good things

[bronze_ribbons]

lore tagged her entire friendslist with the following meme:

"The rules are simple. Just create a post about a few things that have made you happy recently. Then tag 8 people and have them post this meme on their journals. Keep the happiness going please."

1. [reposted from my personal journal]
The "Dumbledore is gay" brouhaha. I've been sitting on my hands through most of the discussions about Rowling's motives, the validity of her making such a claim outside of the books, etc., but I've sorted out my own feelings to this extent:

IMNSHO, Deathly Hallows was enough of a mess that it killed my interest in the HP series as literature. (There's an extra edge to my annoyance because I have a not-yet-published essay on children's literature that was due long before DH's publication (although I was well aware it wouldn't reach print until afterwards -- it was a very interesting challenge), and I had not anticipated my admiration of the series deteriorating to the extent it has.)

That said, my interest in the Potterverse as a playground remains strong. The things that trouble and/or irritate me as a critic make it all the more fertile as a starting point for fandom artists and writers to work their magic (so to speak).

As far as I'm concerned, authorial statements re: their characters outside of published canon do not automatically carry literary value. This goes not only for JKR, but for Dorothy L. Sayers (e.g., her oft-cited claim about a certain character dying in the Second World War) and everyone else. They can be consulted and cited where useful, particularly in discussions about authorial intention, but with regards to interpretation, they can be disregarded with impunity. Many readers do not have access to the author's extraneous (and often extemporaneous) commentary, and it's not playing fair to treat it with the same weight as the details the author took the trouble to incorporate into canon.

That said, JKR's pronouncement has prodded quite a few non-academics to ponder intention vs. interpretation. It can be all too easy for those of us with backgrounds in lit crit to forget that many mainstream readers seldom contend with that issue; when I taught a course on Sayers and Rowling last spring, the idea that there could be so much more to reading than "just" reading was something several members of the class said took getting used to.

Participants in HP fandom are accustomed to analyzing and debating JKR's every utterance at length, many of them through slash-friendly lens. Mainstream readers, not so much. As I see it, JKR's declaration of Dumbledore's sexual orientation has definitely made some heads spin; since she's an author that millions admire and adore, it will likely prompt some readers to examine their own beliefs re: homosexuality. And if that, in turn, translates into one less kid taunting or bullying others or going along "with the crowd," or if it helps create a more accepting climate for gay teachers and administrators, then she's done some good, whatever her motives.

2. Rewarded myself with some sheep and bunnies and ducks for finishing up certain projects.

3. Indulging in a sachet of Paris tea, which the envelope described as "black tea with fruit and caramel." The envelope is very elegant (I'm going to paste it into my paper journal). The tea is also elegant -- a bit too dear for daily consumption, but it being both prettily packaged and kosher-certified, I can think of several people for whom it might make a good Hanukkah present.

4. westernredcedar is recording The Hounding of the Baskervilles as an audiofic. That sound you hear, of someone running around in circles in high glee? That would be me.

5. A Snupin zine will become available for download soon! It'll have two stories of mine in it (completed before DH), and they're among my favorites of what I've written, so I'm very much looking forward to being able to share them.

Work has literally just called me back to it, so away I go. I tag all y'all who wants to be...

Comments

[westernredcedar.insanejournal.com]

eee! I recorded Chapter 1 last night, and my respect for the complexity of your writing has just sky-rocketed. I had to really figure out the flow of the big conversation and how the relationships subtly change through the scene...I see it when I read silently, but I REALLY see it when I have to read every word out loud. You are fabulous.

Also, Heifer! Yay! Now I want tea. :)

[bronze_ribbons.insanejournal.com]

*blush*

*bounces and runs around in happy circles some more*

Tea: E-mail me your address and I'll send you a packet. Or at least a drabble. ;-)