English Language and Literature Commons^™

Material Memory: Willa Cather, “My First Novels [There Were Two]”, And The Colophon: A Book Collector’S Quarterly, Matthew J. Lavin

Digital Initiatives and Special Collections

Willa Cather's 1931 essay "My First Novels [There Were Two]" is an often-cited statement on place in the author's literary oeuvre. In the essay, Cather distances herself from her first novel 'Alexander's Bridge' (1912) and its imitative, Jamesian motifs and setting. Her second novel 'O Pioneers!', she writes, was a kind of second "first" novel, one written "entirely for myself" and preoccupied with the story of "Scandinavians and Bohemians who had been neighbors of ours when I lived on a ranch in Nebraska." As Merrill Maguire Skaggs, Robert Thacker and Emmy Stark Zitter have argued, "My First Novels [There Were …

The Steward, The King, And The Queen: Fealty And Love In Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings And In Sir Orfeo, Sue Bridgwater

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Finds connections between The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s long professional engagement with the medieval romance Sir Orfeo. Orfeo’s plot elements of a king’s separation from his queen and his testing of his steward are echoed (albeit in a somewhat fragmented way) and re–examined in the relationships of Aragorn, Arwen, and the house of the Stewards of Gondor.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Charles Williams's Anti-Modernist Descent Into Hell, Lydia R. Browning

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Focuses on the theme of community versus isolation. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” is used as a key to understanding Lawrence Wentworth’s increasing withdrawal from reality and “the city” of his fellow human beings, in contrast with the workings of coinherence personified in the interactions of other characters.

The Inklings Remembered: A Conversation With Colin Havard, Justin T. Noetzel, Matthew R. Bardowell

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In late 2011, the authors met with Colin Havard, son of Inkling Dr. Robert E. “Humphrey” Havard and recorded his reminiscences about his father, his Catholic faith, his friendships with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lewis brothers in particular, and the Inklings and practicing medicine in Oxford in general. As the lone Inkling from a scientific background, he brought a unique perspective to the group’s discussions.

Yggdrasil And The Stave Church, G. Ronald Murphy

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this excerpt from his book, Tree of Salvation, Murphy explores how those who introduced Christianity to Scandinavia deliberately adapted and “translated” Norse religious motifs and practices in two parallel ways—through literary works, especially as seen in the Heliand, but also through church art and architecture. In this illustrated essay, we can see how beliefs about Yggdrasil and Ragnarok are incorporated and transformed in the design and ornamentation of the unusual stave churches of Norway. Scholar GOH speech, Mythcon 2012.

The Wondrous Orientalism Of Lord Dunsany: Traditional And Non-Traditional Orientalist Narratives In The Book Of Wonder And Tales Of Wonder, Alyssa House-Thomas

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this study of Lord Dunsany’s “Oriental” fairy tales, House-Thomas divides Dunsany’s technique and aims into “traditional” Oriental tales, of the sort Edward Said describes in his theories of Western Orientalist art and literature, and non-traditional, post-modern tales in which Orientalism is turned upside-down and the West is turned into the Other. This paper won the Alexei Kondratiev Student Paper Award at the 2012 Mythcon in Berkeley.

Reciprocal Colonization In The Irish Fairy Tales Of Lord Dunsany, Erin L. Sheley

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Sheley’s interest is in how Dunsany’s inside–out Orientalist tales demonstrate or challenge theories of colonialism, anti–colonialism, and post–colonialism, delving into Dunsany’s history with W.B. Yeats and comparing his tales to Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.

Changing The Story: Transformations Of Myth In Yeat's Poem "Cuchulain's Fight With The Sea", Roxanne Bodsworth

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines not just how but why Yeats deviated from the original tales he mined for this material, shifting the focus and using the archetypal characters to demonstrate new themes and reinterpret traditional values.

Grief Poignant As Joy: Dyscatastrophe And Eucatastrophe In A Song Of Ice And Fire, Susan Johnston

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Argues that though the series is incomplete at present, J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of eucatastrophe and its dark twin, dyscatastrophe, can illuminate what Martin may be trying to accomplish in this bleak and bloody series and provide the reader with a way to understand its value and potential.

Reviews, Emily E. Auger, Nicholas Birns, Sara Brown, Joe R. Christopher, Janet Brennan Croft, Holly Ordway, Harley Sims, Lizzy Walker, Kayla Mckinney Wiggins, Donald T. Williams, Joseph Young

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Peter Pan's Shadows in the Literary Imagination. Kirsten Stirling. Reviewed by Kayla McKinney Wiggins.

C.S. Lewis and the Church: Essays in Honour of Walter Hooper. Ed. Judith Wolfe and B.N. Wolfe. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher.

Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination. Paul A. Trout. Reviewed by Lizzy Walker.

The Mythological Dimensions of Neil Gaiman. Anthony S. Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen, eds. Reviewed by Nicholas Birns.

Animals and Humans: Recurrent Symbiosis in Archaeology and Old Norse Religion. Kristina Jennbert. Reviewed by Emily E. Auger.

Tolkien in Translation. Edited by Thomas Honegger. Reviewed by Harley J. Sims. …

October 12, 2012: Ania Loomba/Comparative Drama Distinguished Lecture/Nov. 1, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

What Can Found Art Teach Us About Comics?, Frank Bramlett

English Faculty Publications

When I first learned about found poetry, I was taught that we could encounter poetry anywhere we went. Any text could be considered poetry even if it weren’t meant to be seen as such. Later on, I learned that found poetry is also poetry that is cobbled together from other kinds of texts. There is even poetry constructed out of the speech of Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Likewise, everyday objects that weren’t meant to be art can be transformed into art, one very famous example being a urinal ‘made into’ a fountain.

Review: Stranger In The Woods, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review: One Leaf Rides The Wind, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review: Alphabet Under Construction, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

Character Themes: Determination, Imagination, Knowledge

Review: Thanks For Thanksgiving, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review: Sylvia Jean: Scout Supreme, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review: Wilfred Gordon Mcdonald Partridge, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review: The Lion & The Mouse, Janice A. Delong, Rachel Schwedt

All Children's Book Reviews

No abstract provided.