This video of John Barrowman is super bizarre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtDg23G1uc8. He flip flops between a vaguely British, subtle and strong Scottish, and an American accent. The whole series of interview bits (20+) is about how he keeps his strong Scottish accent under wraps when speaking to non-Scots.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Trainspotting
Dialects as misunderstood or foreign versions of English is an interesting idea; that they can create their own culture so separate from its parent that though they speak "English" its unrecognizable. Scotland, Ireland (especially Cork), and New Zealand are all disconnected from their colonists and so many generations later have designed almost their own language. The passage in Trainspotting where Begbie and Renton try to strike up a conversation with the Canadians on the train is a clear example. It's usually a humorous encounter sparked by dialect misunderstandings but as seen in the first video below, there's something darkly frustrating about people speaking the same language but still unable to communicate.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Cock and Bull "Imitation"
Things to keep in mind: Metamorphosis, hermaphroditic genitalia growth, folklore vs science, outer boroughs, sex, multiple narrators, gender stereotypes.
Brittany, a large and heavyset young woman, awoke one morning to find that while she had slept she had lost the baggage that had years ago claimed the confidence young women are expected to have. She might not have noticed this had she not formed the habit of placing a flimsy full-length mirror against the wall next to her bed so in the mornings she could see her supine body as a slightly flatter (and thus skinnier) version of her upright pear-shape. This morning, as she shifted from deflated-horizontal to familiar sitting-water balloon her breasts and stomach did not reshape around her hips. Two unfamiliar legs swung from under her floral duvet and delicately planted themselves on her carpet. As the immense quantity of fabric that was her nightgown followed suit, Brittany realized that those slender ankles were now her own. She held out her arms and pushed up ruffled sleeves to reveal smooth thin pale protrusions that ended in perfectly pointed fingertips painted her usual beigey pink. She used these hands and fingers to feel around her bed searching for wet spots, puddles, fatty chunks of flesh, reminders of the shape she was before she had fallen asleep. Finding nothing but more nightgown and sheet, she stood and faced herself in the mirror.
Brittany, a large and heavyset young woman, awoke one morning to find that while she had slept she had lost the baggage that had years ago claimed the confidence young women are expected to have. She might not have noticed this had she not formed the habit of placing a flimsy full-length mirror against the wall next to her bed so in the mornings she could see her supine body as a slightly flatter (and thus skinnier) version of her upright pear-shape. This morning, as she shifted from deflated-horizontal to familiar sitting-water balloon her breasts and stomach did not reshape around her hips. Two unfamiliar legs swung from under her floral duvet and delicately planted themselves on her carpet. As the immense quantity of fabric that was her nightgown followed suit, Brittany realized that those slender ankles were now her own. She held out her arms and pushed up ruffled sleeves to reveal smooth thin pale protrusions that ended in perfectly pointed fingertips painted her usual beigey pink. She used these hands and fingers to feel around her bed searching for wet spots, puddles, fatty chunks of flesh, reminders of the shape she was before she had fallen asleep. Finding nothing but more nightgown and sheet, she stood and faced herself in the mirror.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Book Review of "Cock and Bull"
The first half of Self's Cock and Bull did not end the way I thought it was going to. Published in 1992, it's Will Self's first book after The Quantity Theory of Insanity (1991) and is actually comprised of two novellas (not having read the second, I won't comment on it) that follow a woman and a man that grow a penis and vagina, respectively. An author heralded and/or hated for his absolutely unabashed representation of horrifying humanities, Self has carved a place for himself in the hall of Transgressive authors next to Palahniuk, the younger Amis, Ballard, and Walsh. A recipient of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, his satirical, gruesome, and clever works are recognizable talent in the literary world.
"Cock" follows Carol: a young woman from Poole or Llanstephan who lives a pretty pathetically indifferent life with her husband Dan, an alcoholic graphic designer until she begins to grow a penis. With her newfound genitalia Carol becomes independent and self-assured going so far as obtain her drivers license, attend Al Anon meetings, and rape and kill Dan. Self has a knack for juxtaposing the mundane and the ludicrous that has been compared to Kafka's by Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times. His Oxford education lends him an impressive vocabulary that can catches a reader off-guard. This intentional interruptive tactic is also employed in his use of multiple narrators that work to obscure our understanding of Self's literary intentions.
