Eve Tushnet
Doxacon! Doxacon is run by my friend Daniel and will take place November 5 – 6 in the virtual world (next year in person, we can pray), and will include talks, gaming demos, “breakout sessions” which I’m not sure what that means in this context, and liturgical prayer both online and, for those in the DC area, IRL. You can register here and it is ridiculously cheap this year for obvious reasons. I am speaking, even though the theme for the conference is “Virtuous Decisions in Fiction.” I guess it is appropriate as most of my virtuous decisions are fictional???
Anyway I’m rearing up on my hind feet and opening my muzzle to discourse on “Beyond Kicking Butt: Countercultural Representations of Strength and Victory.” Capsule description: “What’s the climax of a fantasy tale? We all know–it’s when the swords come out, or the dragons fly in with our heroes riding sidesaddle, or the wands start making with the flashes and the crackles. And we know when a fantasy story is over because there’s kissing. But which stories can show us forms of strength which aren’t violent, and forms of victory which maybe don’t feel great? Which stories will have you cheering for renunciation, endurance, healing, surrender, or reconciliation? Why do some of these stories move us and others seem cheap or preachy? We’ll discuss all this and more, with examples ranging from horror films to Havel essays, from liberal philosophy to tales of wizards and goblins.”
If you have suggestions for works in the f/sf/horror genre which might fit this talk, throw me an email at eve_tushnet@yahoo.com .
Milky Way over Cathedral Rock by Flickr user Deborah Lee Soltesz under a Creative Commons license.
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