Newest thoughts →

May 2012

Grammar q. "Philosopher-in-question's ethos" or "philosopher in question's ethos". I think the former to denote single possessive noun...

"He felt like a superhero. Ratman, he thought as he held her. Doing good with his bizarre rat-powers." An amusing -man suffix.

Among the many good things I'm doing today, crossing the superb entry "Add King Rat reference to Rocketman" off my todo list ranks highly.

Oh, and apt #phdchat - sorry to have missed most of it - doing my final printed copies of thesis in 2 weeks.

Get friends to proofread (pay them if necessary!), remember your examiner gets paid little, so focus on clarity. #phdchat

Have a train tweet. Out of book, out of work, the only thing for it is Rage Against the Machine's self-titled.

Sarah Haggerty now talking on the expansion of the post office in the 18th century. Very Lot 49! #TOConf #Pynchon

Question on how eating paper is represented in cultural imagination! Reminds me of that Maurice Sendak anecdote. #TOConf

Aesthetic & economic exchange most clearly linked in Ishmael's purchase of translated book w/ sperm whale candles @KatieMcGettigan #TOConf

Value of whale is only perspicuous, as for Marx, when expressed in terms of substitution, here made by books says @KatieMcGettigan #TOConf

Books created from whalebone and shark skin in Moby Dick - literally "bound up" in the commodities of the sea says @KatieMcGettigan #TOConf

Here @KatieMcGettigan is reading metaphor as a form of commodity exchange through Marx. One object substituted for another. #TOConf

Against much critical background, @KatieMcGettigan proposes that Melville engages with the literary marketplace through metaphor #TOConf

First edition of Moby Dick (published as The Whale) was bound in three colours of blue with gold whales (wrong type) down side #TOConf

Now @KatieMcGettigan is up, looking at material metaphors and the literary marketplace in Moby Dick. #TOConf

Margaret Gatty's "Aunt Sally's Life" (1862). Doll described as having been a tree, but shares its material with coffins! #TOConf

Children look for souls in toys, says Baudelaire, but Gonzales points out that this soul exposure is through material deconstruction #TOConf

Now Eugenia Gonzales is speaking on deconstruction and imagination in Victorian narratives of dolls #TOConf

"the dirtiest wenches ever to have disgraced the fairer sex" - description of those sorting rags for paper. Not true says Friend #TOConf

Ceramics and old clothes have a long history of crossover and exchange, says Friend. #ididnotknowthat #TOConf

"rag grubbers" were those employed to sift through rubbish to find discarded linen. Sort of impoverished wombles. #TOConf

Linen, tho, is an organic material that degrades & was discarded, instead of personal cleaning. At this stage it went to paper mills #TOConf

Friend is looking at linen and it's re-use in the second hand clothes trade as a precursor to paper #TOConf

I did, though, have a great dinner with @KatieMcGettigan, @EmaleeBeddoes and @19thc4d. Among others. #TOConf

I feel very outnumbered by Victorianists at #TOconf. That said, a good first day. Looking forward to speaking on Pynchon tomorrow.

Hinton argued that humans are four dimensional beings and located the parts of the brain in higher space #TOconf

Hinton's cubes have obtained little attention, says @19thc4d, because they're extremely complex. #TOconf

Finally, though, Towle creates non-secret Chlorodyne version and shatters the secret. Private/public breakdown. #TOconf

Advertising of medicine became suspect - reputation should now have been apparent through medical discourse. Chlorodyne especially #TOconf

Intro of pharmaceutical regulation designated two of Chlorodyne's ingredients poison. Proprietary medicines came under strain. #TOconf

Two different parties started selling Chlorodyne. Judge gave verdict in which both claimed victory via marketing! #TOconf

Chlorodyne had a secret constitution. @jimmussell is going to look at how the drug was represented #TOconf

Mirror has sublime qualities, unearthly, but product of enlightenment. Also used for popular entertainment. #TOconf

Lynall says that, although a cliché, burning mirror can be seen as liminal - between rationality and magic #TOconf

There must be some way for my department to consolidate email lists. Every time there's a workshop, I get ~4 duplicate emails.

