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Fire – A Current Review of a 16th Century Painting
Image: Fire – Giuseppe Arcimboldo The Milanese painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, was famous for his collections of outlandish portraits, often assembled not with human parts but with objects from the world of still-life, such as fruit and household items. Fire is one of a series of four separate oil-on-wood portraits that are made to represent the Four Elements. The painting embodies Arcimboldo’s unique taste for “grotesquerie” in which the head and upper-chest areas of human subjects, sometimes even royalty, were constructed with inanimate objects of varied value, metals and organic materials that formed bizarrely-diverse representations of a single thematic element. Four years before the completion of Fire, Arcimboldo was commissioned as…
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More Than Fairy Tales: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Brilliance of Children’s Literature
C.S. Lewis, the author of the well-loved Chronicles of Narnia, once said that “a children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” There are books that we fall in love with during childhood, which, upon returning to, seem almost lifeless compared to the shining stories from our memories. Discovering that a book you once loved does not hold the same lustre it did for you as a child feels like shedding another layer of yourself as you grow further and further away from the person you used to be. Those books return to their shelves, and are forgotten in the passage…
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“It’s Not Just a Dream, it Could be Our Reality”
The little things make a difference in the bigger picture. Global warming and climate change are not new concerns, but why do some of us continue to treat it as if they are topics not worth being proactive about? In Chris Van Allsburg’s Just A Dream (1990), Van Allsburg places the readers in the position of the protagonist, Walter, who does not grasp the problem about climate change. Instead of continuously telling Walter he needs to be a responsible individual on this planet, Van Allsburg shows Walter the devastating and unappealing outcomes of humans neglecting to care for the environment. Van Allsburg addresses our doubts and the dominant stigma about climate change…
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6 TIPS TO BEAT YOUR WRITER’S BLOCK!
We are approaching that time of the term when we scramble to find the perfect words to use for our term papers. It could also be the moment when you’re struggling to find a way to silence the cursor on your screen that continuously taunts you every time it pulses on the blank page. Fret not! I have gathered a few sweet time-saving tips that will help you push past your writer’s block! 1. Create an Outline If you’re feeling lost but you have a bunch of ideas in your mind, write them down first! Taking all the information out of your mind and onto a page makes the ideas feel tangible. You…
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“Is this your buying China?”: Luxury consumerism and superficiality in William Wycherley’s The Country Wife
Following increased maritime trade and a reliance on foreign goods, the commercial revolution that swept through England in the late sixteenth century resulted in an intensified desire for new and hitherto inaccessible luxury commodities. One such commodity, china porcelain, resulted in a “china fever” that continued well into the eighteenth century, introducing new notions of social refinement and, more importantly, social and economic superficiality. In the infamous “china scene” of William Wycherley’s The Country Wife (1675), Lady Fidget operates within the discourse of “woman as consumer” in order to forward her sexual agency, participating in the surface play that luxury commodities as ultimately empty signifiers afford. England’s commercial revolution not only saw…
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“You, Who Have Devastated the Souls of the Living”: Heroes, Hubris, and the Victorian Gothic in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
Although Christmas time and ghost stories seem to us strange bedfellows, the two were commonly found lying together in the nineteenth century. Ghouls and ghosts, seances and mystics, changelings and revenants were all immensely popular among the Victorians – and their presence was felt year-round in high society. Christmas was especially fraught with the souls of the dead, as the Victorians were well-known for spending their Christmas Eves telling spooky stories around the fire amidst the gifts, candles, and cakes. Considering the majority of our current western Christmas traditions were founded in the Victorian era, it stands to argue that contemporary tales merging the uncanny with the holly-jolly would be second-nature to us,…
