tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post4080243383516505834..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: I'm a Pleasure Seeker, Looking for the Real Thing: We're All Presentists NowCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-73063579385964347592008-07-23T21:03:00.000-04:002008-07-23T21:03:00.000-04:00Wonderful post, Eileen, and excellent follow-up co...Wonderful post, Eileen, and excellent follow-up comments, everyone!<BR/><BR/>Eileen, this line from the end of your commentary really resonates for me: "There is nothing more forbidding, I don't think, than an Anglo-Saxonist telling you what you are not supposed to be doing in your scholarship and sometimes I think I chose the field out of some kind of unconscious masochism [but I hope not]." <BR/><BR/>Sometime, when we are together in person, we must get a nice beverage of some description and have a mutual moan about this. If you think Anglo-Saxon is bad in this regard, you will be utterly downtrodden by what Celticists do. After giving my first conference paper at the end of 2001 as a Ph.D. student, I was told by a certain person to never mention a certain person in relation to a particular topic ever...And when I write a book on that particular topic in the near future, I'm still debating whether or not to mention that person and broach that subject. It would do fine in American medieval studies, and would not be upsetting to anyone in BABEL, but it could turn my name to mud (as if it isn't already) in Celtic Studies. Not that such a prospect every stopped people therein from being needlessly cantankerous or talking about comets...but that's another story altogether.Dr. Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12825199248261267838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-63577570418622669772008-07-16T14:53:00.000-04:002008-07-16T14:53:00.000-04:00Jonathan: thanks for chiming in here and mentionin...Jonathan: thanks for chiming in here and mentioning Sebastian Sobecki, whom I regretfully neglected to mention in my post. Also, I hope I described [albeit briefly] your paper accurately. After I wrote "un/homeliness," I wasn't sure that was right [it wasn't a term *you* used] but I was trying to get at [especially with the backward slash: /] the marvelous way you delineated the psychic spaces mapped out in Margery's language [and in Margery's "quoting" of others' language] related to "being-at-home" and "not-being-at-home" and all the spaces inbetween. It was a wonderful paper. Enjoy Gower! [I wouldn't, but that's another story--haha].Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-60676192167978622962008-07-16T14:26:00.000-04:002008-07-16T14:26:00.000-04:00Eileen - I'm in the middle of John Gower festiviti...Eileen - I'm in the middle of John Gower festivities in London and I just got a chance to read your post on the very stimulating Stephanie Trigg/Tom Prendergast session at Leeds (in addition to Stephanie's swoon, who can forget Tom's enactment of a clockwork Peeping Tom?). <BR/><BR/>But to be deadly serious myself, I'm glad your insightful intervention continues to propel conversations even after Leeds. It was great to finally met you - and I look forward to continuing these discussions in person or in cyberspace. <BR/><BR/>Thanks, too, for mentioning my paper - I'd just like to note here in passing that Sebastian Sobecki organized the two sessions and I can't wait to read his new book on "The Sea and Medieval English Literature" (which reconfigures an impressive range of pre- and post-Conquest texts).<BR/><BR/>Tim - you are really too kind! And Jeffrey - see you soon at NCS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-4503349977539878232008-07-16T09:02:00.000-04:002008-07-16T09:02:00.000-04:00Thanks, Irina, that made my day!Thanks, Irina, that made my day!Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-18174068496862919052008-07-15T19:17:00.000-04:002008-07-15T19:17:00.000-04:00Well, if it helps, Jeffrey, a certain "New Directi...Well, if it helps, Jeffrey, a certain "New Directions in Medieval Literature" working group at a certain university in New Haven was kicked off in September 2007 with a reading from MIM and an appropriate excerpt from D&G. Discussion was lively -- it even drowned out the violins.ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14105686105741162480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-83804453926760197982008-07-15T19:08:00.000-04:002008-07-15T19:08:00.000-04:00Thanks for the nice comment, Clare, which also mak...Thanks for the nice comment, Clare, which also makes me realize that I forgot to mention the fantastic round-table session that Clare Lees organized on "Locating Gender in the Middle Ages," which I need to also blog on, actually. So many blog posts, so little time. Or something like that.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-72214832125462676512008-07-15T07:18:00.000-04:002008-07-15T07:18:00.000-04:00Eileen predictably excluded her own excellent pape...Eileen predictably excluded her own excellent paper at Leeds (together with that image of the lovely flying Guthlac). I missed Stephanie Trigg's paper but I kind of like a flying Guthlac to go with a falling/swooning Trigg! Plus, it needs to be said that Eileen is the only person I know who loses her voice yet manages to keep talking...and making sense!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-66997354168192623692008-07-14T18:48:00.000-04:002008-07-14T18:48:00.000-04:00Jon Hsy may be the smartest and most talented youn...Jon Hsy may be the smartest and most talented young scholar I know (we went to graduate school together). Delighted to see he's in such august company.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13026955797817424956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-85024723892951676232008-07-14T18:15:00.000-04:002008-07-14T18:15:00.000-04:00*blushes**blushes*This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-86533283689284847072008-07-14T16:23:00.000-04:002008-07-14T16:23:00.000-04:00Oh, and Stephanie, one more *important* thing: "ra...Oh, and Stephanie, one more *important* thing: "raggedy" conference paper? You must be kidding. You were brilliant.