ellenkushner (
ellenkushner) wrote2010-02-14 05:55 pm
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Language in Fantasy (Worldcon Panel)
Yes, I am cleaning out/up my open web pages (see under: "You want to do something with this so don't close it or you'll forget") . . . here's another one:
I was on a terrific panel on Diction in Fantasy at Montreal Worldcon in Sept. 09 with Guy Kay, David Anthony Durham, Pat Rothfuss & Mark Gascoigne (no, I wasn't the Token Girl. The panel did not in fact have any girls assigned to it. I was having tea with Guy in the Green Room, and said I wished I'd been put on that panel as it is exactly the sort of thing I like to talk about, and Guy - as moderator - said, "Well come on, then!" So I did). I just discovered that a kindly man* took notes, and posted the gist of what was a very interesting conversation - the kind you always hope a panel will be, but so seldom actually is. I credit Guy as Best Moderator Ever, and the other panelists for all-around brilliance. We really got a chance to chew on some big ideas.
Here's the link.
*Niall Harrison of the editorial staff of Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, on the Vector Blog. Thank you, Niall!
I was on a terrific panel on Diction in Fantasy at Montreal Worldcon in Sept. 09 with Guy Kay, David Anthony Durham, Pat Rothfuss & Mark Gascoigne (no, I wasn't the Token Girl. The panel did not in fact have any girls assigned to it. I was having tea with Guy in the Green Room, and said I wished I'd been put on that panel as it is exactly the sort of thing I like to talk about, and Guy - as moderator - said, "Well come on, then!" So I did). I just discovered that a kindly man* took notes, and posted the gist of what was a very interesting conversation - the kind you always hope a panel will be, but so seldom actually is. I credit Guy as Best Moderator Ever, and the other panelists for all-around brilliance. We really got a chance to chew on some big ideas.
Here's the link.
*Niall Harrison of the editorial staff of Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, on the Vector Blog. Thank you, Niall!
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Happy Valentine's Day to you and Delia, by the way!
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Yeah, it's funny how Alec's a bit of a prude about language. He really doesn't swear in everyday life. I wonder, if I were writing an 18-yr-old today, if he would? But I certainly had a foul enough mouth myself when I was writing Swordspoint, so it's not like I didn't know. It's just the way he is. He doesn't think people should talk about bodies. It embarrasses him.
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Wish I could have attended that panel!
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Exactly!
This is exactly how I explain my own work. When a person reads my fantasy, s/he should be transported into a foreign place--full of strange ideas and images, events and perceptions--that will be internalized until it is no longer foreign. I think, when reading SF/F, readers should become ex-patriots. Personal opinion, but that's what I think.
I utilized the same technique when I was translating foreign literature into English, and it worked out very, very well.
I've rambled. I'm sorry. I was just so excited to read that statement, I had to come over here and tell you right away ^_^
I need to go finish reading those panel notes, now...