From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #593 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Tuesday, January 29 2002 Volume 01 : Number 593 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 01:14:32 -0500 From: "Debra Brown" Subject: [AML] Fw: MN Mormon Author to be Part of Unveiling of National African American History Museum: Deseret Book Press Release 25Jan02 US DC Wash A2 Mormon Author to be Part of Unveiling of National African American History Museum MIDVALE, UTAH -- Darius Gray of Midvale, Utah, co-author with Margaret Blair Young of "Standing on the Promises: One More River to Cross" and "Bound for Canaan" a series of books dedicated to sharing the seldom told story of African-American pioneers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been invited to be a representative of Utah and his church at the unveiling of the Collection of the new National Museum of African History and Culture (NMAAHC). The lives of Gray and his ancestors will intersect with those of General Colin Powell, Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Soujorner Truth, Muhammed Ali, Louis Armstrong, and Phillis Wheatley for the first time at the public unveiling of this new African American History Museum. The preview of the Museum will be held at the visitor's center of the LDS Church's Washington, D.C. temple on January 31st. The program will begin on the temple grounds at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It will then be on display through the last day of March 2002 from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily. Gray is president of the Genesis Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will be speaking at the preview. Co-author Margaret Blair Young is a creative writing professor at Brigham Young University who wrote the play "I am Jane" (which will be playing in conjunction with the Museum display at the LDS visitor's center) to go along with the "Standing on the Promises" trilogy and has won numerous awards from the Utah Arts Council, including Best Novel of the Year in 1992 and 1995 and will also be attending the preview. They will both be signing their "Standing on the Promises" books February 1st and 2nd. In addition to Mr. Gray, invited speakers include historian Alex Haley, Jr., and Frederick Douglass IV, president of the friends of the NMAAHC, and his wife B.J., both of whom will be featured in a presentation about Frederick Douglass, the legendary speaker, writer, editor, statesman and abolitionist. The exhibit is part of the famed Mark E. Mitchell Collection of African American History and kicks off several related events during Black History Month in February. The new proposed national museum's exhibition features one-of-a-kind photographs, books, newspapers, letters, and documents. To date, these treasures have been held by private collectors. Some highlights of the museum include: * An original letter from educator Carter G. Woodson, the founder of what would become Black History Month. * A signed, first edition of the first book published by an African-American, Phillis Wheatley, in 1773. * A hand-written letter from Frederick Douglass on the death of abolitionist Sojourner Truth. * An original 1840 print depicting the famous mutiny aboard the Spanish slave ship, L'Amistad. * "Glory," an original 1890 Kurz & Allison print of the 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment attacking Fort Wagner. * One of the first black newspapers, Frederick Douglass' legendary "North Star." * An original note from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while in jail in Alabama. * An original letter from Malcolm X to Alex Haley, author of "Roots." The Washington Post says of the collection: "The items in this collection represent the full range of African American history: the monumental, the terrible and the indelible moments of prideSextraordinary." In conjunction with the Friends of the NMAAHC, the LDS Church will microfilm these treasures to preserve them and to make them available to genealogists and historians around the world. The exhibition kicks-off several related events during Black History Month. Which includes: * An Evening with the Genesis Group, an evening of music and testimony, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2002, at 7 p.m. with Darius Gray. * A Faithful History of African-American Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1832-2002, Sunday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. A presentation by Darius Gray and Margaret Blair Young, who are co-authors of the historic fiction trilogy, "Standing on the Promises" * An African-American Family History Conference on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2002, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. * Daily