Bulletin Board of the Brain » theology

“Worthy of What One Great Woman Should Have Written of Another”: Gaskell’s Life of Brontë

Kj — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:53:48 +0000

The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In my late teens, I read nearly every Charlotte Brontë biography in the cannon, except the most famous one: the one written by her friend, fellow author Elizabeth Gaskell. I skipped it for a few reasons. One, every contemporary biography essentially ransacks Gaskell’s work, citing it every three pages or so. So, I kind of felt like I’d already read it. Second, Brontë biographies were my introduction to “Mrs. Gaskell” and they didn’t paint her in the best light. Most 20th century Brontë biographers see Gaskell as having written a hyper-glossed apologetic for Charlotte’s feminine merits, highlighting wherever possible, no matter how illogical, that Brontë was a model daughter and housekeeper. I assumed therefore that “Mrs Gaskell” was ashamed of Charlotte’s passionate nature and literary ventures, and was trying to bury them under a safe Victorian “angel in the house” motif.

Fifteen years later, having read some of Gaskell’s fiction, I know that couldn’t be the case. Gaskell was anything but ashamed of strong women or iconoclasts. So was what Brontë biographers implied true? It was time to find out for myself.

First of all, the greatest challenge (for me) reading Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is that I’ve never read 19th century biography. It is one behemoth of a genre, and one that few of us have context for anymore. Back in the day, it seemed the great past time (or duty) of every great writer was to eulogize other great writers with epic biographies. If you want to explore some of these, Charlotte Brontë herself suggests:

“for biography, read Johnson’s Lives of the Poets, Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Southey’s Life of Nelson, Lockhart’s Life of Burns, Moore’s Life of Sheridan, Moore’s Life of Byron,”

…and so on. So entering Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is to some extent, an expedition into the world of those leather-bound tomes full of dates, correspondences, and panegyrics from one great author to another. As one who reads 150 year-old fiction on a nonstop basis, this genre still felt quite foreign.

In persevering, though, I found some things well worth the search. I read the Oxford Classics edition and highly recommend it for its notes. The main challenge in reading, is that Gaskell is bound both by Victorian propriety and by perceived obligation to her friend Charlotte, to protect both her privacy and her reputation. Thus, no juicy bits or suppositions about what’s happening in-between the lines of her letters (and life). But the Oxford notes offer great annotations and corrections when possible. That enervating habit of 19th century authors to blank out names of people and places, gets filled in by flipping to the end notes. Hallelujah. (Though this did triple the length of reading time).

I still felt pretty distant from the Charlotte Brontë presented in the pages. The version of her you get is so much Gaskell’s redaction, that despite 70% of the text being letters from Brontë’s own hand, it still feels emotionally and contextually distant, (at least for this modern reader). But that’s likely a genre and context issue. It’s clear that Gaskell wanted Brontë’s critics to know that the author of Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette was an unassuming and unpretentious woman who lived a quiet life of suffering and struggle, and who shied away from fame. Against Brontë’s detractors who accused her pseudonymous “Currer Bell” of being “course” and “un-Christian,” Gaskell displays the deep moral and spiritual convictions, reservedness and compassion that epitomized this Yorkshire curate’s daughter.

Though Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is perhaps less illuminating of Brontë’s relationships and life choices than is contemporary scholarship, the work is indeed, as Charlotte’s father Rev Patrick Brontë said, “in every way worthy of what one great woman should have written of another.”

What I enjoyed most was the amount of correspondence time Brontë takes in recommending and critiquing literature. Her relationship with her publishers turned into what seemed a perpetual book club of trading books and reviews. And what sticks out so often is that Brontë rarely mentions plot construction, setting or even language. Her responses almost always center on what the author uncovers or expresses of true human nature, or how the heart and mind of the author is revealed in their writing. That’s how I read Brontë’s writing as well. Not surprising then that it was in these passages that I got the clearest sense of who this woman was, and as a result, drew nearer to her.

Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is a must-read for any Brontë devotee, even if only to gain respect and sympathy for the short and impacting friendship shared by two culture-shaping women, who could never have predicted the reach of their legacies. This is Elizabeth mourning the loss of her friend Charlotte, in the kindest way she could think of. It is much appreciated.

