By Michael Winkelman with apologies to John Donne To the religious Donne, the circle was the symbol of God. “O Eternall and most gracious God,” he wrote in a prayer in his Devotions, “who, considered in thy selfe, art a Circle, first and last, and altogether.” In the circles of his own world and in […]
Author: Michael
(after W.B. Yeats) by Michael A. Winkelman, La Tuta Young, woke profs, by true love perplexed,With coiffed, hip, Photoshopped profiles,Interrogate the forlorn textsOf sad men, from Love’s realm exiles,Who lying alone with weary heartStitched their pains into lasting Art. All retweet there, all post online,All ‘Like’ the blogs their kind curate,All make space safe for […]
By Michael Winkelman with apologies to John Donne Log on with me and you’ll so love To shop online for lots of stuff: Trending E-books, or sparkly things Which Amazon’s drone swiftly brings. There will the pixels silvery shine On Ebay merch whispering “thine!” And there myriads can waste their hours To screens inclinèd, like […]
Review: Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (1935) Say It Ain’t So, Jo, Say It Ain’t So! My Dear Ms. Walton, Though epistolary convention calls for declarations of true love to come in the valediction, I humbly beg your ladyship’s pardon for announcing it right here at the beginning: Jo, je t’aime! I love thee for conceiving of […]
Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama Burlington, VT and Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2005.
Cognitive Studies in Literature and Performance New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. About the Book: Investigations into how the brain actually works have led to remarkable discoveries and these findings carry profound implications for interpreting literature. This study applies recent breakthroughs from neuroscience and evolutionary psychology in order to deepen our understanding of John Donne’s Songs […]
“Elizabeth, Queen of the Jungle: Prehistoric Primate Politics in Renaissance England”
Abstract
February 9, 2016
Academics are keenly aware that at present, the Humanities are being buffeted by hostile external forces. An honest appraisal, though, would reveal that in the contemporary university, the liberal arts suffer from enervating internal maladies as well, an important one being a widespread but unfounded bias against science. My essay will be something of a program statement or manifesto in favour of New Humanism or bioculturalism: an approach to the study and teaching of history and literature that – while taking into account specific local ecological factors – is constructively strengthened and informed by recent discoveries in the life sciences. Fields such as cognitive neuroscience, behavioral genetics, and evolutionary psychology are leading to nothing less than a verifiable understanding of universal human nature, one that is richer and more comprehensive than the constructivist, P.C. theories that currently prevail in teaching and publishing about literature, history, and related subjects. The question, then, of whether or not to incorporate these ongoing discoveries is not wholly insignificant.
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The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua (2015) merits hyperbolic kudos, methinketh. (The author’s website is sydneypadua.com.) This graphic novel presents a fun and funny account of inventive 19th-century number-crunchers Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, who are considered by some the first computer scientists, and their Promethean attempts — ultimately unsuccessful — to construct a functioning, programmable Difference Engine. They were about a century ahead of their time.
Michael A. Winkelman
Reader in Imaginary Books, Unseen University
17 November 2015
Review: Dawn Ius, Anne & Henry (New York: Simon Pulse, 2015)
That Bodgy Boleyn Girl; or, We Will Sometimes Be Royal
For Charles Beem, the king of queens
Rex quondam rexque futurus! Once again the Tudors rule. We have of late witnessed a veritable onslaught of books, movies, and other popular media devoted to the dynasty that reigned over England from 1485 to 1603, whilst scholarly attention to the period hath also continued unabated. The twin poles of this feverish interest have been King Henry VIII, he of the six wives, and his daughter Elizabeth I, the never-married Virgin Queen. Perhaps the most unexpected and bizarre contribution to this crowded field is the young adult novel Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius. In this story, Henry Tudor, who is Mr. Popular at a private high school in a posh suburb of Seattle, Washington, finds himself inconveniently attracted to the new bad girl in town, one Anne Boleyn. The central couple narrate events in alternating chapters, starting with Henry and ending with Anne. In some ways it’s an intriguing premise – what if?! – but unfortunately this book is not very good at all. Myriad examples of excellent, creative YA fiction abound, many based on history, but this is not one of them.
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I really feel pretty OK Here dwelling in my Room— Though if you Text me to Hang Out I’ll ready be—Quite Soon! Like steelhead trout that in the sea And in a stream can swim— Against the Flow or with’s all right— I’ve Whole Pools of Joy within—