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-18031841119843730642008-07-14T16:16:00.000-04:002008-07-14T16:16:00.000-04:00And I did it without notes! But all kidding aside,...And I did it without notes! But all kidding aside, thanks, Stephanie--although I totally forgot the point you *also* made about your swoon/fall in relation to how we teach/perform the Middle Ages/medieval in our classrooms, so I'm glad you noted that in your own blog post. Have fun in Swansea while I stay at home and swear under my breath for not being their.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-7457800531757286342008-07-14T15:34:00.000-04:002008-07-14T15:34:00.000-04:00Heh. You know, Eileen, if you didn't already have ...Heh. You know, Eileen, if you didn't already have your plate full of your own interesting projects, you could perhaps make a living by turning people's raggedy conference presentations into interesting-sounding arguments. I'm going to keep this post as a great example of a feedback loop, and a reminder of what I was trying to say. <BR/><BR/>I just did the one day at Leeds, as I've signed on for the full-on NCS experience, but I felt that the programme had some wonderful things in it this year, and you sound as if you cut an intelligent swathe through the dizzying plenitude of sessions on offer. Thanks again for your intervention into the session, too.This old world is a new worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567163294720510335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-6675092950924681472008-07-14T14:28:00.000-04:002008-07-14T14:28:00.000-04:00Thanks for a fabulous post Eileen. It's not only ...Thanks for a fabulous post Eileen. It's not only wonderful to hear what's going on at a conference I couldn't attend, but this is also a subject that obsesses me as well. I've been obsessed with the questions concerning time long before I had the vocabulary to begin articulating them. I still only feel like I'm beginning to pose the questions that bewilder me. (My dissertation is probably only the zero draft of these questions.)<BR/><BR/>And jjc, for what it's worth, I happened to just finish your chapter in MIM on time a few days before reading this post.Rick Goddenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04109263756022001400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-26598831006985149392008-07-14T08:11:00.000-04:002008-07-14T08:11:00.000-04:00Again, thanks for all of that Eileen; it means so ...Again, thanks for all of that Eileen; it means so much to me. <BR/><BR/>The landscape of medieval studies seems to have changed so very much over the past decade. I wonder if the most seismic elements of the shift weren't instigated through (or at least embodied by) the queer medievalism of the turn of the century: Dinshaw, Burger, Kruger, Holsinger, Lochrie, Biddick, Blackmore ... and it is interesting as well how intimately connected the current energy in medieval studies is to queer projects (BABEL can stand in for the many authors I would otherwise list).Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-89680046676469496852008-07-14T07:38:00.000-04:002008-07-14T07:38:00.000-04:00Oh, and Jeffrey, as regards a convivial and nomadi...Oh, and Jeffrey, as regards a convivial and nomadic and I would add restless medieval studies, this blog *also* saved my life.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-7124370389483195322008-07-14T07:31:00.001-04:002008-07-14T07:31:00.001-04:00Oh, and Letty: thanks very much for the comment!Oh, and Letty: thanks very much for the comment!Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-22654944093818109982008-07-14T07:31:00.000-04:002008-07-14T07:31:00.000-04:00Jeffrey: I think I may have told you this story be...Jeffrey: I think I may have told you this story before, but I first encountered "Medieval Identity Machines" when I was teaching a course on masculinity, violence, and the Middle Ages in spring 2005 [I already knew your work through "Of Giants" and because of your Speculum article and "Monster Theory"] and I remember being absolutely blown away by it, primarily for the risks it appeared to be taking, in terms of critical approaches but even more important, for me, in terms of its style. The only way to really explain it would be something like, "you mean, you c an write stuff like this in medieval studies?!?" It's one of the reasons I stayed in the profession at a time that was professionally and psychically very difficult for me.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-27076836449177398052008-07-14T07:18:00.000-04:002008-07-14T07:18:00.000-04:00Eileen, thanks for your paper on Guthlac. I attend...Eileen, thanks for your paper on Guthlac. I attended, but didn't have the chance to talk to you after.LJNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04003522787987545206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-58169655531280945242008-07-14T07:02:00.000-04:002008-07-14T07:02:00.000-04:00Eileen, thank you for that full and heartfelt repo...Eileen, thank you for that full and heartfelt report. It makes me so very sorry that I missed Leeds this year. I am happy that you included Jonathan Hsy in your overview: his work on Kempe is terrific. I am also sure that Stephanie Trigg's swoon will become legend in medieval studies.<BR/><BR/>More selfishly, it was nice to see Medieval Identity Machines get quoted, if only because -- and I know, I've made this violin-accompanied observation before -- for a long time it seemed to me that the book had vanished into scholarly silence, and so I want on to other projects (BABEL helped to bring me back). MIMs was finished in 2001, and appeared in 2003 ... so now it seems like ancient history to me, but it is really pleasing to see it triggering some other work (that is, to see it alive). Thanks, Stephanie and Eileen.<BR/><BR/>As to your edit on "the censorious nature of Anglo-Saxon studies toward modernist approaches to its subject matter": I really want this blog to be a model of "convivial and nomadic medieval studies" (as it says at the bottom of our page), because there is nothing worse than this censoriousness. We've all seen it, even here at ITM.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.com