Decided that formal conference wear would be too hot for train, so until I get to #TOconf I'm wearing a batman T-Shirt. Call me Bruce Wayne.

Does this vile IMF woman have any evidence that Greeks are particular tax avoiders, or is she just spouting the usual?

A good morning's worth of work seems to have done much to alleviate the density of my paper. Fear not #TOconf!

Some #phdadvice. Make sure your minor "Fore more, see X" footnotes contain enough detail that *you* can remember what X said in the viva!

(It's a footnote to a sentence that describes Pynchon's "Thelonius epigraph" to Against the Day, which quotes Thelonious Monk) #phdchat

"I cannot be the only writer who hopes that future opportunities arise for the use of “Thelonius” as an adjective" Should I keep? #phdchat

Paul Fussell's Great War & Modern Memory is an extraordinary book. Also among the first & most perceptive pieces on Pynchon. He'll be missed

Rarely read below comment lines, but from 1st line, seems someone's attempting to defend REF. If you could savage him/her, I'd be grateful.

Depending on the harshness of my self critique, I'd currently situate my conference paper somewhere between "dense" & "theoretically rich".

Can someone recommend a book on May '68? Looking for a general overview/break-in work for the history of the protests. #phdchat

I agree with Andrew Bastardcroft, as I shall henceforth know him, on one point only. Nick Clegg's threats are hollow.

A bit of #phdadvice: think of your readers and go easy on them. External examiners paid a mere ~£15 fee. #phdchat

That "Greece heading out of Euro say UK voters" is a new opinion poll low. Mystic Meg predictions en masse.

Think I asked this before, but: what are people's opinions/knowledge on the preservation of Storify archives? Do they expire like tweets?

There are few words that rile me more than "overeducated". Presupposes utilitarian education AND glorifies ignorance.

If anybody wants some Red Swordfish tropical fish, ours have mated. North London for pickup; free to a good home.

Bit late, but contributing to #phdchat "share your workspace", here's my home room with lots of Samuel Beckett

Looks like a really good #HELiveChat from @GdnHigherEd with @cap_and_gown & @the_blochian on how to be a good lecturer. Sorry I missed it!

Tomorrow is day one of the thinking/feeling critical theory conference at Sussex. I'll use #tfcrit. You've been warned.

Much discussion of critical and creative spaces. My query: will these remain ineffectual as long as they remain outside spaces? #sushidig

Artists often didn't want to theorize their practice. Unsurprisingly, they want to practice as for of expression. #sushidig

Assertion on a shared process in arts and business. I'm all for hybridity, but uneasy with uncritical "artistic product". #sushidig

Cubitt says that challenge at the moment is to include non-human actors in the polis. The market is already. What about the env? #sushidig

Challenge for nation state is to extend rights to those who have no rights. The inadmissible governed says Cubitt #sushidig

Even economics spoken about in terms of economics, as though there were no other means by which to describe exchange says Cubitt #sushidig

"We do not have rights. Politicians wit not call non-nationals refugees because then they achieve rights." says Cubitt #sushidig

Cubitt moving on to rights discourse. Critique of UN human rights document that excludes non-citizens. #sushidig

Cubitt shows video by H5 for Norweigan electro pop that is emblematic of biopolitics. Statistical management of populations. #sushidig

Politics is "how should we live? " says Cubitt. We don't have this, but instead ethical: "how should I live?" #sushidig

Interesting comment frm Cameron on continued disdain for digital practice in academia. Mirrors intellectual/manual labour snobbery #sushidig

Caroline Bassett made good point about digital jettison; should all be archived? Difficult: no immanent historicism for value #sushidig

Cameron talks of immanent perception as non-critical, no uncanny. Art stages the uncanny. Interactive art loses critical uncanny. #sushidig

Feels like quite a bit of media art resentment here today! Danger of two arts cultures I think. What about shared space? #sushidig

“@MinxMarple @martin_eve disagree that fine art is not collaborative. It is often intensely & essentially collaborative process.” #sushidig

Cameron talking abt Nicholas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics & applying to media art. Can representational art connect w/ world? #sushidig

