Inside the Text
By Jedd Cole
Inside the TextAug 09, 2022
Moral Worlds: The Meaning(s) of Fantasy Maps
BEING an inquiry into the meaning of worldbuilding and the semiotic functions of those fictional maps familiar to us through the likes of The Lord of the Rings (and its many cousins), TTRPGs and video games like Skyrim and NORCO. What do fantasy maps actually do, and what do they mean?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jeddcole
Twitter: @inside_textpod
Soundtrack: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/
Racism in fantasy fiction:
- “Tolkien and Race”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race
- “Race: the Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre”: https://www.publicmedievalist.com/race-fantasy-genre/
SOURCES AND MAPS: https://insidethetext.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/sources_the-meanings-of-fantasy-maps.pdf
Sacred Jedi Texts: Canon and the Specter of Endings
BEING an account of the passing of the Star Wars Expanded Universe into Legends; how canon becomes an abyss at the hands of its undead Author; what happens when said Author is also a corporation; and why canon--and capitalism--must end.
Become a CO-THINKER on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jeddcole
Soundtrack: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/album/the-specter-of-endings
MAIN SOURCES:
- The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns A New Page, starwars.com, April 25, 2014 (https://www.starwars.com/news/the-legendary-star-wars-expanded-universe-turns-a-new-page)
- Gerry Canavan, "Hokey Religions: Star Wars and Star Trek in the Age of Reboots" 2017, Extrapolation (https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1466&context=english_fac)
- Mike Rugnetta, “Canon Is an Abyss,” January 25, 2019 (https://rugnetta.com/2019/01/25/canon-is-an-abyss/)
- Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Christianities, Oxford University Press, 2003
- Frank Kermode, The Sense of an Ending, Oxford University Press, 2000
- Steve Baxi, “The Philosophy of Endings (or Why I Hate Endgame), April 18, 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhjhlja3azM)
FULL SOURCES AND CLIPS:
https://insidethetext.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/sources_sacred-jedi-texts.pdf
Not Passed But Spent: On the Politics of Clock Time
If you like the podcast, leave me a tip! https://ko-fi.com/insidethetext.
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“Time is now currency. It is not passed but spent.”
How did we get daylight saving time? How does the answer open up questions about the meaning--and the politics--of our hours, minutes and days? How does the COVID-19 pandemic change our relationship to time? And most importantly, what does any of this have to do with castrated Italian singers? Find out in this episode.
- Find all my sources and references here: https://insidethetext.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/sources_not-passed-but-spent.pdf
- Listen to the soundtrack of this episode: https://jeddcole.bandcamp.com/album/not-passed-but-spent-original-soundtrack
Masque of the Red Death and the Return of the Repressed (feat. TheLitCritGuy)
Today’s special episode is in two parts. In the second, I am joined by my friend, literary scholar and co-host of the Horror Vanguard podcast, Jon TheLitCritGuy. (He also makes YouTube videos!) It is SUCH a great interview!
But first, a story to begin exploring the question I’m pondering right now: What does Halloween signify in this time? A time of pandemic. Of nihilism. Of violent state repression. Of darkness and anxiety. Of ghosts of the things we’d rather not think about.
Inside the Text presents, “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe.
MUSIC CREDITS:
- The Swamp, Loyalty Freak Music https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/WITCHY_BATTY_SPOOKY_HALLOWEEN_IN_SEPTEMBER_/The_Swamp_1569
- Glitterhater, CC BY, Computer Music All-Stars https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Computer_Music_All-Stars/CPlaylistsRandom/Glitterhater
- Psychout, CC BY, Computer Music All-Stars https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Computer_Music_All-Stars/CPlaylistsRandom/Psychout
Fictions and Morals in a Time of Pandemic and Protest
In the last couple episodes, we’ve established some of the the ways fiction functions morally as well as how various thinkers have argued it OUGHT to function. But we were left wondering about what the upshot of fiction’s moral functioning is. Why does fiction work on the moral level?
In this final episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: several notes reflecting on Black Lives Matter protests, Star Wars, evangelicalism, “these unprecedented times,” and the workings of ideology.
