The weekend was quite dreary - apart from class on Saturday (which I realise will be quite an exciting challenge once my predecessor leaves) nothing else brightened the days. To add to the general sense of gloom, I spent Saturday evening glued to the television watching Kevin Connor's adaptation of Frankenstein on Hallmark.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was one of the few novels I truly enjoyed studying for M.A - I normally don't enjoy the classics. Appreciate them yes, but enjoy them, hang on to every word till the last page? Rarely. It was the postmodern, postcolonial and feminist texts that really got me going. Frankenstein, though popular under the genres of science-fiction and female gothic, has many sub-texts and deals with mythological, religious, psychological and postcolonial themes as well. Voila - can it get any more exciting? I spent many an hour in the University Library poring over Ellen Moers' The Female Gothic, Gilbert & Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination and hunting down reference books dealing with the novel.
I'd earlier seen Kenneth Branagh's adaptation starring Robert DeNeiro - admittedly it was a far more dramatic and faster-paced adaptation, but the one I saw on Saturday captured perfectly the sense of fear, dread and horror that the novel inspired in me. Gloomy or not, I'm glad I caught the movie :-)
On a different note, I had to pen a script for the kids to enact at the Christmas party hosted by Alliance Française de Poona each year - it's been a long time since I indulged in any creative writing ;-) LOL!
For those of you who can understand even basic French I've put it up on France Say. Take a look!
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20 comments:
I actually understood a good bit of the post at francesay! Francay - that's a good play on francais. Are you a student of the French language, or do you teach at (or represent) the French School in Pune ?
Keep up the practise on creative writing - having skills polished always helps :)
huney...dont u think the script is a lil heavy for fransay??...hehehe ...kiddin... good one tho...maybe now u can start a "mosaique litteraire" for all ur french stuff...
keep it comin
Most of your posts want me to go back and reread my classics. :)
I remember saving almost *all* the money my dad sent [was in hostel], only so could buy myself all the penguin editions. :))
Delhi univ apparently has/had a complete different array of titles.
Dynamic Proxy - Well FranceSay isnt the name of the play; it's the name of the blog where I put up the play. I like to think of myself as a perennial student, however I have also recently started teaching French.
Kitana - Mais non ma chere, les autres qui y contribuent, elles ecrivent les poemes pour le blog...et moi? J'ai juste mis les poemes de poetes fameux ou les citations. Alors c'est mon premier 'post' original la bas! Est-ce-que je pourrait mettre ta creation la bas?
Blue Athena - Heheh good to know I have that effect ;-)
Oh Geets, don't throw me out but I must confess to some disappointment at the Post Colonial part - Univ engendered a distrust of the post colonial. Will rant about that some other time!
But yes, studied Frankenstein in class in MA and did you also read Mary Poovey's My hideous progeny and the killer from Spivak (when you could get through the woman's opaque prose!) Frankenstein and a Critique of Imperialism? I must admit though that culture and history read through Literature was really what got me going, esp towards the end.
I think I caught a bit of the film but had some other nonsense to attend to! :-(! Those were the days though - of nothing to do but read and gather at the chai shop to discuss it to death. Christ, I want Univ back!! :((
I forgot to say - you've got yourself a deal - the next time you're here, you must come and take a dekko at my books. And since you would take care of them as well, feel free to borrow. :-)
je l'ai lue. pas mal ma cherie .ca serait plus bien s'il ya un element de humour.....c'est mon avis. tu peut prendre les idees de fables de jean de la fontaine.
ou tu peut ecrire une dialogue entre les martiens et les habitents du terre?????oh mon dieu je vois trop des films sci-fi.
Dynamic Proxy - Well FranceSay isnt the name of the play; it's the name of the blog where I put up the play
ACtually, I did figure out that it's a blog devoted to various artifacts and activities related to the French language.. I was talking about how "FranceSay" sounds similar to "Francais". I believe "Francais" is pronounced as "Fransay"..
Extempore - Not throwing you out at all :-) You're entitled to your own views, likes and dislikes ma chere...though I must admit I'm very curious abt the 'distrust' bit! Shall defi take you up on that offer to look and borrow your books!
Aparna - Ah oui, c'est change. dans mon original idee j'ai inclus un peu d'humeur...mais bon le prof a tout change...l'autre sketch est tres tres humureux! Il faut le lire! Peut-etre je vais te l'envoyer...
Dynamic Proxy - Hehe well I thought you were trying to get that analogy but was deliberately being difficult since "Francais" isnt pronounced the same as France Say unless you happen to pronounce France the way the French do and Say the way the English do...;-)
WTF!!! I could swear on my grave i posted!!! I posted saying ill be in pune on the 8th, 9th and 10th, for a wedding, so i was wondering what you're doing around then... let me know... (you'd better not be in bombay.
