English Language and Literature Commons^™

Conceptions Of Space, Gender, And Movement Within Literature And Film: An Analysis Of "The Whimper Of Whipped Dogs" & Westward The Women, Stephanie Fishleigh

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Often portrayed as static, and neutral, “space,” as it is used in this paper, refers to a literary conception, one which encompasses a sphere of locations as well as settings of events, characters, and objects within a literary narrative. Much to our detriment, humans are often compelled to codify and compartmentalize the world around us, using perceived differences as our epistemological touchstone. This phenomenon extends even to our relationship to space. In examining the interplay between space, geographies, genre, and gender, using two objects of analysis, this paper seeks to further the current scholarship on how gender ideology informs our …

Language Ideologies In First Year Composition Textbooks, Joanna Clevenger

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis examines how standard language ideologies are perpetuated in the five most frequently assigned first year composition textbooks from four higher education institutions in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Standard language ideologies position one variation of a language as superior, correct, appropriate and the normal variation of a language which everyone should be able to speak. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, the five textbooks were analyzed in order to uncover the embedded power and hegemony over women, people of color, and those from a lower socioeconomic status which are prevalent throughout society because they are unchallenged and widely accepted as the …

The Women Of Brewster Place : A Dream Deferred And Unactualized, Lauren Fuentes

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place is a landmark novel of black female empowerment, yet even as the novel affirms the necessity for black women to band together, Brewster Place simultaneously points to the idea that systemic racism and sexism may be a hurdle over which the community cannot leap—other systemic changes must be implemented before true equality can be achieved. This novel forces readers to grapple with questions that may present unsavory answers: Is it possible to eradicate systemic racism? To what degree do the subjugated have the ability to change the prejudicial system in which they live? …

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

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.

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 …

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 …

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. …

“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. …

Lgbqt Immigrants Coming To The United States: The Problems They Face, Nya Brewster, John Holman

Immigration Scholarship: History, Trends and Development in Global Immigration

This reading focuses on research specific to Crime Rates against the LQBTQ+ immigrant community in South American Countries during the 2000’s era to current times. It illustrates the difficulties asylum seekers face in the United States while also discussing crimes that happen to immigrants of different sexualities and gender orientations. This emerging topic of gender and sexuality of immigrants will pertain to societal as well as political factors. Typically in rural and communist countries, the government outlaws the LGBTQ community and has the strictest consequences for individuals who are a part of that community . Living with consequences of that …

Othering In Immigration Laws, Andrea Wright, Quenten Jackson, Cesar Raymundo

Immigration Scholarship: History, Trends and Development in Global Immigration

The ethical wrongs in immigration laws severely impact what it means to be an immigrant American citizen. The Hispanic and Latino groups experience “citizenship” in the United States in a way that portrays them as uneducated and poor criminals, and this paper seeks to understand the reasoning behind this unfair reputation. In order to answer questions of ethics and law, this paper begins with studying the root of othering, regarding immigration in the United States. This research paper investigates the evolution of race-based exclusion laws in immigration and focuses on the relationship between these exclusion laws and race hierarchy in …

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 …

“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 …

Final Master's Portfolio, Consuela Jones

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This body of work focuses on illuminating the radical modes of womanhood centered in the featured texts.

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.

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.

"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 …

"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 …

Encanto Discussion, Berni Phillips Bratman, Lynn Maudlin

Mythcon

No abstract provided.

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 …

"The Personal Is The Political And The Political Is Personal:" Engendering Understanding Through Global Allegory In Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist And Exit West, Nicole Ordonez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West by British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. In both novels, Hamid uses the representational literary device of allegory to present what I will frame as works of “global allegory,” or novels of global literature that present the world as one interconnected space rather than as one divided by borders and nations. In doing so, I will be situating my argument as a rebuttal of Frederic Jameson’s “Third World Literature in the Age of Multinational Capitalism.” Jameson draws a distinction between works of third world and first world literature along the lines of allegory. …

Pride And Prejudice: A Modern, Queer Retelling For The Stage, Kate Isabel Foley

Theater Summer Fellows

In the course of studying LGBTQ topics in a queer drama class, I noticed that there was a glaring omission in our readings: the “B.” However, this lack of bisexual representation wasn’t due to a poor syllabus, but to a dismaying lack of bisexual representation in theatre as a whole. This observation, as well as my own experience as a bisexual woman, motivated me to use my love of writing and theatre to fill the void. After performing in Pride and Prejudice at Ursinus, I knew that Jane Austen’s story was the key to me bringing visibility to an underserved, …

Queer Horror, Laura Westengard

Publications and Research

This chapter examines the queer Gothicism of American horror to consider the ways in which marginalized genders and sexualities have been either condemned or covertly endorsed through horror’s textual and visual mediums. In mainstream cis-heteronormative society, queer genders and sexualities have been an abjectified, “horrific” presence, and these mainstream investments represented via horror, as a mode of expression devoted to irruptions of the body, means that the presence of queerness is often registered as an a priori spoliation of bodily norms. Like the term “queer” itself, audiences have often reappropriated the Gothic figures that appear in horror, and some queer …