Digital talent not following trad creative route. Most starving artists go through adv at some point. Not with digital. #sushidig

Few mosaics of ideas in advertising. Obsessed by big ideas. Adv also focuses too much on visual aesthetics, rather than "feel" #sushidig

Ha! Andy Cameron points out aggressive culture in advertising. Appropriation of ideas. No agility. No shared ownership of ideas. #sushidig

Andy Cameron points out that advertising agencies are good at storytelling, bad at software. Bad at fundamental coding level. #sushidig

Andy Cameron using advertising as example to think through innovation and creativity. I'm not convinced by this. #sushidig

Cameron points out lack of critical voice on media art. Tech utilitarianism perhaps creeps in. #sushidig

Andy Cameron talking about fear of abundance and misunderstanding: digital economy act. Abundance can create value. #sushidig

Cameron says that many aspects appear both ephemeral and persistent - human life, for instance #sushidig

Andy Cameron is now on, talking about Values Systems in Art and Advertising: Notions of Craft vs Concept #sushidig

2 to develop tools and platforms 3 to initiate discussion (copyright etc) 4 media archaeology of art history #sushidig

Bosma says that institutions must collaborate to build open software and hardware infrastructures. #sushidig

Bosma not an open source fanatic, but without openness, institutions keep making the same mistakes. #sushidig

Information overload and distribution is false. Monopolies control majority of market. Google. Apple. MS. #sushidig

Attempt at digital transition from many art orgs is merely simulacrum of participation says Bosma #sushidig

Old school Darwinian archiving. Survival of fittest. Most reproduced is preserved because of distribution #sushidig

Standard art pedagogy is 2d reproduction. New media poorly understood because of non-experiential material taught says Bosma #sushidig

Thinking about notions of curator-engineer. Making art institutions part of art practice. Museum as network node. #sushidig

Warren says another research question is: if we want certain ethical creative processes to persist, how do we alter future value? #sushidig

Trying to understand, within creative sphere, how "value" is attached and to identify and question persistence. Ephemerality. #sushidig

Now Lorraine Warren giving Southampton's side. Cross-institutional collaboration and curious diversity. #sushidig

SuShI aims to provide an openness to difference, says Norman, rather than aiming for grim REFable cohesion. Ethical project. #sushidig

... although before Bosma, Sally Jane Norman is introducing us to the background to interest in digital temporalities. #sushidig

Josephine Bosma up first at #sushidig, speaking on Open Values and Multiple Temporalities Through Open Culture

Today I'm attending the Sussex-Southampton initiative, SuShI conference on digital research. May tweet on #sushidig.

Semi-sad to report that my first encounter with David Mitchell has been postponed in order to re-read 2666 for conference work.

Hurrah! Paper accepted for teaching twenty-first-century lit. on Bolaño's 2666. Better get writing that, then!

Meant to share a gem from my 91 year-old grandparents. Grandad: "young couple next door living in sin" / Grandma: "good for them".

Haha! I type so fast that Routledge's ScholarOne online submission form thinks I'm copying and pasting my email and tells me off!

Finally got around to reading B.S. Johnson's Albert Angelo this morning. Highly enjoyable & inventive. Love the metafictive "disintegration"

“@TheTristero RT @quartertonality Drinking with English majors means comparing this drunk dude's ramblings to a Pynchon narrative.”

Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery is a grim exercise in battering the reader with blunt, unsubtle historical irony. Not great :/

For those who want the lowdown on the final final writers roundtable at #c21symp, following @the_blochian. I've bailed!

Loh will look at Amis and McEwan and their entanglement in post-9/11 debates, in which complaints against exploitation are... #c21symp

Loh opens with story of the idiot BNP candidate, of Italian descent, who claimed to be the most cosmopolitan mayoral candidate! #c21symp

Swift brings notions of nostalgic Englishness into consciousness, only to sharply ironize and critique them, says James #c21symp

Redundancy of regional fiction is a false critical supposition, says James, with reference to Graham Swift's Wish You Were Here. #c21symp

Modernist notions of direction particularly apt to counter retrogressive conventional "Englishness" reading says James #c21symp

