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Laura
Registered User
(9/7/01 9:18:03 pm)
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ICFA 2002 and conferences generally
Don't know who else saw this, but I'm working up a submission for the Feminist Science Fiction/Fantasy panel at ICFA in March.
More than likely, I'll carve a section out of my thesis -- it's dividing into chapters so well that it shouldn't be too hard, I hope. Will likely be on Andre Norton's _The White Jade Fox_, and possibly on Kij Johnson's _The Fox Woman_ -- who knows, might be able to work in some other references too, as i have so much material (ranging from ancient folktales to 1900s era novels to film, modern pop culture, literature, and "fandom")! If things work out as I'm hoping, I'll even be able to conduct interviews with both those authors.
The overarching theme of my work deals with a certain group Japanese kitsune, foxes that shapeshift into sexually dangerous women, and what happens to that archetype when it gets adopted into American SF/F.
Being a person with no experience in these areas, does this concept sound of interest to any of you, several of whom I know like to attend this conference? The call for papers also said that proposals for 3-person panels were welcome. Do any of you have anything in the works that might be complimented by my paper, or know of anyone I ought to contact?
In terms of upcoming conferences, I'm also working on getting something ready for NEMLA -- if anyone will accept work by a not-grad-student-quite-yet. Anyone already planning on attending?
Whew! That was longish, so please forgive the enthusiasm of a newbie intoxicated with the idea of becoming a "real, bona fide" academic. :-)
Laura Scheuer
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Terri
Registered User
(9/8/01 12:58:59 am)
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Re: ICFA 2002 and conferences generally
Laura, that sounds like a fascinating paper. I wish I could be there to hear it! Every year I swear I'm going to get down to that conference, and every year turns out to be too hectic to do so. But someday....
I can't remember if we discussed this previously on the board, so
I apologize if I'm repeating myself, but have you read Ellen Steiber's
novella "The Fox Wife" in the anthology Ruby Slippers,
Golden Tears? If you have any specific questions for Ellen, post
them here, and I'll ask her to drop by the board. She's been cracking
on deadlines and hasn't been here lately, but I know kitsune is
a subject near and dear to her heart. Also, don't miss Heinz Insu
Fenkl's terrific essay on the subject, Dangerous Women:www.endicott-studio.com/fordangr.html
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Helen
Registered User
(9/8/01 6:07:08 am)
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What a fabulous idea!
Laura, I commend you on your initiative (and I wish that I had some share of it myself!). I'm new to academia as well, and, somehow, it didn't occur to me to try to present yet - I guess that the thought lingered in the back of my mind that you needed to be invited, or something. I think that I might try to send a proposal in as well ... I have one paper on the Donkeyskin/Deerskin tale that I think might be appropriate for the venue. I don't know if it would compliment your work or not - but as both themes deal with issues of sexuality and shapeshifting (yours with sex/shapeshifting as an aggressive act, and mine with sex/shapeshifting as a defensive measure), perhaps we could try one of the multi-person panels? Hope that I'm not being presumptuous.
Helen
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Kamui
Unregistered User
(9/8/01 7:48:15 am)
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foxes
There is a shape-shifting fox in Neil Gaiman's "The Dream Hunters." It shape-shifts into a woman at the beginning of the tale, hoping to drive a monk from his temple. Then it spends the rest of the book as a fox, trying to save the monk's life. (Perhaps I am simplifying overmuch, but that is it in a nutshell.)
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Laura
Registered User
(9/8/01 12:24:57 pm)
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Thanks everyone!
Terri: Yes, I've got Heinz's article bookmarked and a copy of Ellen's story in my filing cabinet -- part of the "kitsune through American literature" area -- plus a YA novella she did on the same theme. Sadly, I've not had time to read them yet, but when I do I may very well take you up on your offer.
Helen: Presumptuous? Not in a million years! That's exactly what I was hoping for, and I think your way of phrasing the relationship between our ideas is brilliant! Now if we can just hunt up a third ... or suggest to the organizer that a third be found that suits the theme. feel free to contact me further: sinnlich79@nospam.hotmail.com (delete the nospam part :-))
Kamui: actually, there's a copy of that book sitting stacked up with all my other reference materials. :-) I was lucky enough to meet Gaiman and Amano 2 summers ago, so I've also got a copy signed by both of them with a sketch by Amano. I framed another sketch he did for me -- of the fox and her alter form! It hangs above my bed, my pride and joy. That book and Akira Kurosawa's _Dreams_ were the inspiration for this entire project.
Everyone on this board has been so very generous with their encouragement and advice. I can't thank you all enough. Wish me luck -- I'm working on setting up interviews with Kij Johnson and Andre Norton, to give the paper that extra little something.
Can't wait to see what else materializes here ...
Laura Scheuer
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(9/8/01 11:17:19 pm)
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My story
I actually wrote a kitsune story years before all these young whippersnappers! <G> It's called "The Foxwife" and was first pubbed in a Susan Shwartz anthology that was a festshrift for Andre Norton, and then later repubbed in one of my own collections. Though being in Scotland till Oct 1, can't give you more of a citation than that.
Jane
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Terri
Registered User
(9/8/01 11:29:10 pm)
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Re: My story
Jane, what the heck is a "festshrift"? And yes, I remember that story. It's wonderful.
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(9/9/01 4:21:16 am)
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festshrift
Literally it means something like "strong writing" but what it means in fact is a gathering of writings/testamonials gathered together in someone's honor. In this case, Susan got a number of us to write fantasy stories to honor Andre Norton.
Jane
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Laura
Registered User
(9/9/01 8:16:15 am)
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Wow!
Thanks Jane! I'm so excited to find this story -- I'd've been horrified to miss it. :-)
If anyone else is interested, the anthology Jane mentions is:
Database: WorldCat
Libraries that Own Item: 420
Title: Moonsinger's friends : an anthology in honor of Andre Norton /
Author(s): Norton, Andre. ; Shwartz, Susan.
Publication: New York, N.Y. : Bluejay Books,
Year: 1985
Description: 342 p. ; p., 22 cm.
Standard No: ISBN: 0312943253; 0312943261 (pbk.); LCCN: 85-6201
SUBJECT(S) Descriptor: Fantasy fiction, American.
Class Descrpt: LC: PS648.F3; Dewey: 813/.0876/08
Accession No: OCLC: 11915453
I for one will be interlibrary loaning it first thing tomorrow.
Laura
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Terri
Registered User
(9/10/01 12:26:29 am)
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Re: Wow!
Laura, there's also a good foxwife poem in the fairy tale poetry collection "Trail of Stones" by Gwen Strauss.
I'm a big fan of foxwife stories and poems -- she's a figure that turns up in my paintings quite a lot -- so if you find anything we might not have seen, please post it. (Of foxwife art, the pictures in The Dream Hunters are among my favorite. The Boulet painting used on the cover of Kij Johnson's novel is wonderful too.)
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Laura
Registered User
(9/10/01 4:26:14 pm)
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uh oh ...
:-) Be careful what you wish for, Terri. My bibliography has over 100 things on it -- that's without the websites. Everything from Japanese art and tales, anime, manga, films, and novels, to American novels, short stories, kid's books, etc. It's getting insane, really. I've also got a huge folder on my computer of kitsune art (I'd make a website, if only I had the time ...). The writing ranges back to about 1900 -- the art further than that. How much do you really want?
:-)
Laura Scheuer
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