tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post1987722475876896068..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Kalamazoo 2013 in Five WordsCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-41245687313935813102013-05-15T16:12:52.639-04:002013-05-15T16:12:52.639-04:00MK: Thanks for that explanation of what HOPE means...MK: Thanks for that explanation of what HOPE means to you -- and you're right that we can actually insist upon maintaining it, even when the field of medieval studies or aspects of the profession as a whole seem dire/in crisis/etc. etc. And the fact that I felt the pull toward "hope" (vs. your other word "futurity") shows we're on the some spooky co-blogger wavelength here... Lovely artful integration of our "chosen words" in the end, by the way.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-76029591561219796342013-05-15T01:57:41.540-04:002013-05-15T01:57:41.540-04:00Is it by chance that you chose that particular spo...Is it by chance that you chose that particular spot for the picture? I'm not talking about the statue but the subtle background - a custom tailoring shop!? Suggests a whole lot of metaphors of fitting / trying on / new clothes, new skin / etc.Evanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-42869708287534588752013-05-14T21:36:05.141-04:002013-05-14T21:36:05.141-04:00And when I say "I chose" it, I kind of m...And when I say "I chose" it, I kind of mean I sent two words to Jonathan and said "you choose." He happened to choose the one I wanted most. Well done, Jonathan!Mary Kate Hurleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892991966276345782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-58460307136543643932013-05-14T21:35:15.798-04:002013-05-14T21:35:15.798-04:00My word--hope--initially seemed almost too obvious...My word--hope--initially seemed almost too obvious to choose. It's so saccharine, so ridiculously <i>nice</i>. But the more I thought about it, the clearer it became that I chose it for a couple of reasons. This is the first time in about three or four K'zoo's where I felt hopeful -- about my future, about the future of our field. And yet at the same time, that hope seems ill-founded. In the wake of the various kerfuffles with MLA and MAA, things seem precarious for the field. For the people within it, more precarious still: I'm exiting the adjunct pool, and was lucky beyond measure while within it (more on that in an upcoming post -- stay tuned!), but I'm in the minority. Hope is as much an aspiration as it is a reality, as much a longing for what might never be as it is a promise of some kind of futurity (never arriving in quite the form its wished for). <br /><br />And so for me hope is simultaneously an imperative -- "you there, HOPE!" -- a question -- "is there hope?" "can we hope?" -- and a feeling that bubbles up without real basis in reality or actual cause. It's also surprise, then -- uncontainable and effervescent, emerging where I find myself with friends and colleague, impossible (for me) either to comprehend or evade, and -- yes, like this extended metaphor -- slathered on far too thick. Mary Kate Hurleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892991966276345782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-23416084822728271632013-05-14T17:15:17.380-04:002013-05-14T17:15:17.380-04:00Yes, my word UNCONTAINABLE is partly suggesting th...Yes, my word UNCONTAINABLE is partly suggesting that too-muchness. But (for those of you who couldn't attend the GWMEMSI Roundtable) Chris Piuma & I gave a co-presentation about things that OVERFLOW their CONTAINERS -- languages, nations, boundaries between "scholarly" and "poetic" scholarly identities... I found K'zoo so exciting when sessions encourage thinking "outside of the box" (yes an oddly dated term): we can have our containers/disciplines/bailiwicks but also move beyond them...Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-56179105979179178192013-05-14T16:33:28.712-04:002013-05-14T16:33:28.712-04:00I still protest, because that's what I like to...I still protest, because that's what I like to do.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-52322966713648534752013-05-14T13:43:09.613-04:002013-05-14T13:43:09.613-04:00karl -- just kidding of course, but i do love it.....karl -- just kidding of course, but i do love it...<br /><br />and i agree. the too-muchness of kzoo is part of what makes it so overwhelming, inspiring, and cathartic year to year. this year it seemed especially so, all of the above. D Hadbawnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888169593780246502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-43020792709653962822013-05-14T09:43:11.843-04:002013-05-14T09:43:11.843-04:00I protest!
Let me BRIEFLY explain SLATHER. I come...I protest!<br /><br />Let me BRIEFLY explain SLATHER. I come out of Kzoo feeling as though it's all been laid on VERY THICKLY, too thickly, always more than my considerable appetite could want. BUT it's also a word of delight (oh, I love that stuff. slather it on). It's also a word that suggests moving WITHIN a slather of stuff, of being made slower by the sticky stuff, since, as fast as I move at Kzoo (from 8am-2am every day, with virtually no breaks for 'alone time'), I feel as though I can never get up to the right speed. So the word gets at both my wanting more and getting more than I could ever possibly use. Kzoo is just so big. So fun.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-34286975642704905952013-05-14T09:38:17.181-04:002013-05-14T09:38:17.181-04:00OK, we're done. Kalamazoo 2013 was all about t...OK, we're done. Kalamazoo 2013 was all about the 'Stache.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-46265483500136048392013-05-14T09:33:37.093-04:002013-05-14T09:33:37.093-04:00Nice one, David.Nice one, David.Myra Seamanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02785617479392033454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-18639433506799817682013-05-14T09:25:33.607-04:002013-05-14T09:25:33.607-04:00DH - I hadn't realized it, but yes it would ap...DH - I hadn't realized it, but yes it would appear so! - JHJonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-29703374644455021622013-05-14T08:44:33.601-04:002013-05-14T08:44:33.601-04:00they're all talking about karl's moustache...they're all talking about karl's moustache...D Hadbawnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888169593780246502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-81242022807723412642013-05-14T08:13:42.406-04:002013-05-14T08:13:42.406-04:00My word about Karl's word: louche.My word about Karl's word: louche.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com