Zadie Smith derides continuation of 19c lit styles, but ignores, according to James, new forms that come from reference to that #c21symp

Ok, no he isn't! James instead talking on Englishness and provincial imagination in "poco" fiction. #c21symp

Brian McHale's latest volume emphasizes problems of national categories for literature: sub-identities, global paradigm etc #c21symp

Smaller field of study, the easier it is to defend says Leggett. Explains national and sub-national literary categorisation. #c21symp

Final panel of #c21symp on "Provincialising Britain". Bianca Leggett up first with a survey of British cosmopolitan novel #c21symp

Note to self. Wonder how Self's critique of monotheistic texts works in relation to Hoban's Eusa myth. #c21symp

Question on whether Burnside's underlying real is actually a Platonist "real", real in its idealism. #c21symp

Noting slow time in BoD precursor, Hoban's Riddley Walker & Self's allusion to this in RW intro says @the_blochian #c21symp cc @thoughtcat

Self deliberately references paleo-biology - "deep time" - asks us to evaluate our own urban temporal practices says @the_blochian #c21symp

Rundown of Self's critique of monotheistic religion by @the_blochian in both Book of Dave and his Intro to the Book of Revelation #c21symp

Formulated by Maczynska, this Urban Visionary Satire is comprised of realist, satirical and fantastic. #c21symp

Does this sit, then, in a parodic, satirical tradition, asks @the_blochian, or a reformed version called "Urban Visionary Satire" #c21symp

A breakdown of literary canon within which Book of Dave sits, particularly with destroyed London landmarks, given by @the_blochian #c21symp

Schmitt-Kilb closing with postmodern walking and post-postmodern walking. Burnside says walking is political. Cf Will Self. #c21symp

Burnside sits in a reality that is grounded but nonetheless retains construction & scepticism says Schmitt-Kilb #c21symp

Problem for eco-crit is to situate itself between inescapable constructivist theories and naive realist notions says Schmitt-Kilb #c21symp

Lilley says that Ryle's analysis of The Accidental as neo-pastoral falls short because it only focuses on representation #c21symp

Whether Jensen's The Rapture is post - pastoral turns upon its eco - centricity, as opposed to anthro - centricity. #c21symp

Now on to Terry Gifford's "post-pastoral" and Martin Ryle's "neo-pastoral". Many dualisms in this paper. #c21symp

Two main strains in c21 pastoral. One that draws out ecological concern and another.... That I failed to catch :/ #c21symp

Ha ha! Now much critical feedback and questions from audience on Noon. Not well received! #c21symp @dgcrow

Kirk mixes terms on Internet and Web in first sentence there. Web Berners Lee, Internet ARPAnet. #c21symp

Gaming ad de-centralisation of protagonist as single entity. Chimes with Rushdie's PoCo and polyphony. #c21symp

Corrigan unearthing Rushdie's counterfactuals. Video game comparison. Red Alert? Rushdie's environment not military history though. #c21symp

Duality of text in young adult/adult fiction, mirrored in gaming mode employed. Is this a post-genre text? asks Corrigan. #c21symp

Duality of text in young adult/adult fiction, mirrored in gaming mode employed. Is this a post-genre text? asks Corrigan.

Now Marianne Corrigan is on, speaking on computer games in Rushdie's Luka and the Fire of Life. #c21symp

This passes ironic comment on art and relinquishment of autonomy to the machine says Marczewska #c21symp

Note: Cobralingus is not a real technological innovation, but a manual artistic process that mimics an imagined tech #c21symp

Williams speaking on Helen de Witt's transcription of emails into fiction. Immanent documentary. #c21symp

Williams citing Tom McCarthy on authenticity and suggesting a problem in his modernist retrospective. #c21symp

Williams characterising literary fiction as a "genre" the predominant trope of which is romanticised author. #c21symp

Williams going to look at issues of transcription and trans-nationalism, but particularly in Helen de Witt. #c21symp

Carol Jones now speaking on "post-devo-max-meta-modernism". Feels nervous after Bob Eaglestone's critical controversial keynote. #c21symp

Contradictions in material memory texts; both neoconservative nostalgia and re-connection says Vardy. #c21symp

Inability of Burn's text to integrate objects with society parallels fragmented society depicted says Vardy. #c21symp

Digital fabric, says Vardy, gives us a present permeated by the past, from which we forget that there used to be a cultural present #c21symp

Vardy says that Bill Brown queries ability of commodity fetishism to theorize material-memory dynamic. #c21symp

Focus on objectivity not new, says Vardy, but that "material-memory texts" resist this and root objects in subjectivity. #c21symp

...AND the author of both parts is the same engineer, Josh Bloch. Worked for Sun, then for Google, rewriting his own code. Self-plagiarism.

