litGEEK

So, about that "weekly podcast" thing ...

2007-10-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who has commented or emailed me in the um, almost year that it's been since my last podcast. I'm really sorry I've been away from the project for so long. I'm amazed that there's still an audience for my meager, sporadically-updated content - thank you!

Unfortunately, I don't have a new podcast to post today, but I did want to let everyone know that I haven't fallen off a cliff or been the victim of a giant earthquake or anything else of the sort.

I don't know when the next episode of litGEEK will be up. Episodes six through nine are outlined, but not completed. I can promise that I will return to this project, but I can't promise when. I'm in the final stretch of my undergrad and it's a mad scramble to finish 17 credits worth of school stuff while starting a new job in a new industry. (I get to learn new terms and be geeky about non-lit things. Sweet.) I'm still trying to figure out where the sweet-spot is in terms of work-school-life balance because I will likely be enrolled in some form of formalized education for the rest of my life.

I'm not whining, or trying not to - I am very, very lucky to have the support necessary to finish an undergraduate degree as an adult. But the choices I made in 2007 ultimately resulted in a lot less free time for fun projects.

Please, keep emailing and commenting. And I'll try to do a little better about keeping up my end of the bargain once I can get things rolling, again. (And, if I actually get into an MAT program, I'll try not to pull another disappearing act.)

Fair enough?

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

Episode 5 - Lit Theory: Post-structuralism, Deconstruction, & Postmodernism

2007-01-07T17:05:00.000-09:00

litGEEK is back after an unplanned hiatus! Happy New Year!

Today's episode features Post-structuralism, Deconstruction, and Postmodernism, Dr. Dino Felluga's Introductory Guide to Literary Theory and music from Martin Ekman and Matt Pond PA.

While these podcasts are not comprehensive, I do go over a lot of names and terms in a pretty short period of time. Here are the names and terms included in today’s episode:

Important Critics:

Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Julia Kristeva.

Important Terms

aporia, difference, trace, ecriture, hymen and phallocentrism, and pharmakon

Featured site: Dr. Dino Felluga's Introductory Guide to Literary Theory.

Today’s featured artist, Matt Pond PA, appears courtesy of both the band and their label, Altitude Records. The featured track is Matt Pond PA's Halloween, from "Several Arrows Later." Bumper music is from Martin Ekman's Hanging On. The LitGeek theme music is Saffron Steps by Cagey House, courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Podcast inspired by Vade Mecum.

Want to know more about Post-structuralism, Deconstruction, and Postmodernism?

Siegel, Kristi. Intro to Literary Theory.

Wikipedia. "Post-structuralism"

Wikipedia. "Deconstruction"

Wikipedia. "Postmodernism"

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

Episode 4 - Lit Theory: Structuralism & Semiotics

2006-12-25T00:07:00.000-09:00

Today's episode features Structuralism and Semiotics, SWIRL, and music from Cagey House.

While these podcasts are not comprehensive, I do go over a lot of names and terms in a pretty short period of time. Here are the names and terms included in today’s episode:

Important Structuralists

Claude Lévi-Strauss, A. J. Greimas, Jonathan Culler, Roland Barthes, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Vladimir Propp, and Terence Hawkes

Important Semiologists

Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Michel Foucault, Umberto Eco, Gérard Genette, and Roland Barthes

Important Terms (both schools)

binary opposition, mythemes, sign versus symbol (sign and signified), and structuralist narratology

Featured site: SWIRL: Your Guide to Post-Millennial Paradigms.

Today’s featured artist, Cagey House, appears courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Three Cagey House songs were featured: Saffron Steps, which I use as my theme music, The Ming Thing, as bumper music, and That Hypothesis, in its entirety. Podcast inspired by Vade Mecum.

Want to know more about Structuralism and Semiotics?

Chandler, David. Semiotics for Beginners.

Siegel, Kristi. Intro to Literary Theory.

Wikipedia. "Structuralism"

Wikipedia. "Semiotic Literary Criticism"

I also mention the new presence of ads on the site (I'm hoping to break even on my media hosting costs), the new litgeek.us domain, filename changes, and the move to a weekend upload. Whew! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

A thousand pardons!

2006-12-14T23:04:00.000-09:00

I'm terribly sorry I've run so late with the latest litGEEK episode. I won't give excuses, but please know that I was psychically apologizing to each and every one of you.

sincerely,
LATE geek
litcast@gmail.com

Episode 3 -- Lit Theory: New Historicism & Reader Response

2006-12-14T23:03:00.000-09:00

Today's episode features New Historicism and Reader Response, Virtualit, and music from Joe Sibol.

