Ancient Queer Bodies: The Gender Swapping Prophet, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Ancient Queer Bodies: The Gender Swapping Prophet, Basil Perkins
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Through an intersectional approach which positions sexuality and gender in direct
relation to cultural imperialism (O’Sullivan, 2021; Lugones, 2020), I aim to discuss the origins of Tiresias. (S)he is ubiquitous in ancient mythology: showing up in classicized texts such as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Homer’s Odyssey. Interestingly too, Tiresias has been received since antiquity in texts such as Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Woolf’s Orlando, and MacLaughlin’s Wake, Siren. Each receptive work transforms Tiresias through fantastical contexts and different temporalities. I aim to queer Western notions of temporality, in reading the contemporary along with the ancient. The bulk of my …
"A Legacy Forced, Not Given": "Otherness" And Rape In The Morte Darthur And Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
"A Legacy Forced, Not Given": "Otherness" And Rape In The Morte Darthur And Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, Lindsay Church
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Arthurian narratives have traditionally worked to establish the collective memory of a shared past that has resulted in them regularly aligning with hegemonic ideologies. The continual retelling and adaptation of the Arthurian narrative can thus be recognized as consistently relying on and upholding a narrow understanding of who is accepted within the borders of Camelot and who is made Othered, and often monstrous, by those borders. However, there has been an increase in scholarship that has begun to read and write Arthurian literature from the ‘Other side’ in a way that asks readers to consider who the Arthurian mythos have …
No Place: The Queer Utopia Of Liminality, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
No Place: The Queer Utopia Of Liminality, Harry Gallagher
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
My proposal is a paper on the inherent queerness of the liminal in Jeff Vandermeer’s works, through examples such as the transitional narrative present in the transformation of the Biologist in Annihilation. Especially pertinent is the inherent fighting of Yonic/Phallic imagery happening between her interpretation of a concrete structure as a tower as opposed to a tunnel, which is important to understanding how the Biologist’s trans-masculinity manifests symbolically in the narrative as antithesis to the other cis women on the expedition. Vandermeer’s liminal space in Dead Astronauts also connects to the characters of Moss, a non-binary life form who exists …
Reading, Rending, And Queering The Web Of Story With The Lens Of “Con-Creation” And Process Theology, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Reading, Rending, And Queering The Web Of Story With The Lens Of “Con-Creation” And Process Theology, Cameron Bourquein, Nick Polk
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Recent scholarship has addressed the connected problems of Tolkien as “Author/Author(ity)” and the exclusivist readings of Tolkien’s work that follow this construction (Chunodkar, Emanuel, Reid). This “constructed Tolkien” seems to parallel common readings of his Legendarium’s own Creator God, Eru—understood as the monolithic “Author” of Ea. Yet “subcreation” within Tolkien’s narrative and extra-narrative works is routinely exhibited not as monolithic but rather as literally (and figuratively) multivocal, and hence inherently queer.
In this paper Cameron will propose that the Legendarium can be read through the lens of “con-creation” (the total choice-making activity of all rational beings) both internally as events …
I'D Rather Be A River Than A Man: The Trans Jewish Golem/ Trans Inequity, Intersectional Ritual, And Jewish Tikkun Olam (Healing Of The World), 2024 Mission College, San Jose City College
I'D Rather Be A River Than A Man: The Trans Jewish Golem/ Trans Inequity, Intersectional Ritual, And Jewish Tikkun Olam (Healing Of The World), Dean Leetal, Valerie Estelle Frankel
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
I'd Rather Be a River than a Man: The Trans Jewish Golem Dean Leetal
This critical commentary revisits the Jewish story of the Golem and reads it as a transgender text. Some say that the Golem inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a story famously interpreted by Susan Stryker as an allegory for her own trans experience: living on the edge of society, her humanity debated, defined by a morally questionable medical establishment. But there are important differences between Frankenstein and the Golem. The Golem is brought to life through language, particularly the Hebrew word ‘emet,’ and is an animated clay tasked …
Towards An Ethos Of Discussing In-Corporeal Gender In Fantasy Literature: Part I – A ‘Feminine’ Eldil And A ‘Masculine’ Vala, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Towards An Ethos Of Discussing In-Corporeal Gender In Fantasy Literature: Part I – A ‘Feminine’ Eldil And A ‘Masculine’ Vala, Luke Shelton
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people engaged with others on social media in ways that they had not before. During this time, I was excited to see many new interpretive communities begin and to listen to the kinds of conversations these groups would have about Tolkien. One such conversation that stuck out to me was the way in which I saw some fans interpret Tolkien’s description of the physical characteristics of the Valar. I also happened to be reading through C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy when I saw many of these conversations. I felt that there were several …
A Queer Reading Of Octavia Butler’S Kindred, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