Find a full transcript at insidethetext.wordpress.com
REFERENCES & CLIPS:
- Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- “Trump threatens to deploy military against protesters” The Guardian, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btjk0_WRIQ4
- “Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Entertainment,” Carol Cuppy, Focus on the Family
- “‘Magic’ in Movies and Entertainment,” Focus on the Family
- “Does Violence in Movies Matter?” Matt Kaufman, Boundless.org (a ministry of Focus on the Family)
- “Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter,” Daniel Victor, New York Times
- “Every Covid-19 Commercial is Exactly the Same,” Microsoft Sam, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM3J9jDoaTA (used with permission)
- Ideology: An Introduction, Terry Eagleton
Fictions and Morals: Fiction and Its Discontents
We established last episode that fiction does seem to have a moral function, along with most other discourses. But what should that moral function be?
In this second episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: the opinions of, like, a bunch of white dudes and an actually good one by Susan Sontag.
References:
- John Gardner, Moral Fiction (1978)
- Aristotle, Poetics
- Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007)
- Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008)
- Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poesy (1595)
- Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 4 (1750)
- Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (1869)
- Terry Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction (1991)
- Peter Lamarque, The Philosophy of Literature (2009)
- Henry James, The Art of Fiction (1884)
- #MAGA, “Donald Trump on ISIS - ‘I'm gonna bomb the SHIT out of 'em!’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OES7kbWZ70Y
- Mary Gordon, “Moral Fiction,” The Atlantic, 2005
- Susan Sontag, “At the Same Time: The Novelist and Moral Reasoning,” At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches (2004)
Music:
- grapes, “I Dunno (Grapes of Wrath Mix), CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/56346
- Kevin Macleod, “J. S. Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze - BWV 208,” CC BY, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler/Sheep_May_Safely_Graze_-_BWV_208
- Visager, “We Can Do It!” CC BY, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Visager/Songs_From_An_Unmade_World_2/Visager_-_Songs_From_An_Unmade_World_2_-_09_We_Can_Do_It
Fictions and Morals: Harry Potter and an evangelical walk into a bar...
We talk about fiction in moral terms all the time, from saying certain movies are inappropriate for kids, to claiming that video games aren't political. But when you think about it, how does fiction function morally if it's just made up? To answer that question, we have to ask a couple others: What is fiction? And what is moral?
In this first episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: Harry Potter, evangelical Christianity, literary theory, and fake news, and other sundry characters.
- For more about history as fictive, watch this video by PBS Idea Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N5zfBzzTvs
- For more about how the U.S. military and popular movies get intertwined, watch this interesting video by Pop Culture Detective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5xfBtD6rLY
- For more about semiology, watch this short series I did about it a long time ago: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqDbDyQNACJ4ji8z7yPraq95w9sP_Y1K_
Get in touch and find a transcript of this episode at insidethetext.wordpress.com.
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References:
- Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged (2001, Jeremiah Films)
- Alun Munslow, "Where Does History Come From?" (March 2002, History Today)
- Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007)
- Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008)
- William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)
- John Fiske, Television Culture, 2010
- 2016 Donald Trump press conference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veZs75jlAlw
- Whitney Phillips, "Putting the Folklore in Fake News," http://culturedigitally.org/2017/01/putting-the-folklore-in-fake-news/
- Abbot & Costello, "Who's On First?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg
- Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? (1897)
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Music:
- Intro and outro music by Jedd Cole
- Stefan Kartenberg, Oryk Taiko Rhap, CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/57432
- CARL iCON, Quasi una fantasia, CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/KarLos/58249
- Kimiko Ishizaka, Aria (BWV 988), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kimiko_Ishizaka/The_Open_Goldberg_Variations/KIMIKO_ISHIZAKA_-_Goldberg_Variations_BWV_988_-_01_-_Aria__44k-24b
- Soft and Furious, You're Magic, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_and_Furious/Bae/Soft_and_Furious_-_Bae_-_01_Youre_Magic
Nothing Outside the Text (a manifesto?)
Inside the Text is a podcast about meaning, because if reading is really rewriting, it's up to us to rewrite the world for the better. In this first episode, some musings on how meaning works and what this podcast wants to do. Also Jacques Derrida. Also an eggplant emoji.
Find out more about the podcast at insidethetext.wordpress.com.