work sessions with specialists in African-American genealogy, evenings from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday Feb. 4 through Friday, Feb. 9, 2002. Sessions include work with the new Freedman's Bank database * Armchair Tour of Ethiopia and the Centeral African Republic with Gray Burgess and Carol Forrest, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002 at 7 p.m. >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 10:04:35 -0700 From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Responding to Critics Darlene, I want to make a public statement of appreciation for your review of HOUSE ON THE SOUND. I too was glad someone else read it. I thought you did a masterful job. And you're right, it's a lot of work, and we should be so grateful to those willing to perform such tasks. I am delinquent making public reviews because I read probably five or six manuscripts a week at the publishing house (plus the first few pages of about thirty ms) and make my reviews by saying "No." I can usually tell the weaknesses of the unpublished writings, but when somebody has the "gall" to be published, (like me) it is SO NICE to get a reading. And I appreciate it greatly. By the way, I received my first "censorship" of HOUSE ON THE SOUND the other day. The book store called and said one of their customers was incensed that I had included incest, etc. in the book. I was afraid that was coming. And I tried so hard to keep the bad language down, and the EVIL truly EVIL. (Brigham Young liked drama if the EVIL was presented as EVIL.) But you can't win them all. I think your question about audience and where the weaknesses lie is CRITICAL. That is why we're having a HUGE discussion about audiences and how do we educate them (?!) for the March 2 meeting. The audience can always learn something too, you know, as well as the writers. They should progress together. NOBODY MISS this meeting! (Unless of course you are thousands of miles away and there is no possible chance!) It will be worth it! We'll see your PREGISTRATIONS in the mail? ($12 for nonmembers, $9 for students and members, send to P.O. Box 41364, Provo, UT 84605-1364) Cheers! Marilyn Brown - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 15:43:48 -0700 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Responding to Critics (Correction) Marilyn Brown wrote: <<>> The correct P.O. Box is 51364. Chris Bigelow - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 10:46:22 -0700 From: "ROY SCHMIDT" Subject: Re: [AML] Books By Your Bed By mine: Ray Bradbury: Zen and the Art of Writing O. S. Card: Rebekah Robert B. Parker: Gunman's Rhapsody Studies in Scriptures, Vol. 2: The Pearl of Great Price Lillian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Tailed a Thief A. Lincoln: Speeches 1859-1865 Oberhansley: Downwinders, An Atomic Tale Roy Schmidt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 19:23:47 -0700 From: Thom Duncan Subject: [AML] Reactions to Authors (was: Roger ZELAZNY, _Damnation Alley_, Review) Scott Parkin wrote: > > Have any of the rest of you had that kind of response to authors? Growing up, Ray Bradbury was a god to me. I lived in So. Cal then and when he was producing some theatre versions of some of his short stories, I was invited to a group interview of the man in a theatre in Hollywood. I remember when he walked on stage: he wore a brown coat that had a loose thread. I was shocked that this deity would have such problems. Years later, a theatrical version of his Martian Chronicles was produced in H-wood. My wife took me as a birthday present. (BTW, the theatrical version was much better than the TV miniseries). I had bought a poster and a program and happened to run into Bradbury in the lobby on the way out. Didn't know he was going to be there. I walked up to him with my poster in hand, held it out to him, and said, "Ho-huh-huh-mfft." He seemed to understand my mumbling and signed his name to the poster. My wife led me out of the theatre because suddenly I couldn't move on my own. I've met other authors since then under different occasions, but none brought me to utter speechlessness as did Ray. He was my idol. He and Edgar Rice Burroughs are probably the two biggest reasons I'm a writer today. Do any of > you feel that way about LDS authors? Why or why not? Just curious. I've know the big LDS authors since they were nobodies, so their fame hasn't affected me in the same way. Also, by the time I met them, my personal writer's voice was pretty much in concrete and they didn't influence me as much as Bradbury. Thom Duncan - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 06:06:32 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] 2001 in Review: Short