colonialism

So, it's true, I put my foot into the mess of 'racism' posts - sufficiently so that the blog owner asked me in a not so polite manner to LEAVE!

:)

One of the threads I am following involves a discussion about the almost exclusively all-white characters in most fantasy works.

Now, let me be pretty clear here - I fell out of love with a lot of fantasy material around the time that every book became a medieval something or other quest type princess save the world type epic. I just had a knee jerk reaction to it.

Now, let me make a confession - back when I was 14 or so I went through a romance novel phase. I particularly liked the Barbara Cartland and Gothic Romances and books with titles like the "Lion and the peanut" (making that up) but you know the ones I mean. I must have read 500+ of the things in about a year and then - poof, I moved on.

At the time I didn't make much of the situation. My life as a child, a reading child, was all about pissing off my parents. They felt that punishment for inappropriate behavior was to require said child to read say 3 hours of James Joyce - at ll years old. My parents approved of literature. So, what's the surprise that I developed a fast affection for pulp by hackneyed writers. So in the years prior to Romance Novels I read my way through Zane Grey westerns, Tom Swift, Nancy Drew, Nurse Nan and the endless list of serialized works. Yes, I read non-serial works too - but gathering collections was a really good way to earn a parental glare and thrown up hands.

However, today I got to re-thinking something I said last night in the mess. Back when I was 14 Romance books were booming - they were literally flying off the shelves so fast they left contrails. Now, most romance novels are like potatoe chips - a lot alike. So, what fueled this boom? Going back in time I should point out that at that exact same time women were also burning their bras (foolish) to represent female freedom (not foolish) - so how are these two things connected?

Well, last night I suggested that the boom in romance novels was a feminist reaction to the transforming female role in the American culture. Women were achieving more money at work but paying a price in the bedroom. Being raised in a culture one way and having underlying issues change during your life time is complicated. Women began 'testing' the cultural mythos on which they were raised by playing out every possible variant of that mythos within the framework of romance novels.

Eventually, most romance novel readers reached a point of cultural saturation and sales tapered off a bit and the demand became stranger or we started to see a mixture of speculative fiction entering the romance market.

Now, back to my thoughts about current fantasy offerings. Remember when I mentioned I was a bit turned off by all the medieval quest things? Why? If my speculation about romance has any legs then what is fantasy doing or about? One thing I also don't like is books full of armys and warfare and KINGS!!! Why? Well, because that is my family history, my cultural history -- that is a cunieform for COLONIALISM. Fantasy is probably written by more women than men at this point and it seems to me that underlying these adventures are issues of female power and colonialism as a mechanism of change. Almost always the princess/female has some extraordinary gift - she isn't enough as a regular woman - and she is charged to find some relic to save the world from EVIL - or the king next door.

What are women really fighting? Sure, I said colonialism but that is probably an issue I could make an argument for across genres - they are also fighting a battle of the extraordinary woman hard pressed (she is close to losing everything) What are women losing?

Now we can shift a bit to look at Supernatural romances and again we see where the male is no longer even human - he has become magical and 'authority figure' which is representational or a metaphor. Her love and devotion are being examined against ideals, morality, religious dictates - and she is being compelled by the magical - a force beyond resistance.

Now, I could also make the argument about the alpha male mythos and how it becomes possible to speculate that this archtype is moving toward extinction.

I am not really venturing answers today - except to say that nothing is ever quite what it seems. It is my suggestion that the publishing giants are missing the boat - WOMEN ARE THINKING - they read, they devour books, they think in the round, slowly...and then one day they close the cover of that book and move on.

Books are about the struggle.

away...

I am just adapting to my new school schedule. My son (who is 29 years old today) looked at my schedule in horror because I have 3+ hour gaps on each day. He doesn't understand - I didn't want to come to school like last semester and hustle from class to class and then race home. Why be at a place like Berkeley and NOT experience it. I can't live here so having time to actually hang out is really important - plus, I can use my laptop to do homework and goof off too.

It was a choice. It was hard last night because I left campus at 7;30pm and didn't get home for an hour and then I had to leave at 6am - this left little time to do much at home so I basically didn't do much. The hard side of this is that, as you know, my pooch Bogey was diagnosed with bone cancer last December so he has to wear a splint that basically MUST be there forever. He has adapted nicely so far and gets around quite well - he also uses it to smash things (another story) - but it also means he tries to get it off so when I am not around he eventually will tear at it. This means I've tried to enroll other people to keep one eye on him as they can. Wednesdays I haven't solved yet but I'm hoping my refi will go through and allow me to hire someone for that day - they can clean too :) Until I sort that out we are all pitching in to keep him safe.

