A Brief Introduction to Thought

Long, long ago, a group of people raised its eyes to the heavens at night, marveling at the celestial bodies in their steady dance across the vault of heaven.  Being mortal – and, thus, inquisitive – many of those people did not settle for simple wonder, and this not settling manifested in the form of a question: What are those things?  I could discuss flaming spheres of gas caught in a massive, galactic gravity well, but the form and composition of a thing is not the first answer that humans tend to give.  Almost as if expecting meaning to spill forth, someone utters a single word: “Stars.”

This word does not prove to be a tempest of meaning and clarity in a dixie cup of a single breath, though, so questions compound.  The answers necessary to placate the curious finally lead to a discussion about a particular cluster of stars.  “Those are the Twins, the Gemini,” someone cleverly pronounces.  “They are stars, but they are special.”

Someone interjects with an obvious, “Why?” before the line of inquiry can be laid aside.  After all, why should those stars be special and have a name, while the clusters of lights around them are simply “other stars”?  And so, this clever person begins to tell a story of twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, who were the younger brothers of the most beautiful woman in the entire world.

Human kind has always accessed understanding through storytelling.  A desire to preserve these stories and their secrets can be imagined as an impetus for writing.  Letters make simple stories grow in complexity, until someone saw the need to distinguish mere stories from literature.  Liturature is a slippery concept, though.  Theseus’ remarks on drama, in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, can be extended to understood within the context of the literary form: “The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them” (Act I, Scene I).  In other words, literature exposes truths by weaving knots of lies.

With the propagation of so many webs and so many lies, with so many stories to sort tales of eternal truth from, mankind began a new line of inquiry: What are the mechanisms by which narrative functions?  How is it that we, as creators of narrative, can make the simultaneous statements, “This is a falsity; it never happened,” and, “This holds truth; it is important”?

Fightin’ Words

I’ve begun translating some bits of a Renaissance German fighting manual.  ”But, Rud,” I hear you cry, “you don’t speak German!”  Not to fear, good folk.  The educated world all read and wrote in Latin, which promoted a type of international intellectualism.

Anyway, here is a translation of a brief halberd play.  The original author was one Paulus Hector Mair (1517-1579), a sporting enthusiast and commentator.  Mair might be considered something of the John Madden of his day, except for the fact that Madden actually played his sport.

Enjoy!

Marketing Is Hilarious

I’m currently taking part in a marketing survey, and one of their questions asked us to “Imagine you’re going to a party that’s being thrown by [A Company's Absurd Mascot]. Please write a paragraph describing the party.”

So, I thinks to meself, “Well, if’n that in’t a bit of a question.  Might as well give as I get.” Here’s a paragraph that reflects how seriously I take marketing:

Red drapes hang everywhere, as I enter the first room.  The giant lizard sort of freaks me out, but he’s polite, and he offers to take my coat.  I turn back to inspect the décor, and all I can see is red.  Each of the lights has a red shade on it, or a thin red cloth draped over the lamp.  The light softens the room, and makes it look like it’s getting farther away at an amazing speed.  To stop this sinking feeling of falling into a Red Abyss, I make my way past the gaggles and bevies of attractive women who are strewn about the place, out onto the back porch.  The lizard is back there, just chillin’ for all to see.  He reaches into the cooler at his knees and tosses me a Cold One.  There’s plenty of Punch in a vat in the red house, but I’m a man of simple tastes, as is our host, apparently.  I bum a cigarette from him, and we turn to gaze out over his expansive lawn.  I inhale deeply, and know that this is going to be a crazy night.

The Sovereign Rights of All Men

This is a rant near and dear to my heart, asI’ve been ranting about it since I was old enough to know that the difference between men and women is vastly greater than the difference between boys and girls.  As Becky recently put it, “[E]qual rights means, you know, equal.  Not the girls get to stomp all over the boys for a while.”

I went through my undergrad at San Francisco State University, the student culture of which is a geyser of semieducated liberalism.  I won’t start in on the Spartican Youth Organization for now, though, since this has more to do with reading 19th century feminist literature (The Yellow Wallpaper, if you’re interested) and being forced by good manners to endure statements about how all men oppress (but especially the white ones) in all ways all the time.  To be truthful, I don’t believe that her husband caused her insanity.  Under the misguidance of 18th century science, he was doing the best he could to restore his wife to health and happiness, helping her out of post-partim depression.

Romance and Magical Realism in Graphic Literature, part 4

Continued

IV – Conclusion

In summation, the question of this work’s classification as either Romance or Magical Realism has been addressed.  The story contains elements of Romance, but the emotional element of the ending does not fall in line with the category’s norms.  Realism wins out against Romance, but an irreducible element of magic prevents this story from being simple Realism.  The Realism must be qualified as Magical.

It is worth noting that in no way do these definitions of Romance and Magical Realism conflict.  This story fit the criteria for Magical Realism far better than Romance, but not through anything mutually exclusive.  A work may possibly be both Romance and Magical Realism, if it is constructed carefully and the story ends satisfactorily.

Romance and Magical Realism in Graphic Literature, Part 3

Continued.

This is the point where I actually make an argument.

III – Difficulty in Definition

Despite the title of this section, I shall begin by examining Romance, the definition of which is more readily agreed upon by critics than that of Magical Realism.  I turn to Northrop Frye, who posits

“Romance in particular is, we say, ‘sensational’: it likes violent stimulus, and the sources of that stimulus soon become clear to the shuddering censor.  The central element of romance is a love story, and the exciting adventures are normally a foreplay leading up to a sexual union.”

Romance and Magical Realism in Graphic Literature, part 2

Continued

II – In Defense of the Medium

A question arises, obvious to many who have studied finer literatures than the text examined here: “Why should I care what happens in a Graphic Novel?”  This is a fair question, but only in its broader sense.  Every analysis of a literary work must by necessity begin with the question, “Why is this interesting?”  Most works speak for themselves in regards to this question.  Most readers do not stop to reflect on the value in analyzing most literature, due in great part to our culture’s evaluation of the written word.   History and science, for example, did not advance much during the Middle Ages because scholars merely accepted the writings of their ancestors as knowledge.  The thought process resembled, “Aristotle had written this down, and Aristotle is a father of thinking, thus this written word is unequivocally the truth.”