EGSA Spring 2008 Colloquium Schedule

All sessions begin at 3:30 in Morrill 305.

Monday, March 3:

Presenter: Brad Sewell

Title: The Columbus Triangle:  Cannibalism, Violence, and Docility in Colonial Discourse

Abstract: During Columbus’s first voyage to the New World, he encountered navies who complained by signs about a local tribe that ate human flesh.  Cannibalism figures in the Columbus narrative almost from the moment he encounters the Indians.  As the narratives of Columbus, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Bernal Díaz indicate, the colonial discourse Columbus introduced to the world figures cannibalism as alternatively a discourse of violence and one of docility that affected the way colonial Europeans thought about and behaved towards American natives.  By showing the Indians as docile and unchristian, the Spaniards justify sending more settlers to Christianize the natives.  At the same time, depicting the natives as heathen savages justifies sending settlers to subjugate and enslave the Indians and commandeer their resources.

Presenter: Brad Foster

Title: Reading Minds:  Textual Narration in Stranger than Fiction

Abstract: The intent of this paper is to discuss how creators of the film Stranger than Fiction utilize digital technology to their advantage in constructing, forming and delivering the narrative of the film.  Due to the nature of the storyline of Stranger than Fiction (reliance on internal thoughts, narration, voice over, and silent action), digital technology is used in a way that fills in the gaps which would otherwise be lost on the viewer (or would be poorly portrayed) if performed in a traditional manner.  Digitization of film has enabled not only clarity of picture in recent years, but offers the option of enhancing the storyline of a film as well.

Tuesday, March 4:

Presenter: Daniel Norford

Title: The Surgery of Cinema: “Spirit,” Cinema, and the Artaudian Spectator

Abstract: Theorists who set out to analyze the work of Antonin Artaud must contend with a fractured and seemingly paradoxical catalogue of essays, scenarios, and drawings. A virulent opponent of conventional ideology throughout his life, Artaud also demonstrated an often fanatical devotion to reductive concepts of purity, origin, and spiritual essence. However, as previous scholars have noted, Artaud’s work carries consistent patterns of negation and renunciation that would seem to preclude dismissal of his output as the muddled contradictions of a typically postmodern subject.

This paper will examine the supremacy of the double in Artaud’s thought as central to an encounter with the ways in which his theory problematizes subjectivity, and in particular spectatorship. The paper will also engage with Jacques Derrida’s analysis of “spirit” in Heidegger, as the “return” of spirit as conceptualized by Derrida provides an important thematic connection to Artaud’s corresponding concept of the innate. Lastly, an investigation of the presence of the subjectile in Artaud’s work will hopefully open up a space in which Artaud’s fractured perspective can be viewed as an ideal point from which to consider the very act of cinematic viewing itself, as well as the implications of conventional seamless narrative. 

Presenter: Sayanti Ganguly

Title: The Rakish Babus and the Babuish Rakes: Libertinism in the Colonial Context

Abstract: The paper explores the many startling resemblances between the lifestyles and aesthetics of the Restoration rakes and the babus of nineteenth-century Calcutta. It illustrates how colonialism served to solidify this causal relationship within the cultural milieu of the era. I explore each of the parallels, chiefly those involving the dissipation of inherited wealth on meaningless pursuits, eschewing work at all costs, the indulgence in frivolity and entertainment, an extreme concern with fashion, pursuit of sexual relationships, resorting to procuresses in order to satisfy such sexual appetites, and religious hypocrisy. At present, there is no body of research on the babus and the rakes that draws connections between the two figures in such a way. However, a study of the two figures in conjunction with each other significantly increases our understanding of each and provides an important new angle to the lens of cross-cultural studies. Surveying the various cultural parallels and outright adoptions allows a more composite picture of the libertine mode of life to come to the forefront.

Presenter: Chelsey Crawford

Title: Progressing Towards a Mature Union: Apatow and the Modern Comedy of Remarriage

Abstract: In recent years, American cinema has become saturated with narratives that question assumptions about adulthood and adult relationships. Interestingly, these ideas prove quite resonant in contemporary comedies, some of which have achieved massive popularity and enjoyed great economic success. While many audiences do not acknowledge the deeper implications of films such as Old School and Wedding Crashers, my paper will argue that many of these films are in conversation with the remarriage comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, as defined by theorist Stanley Cavell. The purpose of such an analysis will be to provide insight into the process of maturation from adolescence into adulthood in the contemporary United States, as portrayed through popular culture. This reconsideration of sociological development is apparent in the work of the filmmaker Judd Apatow. This paper will specifically analyze how two Apatow films, Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin, can be viewed as a response to and a recontextualization of Cavell’s philosophies.

English Department
College of Arts & Sciences
Oklahoma State University
205 Morrill Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-9474
For Information about English Programs: english.information@okstate.edu
Webmaster: engweb@okstate.edu