Stories 2001 Year in Review: Short stories and magazines by Andrew Hall Mormon short stories can be divided into three groups, literary fiction, youth/young adult fiction, and speculative fiction. There were two and a half short story collections published by Mormon authors this year, representing each of these groups. Signature published _The House of James_ by Lewis Horne, their second collection by Horne, who recently retired from the University of Saskatchewan. Naparastack in the Salt Lake Tribune gave it a positive review, saying the nine stories are "about extraordinarily ordinary people, mostly Mormons in Utah and nearby states in the 1950's and '60s, and in the process presents a clear and credible portrait of a rarefied culture which has now largely disappeared." Except for this review, the collection seems to have been largely ignored (as was his previous collection, which I have often seen in Utah used book stores). A month after its publication I could not find it at Sam Weller's Zion Books, which is known for having one of the most complete collections of Mormon books around. I liked his story that appeared in Dialogue this year, so I ordered the book from Signature's web page. Once I received it, however, I promptly lost it. Some books just have all the luck. The second collection is by the popular young adult author Jack Weyland, _Forever_ (Cornerstone). It is made up almost completely of previously uncollected stories, presumably many of which previously appeared in The New Era. Richard Hopkins says that Cornerstone plans to publish more collections of Weyland's stories in the future. Unfortunately for the youth/young adult wing of short story writers, The New Era, the only major magazine that ran such stories, is no longer going to publish fiction. The "half" a collection is speculative fiction author M. Shayne Bell's e-book _How We Play the Game in Salt Lake City and other stories_. I am not ready to start including e-books in general in this review, but because Bell's collection was a finalist for the 2001 Utah Book Award, it seems to be more than something just available from an internet page. Bell, of course, is a very prolific short story author, and I look forward to having seventeen of his best stories in one place. Now I can throw away all those copies of stories from anthologies and magazines I have chased down over the last couple of years. Bell continued to be as busy as ever, he was able to place five new stories and two older stories in magazines and anthologies this year. The most literarily prestigious appearance of a short story by a Mormon author was Neil LaBute's "Layover," which appeared in the New Yorker in May. It is LaBute's first piece of prose fiction that I know of, and pretty much resembled his scripts: a confident person preying on the weaknesses of another. Brian Evenson and Cass McNally also had stories which appeared in literary journals. (There may have been others, I don't have access to a good literary journal database.) Besides Shayne Bell, speculative fiction authors Lee Allred, Susan J. Kroupa, Franklin Thatcher, and Dave Wolverton published stories in non-Mormon magazines or anthologies. One, _Bones of the World: Tales from Time's End_, edited by Bruce Holland Rogers, contained three stories by LDS writers. (Special thanks to Marny Parkin for information from her speculative fiction website.) Dialogue and Sunstone, Mormondoms' most well-known magazines, appear to be back in shape after being down for about a year over 1999-2000 because of changes in their editorial staffs. Neither published a full schedule of issues for the year, but that is nothing new for either one. Dialogue published two issues, both labeled "2000", because of the editors' determination to catch up with their schedule of missed issues. Sunstone published three issues. Both magazines also have new issues out in January 2002 as well. Over the year Dialogue published four short stories and Sunstone published only two, although Sunstone also published a long play script. The smaller literary journal Irreantum is doing an excellent job in providing quality LDS literature for those whose appetite is not sated by that provided by the two more established magazines. Irreantum came out with three issues in 2001, which included eight new short stories, four republished stories, and two excerpts from new novels. I felt that the quality of stories was fairly good, with Helynne Hollstein Hansen's "The Chastening" my favorite of the new ones. The best and worst for me was the Winter 2000-2001 speculative fiction issue. The two interviews with Dave Wolverton and Mary Clyde were both fascinating, especially as they highlighted the two writers' diametrically opposite approach to