Call for Papers!: Mythcon 45

The Mythopoeic Society has opened the floor for new paper submissions for Mythcon 45, a conference on mythology, folklore, fantasy, and all things culturally created to be held August 8th through 11th. The theme for this conference is Where Fantasy Fits, an exploration of what new and old genres of myths and fantastic stories mean and how they affect their audiences. From the Mythopoeic Conference Society website:

Fantasy literature does not fit comfortably into any scheme. Both old and new, traditional and innovative, popular and elite, mainstream and esoteric, escapist and engaged, high-tech and anti-technology, fantasy defies definitions and transcends categories, dramatizing the incompleteness of our understanding of our own imaginations. At Mythcon 45 we will discuss the place of fantasy in our culture, our institutions, and our hearts.

Central to this theme will be questions of genre: What is fantasy? What are fairy stories? What constitutes the fantastic? What is fantasy versus magical realism? What is speculative fiction? How does Tolkien’s legendarium fit in with the mythic texts such as Beowulf or the Norse Eddas or his scholarship? How do Lewis’s Narnia books or his science fiction fit into the classic literary tradition? How do fantasists question our fundamental assumptions about literature and the world? We can discuss authors who explore different genres or modes of writing that do not lend themselves to easy categorization such as Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tim Powers, Terry Pratchett, and others who make us ponder what it means to fit into a particular style or format. We invite papers that broadly consider the nature and boundaries of fantasy and the relationship between fantasy and different literary and artistic forms—how fantasy fits or resists our attempts to classify and define it.

Papers and panels dealing with the conference themes (or other themes sparked in your brain by this topic) are encouraged. As always, we especially welcome proposals for papers and panels focusing on the work and interests of the Inklings (especially J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams), of our Guests of Honor, and of other fantasy authors and themes. Papers and panels from a variety of critical perspectives and disciplines are welcome.

Individual papers will be scheduled for one hour to allow time for questions, but should be timed for oral presentation in 40 minutes maximum. Two presenters who wish to present shorter, related papers may also share a one-hour slot. Panels will be scheduled for 1.5-hour time slots and will normally include 3-5 presenters who speak briefly on the subject (usually 10-15 minutes), leaving substantial time for discussion with the audience.

If you're interested in submitting a paper for consideration or would like to participate in the event in some other way, check out the conference website and follow the guidelines listed there. The deadline for submitting papers is May 1st.

Benjamin Bagby to Perform Beowulf in Authentic Old English Style

Benjamin Bagby, world-renowned performer and reconstructer of ancient Icelandic and old English literature, will perform his rendition of the classic mythological epic Beowulf at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 22nd.

The performance is intended to capture the spirit of the original poem as closely as possible, and to utilize instruments and techniques that would have been common to bards (or scops) of the time that it was composed. Through meticulous research and reconstruction, Bagby creates an experience similar to that possibly known to audiences centuries ago.

The performance will take place at Carnegie Hall as part of a two-part program along with the Harry Partch Institute Ensemble's performance of The Wayward. Make sure to visit the Student Ticket page for discounts!

If you can't make it out to New York this week, here's a clip of one of Bagby's live performances:

New Scholarship Spotlight: A Short History of the Minoans

The Minoans, an ancient people of the Mediterranean island of Crete and the surrounding isles, have been a subject of curiosity and mystery for millennia; gone before the classical Greek civilization rose to power, they left behind only clues to their culture and religion. Scholars have spent lifetimes trying to unravel the secrets of their religious and spiritual life and discover how it might have influenced other peoples in the area; this year, we have a new scholarly challenger to attempt to answer those questions!

According to the official release:

The Minoans have for decades tantalized all those who have tried to understand this most enigmatic people of the ancient world. The Minoan allure lies in large part in the riddles to which their mysterious culture gives rise. What is contained in their earliest writing script, the still un-deciphered Linear A? Did their likely extinction by volcanic eruption shape the Atlantis legend? Why was their religion so thoroughly matriarchal, with its symbols of snake goddess, serpent and labrys (double-headed axe)? What was the purpose of their great palaces at Knossos, Phaestos and Malia? What is the meaning of the atmospheric bull dance fresco uncovered at the palace of Knossos? The archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans controversially 'rediscovered' and then restored the Minoan civilization in the early twentieth century, and tied it to King Minos, builder of the famous labyrinth and keeper of the legendary Minotaur. In this lucid and absorbing new history of Crete from the 9th millennium BCE to the end of the Bronze Age (c 1000 BCE), John Bennet expertly draws on the latest archaeological and textual discoveries to separate fact from imagination, history from myth.

The book is not yet held in any Harvard library collections, but can be purchased at Amazon.com. If you'd like to suggest that the university library purchase a copy for student use, submit a request here!

If you'd like to read up on the Minoans and their mythology without waiting around for Bennet's new take on the subject, try any of these alternatives (all available at Harvard libraries):

Harvard Mythology & Folklore Department Symposium: Globalizing Folklore in a Digital World

This weekend, the Mythology & Folklore department will hold its 2015 symposium: Globalizing Folklore in a Digital World! The event will be held on April 3rd from 9:30 a.m. until after the final 5:30 p.m. performance piece has concluded.

The full schedule for the event can be found here, but a few highlights of especial interest to students include:

Panel on On-Line Communities, including discussion of such topics as global anonymity culture, fanfiction and transformative literature shared via online portals, electronic gaming culture, and more.

Panel on Globalization of Folklore, including discussion of such topics as West African folklore in the digital age, cultural heritage and modern pressures in India, the impact of social media in the Revival Zion religion of Jamaica, and more.

Panel on Digital Preservation and Reproduction of Folklore, including discussion of such topics as authenticity in digital storytelling and religion, commercialization of shared cultural experiences online, the Smithsonian quilt collection's controversial status, and oral literature collections in the digital age.

Panel on Netlore and Techlore, including discussion of such topics as performance of traditional memory and folklore via new technological means, rumors and urban legends and their impact on the modern world, and gatekeeping issues among purely online-formed cultural groups.

The symposium will also include words from keynote speaker Professor Trevor Blank of SUNY Potsdam, and live storytelling performance from Harvard computer science fellow and programmer Rebecca Nesson.