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A Tribute to Stephen King
To say that Stephen King is a good writer would be an understatement. With nearly 100 books selling over 350 million copies and stories transformed into television series and movies that have left an indelible mark on our pop culture, Stephen King is a capital “G” Great writer. I paid a visit to one of the Vancouver Writer’s Festival events called, “A Tribute to Stephen King,” and found myself in a room filled with people all with the same question: How? How exactly can a single man accomplish all of this? And more importantly, what has Stephen King taught us from his stories? The night started with a healthy sprinkling…
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The Burden of Being: Exhaustion as Praxis in ‘Intersectional’ Academia
UBC is an alarmingly inaccessible campus. It was when I began my undergraduate degree on crutches, it continued to be when I transitioned to a cane, and occasionally still is now that I am mobility-aid free in my daily life. Navigating the campus as a freshman is difficult enough, but when construction projects block accessible routes from class buildings to the bus loops; ledges or other obstacles stand in the way of ramps and elevators; bathrooms are located on different floors than classrooms and only through darkened stairwells; and winter travel is obstructed by un-shoveled snow turning into unsalted ice through major campus corridors, my overwhelming first-year fear of conspicuous lateness…
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Drugs, Alcohol and Literature
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan are only a few of the many incredible works that Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in his troubled lifetime. When he lost his father as a young boy and suffered from several health issues in his youth, the solution that was offered to him was opium. While the drug was initially administered to him in small doses, it slowly made its way into his life and to become a full-fledged addiction. Among other reasons, Coleridge began regularly using opium as an antidepressant and relaxant amongst other reasons. He even admitted to using laudanum, particularly during times of extreme stress and anxiety. Since…
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5 Common Phrases in their Shakespearean Context
Although we may not realize it, many common phrases we use today were written by Shakespeare hundreds of years ago. When was the last time you were so tired you felt as “dead as a doornail”? Or when you experienced a “wild goose chase”? Although these sayings may not have been coined by Shakespeare himself, they were certainly present in his written works and were popularized by him. Here are some Shakespearean phrases in their literary context to boost your knowledge of The Bard. 1. Dish fit for the gods “And, gentle friends, Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully. Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the…
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6 Poetry Bites to Feed Your Soul on Dark, Gloomy Days
Dark Raincouver nights. Week after week of essays. A never-ending list of obligations. Whether you’re taking double shifts at work, crunching to meet a word count or studying into the wee hours of the morning for midterms, it’s important to take a quiet moment for yourself however you need to. Here are some small bites of poetry to get you through those dark, gloomy days. A few words of encouragement, a phrase to resolve your existential crisis, or just a beautiful, brief verse — sometimes literature can keep us going even when copious amounts of caffeine cannot. 1. “O Me! O Life!” by Walt Whitman “Oh me! Oh life! of…
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Senior Leaders on Sauder 2013 FROSH: A Discourse Analysis
Last term, I chose to do my ENGL 312A (Discourse and Society) final paper on how people at UBC talk about the Sauder 2013 FROSH chants. In today’s blog entry, I will discuss the portion of my research that focused on how senior leaders at UBC responded to the controversy. Do you remember a time when Sauder had the most amazing FROSH activities on campus? Me neither. When I came to UBC, I was a second-year transfer student entering Sauder. It was 2014 and FROSH was no longer an event held for new students. New students to Sauder now attended The Spark, a student-run event welcoming first-years and transfer students.…
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‘Too Strong’ of a Female Role: Feminist or Anti-Feminist?