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The Rollerama of Resurrection Songs

Kj — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:57:39 +0000

One of the best things Evangelicalism ever brought us.

Thank you Keith.

For Unto Us A Hobbit Is Given

Kj — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:39:07 +0000

It’s an amazing day to be alive. It’s as if Father Christmas made it possible to relive all your favorite Christmases past, only you’d be reliving them in the present and receiving all new gifts. It’s as if, when walking out your front door this morning you discovered, instead of being in your cul de sac, that you were in Narnia, and thus would be both filled with joy at knowing Narnia was real, but also would feel like you’re returning to the Narnia you had always known so well through story.

This past December and January, I re-read The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time in ten years. (I remember reading The Two Towers for hours in the baggage check line the first time I was in an airport after the attacks of 9/11). Following my reading, I set about watching the extended versions of the films, multiple times with different commentaries. As I listened to Peter, Fran and Phillipa talk about what we would see “when Two Towers comes out,” I remembered all the longing and anticiaption that came with the years of waiting for each film to arrive, and later, the indescribable feeling of delight, inclusion and pride we ALL felt listening to the cast and crew talk about their experiences making the films for two or more years straight. We felt like we were there with them.

But listening to the commentaries now, I mostly felt sad that so much time had passed from those years where every December brought some new treasure from Peter Jackson’s Tolkien masterpiece. I was aghast when I realized that this December would mark the 10 year anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring being released. TEN YEARS?? I wanted to crawl back into my early twenties and dream about marrying Elijah Wood and playing RISK with the other Hobbits and of accidentally running into Dominic Monaghan in LA and finding out that we were meant to be best friends. I wanted to beam myself back to a time when listening to the cast commentaries, I could still feel assured that they were all friends and would stay that way forever. Now I mostly wonder, where’s Orlando Blooom got to? The separation of their Fellowship in the film, in the shooting of the film and ending of all the press tours, and now the passing of years, becomes a separation of the Fellowship for the fans, no matter what form that fandom takes.

My fandom is mostly expressed by a deep commitment to metaphor. I don’t go to conventions or stalk online info or write fan fiction or even fan blog. My fandom is the lived-out story of how my life intersects with the film’s story and where the films have been present in my story. It’s the friendships where I’m Frodo and they are Sam, or vice versa, but where we’re also elves and also Aragorn and it’s the different US states I viewed the films in as they were released, and it’s how I survived my own crawl up Mt Doom, (more than once) and was never alone. My fandom is one I think Tolkein would approve- it’s the mythopoeic Secondary World that has enriched and added meaning to my daily life.

So why is today an amazing day to be alive? Because Peter Jackson just released the first behind-the-scenes footage from the set of The Hobbit, the prequel story to the Lord of the Rings, which is being shot using much of the same cast, crew and set as the films of 10 years ago. It’s happening again, only better because we were just beginning to accept life would never be as rich as it was when we were all living in Middle Earth together. It’s real again. It’s like we are Sam, seeing Gandlaf ALIVE and saying, “Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happenned to the world?” Can we really have MORE of what we love so?

Peter Jackson promises yes.

And like Sam, I reply, “How do i feel? Well, I don’t know how to say it. I feel…I feel like spring after winter, and sun on leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I ever heard.”

Waiting has never felt so good. Again.

You Didn’t Ask For It, But Here It Is: Bulletin Board of the Board Video Blog

Kj — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:26:35 +0000

It’s all about the Yank Can, people. I ain’t kidding. And it’s LOOOOOOOONG. Enjoy.

Enchantment: Living in Magical Reality

Kj — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:53:59 +0000

en·chant
–verb (used with object)
1.
to subject to magical influence;
2.
to delight or captivate utterly; fascinate; charm;
3.
to impart a magic quality or effect to;

“Enchantment produces a Secondary World into which both designer and spectator can enter, to the satisfaction of their sense while they are inside.”
–J.R.R Tolkien, ‘On Fairy Stories’

“[The Secondary World] is a place in which transformation can occur; a transformation that does not fade upon reentry into the Primary World, but significantly, casts a new light upon the Primary World. It is, in a sense, a medium of revelation.”
–Kristin Johnson, ‘Tolkien’s Mythopoesis,” Tree of Tales

It is less than two months since I took a fantasy vacation to DisneyWorld and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was a fantasy trip because of the magical, un-looked for generosity that made the trip possible, and now even moreso, because of the enduring enchantment that has continued since my return. I’ve never been a “Disney” person per se, but something deeper and truer than mouse-ears and tween-geared marketing has begun to permeate my world. What was a whimsical trip to a theme park has taken on new meaning in 2011. I’ve become a resident of the Magic Kingdom: not the Magic Kingdom of Orlando—the Magic Kingdom of the Soul.

