tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80855772009-07-15T19:36:32.568+01:00... rantings, ravings and ramblings of a strange fiction writer and carnival freakHal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.comBlogger486125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-39400159004289881072009-07-13T22:35:00.004+01:002009-07-13T22:39:27.663+01:00

Forgot to say: there's an interview with me up at Suite 101, in a number of pages:First partSecond partThird part(I think there's a broken link to a 4th page. Hey ho.)Fifth(?) part

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-3265890765036226062009-07-13T21:43:00.000+01:002009-07-13T21:45:17.723+01:00

After the splash of posts that I linked to the other week in the “Mimetic and Maieutic Fiction” entry, a long discussion kicked off on Jeff VanderMeer’s blog, with the focus spreading out in all sorts of ways. One subject touched on was the question of just how much the “literary” fiction faction was really as snooty about the “genre” fiction faction as the “genre” fiction faction tends to

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-91183730059968608282009-07-10T09:09:00.002+01:002009-07-10T09:13:45.273+01:00

/ðɪdɔɡzbark andðɪkaravanmuvzɔn/ (Truman Capote)FigurationThe fundamental components of any literary articulation — as a babbling in sound or a squiggling in ink — are phonemes or graphemes, verbal or visual figurae. Two phonemes: a voiced dental fricative and a schwa. Three graphemes: a standard-bearer’s wooden pole and cross-bar; a little hut with a rounded roof and a tall chimney; a tadpole,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-54266613047468337972009-07-07T19:06:00.002+01:002009-07-07T19:28:36.073+01:00

As I just found out, Vélum has been short-listed for the Prix Europeén Utopiales 2009. Awesome!The full short-list is:Le Déchronologue de Stéphane Beauverger, éditions La VolteLe Livre de toutes les heures, Vol. 1. Vélum d’Hal Duncan, éditions DenoëlEn panne sèche d’Andreas Eschbach, éditions L’ AtalanteGagner la guerre : récit du vieux royaume de Jean-Philippe Jaworski, éditions Les Moutons

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-68244024467639471272009-07-06T21:43:00.002+01:002009-07-06T22:01:18.210+01:00

Some thoughts on recent conversations on the blogosphere.  You may have to read the "Notes Toward a Theory of Narrative Modality" entry to get what I mean by "quirks", "warp" and suchlike.  But, hey, taking that stuff for granted I managed to keep this down to 2K.  And most of it is quotes.1. Mimetic fiction is to strange fiction as instrumental music is to any music with lyrics — choral / a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-61580499632325065812009-07-05T01:58:00.002+01:002009-07-05T02:06:49.572+01:00

In literary fictions the plot consists of somebody doing something. The somebody, if an individual, is the hero, and the something he does or fails to do is what he can do, or could have done, on the level of the postulates about him by the author and the consequent expectations of the audience. Fictions, therefore, may be classified, not morally, but by the hero’s power of action, which may be

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-6029485963932450142009-07-02T20:02:00.000+01:002009-07-02T20:03:21.083+01:00

1The man came from his caravan,In barking of dogs. The strangers stood.They said, we have to move you onFrom what has been and what has gone.The man replied, there’s nothing goneBut what you’ll lose not moving on.They summoned writ: but move you will.We’ve bricked a scheme for you, a dreamOf things made new by tick of tock.We are the shepherds of the flock.2A click. Twitch cord to calm a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-37316911719517210272009-06-30T04:42:00.002+01:002009-06-30T05:06:47.543+01:00

Dear Anonymouse,I fear I may be about to be a bit brusque with you. I’m not even sure this is entirely necessary, to be honest, given that I’m going to be, for the most part, simply reiterating what I’ve already said in response to your comment to Sulla on my archive post, “The Homosexual Agenda”. There are even, in fact, some aspects of your comment that I find sort of charming, like your

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-77201216377812601762009-06-25T22:47:00.002+01:002009-06-25T22:52:56.316+01:00

The Fan and the Last ManBy way of Larry of OF Blog of the Fallen, by way of Jonathan McCalmont of Ruthless Culture, quoting from Mark of K-Punk, here’s a quote I want to get my pointy little teeth into:“In many ways, the academic qua academic is the Troll par excellence. Postgraduate study has a propensity to breeds trolls; in the worst cases, the mode of nitpicking critique (and autocritique)

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-2146325694014982182009-06-24T19:02:00.004+01:002009-06-24T20:06:02.995+01:00

A One-Sided Conversation“The lemurs must have done it!”“No, Jack, I did not make the lemurs eat your -”“But I don’t give them peyote that often.”“Stripy is not giving you the evil eye.”“I will not use ritalin on them just because you -”“Well, you could stop aggravating them for a start.”“They wouldn’t be doing that if you hadn’t shot at them.”“Yes, you can, Jack. It’s called self-control.”“It

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-61063550069742161252009-06-18T04:13:00.002+01:002009-06-18T04:16:37.535+01:00

If you didn't already see this on SF Signal, max the screen, spark up a J, sit back and enjoy. This is... impossible to describe.Civilization by Marco Brambilla from CRUSH on Vimeo.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-4910716954778875922009-06-17T18:54:00.002+01:002009-06-17T19:08:52.727+01:00

