingly benign dæmon and then a decidedly wicked demon. This preternatural aspect to his conception grants Merlin the skills and powers he uses to support the realm, yet it also taints him as someone potentially dangerous. Although Merlin’s background cannot be changed, creative artists often choose to ignore or alter his origins, especially when retelling his story for mass audiences. In contrast, other creators, usually those …
Animated Dancing To Hell And Back: Disney’S Fantasia, Matthew Elfenbein
Animated Dancing To Hell And Back: Disney’S Fantasia, Matthew Elfenbein
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Imaginative images of Heaven and Hell capture the sociocultural engagement with Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940), which demonstrates animated dancing bodies to represent the descent and passage of the hero’s journey. This journey is presented with many different forms of conflict and images that become unique through the qualities of the animated screendance. This form of dance on film is accentuated by the visualization of imaginative bodies, a conflict between knowledge and curiosity, and the spectacle of layering images on top of symbolic meanings to emphasize the power of identification with the audience. The spectators of this film are engaged with …
Hell On Earth In Garth Nix’S Old Kingdom, John Rosegrant
Hell On Earth In Garth Nix’S Old Kingdom, John Rosegrant
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
I explore psychological meanings embedded in the Old Kingdom. Its River of Death is a hell impinging on life: Like Dante’s Inferno it has nine sectors; the dead take hideous Boschian forms; and helped by necromancers wielding “free magic” they often return to life. On this metaphor Nix builds the insight that desiring to live deeply and joyously risks turning hellish if early life was loveless. Necromancers and Free Magic are battled by Abhorsens and others wielding “Charter magic,” Free Magic transformed by symbols. Immersion in the Charter gives a joyous experience of connection to all life. Symbolization must …
Feasting At The Threshold: Transubstantiation, Queer Desire, And Homonationalism In Diane Duane’S The Tale Of The Five, Taylor Driggers
Feasting At The Threshold: Transubstantiation, Queer Desire, And Homonationalism In Diane Duane’S The Tale Of The Five, Taylor Driggers
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Diane Duane’s ongoing pulp fantasy series The Tale of the Five (1979- ) is set in a world marked by constant bodily transgressions and surprises, where a human and dragon can occupy the same body and become lovers and a one-night stand can bring one face-to-face with God. This essay will argue that Duane’s series articulates eroticism in a manner comparable to Linn Marie Tonstad’s (2016) queer re-visioning of transubstantiation and bodily and spiritual transformation through the Eucharist. Acts of eating and drinking serve to highlight how characters’ pansexual, polyamorous relations with each other and the love of the Goddess …
The Underworld As The Heroine’S Journey Home: Marvel, Xena, And Mythic Reimaginings, Valerie Estelle Frankel
The Underworld As The Heroine’S Journey Home: Marvel, Xena, And Mythic Reimaginings, Valerie Estelle Frankel
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Hell is traditionally a place of torment, where the young heroine, like Persephone or Eurydice, is kidnapped by the patriarchy, leaving others to rescue her. The last few decades, however, have offered a model closer to Sumerian Inanna, in which the heroine is enlightened by hell or even conquers it. Angela, Queen of Hel: Journey to the Funderworld by Marguerite Bennett (2016) gives its heroine this path. Winning back her beloved, Angela, sister of Thor and Loki, becomes queen of the underworld but then prefers to bring Sera back to earth in a flip on Eurydice. The Xena episode “Fallen …