"Cock" follows Carol: a young woman from Poole or Llanstephan who lives a pretty pathetically indifferent life with her husband Dan, an alcoholic graphic designer until she begins to grow a penis. With her newfound genitalia Carol becomes independent and self-assured going so far as obtain her drivers license, attend Al Anon meetings, and rape and kill Dan. Self has a knack for juxtaposing the mundane and the ludicrous that has been compared to Kafka's by Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times. His Oxford education lends him an impressive vocabulary that can catches a reader off-guard. This intentional interruptive tactic is also employed in his use of multiple narrators that work to obscure our understanding of Self's literary intentions.
Will Self and Psychogeography
(Okay, sorry this is late)
So, Will Self is a self proclaimed flaneur, or person who likes to stroll. In an interview with Frank Bures for Worldhum.com, Self explains his interest in psychogeography, its background and how it helps him understand urbanity.
Coined by Guy Debord in 1955, psychogeography is "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals" (link). The exploration of one's environment in the frame of Debord's definition is only fully understood via a detached sense of observation. As Self says in the interview, "the solitary walker ambles through the metropolis, experiencing its richness and diversity when freed from the need to use it" (Worldhum). There is an emphasis placed on the necessity of anti-capitalist attitudes. This "work, consume, die" lifestyle mentioned in the interview is a dark sentiment shared by many of the transgressive authors we have and will study in class.
The "Cock" half of Cock and Bull follows Carol as her views on life change with the growth of her penis. A brief synopsis: she realizes her husband, Dan, doesn't make her feel like a woman; she begins to masturbate; she grows a penis; Dan joins AA; she gets her drivers license; she walks to the liquor store and buys an enormous quantity of alcohol which she feeds to Dan; she rapes and kills him. If psychogeography is an understanding of surroundings via walking and observing, then what is the significance of Carol's license? She spends her entire life walking or being driven because she is legally incapable of driving herself so she has spent her life taking in her surroundings without actively participating in them. The securing of her license is in step with her mental transformation into first, an independent person and secondly, an ambiguously gendered human. Self equates the ignorance of one's environment to a "benighted peasant" (Worldhum) and questions the "human-defined geography." Carol spends most of the story as a pretty pathetic or, at best, nonchalant woman; basically indifferent to her husband's alcoholic benders, her lack of education or work, or Beverly her lesbian pseudo-partner. After she begins to plan the rape of Dan, however, her attitude becomes focused and thorough. Once Dan is dead she quickly takes care of Dave 2 and as it becomes clear later, many other men. Perhaps Self is indicating that her lack of enthusiasm was a dam of oppression released by her destruction of her husband?
So, Will Self is a self proclaimed flaneur, or person who likes to stroll. In an interview with Frank Bures for Worldhum.com, Self explains his interest in psychogeography, its background and how it helps him understand urbanity.
Coined by Guy Debord in 1955, psychogeography is "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals" (link). The exploration of one's environment in the frame of Debord's definition is only fully understood via a detached sense of observation. As Self says in the interview, "the solitary walker ambles through the metropolis, experiencing its richness and diversity when freed from the need to use it" (Worldhum). There is an emphasis placed on the necessity of anti-capitalist attitudes. This "work, consume, die" lifestyle mentioned in the interview is a dark sentiment shared by many of the transgressive authors we have and will study in class.
The "Cock" half of Cock and Bull follows Carol as her views on life change with the growth of her penis. A brief synopsis: she realizes her husband, Dan, doesn't make her feel like a woman; she begins to masturbate; she grows a penis; Dan joins AA; she gets her drivers license; she walks to the liquor store and buys an enormous quantity of alcohol which she feeds to Dan; she rapes and kills him. If psychogeography is an understanding of surroundings via walking and observing, then what is the significance of Carol's license? She spends her entire life walking or being driven because she is legally incapable of driving herself so she has spent her life taking in her surroundings without actively participating in them. The securing of her license is in step with her mental transformation into first, an independent person and secondly, an ambiguously gendered human. Self equates the ignorance of one's environment to a "benighted peasant" (Worldhum) and questions the "human-defined geography." Carol spends most of the story as a pretty pathetic or, at best, nonchalant woman; basically indifferent to her husband's alcoholic benders, her lack of education or work, or Beverly her lesbian pseudo-partner. After she begins to plan the rape of Dan, however, her attitude becomes focused and thorough. Once Dan is dead she quickly takes care of Dave 2 and as it becomes clear later, many other men. Perhaps Self is indicating that her lack of enthusiasm was a dam of oppression released by her destruction of her husband?
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