Final panel was @DrKatyShaw, @gylphi, @djbduncan and counter-critique of publishing practices from me. #c21symp

Final panel was @DrKatyShaw, @gylphi, @djbduncan and counter-critique of publishing practices from me.

Glenn Patterson one of the few Northern Irish writers whose characters want to have sex just for fun, says @DrMagennis! #c21symp

Patterson inserts fictional characters into historical events. Features interactions with people outside racial majority of NI. #c21symp

Glenn Patterson has broad cultural impact says @DrMagennis, asking what it means to write historical fiction in NI in 2012 #c21symp

Boccardi claims that fossils sit outside interpretative framework; a hard referent. Not convinced. #c21symp

Boccardi seems to be claiming that representation of geology, rather than engagement with lit tradition, can recover "authenticity" #c21symp

Boccardi looking at mutations of Hutcheon's historiographic metafiction in neo-Victorian lit. Nat Hist as a sub for textuality #c21symp

Now Mariadele Boccardi from UWE speaking on natural history and textual authenticity in Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures. #c21symp

“@C21st_symposium Publishing panel; Keynes Room, 43 Gordon Sq; Gylphi people; 530 till whenever...” #c21symp

No coincidence that Mitchell's Cloud Atlas has 19c beginning and end for fracturing of self and narrative according to Kohlke. #c21symp

Marie-Luise Kohlke on trauma and gothic in neo-Victorian fiction first. Talking about Crimson Petal and the White #c21symp

FreakAngels dystopian, not anti-utopian. Venezia says the latter denies possibility of radical social change. #c21symp

Ironic exclusion of digital media in FreakAngels despite steampunk affinity and online publication. #c21symp

Venezia talks about the " ruins of the near future ". Wonder if he knows DeLillo essay with similar name on 9/11? I #c21symp

Now Tony Venezia is up to talk about post-apocalyptic London in Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield. #c21symp

Cultural aspects, such as sartorial markers a la Hebdige, remain important, but there's a shift towards the political says Beaumont #c21symp

Beaumont arguing that between King Rat and The City and The City, Mieville moves to a post-cultural mode. Politics and space. #c21symp

Christindis points out problem of PoCo ethics: exposure of multiple narratives to gaze has objectifying tendencies. #c21symp

Structure is, then, mirroring earlier point, "unmarked" to "authentic" to polyphonic says Christindis. #c21symp

Christindis shows that different diegetic levels of quotation can contribute to this intimacy. #c21symp

Abstract individualism to forging "black" essentialist identity to re-discovery of roots is structure says Christindis #c21symp

London offers only an illusion of choice to Faith, in Fruit of the Lemon Tree says Christindis. #c21symp

Andrea Levy's Fruit of the Lemon does something very different says Christindis. Circular structure, for one. #c21symp

Christindis argues that Brick Lane achieves transfer of bildungsroman structure to PoCo setting. One of few novels to use "agency"! #c21symp

Wonder how Hoban's Riddley Walker differs from model presented by... Oh, she's just mentioned it! #c21symp

Gregory exploring dual literary representational history of homosexuality as desirable and simultaneously abhorrent. #c21symp

Soobramanien proposes that this "cannibalistic transubstantiation" serves an ethical and didactic function beyond existing PoCo. #c21symp

“@avoiding_bears @martin_eve Reading that term reminds me I have to go and read about C17th anti-popery again. Bah...” #c21symp

Soobramanien's novel cannibalises Paul et Virginia. Not in parody, but as a for of sacrifice. Sounds very Levinasian. #c21symp