writing. I also enjoyed the essay by Lee Allred on writing about evil. The three republished stories by Allred, Bell, and Duncan, went from excellent to good. Unfortunately all three new stories, by Asplund, Thornley Read, and Gifford, ranged from unremarkable to poor. My favorite stories of the year are: Todd Robert Peterson's "The Charity of Silence," Lewis Horne's "The By-pass," (both from Dialogue 33:1, Spring 2000), Mari E. Jorgensen's "He Finishes With a Flourish" (Sunstone, April 2001), and Helynne Hollstein Hansen's "The Chastening" (Irreantum, Spring 2001). I should note, however, that I have only read the stories from Dialogue, Sunstone, and Irreantum (not counting the Thayer story from an issue lost in the mail when I moved), and the LaBute story. I have not read anything from the three new collections, or anything else from the non-Mormon magazines and anthologies. 2001 short stories Allred, Lee. "For the Strength of the Hills." Irreantum, 2:4. (Republished from a 1997 anthology) "Hymnal" _Bones of the World: Tales from Time's End_ ed. Bruce Holland Rogers. SFF Net, Sept. 2001. Asplund, Russell William. "Dead People". Irreantum, 2:4. Bell, M. Shayne. "Red Flowers and Ivy." F&SF, Feb. 2001. "Breaking Spells." Realms of Fantasy 7, Feb. 2001. "Miss America at the Java Kayenko." F&SF, July 2001. "And All Our Banners Flying," Irreantum, 2:4. (Originally in F&SF April 1999). "Ragnarok of the Post-Humans: Final Transmissions, Sam 43 Unit 763." _Bones of the World: Tales from Time's End_ ed. Bruce Holland Rogers. SFF Net. 2001. "If on a Moonlit Night." Realms of Fantasy, Dec. 2001. "The Thing About Benny" _Year's Best SF 6_. ed. David G. Hartwell, HarperCollins/Eos, 2001. Origionally in a 2000 anthology. _How We Play the Game in Salt Lake City and other stories_. e-book, 2001. (Available from Amazon.com) Behrend, Tim. "Salt Lake Citations." Dialogue. 33:1, Spring 2000. Bills, Sheralee. "Beauty Tips" The New Era, September. Card, Orson Scott. "Waterbaby." The Leading Edge, #41. Cozzens, Darin. "The Darlington Girls." Irreantum 3:2. Crosby, Matt. "Checkmating Elder Kirkland." Irreantum 3:1. Downing, Lisa C. "Chapter and Verse." The New Era, March. Dunford, Nanette Larsen. "The Last Barrel" The New Era, February. Duncan, Thom. "The Glowing." Irreantum 2:4. Originally published in _LDSF 1_, Millennial Productions, 1982. Evenson, Brian. "Muller." Conjunctions, 37, Fall 2001. Free, W. Dave. "Go Fiche." The New Era, July. Gifford, Melva. "Taking out the Trash." Irreantum, 2:4. Hansen, Helynne Hollstein. "The Chastening. Irreantum, 3:1. Harrell, Jack. "Godsight." Irreantum, 3:2. Horne, Lewis. _The House of James_. Signature, 2001. "The By-pass." Dialogue. 33:1, Spring 2000. Jorgensen, Mari E. "He Finishes With a Flourish." Sunstone, April. Kroupa, Susan J. "Harden Times." Realms of Fantasy 7, April 2001. "The Niman Project." _Bones of the World: Tales from Time's End_ ed. Bruce Holland Rogers. SFF Net, 2001. LaBute, Neil. "Layover." The New Yorker. May 28, 2001. Magnum, Kay Lynn. "Letter from Brett." The New Era, August. McNally, Cass. "Syndrome." Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, 2001. Honorable mention, 2001 Nimrod Kathrine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. A McNally story also is a Sunstone 2001 award winner, to be published later. Monson, Dian Saderup. "The Apostle's Daughter." Sunstone 2001 award winner, to be published later. Parkin, Scott. "Within Limits." Irreantum, 3:2. Peterson, Todd Robert. "The Charity of Silence." Dialogue. 33:1, Spring 2000. "Thorsen's Angel" Sunstone, July. Read, Diann Thornley. "Holy Wars: Book One of Sergeyev's Covenant." Irreantum 2:4. Reid, Pamala J. "No More =96Ites" The New Era, January. Smurthwaite, Dan. "The Answer Guy." The New Era, April. Squires, Mark E. "You Can't Fit a Chicken in an Envelope." The New Era, May. Thatcher, [Bruce] Franklin. "In Sorrow Bring Forth Children" Realms of Fantasy 7, June 2001. Thayer, Doug. "Ice Fishing." Dialogue 33:2, Summer 2000. Weyland, Jack. _Forever_. Cornerstone, 2001. "A Day in the Life of a Superstar." The New Era, June. Wolverton, David (as Dave Farland). "The Mooncalfe." in _Out of Avalon_. ed. Jennifer Robertson and Martin H. Greenberg. Roc, 2001. Young, Darlene. "Companions." 2001 Irreantum fiction contest first prize. To be published later. Next time, drama and film. Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan _________________________________________________________________ Join the world=92s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.=20 http://www.hotmail.