My ability to take up residence in the Magic Kingdom definitely started in late 2009, when in order to survive the harrowing depths of my final year of graduate school, I became reliant on potent metaphors in order to persevere through impossible tasks and writing of painful words. I was no longer just an MDiv student, I was Hermoine Granger learning with and battling alongside Ginny, Luna, Neville, Ron, Cedric and Hagrid (yes, these are the correlating character identities of my fellow 2010 MHGS MDiv graduates. No one was Harry because we ALL are Harry). I was part of the Fellowship: limping, heavy-laden toward Mordor. I was a Narnian, expectantly awaiting the return of Aslan to bring life where all was cold and dark. These metaphors were not ways of avoiding reality–they were the power to move into difficult and terrifying places, with narrative meaning and life-giving hope. After a year of writing/researching/teaching about the theology of Charlotte Brontë’s fiction and the spiritual power of Mythopoeia, it’s no suprise that my week spent in two physically-constructed fantasy kingdoms would leave me marked with real magic.

Two other enchantment-encouraging factors were that within weeks of my return, I learned that Ian was doing his dramaturgy thesis on audiences’ experience in the narrative environments of Disney rides, and that the three Spiro sisters were spending 2011 watching every single Disney animated feature in chronological order: a Magic Marathon. I was immediately immersed in conversation about the worlds Disney has created, and how we inhabit them. The Disney being talked about was not that of Radio–Disney or 1990’s embroidered Tigger shirts, but the Disney that could take ink and an orchard, and transform the world of imagination forever.

Since coming home, I’ve had a voracious hunger for all things fairy, firefly, castle, starlight and magic. I literally carry a wand in my purse at all times. I’m living proof that a true Secondary World does not fade upon return to the Primary, but instead, transforms everyday life.

What struck me further after watching a documentary on Walt Disney, was that he not only created Secondary Worlds through the myth of his animated fairy tales and stories, but Walt Disney actually BUILT his Secondary Worlds. Tolkien may have written more than three-hundred ages of Middle Earth, but Walt Disney made it possible for us to actually dine in Cinderella’s Castle and fly to Never Neverland. Apparently, Walt would often spend mornings driving the old-fashioned firetruck around Disneyland before opening. He was “playing with his toys,” as his employees would say. He had imagined and created a world he could actually particiapte in: one that we too could enter. It’s a real Secondary World.

And now all of us who have imagined ourselves as Hogwarts students, can now wander through Hogsmeade, wands-at-the-ready, buying candy at Honeydukes on our winter break. (I literally did this!) i know the enchantment is real because my journey into DisneyWorld and Hogsmeade has contiued to grow as I remember and reminisce. When I was there, I kept thinking how sad I would be to leave, but instead, I’ve been able to visit these places in my heart and mind. Here are some of the magical moments and places from my trip now inhabiting my inner landscape:

Leisurely wandering 11 countries in EPCOT’s World Showcase

Hearing Aslan’s voice welcome me as a Queen of Narnia as we stood by the Stone Table in “Journey into Narnia”

Becoming fascinated by Walt Disney’s modernist vision of a future world of progress

Watching an 8 year-old girl being chosen by a wand at Ollivander’s

Watching the Little Mermaid sing live, amidst a shower of bubbles

Millions of dancing Christmas lights on a fictional city street

The taste of Butterbeer and the view from the Hog’s Head Inn

The long, slow, audioanimatronic journey through Spaceship Earth

Co-blogging with Spiro about our Hogwarts journey

Hearing “I Can Go the Distance” amidst fireworks over Cinderella’s Castle on the final night of the trip

What is the Magic Kingdom of the Soul? It’s the capacity to be awestruck with wonder, to watch fireworks with tears in your eyes, to marvel at the early-blooming flowers in your backyard, to be stopped by the sight of the Milky Way as you walk home at night, to be easily surprised and frequently silly. It’s the ability to say YES, PLEASE! to mystery and to allow the knowledge that we are truly made of star-matter to affect our sense of identity.