A Queer Reading Of Octavia Butler’S Kindred, Marietta Kosma
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Throughout Octavia Butler’s Kindred the author raises numerous tensions around the notions of accessibility, disability, equality, and inclusion, exposing the crisis of black futures. My analysis focuses on the way that queerness informs the protagonist Dana’s experiences in the context of slavery, her positioning in the contemporary discourse of neo-liberalism, and her positioning in the prospective future. Very few scholars perceive Dana’s subjectivity as an actual state of being that carries value both materially as well as metaphorically. The materiality of queerness has not constituted part of the larger discourse of the American slave system. By examining how Butler renders …
Sauron, Seduction, And The Queering Mechanism Of The Ring, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Sauron, Seduction, And The Queering Mechanism Of The Ring, Mercury Natis
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
It has often been argued that Sauron is barely present in the Lord of the Rings, existing as a villainous presence on the margins of the narrative. This paper will argue that Sauron is actually present throughout the entire narrative, as manifested in the Ring, and through the Ring’s presence as a queering device. The Ring acts out Sauron’s seduction mechanism, a defining character trait as portrayed in the Silmarillion. It is this seduction mechanism that allows the Ring to act as a queering agent throughout the narrative. Ring-lust is inherently queer as it projects a male-presented character’s seductive powers, …
Closeted Gays Take Hide, A Lamia Has Been Untied: Bbc Merlin And Queer Experiences Beyond Queer Joy, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Closeted Gays Take Hide, A Lamia Has Been Untied: Bbc Merlin And Queer Experiences Beyond Queer Joy, Anna Caterino
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
A decade after its finale, online fandoms have started labeling Merlin (2008-2012) as “date your bully 101” (theroundbartable), a story written by people “giving each other blowjobs while they talk about how much they deserve servants” (vhagarswattle). In light of the most recent models of queer representation, such takes are to be expected. Even so, Merlin is not a mere case of “hoyay” (Kohnen 201-2012) nor does it engage in queerbaiting or use the “Bury Your Gays” trope. The text is tied to the socio-political landscape of the late 2000s which serves as foundation for the show’s tragedy and, although …
Asexualities, Aromantics, And Autists In Epic Fantasy By Tolkien And Goddard, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Asexualities, Aromantics, And Autists In Epic Fantasy By Tolkien And Goddard, Robin Anne Reid, Rory Queripel
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The Mariner (and his wife): Rethinking Aldarion’s (A)sexuality Rory Queripel
“Aldarion and Erendis” (Unfinished Tales) is a rare example in Tolkien’s work of a marriage gone severely awry. Many readings of the tale apportion blame to Aldarion, who is seen as “unwilling” to make the marriage work (Fitzsimmons, 2015), cruel and unfeeling towards Erendis, who herself is characterised as resentful and unaccepting (Rosenthal, 2004). However, these readings rely on an assumption of a cisheteronormative and, more importantly, allosexual relationship between the couple.
This paper proposes an alternate view of Aldarion and his role in the story, suggesting the possibility that …
Gazing Queerly: The Art And Text Around Saruman’S Non-Normativity, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Gazing Queerly: The Art And Text Around Saruman’S Non-Normativity, Christopher Vaccaro
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The queer is often defined by its relation to normativity. Michael Warner’s The Trouble with Normal situates queerness in opposition to normalcy, even gay normalcy. Karma Lochrie’s Heterosyncrasies: Female Sexuality When Normal Wasn’t deconstructs a monolithic hetero-normativity. Within the fantasy genre, protagonists frequently reside in a queer relation to normative communities. J. R. R. Tolkien quite often depicts his major characters within his mythopoeic framework as in some way outside of the normal; they’re often odd, fringe outsiders in relation to the larger community to which they are a part. The texts of his legendarium present this queerness fairly clearly—so …
Our Flag (And Spaceship) Means Queer: Monstering The Majority Culture, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Our Flag (And Spaceship) Means Queer: Monstering The Majority Culture, Sara Brown, Kristine Larsen
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Although the television series Our Flag Means Death presents on the surface as a romantic comedy, it is enhanced by mythic elements that infuse the narrative with a clear sense of the fantastic. Here, the pirates exist in a Secondary World that openly draws upon the Primary (both in terms of historiography and legend); hence 18th-century piracy and British colonialism can interact seamlessly with human-to-animal-transformations (paying homage to the Greek myth of Ceyx and Alcyone) without seeming either disconcerting or anomalous – all co-exist comfortably in Faerie. OFMD both inverts and deconstructs mythopoeia; the Primary World myths of the Gentleman …
Tolkien’S Queer Landscape: Three Papers On Middle-Earth’S Heterotopias, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Tolkien’S Queer Landscape: Three Papers On Middle-Earth’S Heterotopias, Will Sherwood, Marita Arvaniti, Mariana Rios Maldonado
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The following papers will explore Tolkien’s queer landscapes of Middle-earth: from Arda’s highest peaks and hidden underbellies, to her liminal, fae places, using the lens of Michel Foucault’s heterotopias.