Pronounciation help, please:
Do the Frech pronounce "Française" as "Phron" + "say" ? With the "n" in Phron being nasal and not pronounced ?
I've always wanted to learn a new language. Indians often know so many languages as compared to people from other cultures ! So it's a toss between Lojban, French, and German. My friend TimeLord introduced me to Lojban but I haven't made time to study that ineresting language yet.
BTW, have you travelled to France ?
BGFS - Repld to thy command to stay put in Pune, via email :-)
Dynamic Proxy - Well, the french pronounce "Français" as "Phron" + "say" ? With the "n" in Phron being nasal and not pronounced. With "Française" on the other hand, you also have to pronounce the "se" as "z" since the word ends in a vowel...maybe you should sign up for French classes at a local Alliance Francaise coz I can't handle all language related questions on my blog!
And yes I have been to France once...
Merci, Mademoiselle (or is it Madam/Madame ?) for the explanation.
I loved the abundance of chocolate in all their food products. They've a rich variety of bread too! I liked the (chocolate filled) croutons and the bagette.
Due to the nature of my work, I travel quite a bit, and I miss that chocolate ;)
Sure, I'll sign up for classes sometime, but I need to make time first. I know, I know, it's all up to me :)
I read FRANKENSTEIN and enjoyed her style. I just couldn't figure out why it's mostly seen as horror. What's the tagline - THE MODERN PROMETHEUS? I figured Frankenstein was the one she wanted us to doubt. I thought the mad professor figure of Hammer Films evolved from that idea; I haven't probed that thought anywhere.
For some reason (had something to do with the rebirth of Anakin as Darth Vader and the way it was arranged - slowly being risen without moving a limb), this summer, I watched all Frankenstein and Dracula films I could lay my hands on. The creature (I learned in EngLit class not to call it monster - political correctness) is almost everywhere made to move very slowly while Mary W.-S. described him as strong AND swift as the wind, also, he could disappear into nowhere. Sadly, film-makers made him into a ghoulish figure. Remarkably successful conception that aliens, vampires, and ghouls move like blind people on marihuana.
When picking up the novel some years ago, I look for horror. Are suspense and flash-back more recent inventions? I was surprised that so early in the novel, the creation was finished and that never one was unsure of what peril was in attendance. I don't have anything to compare it with. The only other older novel I could think of that I have read is DRACULA and that is 80 years younger, so, a completely different time.
What's your icon? Is it the making of the one ring?
Dynamic Proxy - Oui, c'est mademoiselle.
Canan Hiesekiel - I have to ask. Are you German? The tagline has to do with the prometheus myth of wanting to be God and getting punished for it (just as Frankenstein did in the novel...)
Yep I too noticed how the creature (infact he's referred to as the creature even in the novel) moves so slowly in the film adaptation. The Hallmark adaptation did show him moving swiftly later in the movie - I guess once he apparently gets accustomed to himself?
The flash-back is part of the narrative - notice how it's woven in layers? As for the suspense, I'm assuming the film makers decided to make the most of it to attract the crowds...
My icon? I don't think I got that...
Dynamic Proxy - Oui, c'est mademoiselle. I normally don't talk to young women, but I think I'll make an exception for you. French teachers must not be very immature, non ? :P
I think he's referring to the image of the Indian Lamps (Diwali Lamps ?) that you have as your blog image.
yup, that's what I meant by icon. So they're oil lamps, I guess now I see it. Thanks.
Of course I'm German. Thanks.
And HA! The young-women-thing is really funny. I like it when people confess their prejudices. It's not the easiest thing to do.
I liked what social conventions (?) Mary W.-S. presented, meaning the way people relate to one another and the beautiful feelings for one another within the family and what people share/ don't share. It felt right and important how Branagh included sex. But I think one could say more about that. The father-son relationship, creator-creature if you wish, is vital; I have difficulty seeing that in Branagh-DeNiro.
Dynamic Proxy - Most honoured that you decided to relax your rule abt young women this time! So you normally associate only with older women or is it just men? ;-)
Canan Hesekiel - So I was write abt your German-ness! :-) May I also ask if you're the same as Hanka Silence? Our comments volley has turned into quite a conversations hasn't it?
The oil-lamps as you said are Diya's - from last year's Diwali pooja. I get the feeling you know what that is about...
Yeah Brannagh's adaptation did bring in sex - which was very important in sketching ou the creature's character as more 3 dimensional. If you could see the Hallmark production, you'd get to see that as well as the creator-creature, father-son and several other relationships explored...longer film so obviously time could be devoted to diff aspects.
I hope you become a regular on my blog...it's been fun exchanging views! :-)
So you normally associate only with older women or is it just men? ;-)
I've got a few gay and lesbian friends, and I enjoy their company too. I myself prefer older women :)
Ellen Moers' The Female Gothic, Gilbert & Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
You bring back fond memories!
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