tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post7855400407992549314..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Divergent Bodies and Medieval StudiesCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-35380802105295432322014-08-23T12:27:05.000-04:002014-08-23T12:27:05.000-04:00Bookmarked this. I am working on a proposal for a ...Bookmarked this. I am working on a proposal for a book on cities and communities, mostly around place-based interactions, but this posting and the series are causing me to think about devoting a chapter to the "place" of the mind itself, the mental community(ies) we maintain and must challenge. Thank you.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01066379458312876698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-68654425059659548272014-08-22T14:09:35.765-04:002014-08-22T14:09:35.765-04:00@Rob: Regarding "the feminized Other" an...@Rob: Regarding "the feminized Other" and "perfect storm of assumptions here: gender and ethnicity and race" -- YEP. In other words, PCAWJP is the "perfect storm" of "major jerk on all fronts." To put it mildly.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-91494018865710744372014-08-21T17:37:21.631-04:002014-08-21T17:37:21.631-04:00Oh, I'm not agonizing over his idiotic remarks...Oh, I'm not agonizing over his idiotic remarks. Just pondering the genre recommendation, and I think you're exactly right: fantasy is a devalued genre in the overall hierarchy of literature. In particular, it's seen as the feminized Other of hard science fiction. So there's a perfect storm of assumptions here: gender and ethnicity and race combining.Rob Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791752557408134270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-24094982468333789552014-08-21T17:00:09.940-04:002014-08-21T17:00:09.940-04:00It also occurs to me that perhaps we need a word f...It also occurs to me that perhaps we need a word for that kind of "helpful" comment. #Medievalistsplaing?Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-34276991653490757462014-08-21T16:58:30.439-04:002014-08-21T16:58:30.439-04:00@RB: I wouldn't waste too much time trying to ...@RB: I wouldn't waste too much time trying to parse PCWJP's comment but I do think the leap to "fantasy" is intriguing: says so much about assumptions about 1. what counts as "real" or "serious" literature and 2. who is qualified to teach "serious" literature.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-87742133664504516572014-08-21T10:09:58.809-04:002014-08-21T10:09:58.809-04:00I'm still trying to parse Patronizing Cisgende...I'm still trying to parse Patronizing Cisgendered White Junior Prof's comment about teaching "ethnic fantasy" literature. Not so much the "ethnic" part, that's sadly obvious to understand. But why he went to "fantasy" literature in the first place: SNUH?Rob Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791752557408134270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-9804916876268630012014-08-21T09:23:00.289-04:002014-08-21T09:23:00.289-04:00Thanks, Jonathan, both for that kind comment and t...Thanks, Jonathan, both for that kind comment and the blog recommendation! I have come across his wonderful blog before, but must look again. <br /><br />I should have commented before that it's conferences that give me a (tiny) taste of what it might be like to have a much more non-normative body, really. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-31453208539735628932014-08-21T08:59:27.782-04:002014-08-21T08:59:27.782-04:00@Jordan: Ooh, a new reader! Thanks for reading and...@Jordan: Ooh, a new reader! Thanks for reading and hope that you'll keep following us. We will be continuing a series of postings about issues relating to race, diversity, and academia... and of course all sorts of wacky medieval stuff.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-56164117051862106932014-08-21T03:41:47.962-04:002014-08-21T03:41:47.962-04:00This is the first of your posts I've read. I&#...This is the first of your posts I've read. I'll be reading regularly, if this is any indication. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04093067755562579547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-49298271554351197732014-08-20T20:33:49.000-04:002014-08-20T20:33:49.000-04:00@readingmedievalbooks: Thank you for sharing your ...@readingmedievalbooks: Thank you for sharing your experiences. Of course this counts as a "body issue" that we should be more mindful about! There is not just "one way" all people write/type/take notes/participate in conference settings and people shouldn't make assumptions about people who do things "differently" than most others.<br /><br />Rick Godden has a GREAT blog "ParaSynchronies" and you might be interested in his posting entitled "Humanities Accessed," about assumptions we make about note taking behavior; also some of the ways that online media is is one way for people to engage and participate.<br /><br />http://rickgodden.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/humanities-accessed/<br /><br />You are right though that the face-to-face is still the "privileged mode" and I wonder if there can be more creative ways to value online interaction and have it "count" in all the personal/professional ways we want it to.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-22099346604547094092014-08-20T19:49:08.807-04:002014-08-20T19:49:08.807-04:00@Jeffrey: Thanks, will do!