True enchantment is perhaps this: to be utterly captivated and breath-taken by reality. I love living here.

Christmas At Last

Kj — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:24:51 +0000

A Blessing & A Prayer

Kj — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 07:16:22 +0000

Today was the final day of BTI 501 Introduction to the Hermeneutical Task at MHGS where I had the honor and privilege of assisting Prof. Dwight Friesen these past four months. Here’s the benediction I offered the students at the end of their first term of graduate school.

A Blessing

A Prayer

May you read dangerously,
listen passionately,
and write with risk

no matter whom you are running from,
where you are hiding
or who is telling you to beware

and when you find yourself face to face with a story that
awakens your desire
or breaks your heart,
unleashes your hope of adventure
or reminds you why you started seeking in the first place

then dive in, steal it if you have to,
and wrestle it for a blessing.

May you be brave, may you be kind,
may you be haunted by the wonder of God’s Kingdom.

Amen

My Other Other Other Job

Kj — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:49:45 +0000

As of the start of this Fall trimester, I’m one of the editors for MHGS‘s blog Experience MHGS. As an editor, I’m mostly focusing on generating content by inviting folks to write about what’s going on: collecting stories and storytellers. It reminds me of my favorite part of directing theater: Casting. I love finding the right person for the right role, matching talent to task, as well as searching for those sparkling super stars that are hiding under a bushel.

I’m enjoying working with Josue on a more regular basis, and its nice as an alum to still be keeping my ear to the ground as it were, listening for where life is happening within our walls and in our community.

Check it out.

Jet Bike Steve, Jimmy Fallon and Other Signs of our Changing Textual Identites

Kj — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:10:32 +0000

In “Introduction to the Hermeneutical Task” today at MHGS, I got to lecture on some questions that have been buzzing in my brain for quite some time now. I am obsessively curious about and amazed by the changing role of text and author in a culture where, due to blogs and social media, we are now largely the authors of the texts we read. What do the expressive capability of Twitter, Facebook and the like, bring to bear on our perception of “Author” and ourselves as “Reader” and what opportunities might this provide us as interpreters of scripture?

My hope was not to provide application ideas or explore “internet-as-metaphor,” but rather, in a class focused on the art of interpretation, to wonder what about ourselves we might be able to learn through the now ubiquitous presence of free and instant global communication. Does the new social landscape show us something about ourselves that has been obscured significantly since the printing press?

I certainly don’t have answers to these questions, and indeed, I hope the questions themselves are more helpful than the answers one might come up with. But today I finally got to talk about Twitter in an academic setting! I used some examples of new text and content being spawned by Twitter, as well as the displacing of “author”ity due to readers’ presence on the internet. I used an article I really enjoy by Dr. Bridget Cowlishaw, which I was lucky enough to hear her present at this year’s SWTX Popular & American Culture Conference.

Basically, since 2006, the word “text” is officially a verb. We also now live in a world where a 20-something guy can tweet stuff his dad says, and within a year, it becomes a sitcom starring William Shatner. This amazes me, and i believe it merits reflection.

Here’s some presentation images.

Also, here’s a link to an excellent TED talk by Clay Shirky. I used a clip of it as well.

Really Kj? Another Picassa Collage?

Kj — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:05:47 +0000

Last week I had my first day as Teaching Assistant for “Introduction to the Hermeneutical Task” at MHGS. Professor Dwight Friesen invited me to introduce myself using any images I might like. I hemmed and hawed, and eventually since it was a class about how we approach and interpret text, I decided to show a collection of the major texts I spent time with this summer. Also, most importantly of all, I put Sofa Square in the center, because, well, Sofa Square is the center of my life. …Or at least the place where i encounter most of my texts- be they DVD, music or book. I love Sofa Square, and I want everyone to know it. I’m not ashamed. Umm.

So here’s what I showed 80 people on their first day of class.
I have no idea what the outcome of this action may be.