I’m bringing this response to this comment to the front page, because it’s too long for a comment and worth addressing here anyway, I think. So, S Johnson says:Forbidding the critic to prescribe is itself a prescription.Which is why I have not attempted to do so. I have simply argued, and will continue to argue, that there are different modes of critique identifiable according to whether they

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-4321870889404870512009-06-16T20:05:00.002+01:002009-06-16T20:08:05.270+01:00

Sacrificing AssumptionsIf I write a review of an epic fantasy novel as someone who doesn't really care for epic fantasy and is looking to see whether this particular novel is significantly better and/or different from most epic fantasy novels, and thus worth reading even by those who don't care for epic fantasy, am I not serving the community of like-minded readers? — Abigail Nussbaum, comment on

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-76794306347645666582009-06-15T23:12:00.003+01:002009-06-16T20:13:40.923+01:00

If I take your meaning, then the authority you're talking about here isn't the authority to decide what is good and bad, but the authority to claim that one's own standards of good and bad are universal, or simply better than others'. I have to say, I don't think this is the sense in which most of the people who lob the authority grenade at reviewers use it. — Abigail Nussbaum, comment on a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-28666866370101442642009-06-14T08:51:00.005+01:002009-06-14T09:23:51.515+01:00

Kathryn Cramer makes some points on her journal which make me want to better explain what I mean by ethical critique. I may be opening up a can of worms here, in how this bears on what Cramer refers to as “Fail crit”, because I think that “Fail!” judgement is a moral reaction and I’ve made my position on morality pretty clear, on numerous occasions; I consider it invalid even when I’m ethically

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-58496326154886461172009-06-10T07:13:00.003+01:002009-06-10T07:40:51.840+01:00

A response to comments by Abigail Nussbaum and Matt Cheney on the previous post, brought up-front cause it grew stupidly long.Abigail: We're coming at the term authority from subtly different angles here, I think. Those are both good points, but...OK, first point first. Actually, I don't doubt that defensiveness is often the motivation when this charge is leveled. It should probably be the

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-9697310424355358722009-06-08T03:12:00.002+01:002009-06-08T05:05:43.794+01:00

Are We Calling This EthicsFail Yet?I’m guessing there’s few readers in the strange fiction field who won’t know what kerfuffle a post with “ethics” in the title is going to be addressing. For those who don’t a good overview of the furore can be gleaned from reading Abigail Nussbaum’s entry and the various posts linked to in it. And if it’s yucks you're after, Jeff VanderMeer and Evil Monkey

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-31117808573374224482009-06-03T20:08:00.005+01:002009-06-03T20:16:06.578+01:00

Who will win?! Only YOU can decide!!!OrAll credit (or blame) for the first YouTube clip to Ian Hunter of the GSFWC.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-14684336148029754762009-06-02T14:19:00.002+01:002009-06-02T15:51:53.137+01:00

Man, according to the BlogPatrol thingy I have running to check referrers and suchlike stats, my post on the BSG Mutiny arc seems to be still getting hits from forum discussions of how badly the finale sucked. How people can still be arguing over this, I don't know.Dudes, forget the deus ex machina. Forget the fact that the Flying Spaghetti Monster did it. (Remember, that last line about how "

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-43035589258712696562009-05-29T14:55:00.001+01:002009-05-29T14:57:06.967+01:00

It's all true, of course. Every word of it.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-53397134684985561422009-05-29T14:16:00.002+01:002009-05-29T14:20:41.944+01:00

So Bob Millington, formerly of PHUK, has set up another webzine thingy, and thought it might be interesting to chat with meself in a wee interview thingamabob. I make no claims to deliver on said interestingness, but hey, tis here if yer curious.As you were.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-10324477833440050972009-05-20T22:38:00.004+01:002009-05-22T14:00:45.189+01:00

The question of the week over on OF Blog of the Fallen is: What is literary fiction… “how you would define it, what examples you would cite, and your relationship with that term”?My own response refers to the previous question on “otherness” and the notion of abjection I applied to it in my own post on the topic. Literary fiction is, I think, the X defined by the abjection of “genre fiction”. I

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-52833038850669739612009-05-19T13:04:00.002+01:002009-05-19T13:45:34.956+01:00

Je suis retourné! Je voudrais ne pas parler Anglais -- c'est une langue des bêtes, j'ai décidé -- mais... ah, mais... mon Français est toujours très les mauvais. Désolé, mes amis, désolé.Donc... I shall return to writing in boring old English, though perhaps with the ocassional "merde!" thrown in just so I can practice that impossible French "r" sound in my head. Anyways, I don't have to time

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-8657659580297677822009-05-12T21:38:00.002+01:002009-05-12T21:43:51.639+01:00

Over on OF Blog of the Fallen, Larry asks a "simple question": could you please define what the term "otherness" means to you and to the world around you?On a basic level, "otherness" to me is just the quality of being other, not part of oneself, not part of a group one is a member of, or simply not that -- or not part of that -- which is the subject of attention. It is what is foreign, alien,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-17044134202193593302009-05-10T16:24:00.002+01:002009-05-10T16:29:19.083+01:00

Anna Tambour blogs, with no small sense of bitter irony on the Eureka prize for “ethics in science” (awarded by the Australian Catholic University) going to… “a book in which [Professor Garrett Cullity] argues that the altruistic model of restricting one's life to aid another is flawed and that it is not morally wrong to live a life of rich personal fulfillment.”M. John Harrison on what should

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306hal@halduncan.com2