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

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?

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

Episode 4 - Lit Theory: Structuralism & Semiotics

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!

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

A thousand pardons!

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