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 22:48:14 -0800 From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Roberto BENIGNI _La Vita E Bella_ (Life is Beautiful) Groucho Gets His Country Club, and a Hebrew Horse by Harlow Clark A review of _La Vita E Bella_, Directed by Roberto Benigni, screenplay by Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni. Produced by Mario & Vittorio Cecchi Gori in Italy and Miramax Films in the U.S. 1997 or 1998. Imagine the Marx Brothers in a concentration camp. Hogan's Heroes, no? But what if the Germans weren't bumbling idiots and the Marxes didn't outsmart them at every turn, and what started out as slapstick ended as tragicomedy? It's all there in Groucho's famous comment, "I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member." It was Pauline Kael, I think, who pointed out that Groucho was saying he didn't want to belong to a Jewish country club as a consolation prize for being barred from real country clubs, and he wrote in one letter that his daughter was only half-Jewish, and could she join? When I got home from Margaret Young and Darius Grey's presentation last night (Jan. 24) Matthew told me, "That movie you rented won't play." But we managed to get the VCR to accept it after doing some stupid VCR tricks and I watched it while Matthew fell asleep in the armchair and Donna went to Primary Presidency meeting (husbands are home that late and can ride herd on the children). It is a very funny movie for about the first half. A sunny Italian farce, a gentle lovely romantic comedy, except the first words, the voice over that says, "This is a simple story, but not so simple to tell. Like a fable there is sorrow, and like a fable it is full of wonder and happiness," are designed to make us apprehensive, and through the first half as Guido courts the Princess who falls into his arms from the sky, and into whose arms he falls from a bicycle, the mood gets gradually more apprehensive and darker. I kept remembering Bela Petsco's comment about The Garden of the Fitzi-Continis, which I haven't seen yet, and which shows how a rich Italian Jewish family simply ignores the signs of impending doom. Still, it is a very funny film, and Guido is hardly unaware of what's happening, as when he tells the farmgirl Eleonora that he is a prince and will call this area Addis Ababa and decide that only camels can live there, or the wonderful scene where he finds out that the Inspector he's serving in his uncle's restaurant is going to the school where Dora, his Princess, teaches and he rushes there beforehand the next morning, impersonating the Inspector, so he can again see Dora--then finds that the Inspector is visiting to give a speech about racial superiority. Guido's parody of Fascist speeches is wonderful, especially the part about the racial superiority of his belly button, which he shows the awestruck school children. What he's doing is taking danger upon himself for the good of his family. He has to win Dora's love, and if that means pretending to reject himself by giving a speech about racial superiority he will. This action of taking the risk upon himself is mirrored more darkly later in the film, where Guido's little boy, Josue is in a German dining room and says "Grazia." As one of the other waiters runs to tell those in charge, Guido teaches all the children to say "Grazia" so the authorities, coming back into the room, think the word came from him, not an Italian Jewish child. But before that there's the whole scene with the Ethiopian cake dance and Guido riding up on the horse and the egg in the ostrich's mouth. Wonderful--and disquieting as that Hebrew horse reminds. And after the ride on "Achtung! Ebraeische Caballo" there are Guido's attempts to save his family from a darker and darker reality. Yes, in a real concentration camp he would never have gotten away with it, as we see in the much more somber German film _Jakob der Luegner_ (loved being able to go to BYU's International Cinema--haven't seen the Robin Williams remake, _Jacob the Liar_) about a concentration camp inmate who makes up fake radio news stories about the advancing allies to lift everyone's spirits. But this film is not a naturalistic film--it's slightly to the west of 20th century naturalism (not as far to the west as Magda Szubanski and Pig Go to the Big City--the last great German expressionist film). It's a fable. It doesn't have to show the horror for us to be horrified when Guido insists Josue go take a shower with the other kids, and relieved when Josue doesn't. Because the story is fable Benigni (Guido) can stand and pretend to interpret the German guard's instructions for the others as rules for a special game, rules he hopes will keep Josue alive. The prize is a real tank--and of course the game is improbable, but when Josue wins it is a wonderfully deeply emotional moment. And then the final voice over--which reminds us this is a narrated fable--adds an