(Editor Note: This blog article contains spoilers from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl) Geoffrey Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl evoke two kinds of reactions in their readers: “you go, girl!” or “crazy b****”. Within the frame of their respective marriages, The Wife of Bath and Amy seek to control their husbands. While these strong female roles can be seen as either liberating or misogynist, this categorization is not so black and white. Both texts perhaps agree that women are strong and smart enough to have power, but also present this power as potentially problematic. Does this type of narrative illustrate women positively or negatively? The Wife of…
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The Discussion of Race on Television Over Three Decades
Race: an arbitrary subject which some have the privilege to ignore while most do not. The popular narrative of a group of white people struggling to “make it” is often the way life in North America has been depicted on television. This narrative fails to capture reality, as it does not acknowledge the challenges and obstacles of people who are not white and middle class. To explore how the conversations about race have changed on television, I am going to analyze the way race is discussed in three popular shows: Friends which takes place in the 90’s, The Office which takes place in the 2000’s, and Master of None which…
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More Than Just Words on Paper: Reflections on an English Degree
In my first year at UBC, I was a Science student on weekdays and a barista on weekends. I stuck out my coffee-making career into my second year, which was when I decided to pursue English Literature and Psychology. The “So You Wanna Be A Barista” jokes didn’t start until after I’d transferred into Arts, and, ironically, after I’d decided to quit my job. This post isn’t meant to set fire to any major or lord one degree over another. It’s a reflection of what I’ve gained from studying English and the value of an English Lit experience to me. In the end, your degree is more than just the…
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Oh, for the Love of Keats!
One of our ESA contributors, Saakshi, reflects on the way a trip to Keats’ home affected her outlook on English, poetry, and the universality of pure human emotion. I was fortunate enough to have myself immersed in the magical world of John Keats for the first time in high school, two years ago. Ever since I read his work, no other poet’s words have managed to move or resonate with me more. Keats wrote with a passion unmatched, about emotions so heartbreakingly human that I couldn’t help but feel his pain, almost alongside him, and fall more in love with his poetry. It was a dream come true when…
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Children’s Literature Isn’t Just for Kids
Confession time: I’ve read more Harry Potter books than I have Shakespeare dramas. Yes, I know, truly shameful stuff for an English Lit major. But despite my supposed status as an adult, I’m still a total sucker for children’s literature. Children’s literature is an expansive and flexible genre that can be prescribed to many different works. What counts as children’s lit depends on how you define the genre, and how you define “children” and “literature”. You could argue Harry Potter, “Alice in Wonderland” and “Coraline” fall under that category. And then you have outliers like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, which for all purposes appears to be children’s literature…
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HOWLween! with the ESA Recap: Part Two
This is Part Two of our exciting HOWLween! with the ESA Recap. You can catch up on Kristinaville’s initial casualties here. The two werewolves were still at large. Our town, on the other hand, was feeling not so large. Especially when we all woke up and discovered that Jessica, the nicest person in our whole town, had been murdered. Also, ever since Kevin died, we had all been running short on carbs. Our energy levels just weren’t what they used to be. * ‘What if we just don’t kill someone? What if I’m morally against killing?’ Ronnie asked, after leading three angry murder mobs. ‘No, you have to kill someone,’ said…
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HOWLween! with the ESA Recap: Part One
On October 30th, the ESA gathered for its annual game of Werewolf. We ate candy. We decorated cookies. We sharpened our pitchforks and ruined friendships. Don’t fret if you missed out on the fun and food. There will be more of it (with hopefully less bloodshed) on Friday, November 17 at the ESA’s November Board Game Night! You can also hear some (far more expert) stories, poems, and more at The Garden Statuary Issue 7.1 Launch Party on November 30! In the meantime, Rebecca, Kristinaville’s town doctor, has provided an unbiased and totally accurate account of the village’s werewolf trials and tribulations. [Editor’s Note: We are currently negotiating with Rebecca…
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Adventures in Narnia, or Through the Wardrobe and Back Again
The first time Lucy Pevensie opened Professor Kirke’s wardrobe and entered Narnia, she was eight years old. The first time I went with her, I was nine. There is something especially magical about reading things as a child. You have fewer prejudices, little knowledge of things beyond face value and the all-absorbing wonder of innocence. I certainly experienced Narnia that way, drinking it in fully and unaware of hidden symbols and meanings. Edmund was a jerk, the White Witch was a terribly mean lady, and Narnian talking beavers put Canada to shame. I skipped happily through the series, oblivious to anything beneath the veneer of adventures in a magical land.…