Soobramanien giving her personal biography and Mauritian heritage as background to her novel Genie and Paul. #c21symp

Cannibalist movement reclaimed cannibalism as a "loving" move. Only in a literary context, I'll add! #c21symp

Natasha Soobramanien now speaking on "cannibalistic transubstantiation" - a type of intertextuality that subsumes target. #c21symp

Debate on degree of self-reflection in Jon McGregor's aestheticisation of the everyday & the necessary transformation it undergoes. #c21symp

Mass housing of 1950s constructed with no thought of working class inhabitants. Gorbals flats as example, demolished 1993. #c21symp

Idea that crime happens elsewhere than the middle-class house, as per shock of Sutcliffe's neighbours. #c21symp

US equivalent of this paper would surely mention Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables. In fact, there was a similar paper @ Symbiosis. #c21symp

Now on to Peace and notion that "all great houses resemble crimes". Echoes of "all property is theft". #c21symp

Gordon speaking on representation of the Wests and their Cromwell Street crimes in Burn's work. Respectability of home ownership. #c21symp

Hayward arguing that Rourke gives a form of static flaneurism. One that remains on the surface, not penetrating but reflecting. #c21symp

Emma Haywood currently talking about various modes of flaneurism from Benjamin through Aykroyd and Rourke. #c21symp

Wilshaw, OFSTED head, who has said that teaching is not stressful, obviously hasn't taught under his own regime of metrics & quantification.

Suspect, from lineup tomorrow, that #OA in the humanities will not heavily feature. I have some tough questions for them!

Looking forward to the "Publishing the 21st Century" panel at the British Fiction conference tomorrow. Wonder how much #OA will be covered?

Just seen @GdnHigherEd chat is on accepting private universities. I'm at a conference, so will rely on others to post strong "no" for me.

Obama also affirmed that he believes in evolution in that statement, thereby alienating exactly the same crowd who are anti-gay marriage.

"I know which of my friends will copy and paste this status". So do I. The ones who fall for passive-aggressive bully tactics.

I always try to write my reading into the thesis, even if it goes in the long run. This way I know I've understood it & "used" it #phdchat

Very enjoyable meetup with @the_blochian spanning all matters between lit teaching and online journals.

Phew. On last stretch of journey home. With Vinelabd in hand. #pynchon2012 was pretty huge! Will begin posting photos tomorrow tomorrow!

Thanks all participating in #Pynchon2012. Off to teach my final lit class of term. Will check in again later.

I was very lucky to get a train early today. Vehicle has struck a bridge. Brighton-London trains cancelled.

Aside from the Pynchon excitement today I also have my final seminar to teach, on Bechdel "Fun Home" and a meet up with @SarahR_H

So pleased to see so much activity on #Pynchon2012 - off for our meetup in Brighton. I have Vineland in hand.

Just had the first #Pynchon2012 photo submission from Kursk in Russia! Now off to bed. Happy birthday, Thomas Pynchon!

Don't forget: if you get time to do something Pynchon-related tomorrow (Pynchon in Public Day) tweet on #Pynchon2012 or/and @PynchonInPublic

Phew. Command line wizadry deployed... system booting again! (cleared apt-cache, re-installed headers + generic kernel image)

Just been out to vote. A Green/Labour mix. The latter with a sour taste of "better than the alternative" democracy.

Research portion of my day over; now to prepare for first year UG teaching on Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" graphic novel.

Amazed at how blind I can be when I know document so well. Outsider proofreaders essential. #phdchat

Incensed by a sign in Enfield Town: "we're all Windsors" then listing jubilee events. Does this mean we can all live in palaces?

Suspect this "Jimmy Wales to make all Open Access" model is one predicated on author pays, thus not solving library budget problem.

Some hideous regressions in LibreOffice when dealing with Word doc files. In Ubuntu Precise -- the Long Term Support release :/

Just taught a very enjoyable 4 hours worth of Arundhati Roy seminars. Some great student comments. When teaching goes well, so energising.

Just arrived on Sussex campus for a varied day. Starting with basic xhtml teaching, then meeting re summer school, then teaching lit seminar