emotional wallop. (Donna had just walked in the front door and was in the bedroom, so I let myself cry--unmanly tears (hey, that's a catchy phrase, someone ought to put it in a play. Eric? Thom? Scott? Marianne? Guglielmo?)) The 13th Article of Faith is broad enough to qualify this as a Mormon film, but it also resonates with some LDS novels I've been reading, such as Paris Anderson's charming _Claire in the City of Joseph_ with its foreshadowing that something difficult is coming, but in the meantime something daft is afoot. It also resonates with the story Darius Gray (or so DesBook thinks, "I think it's someone like Darius's mother," Margaret Young says (11/26/01)) narrates about expecting angels as you walk around Nauvoo. That narrative voice, and the healings and other wonders it tells creates _One More River to Cross_ as a magical realist novel. And I guess that's what _La Vita E Bella_ is, not a comedy (or tragicomedy) but a magical realist fable that reminds us that even in the darkest times there is something magical and fabulous about the human family and its will (love the Schopenhauer jokes) to survive and thrive. Harlow S. Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 15:56:38 -0800 (PST) From: William Morris Subject: [AML] Gregory JUSDANIS, _Belated Modernity and Aesthetic Culture_ (Review) Gregory Jusdanis Belated Modernity and Aesthetic Culture: Inventing National Literature [Theory and History of Literature, Volume 81] University of Minnesota Press (Minneapolis), 1991 Softcover, 207 pages ISBN: 0-8166-1981-6 $15.95 Reviewed by William Morris - ----------------------- As I understand it, one of the primary concerns in the field of Mormon literature is the disconnect between Mormon writers (many of whom are steeped in the modern and post-modern conception of English literature) and the mainstream Mormon audience. Jusdanis' book, which I encountered in a graduate course on nation, memory and diaspora, explores the case of Greece, a country that experienced 'belated modernity,' and so experienced a similar disconnect---not with its own writers but with the dominant literary traditions of western Europe, traditions that it wanted to adopt in order to recreate that other western European phenomenon the nation state. I believe that one of the primary challenges for the field of Mormon literature is that it too experiences this sense of 'belated modernity.' While there are many important differences with the Greek case that Jusdanis presents, his work has helped me identify what some of those differences might be, and, more importantly, it presents a model of how to research a field of literature that is influenced by, but on the margins of the dominant literary tradition. Jusdanis discusses how literature became institutionalized in western European culture (which didn't happen until the advent of modernism, the middle class, and the nation) and then shows why things happened differently in Greece. While he relies on contemporary literary and cultural theory, he stays clear of jargon, explains his terms and clearly and succinctly summarizes the other theorists he brings into the discussion (either as support or to disagree with). He uses theory to help frame his historical research---which is exhaustive but not overpowering. Jusdanis shows how the 'things' that institutionalized literature in Germany, France and England---the rise of criticism and interpretation, the emergence of print culture, the formation of a literary canon---couldn't be imported into Greece in quite the same way because it was a very different society, one resistant to secularism. This comparative approach is remarkably effective. The Western European model of literature, the one most of us are familiar with, views other literatures as deficient because it has already gone through a process of aestheticization, which places an emphasis on form and aesthetics and stresses the primacy of interpretation as the proper way to 'read' texts. It is able to do so because the national identity in those countries has already formed, the nation is already in power. But in communities where national identity is not completely formed and/or where it is not in power, literature is still in the service of building community---thus it is generally political and didactic. Because Jusdanis so fully explains and explores the Greek case, I found it much easier to relate the theoretical concepts to actual literary practices. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in how literature helps form cultural identity. And I would especially recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring the development of Mormon literature. Finally, I would recommend this book because it got me over my thinking of Mormon literature as somehow deficient. While Jusdanis does discuss the limitations of non-dominant literature, he also accomplishes, at least for this reader, one of his stated goals: "My general goal is rather straightforward---to show that things have not always been so and can therefore be changed. In choosing to write about the construction of a national literature in a peripheral country as an example of belated modernization, I wish to demonstrate that current practices in western culture constitute not a reality but a field of contingencies to which neither our present nor future should be held hostage. Only current ideologies terrorize us into believing there are no alternatives" (xvii). One of the central tensions to Mormon literature is the desire to both integrate into and create a tradition separate from western culture. This book helps explain why this tension exists. It is up to Mormon scholars to explore how it manifests itself in Mormon literature. For those who want to do that (and I think I'm one of them), this book is a good place to start. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 17:45:00 -0700 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: [AML] Tim SLOVER, _Hancock County_ (Press Release) Folks, Fellow List-member, Marvin Payne, and I have been blessed with the supreme pleasure to work together in a Tim Slover play. For all of you who live on or near the Wasatch front, I wouldn't miss this if I were you. For all of you who don't live here, please send this to those people you know who do ... live here. I promise ... you won't be disappointed. scott bronson [MOD: I've also attached Tim Slover's Program Note at the bottom.] PRESS RELEASE NEW PLAY, HANCOCK COUNTY, BYU'S ENTRY IN CULTURAL OLYMPIAD Anyone interested in courtroom drama, murder mysteries, American history, or a riveting story with fascinating characters should mark their calendars to see Utah writer Tim Slover's new play, Hancock County--BYU's theatrical entry in the 2002 Cultural Olympiad. The University's College of Fine Arts commissioned Slover to write the play, awarding him a Discovery Grant funded by artist and arts promoter Don Oscarson. Hancock County is Slover's first play at BYU since his phenomenally successful Joyful Noise in 1998, which went on to an off-Broadway run, a national publication by the Samuel French Co., and several regional productions in the US and Canada. Hancock County dramatizes the events surrounding the 1845 court trial of the accused assassins of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, and his brother, Hyrum. "But it's not just about or for Mormons," Slover says. "Two of the seven characters are Mormons--a key witness, Eliza Graham, and Brigham Young; the rest are other folks working out their own problems. The play explores issues relevant to everyone. It's really about what it means to be an American in 2002. Hancock County, though a place in Illinois, could be anywhere today where there are tensions between competing interests. Plus, for Mormons, this a slice of history many don't know about. Of course, the fact that the central event of the play is a murder trial carries with it inherent drama." Slover is known as a skilled craftsman of historical drama. He has brought to life on stage and screen historical characters as diverse as William Shakespeare, James Madison, and George Frederick Handel. His current play turns the spotlight on 19th Century frontier America and its reaction to the Mormons. "What interests me is what really happened and what effect it had on human lives. All the characters in Hancock County really lived, and I feel that gives me a certain responsibility to stay true to them and their lives. The speculative parts of the play are all within the parameters of fact. And the facts are amazing." Slover is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. He won the Grand Prize in the Writers Digest 65th Annual Writing Competition for his play, March Tale. His screenplay A More Perfect Union, which aired nationally on PBS, garnered the prestigious Freedoms Foundation Medal. BYU Theatre professor and veteran director Tim Threlfall is bringing the play to life. "Tim is the perfect director for this play," Slover says. "He brings a wealth of experience. He is the principle director at Tuacahn Center for the Performing Arts, and is a past artistic director of Civic Light Opera in Seattle and the Provo Theatre Company." Threlfall says Hancock County presents some staging challenges. "It's very fast-paced and cinematic. It flows along like a movie, and that means the actors really have to be on their toes for entrances and exits." The seven men and women assembled for the play are a mix of professional and student actors. They include