While these podcasts are not comprehensive, I do go over a lot of names and terms in a pretty short period of time. Here are the names and terms included in today's episode:

New Historicism

Important New Historicists -- Stephen Grenblatt, Clifford Geertz, Louis Montrose, Catherine Gallagher, Jonathan Dollimore, and Jerome McCann. Michel Foucault is mentioned, but he is usually considered a post-structuralist.

Important Terms -- discourse, episteme, power, self-positioning, and thick description.

Reader Response

Important New Historicists -- Louise Rosenblatt, Wolfgang Iser, Hans-Robert Jauss, and Stuart Hall.

Important Terms -- horizons or expectation, implied (or ideal) reader, interpretive communities, and transactional analysis.

Featured site: Bedford St. Martin's Virtualit.

Today's featured artist, Joe Sibol, appears courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Two Sibol songs were featured: Empty Hallways, as bumper music, and Up All Night, in its entirety. The LitGeek theme music is Saffron Steps by Cagey House, courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Podcast inspired by Vade Mecum.

Want to know more about New Historicism and Reader Response?

Hedges, Warren. "New Historicism Explained"

Lee, John. "Reader Response: Various Positions"

Siegel, Kristi. Intro to Literary Theory.

Wikipedia. "New Historicism"

Wikipedia. "Reader Response Criticism"

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

Episode 2 -- Lit Theory: New Criticism

2006-12-05T15:39:00.001-09:00

Today’s episode features New Criticism, Dr. Kristi Siegel’s amazing Intro to Modern Literary Theory site, and music from Magnatune.com artist Lizzi.

While these podcasts are not comprehensive, I do go over a lot of names and terms in a pretty short period of time. Here are the names and terms included in today’s episode:

Important New Critics – I.A. Richards, T.S. Eliot, F.R. Leavis, William Empson, Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Cleanth Brooks, William K. Wimsatt, and Monroe Beardsley.

Important Terms – close reading, intentional fallacy, artificial fallacy, and heresy of paraphrase.

The works mentioned are The Intentional Fallacy by Wimsatt & Beardsley, Thoughts After Lambeth by T.S. Eliot, and Using Biography by William Empson.

Featured site: Dr. Kristi Siegel’s Intro to Modern Literary Theory

Today’s featured artist, Lizzi, appears courtesy of Magnatune.com. Two Lizzi songs were featured: Remedy, as bumper music, and Me, in its entirety. The LitGeek theme music is Saffron Steps by Cagey House, courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Podcast inspired by Vade Mecum.

Want to know more about New Criticism?

First Things. “The Old New Criticism”

Wikipedia. “New Criticism”

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

Episode 1 – Lit Theory: Five Minutes to Formalism

2006-11-30T19:20:00.000-09:00

Today’s episode features Formalism, the site that inspired me to do the podcast (Vade Mecum) and music from Magnatune.com artist Reza Manzoori.

While these podcasts are not comprehensive, I do go over a lot of names and terms in a pretty short period of time. Here are the names and terms included in today’s episode:

Important Formalists – Viktor Shklovsky, Mikhail Bakhtin, Boris Tomashevsky, Yuri Tynanov, and Prague Linguistic Circle members Roman Jakobson, Jan Mukarovsky, and René Wellek.

Important Terms – defamiliarization, plot/story distinction, dialogism, carnival, Heteroglossia, and polyphony.

The works mentioned are Jakobson-Tynyanov Theses and Problems in the Study of Literature and Language, also by Jakobson and Tynyanov.

Featured site: Vade Mecum.

Today’s featured artist, Reza Manzoori, appears courtesy of Magnatune.com. Two Manzoori songs were featured: Union, as bumper music, and Origin, in its entirety. The LitGeek theme music is Saffron Steps by Cagey House, courtesy of podsafeaudio.com. Podcast inspired by Vade Mecum.

Want to know more about Formalism?

Kristi Siegel's Intro to Literary Theory

Wikipedia's entry on "Formalism (Literature)"

Feedback? Comment here or email me at litcast@gmail.com.

LitGeek Promo

2006-11-29T14:42:00.000-09:00

I've created a Promo for the new LitGeek podcasts. Join the LitGeek as I study for the GRE Subject Test in English Literature. I'll discuss theory, key terms, and major authors.

I'm indebted to Vade Mecum for inspiring this podcast (and having an amazing amount of study material in one place) and to Cagey House for my theme music, Saffron Steps (downloaded from podsafeaudio.com).

Get the Promo here.

Watch this space.

2006-11-28T17:25:00.000-09:00

I'm super-excited. The primary source for my proposed podcast has granted permission. Now, to finish scripting the first episode.

We're all mad, here.

2006-11-27T17:43:00.000-09:00

Studying like mad. Feeling fully freaked out that I'm less than 6 months out from my GRE subject test and nowhere near prepared.

Yes, I am freaked out that I still have almost six months to prepare and that I don't know the entire canon of English literature.

I am a geek, indeed.