Marita Arvaniti will introduce the panel and discuss Tolkien’s Faerian Drama and its relationship to the much-maligned Tom Bombadil episode, focusing on the queer figure of Tom Bombadil himself and his heterotopic domain.
Mariana Rios Maldonado will analyse the Barrow-downs, Dead Marshes, and Paths of the Dead as symbolic sites of death created during harrowing moments in the history of Middle-earth. These are no-places: spaces of Otherness containing the evil and …
Welcome And Announcements, 2024 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Welcome And Announcements, The Mythopoeic Society
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Join us for a screening of the Welcome and Announcements video in the 'Track 1' room, and have a cup of coffee before we get started!
Libraries And Changing Humanities Fields, 2024 University of Kentucky
Libraries And Changing Humanities Fields, Peter Hesseldenz
2024 R&I Day
A description of a project which explores how Humanities fields are changing as they grapple with diversity and inclusion issues, focusing particularly on curricula and teaching methods. The project also seeks to understand how well libraries are working with and supporting these changes with particular emphasis on the role of Academic Liaisons.
The Royal Astronomer And The Astronomer Royal: Tar-Meneldur And Sir Harold Spencer Jones, 2024 Central Connecticut State University
The Royal Astronomer And The Astronomer Royal: Tar-Meneldur And Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Kristine Larsen
Journal of Tolkien Research
Elsewhere I argued that there are parallels between Tar-Meneldur and the lives of several pre-20th century astronomer-nobles (Ulugh Beg, Johannes Hevelius, Wilhelm IV, Tycho Brahe, and James Ludovic Lindsay) and noted several real-world astronomical events that may have informed/motivated Tolkien’s development of Tar-Meneldur’s avocation, including political controversies concerning the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford and the Royal Observatories at Greenwich and Edinburgh. Since that publication I have continued to ponder Tolkien’s depiction of Tar-Meneldur as an astronomer (and king), and offer another possible source of inspiration for the royal astronomer in the form of the tenth Astronomer Royal, Sir Harold …
Unnatural Issue: Gendered Adaptations Of “Peau D’Âne” In Contemporary French And English Texts, 2024 The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Unnatural Issue: Gendered Adaptations Of “Peau D’Âne” In Contemporary French And English Texts, Amy M. Martin
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Unnatural Issue: Gendered Adaptations of “Peau d’Âne” in Contemporary French and English Texts explores trans-genre and transmedia adaptations of Charles Perrault’s seventeenth-century fairy tale using feminist and narratological theories to examine gendered aspects of storytelling and the treatment of father-daughter incest and blame in the work of selected French, British, and American creators. Texts are read comparatively, with analyses of the adaptations’ plots, motifs, characterizations, and modifications, both in relation to Perrault and to the other adaptations. This dissertation features prose and poetry texts by female authors—including Christine Angot, Catherine Cusset, and Emma Donoghue—in the first two chapters. Reading these …
The Divided Self: Internal Conflict In Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, And Neuroscience, 2024 The Graduate Center, City University of New York
The Divided Self: Internal Conflict In Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, And Neuroscience, Yulia Greyman
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This thematic project examines the notion of self-division, particularly in terms of the conflict between cognition and metacognition, across the fields of philosophy, psychology, and, most recently, the cognitive and neurosciences. The project offers a historic overview of models of self-division, as well as analyses of the various problems presented in theoretical models to date. This work explores how self-division has been depicted in the literary works of Edgar Allan Poe, Don DeLillo, and Mary Shelley. It examines the ways in which artistic renderings alternately assimilate, resist, and/or critique dominant philosophical, psychological, and scientific discourses about the self and its …
Against Conflict, Against Occupation: Protest Songs In India And Kashmir, 2024 University of Glasgow
Against Conflict, Against Occupation: Protest Songs In India And Kashmir, Mridula Sharma
Comparative Woman
The establishment of All India Progressive Writers’ Association in colonial India encouraged artists to articulate and examine social realities. Literary-cultural productions, particularly popular songs in Hindi films, in independent India continued to remain preoccupied with social conflicts such as religious bigotry and communalism. Sahir Ludhianvi’s “Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye” (trans. “What can one gain, even if one gains this world?,” 1958 ) and “Yeh Kiska Lahu Hai, Kaun Mara” (trans. “Whose Blood Has Spilled? Who Died?,” 1961) are early examples of a lasting tide of pessimism owing to communal violence during the 1947 India-Pakistan …
Ladybugs, 2024 Louisiana State University