well-known actor, singer, composer, and writer Marvin Payne (www.marvinpayne.com). "Marvin is a triple-threat. Make that a quadruple-threat," Slover says. "He does it all. Not only is he bringing to life brilliantly this crafty, dissipated lawyer, Josiah Lamborn, he's also writing and performing the incidental music for the play. I've always wanted Marvin to work on a project of mine. I'm thrilled that it's finally working out." Slover is equally enthusiastic about the other cast members. "It's an all-star team, really," he says. We've got SAG actors, one who has acted with a national touring company, another who won the Kennedy Center award for best college actress in the entire nation. They bring such talent and commitment to every rehearsal. The audience is in for a real treat." The set and lighting, by BYU professor and professional designer Rory Scanlon, are both calculated to bring the action of the play right into the audience. "They'll feel as if they're in the courtroom," says Scanlon. Adds Slover, "We're working for an intimate feel that should make everyone in the theatre feel as if the play is being performed especially for them." Hancock County opens at the Pardoe Theatre on the BYU campus Feb. 15 and plays Tuesdays through Saturdays until Mar. 2. Curtain is 7:30 pm with a 2:00 pm matinee on Saturday, Mar. 2. Tickets are $12. There are two half-price preview performances Feb. 13 and 14. (Program note for Hancock County) A PLACE IN ILLINOIS by Tim Slover When the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum, were shot to death in Carthage Jail on a July evening in 1844, the dream that had built a haven for the Saints on the banks of the Mississippi River died with them. It rapidly became clear that the Mormons would not be left in peace now; they would have to abandon Nauvoo and leave the country. However, before that exodus occurred, the Governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford, embarrassed by the slaying of state-protected prisoners, demanded a murder trial. But who should be charged? The killings had been executed by a mob, and it was impossible to determine which of the hundreds of rounds fired actually killed the Smiths. A grand jury held in October found sufficient grounds to charge five leading citizens not with actually shooting the Smiths, but with conspiracy to commit murder. A trial date was set for the next May. The chief players in that trial are the characters in this play. Leading the defense team was Orville Browning, who had been an ardent legal defender of Joseph Smith; now he would be defending his alleged murderers. The prosecuting attorney was Josiah Lamborn, disgraced former Attorney General, as skilled an advocate as Browning, though now given to drink. Judge for the trial would be Richard Young, a state Supreme Court Justice and candidate for Governor. All these men were celebrities, a cast of stars assembled by the state and the defendants. Most prominent of the defendants was Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal newspaper that had called for the "extermination" of Joseph Smith and the forcible removal of the Mormons from the county. In 1845, Brigham Young had not yet been sustained by his people as the President of their church, though he was its leader. Among his first leadership challenges was to determine what role, if any, the Church should play in the trial. The conflict between wanting to see his beloved prophet avenged and keeping his people safe must have been agonizing. There are tantalizing clues in the court transcripts about the personalities and relationships of Eliza Graham and Ann Fleming, both of whom testified at the trial. From those clues I have drawn their characters. Why the title, Hancock County? My research for the play led me to the conclusion that it was a story about place--a not unusual place in the America of either the 19th or 21st Centuries--where diverse cultures with potentially competing interests must try to coexist, if not harmonize, as each pursues its vision of American life. In Hancock County in the 1840s, the experiment failed. But the fear and intolerance which marked that failure might be instructive. Writing this play has been a richly interactive experience for me, and I gratefully acknowledge all those who have helped me improve the script, including its talented director and cast, Kathy Biesinger and the cast of the original staged reading, Don Oscarson, and the authors Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, whose book, _Carthage Conspiracy_, was its initial inspiration. Thanks, too, to Chair Bob Nelson and Dean Newell Dayley for bringing this project to fruition. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #593 ******************************