I have told myself not to feel guilty for not staying home with him. He lays around a lot and would simply lay around with me home too - that is just how it is. I give him lots of love and attention when I do get home and 3 days a week I am there all the time. it needs to be enough for my conscience.

Today, in class, they reviewed a nonfiction piece I wrote Monday. The thing is - I can't tell them that - that the piece was written between classes on Monday - it would make some of them uncomfortable.

As it turns out - the piece rather rocks - that is basically what I was told. One of the things that really got a lot of talk was the juxtaposition of specific detail against vague characters. I write the piece in third person present tense as in "She opened the door..." - I never identify anyone except in relationship each to the other so you have Her mother or His father - I did this to allow the reader to shape the characters as they see fit - even though this is nonfiction and based on very real people. I also rely a lot on metaphor and a sort of ominous tone. It was fun to write.

thinking the essay...

I had a great time in my nonfiction class today with the exception that I got volunteered to submit an essay...like...today. Hmmm. That really isn't a problem because I write fast and can generate something but I'm not sure what the appropriate length should be. We have NO guidelines.

I'm thinking 2-3000 maybe?

My next class isn't for two more hours so I might get it done in between - or at least started. I'm only marginally anxious. I have a sneaky suspicion that I am somewhat ahead in the general field of writing (compared to the class)

The hard thing about being an old person in a class full of young people is that it is easy to be too much. I know what it was like to be 20 and how indecisive I was and how I didn't know too much about the world or myself. My general rule is to keep my mouth shut until or if the professor needs someone to talk and then I try to keep things simple. I don't always succeed though. Twice today I got into subject matter that was clearly a shock to some of the students. I hope it doesn't put anyone off.

The reverse of this is that I really am in the class to improve my own writing. As the professor mentioned - people have to start where they are. I can no more pretend to be 20 than I could grow wings on my butt and fly.

So, I should stop procrastinating by blogging...huh?

middle school children's lit

Last semester I took a Junior Seminar (required) in English and it was a Children's Lit class. It was fun and I got to read 11 good books or mostly good.

I was really impressed by some of the newer ones. They felt so fresh and real compared to some of the science fiction and fantasy works I've read that is directed at adults. They are strongly character driven and the plot problems are generally close to home - what might be thought of as simple problems but which are really big problems in the perspective of a child. The level of detail in these books also made me happy. The characters were varied and unapologetically like people in real life. Some were larger than life but still believable too. There simply wasn't any caricature.

There were also no stand-in characters. Each person was given space to come alive in the story. Yes, I am speaking about award winning books and good writers and good writing.

I am tentatively in a fiction class at Berkeley (still on the waitlist tonight) and the teacher told us we will generate 45000 words for the class. I kind of took a mental step back. That is 4 ME size novellas and about 10 regular length short stories. The teacher doesn't care what we write in terms of short story or chapters but is interested we write long.

When I thought about 45,000 words I knew that was edging close to the size of a mid-grade children's lit book. Could I do that? Do I want to?

I have written novels before but none are intentionally for children.

My answer came in the powder room where all great thinking takes place (IMO) - I started getting story fragments which is generally a good sign that I have something getting ready to come out. I have a setting, a few characters and all I need is a simple problem, which I also think I have the beginnings of. As soon as I thought the thought, I got more stuff. So, once the professor gives me an ad code I think I'm going to write a children's novel. I may even start without an ad code. It's rather a nifty story idea. Small. Small story.

What's 45,000 words - a weekend?

classes...

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Berkeley and I feel good. I've been to 2 classes so far and hiked up the big hill pushing my bike - but the ride down to Tolman was blissfully fast...

I am guessing that the cosmos intends for me to get my youthful muscle legs back what with all my uphill classes this semester...no complaints - I will reserve bitching for rainy days :)

I do need a better campus map though - I think there is a cut-off I can take that gets me off the big street earlier and I would like that.

my hands are all over OWWIES!!!

I had to bandage my fingertips just to type.

But...but...

GROUT is DONE!!!

You know when you are painting a room and you are almost done and then you realize the paint can is empty and you make do with what you can squeeze out of the brush and tray???

That was me - only with grout. GAH it was SO close and I didn't want to buy another big bag just for 20 inches.

Nit and gritty is now fully understood - grout removes fingertips, skin layer by layer but the relief of having that done is enormous.

BTW - after dark last night I painted my porch rail :)

For doing it in the dark it looks pretty good. I will do a bit more painting in a little while after I recover my energy and stop trembling (maybe food?). More photos maybe later...

grout day

My intention is to finish the grout today which is about 3 times as much grouting as I've been doing each day.

I did scrub off my trim yesterday where it had gone black with mildew. It looks much better. My son ran up to Home Depot and bought the pot I pointed out to him yesterday - he also bought mulch. How much I finish will depend on how tired I am after grouting.

No more procrastinating - must grout!