@Sharon: Totally. A ret...@Jeffrey: Thanks, will do!<br />@Sharon: Totally. A retrospective filtering of the historical past (more on this in the next blog post in this series...)Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-62993137772871924512014-08-20T18:02:02.851-04:002014-08-20T18:02:02.851-04:00Yes, Jonathan, please do.Yes, Jonathan, please do.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-24902281824166910872014-08-20T17:20:26.599-04:002014-08-20T17:20:26.599-04:00One of the many excellent points that the medieval...One of the many excellent points that the medievalpoc Tumblr's poster makes is that bodies of color are not non-normative in European art: they are everywhere, only excluded by some C20/C21 gatekeepers.Sharon K. Goetzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05919021425045032416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-2172123937662284782014-08-20T11:34:19.853-04:002014-08-20T11:34:19.853-04:00Great post, Dorothy!Great post, Dorothy!Rob Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791752557408134270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-5484047579822575662014-08-20T11:00:07.721-04:002014-08-20T11:00:07.721-04:00I found this fascinating, and nodded along while I...I found this fascinating, and nodded along while I was reading (despite being personally very ignorant of a lot of the experience described, because I'm lucky). <br /><br />I can't think of many formats for sharing ideas that are more intimidating physically than an academic conference. You're often in a room with nowhere to write your notes but on your lap, everyone near you can see how you write, and if you use a laptop you risk distracting people or having them think you're discourteous (in my experience). It makes me very conscious I'm dyslexic/dyspraxic and therefore clusmy, especially when I'm tired - and I write in appalling five-year-old handwriting with a lot of misspelling. <br /><br />It is intimidating having someone look over your shoulder and see that. I don't know if it counts as a 'body' issue, but feels like it!<br /><br />I do love the chance to socialize and talk face-to-face, but it would be lovely if there were online alternatives to conferences that were valued to the same extent. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-41368017446010814732014-08-20T10:13:14.570-04:002014-08-20T10:13:14.570-04:00@Jeffrey: I hope it's OK if I quote you on tha...@Jeffrey: I hope it's OK if I quote you on that point about presumed shared religious identity too -- that's something I'd like to work into the post as well.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-8387483730488134382014-08-20T10:12:31.485-04:002014-08-20T10:12:31.485-04:00@Jeffrey: YES thank you for that. We're on the...@Jeffrey: YES thank you for that. We're on the same wavelength here: Your idea of how to make medieval studies "a more accessible space" (in ALL senses of that phrase) -- even BEFORE grad school -- is what my blog post will address.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-86577184747515034672014-08-20T09:21:26.222-04:002014-08-20T09:21:26.222-04:00This post is both brilliant and timely; thank you ...This post is both brilliant and timely; thank you for composing it, Dorothy. To your list of what marks the supposedly unmarked bodies of medieval studies ("white, cisgendered male, able-bodied, upper middle-class/upper class, and European") I would also add Christian, especially because a shared religious identity is still so often (and lazily) presumed at gatherings of medievalists.<br /><br />As a next step, we need to think more about how we make medieval studies a more accessible space for divergent bodies starting even before graduate school.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-5382177913918205452014-08-20T09:10:52.004-04:002014-08-20T09:10:52.004-04:00@Dorothy: This is an excellent posting. It covers ...@Dorothy: This is an excellent posting. It covers so much ground (applicable to the entire profession, not just medieval studies!) and these are just the sort of conversations we MUST have, and we must have them NOW. I'm sharing this widely.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.com