Virginia Woolf Quotes

Virginia Woolf
Quotes

From A Room of One’s Own (1929)

“[I]t is necessary to have five hundred a year and a room with a lock on the door if you are to write fiction or poetry.”

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

“[W]e think back through our mothers if we are women.”

“’Cloe liked Olivia…’ Do not blush. Let us admit that in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women./ ‘Cloe liked Olivia,’ I read. And then it stuck me how immense a change was there. Cloe liked Olivia perhaps for the first time in literature. Cleopatra did not like Octavia. And how completely Antony and Cleopatra would have been altered had she done so!...”

“Women are hard on women. Women dislike women. Women—but are you not sick to death of the word? I can assure you that I am.”

“[I]t is fatal for any one who writes to think of their sex. It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple; one must be a woman-manly or man-womanly.”

“I told you in the course of this paper that Shakespeare had a sister; but do not look for her in Sir Sidney Lee’s life of the poet. She died young—alas, she never wrote a word…. Now my belief is that this poet who never wrote a word and was buried at the crossroads still lives. She lives in you and in me, and in many other women who are not here tonight, for they are washing up the dishes and putting the children to bed. But she lives; for great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the opportunity to walk among us in the flesh. This opportunity, as I think, it is now coming within your power to give her….[I]f we have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what we think; if we escape a little from the common sitting-room and see human beings not always in their relationship to each other but in relation to each other but in relation to reality…. Then the opportunity will come and the dead poet who was Shakespeare’s sister will put on the body which she has so often laid down…. As for her coming without that preparation, without that effort on our part, without that determination that when she is born again she shall find it possible to live and write her poetry, that we cannot expect, for that would be impossible. But I maintain that she would come if we worked for her, and that so to work, even in poverty and obscurity, is worth while.”

From “Professions for Women” (1931)

“I discovered that if I were going to review books I should need to do battle with a certain phantom. And the phantom was a woman, and when I came to know her better I called her after the heroine of a famous poem, The Angel in the House….. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others. Above all—I need not say it—she was pure…. And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room. Directly, that is to say, I took my pen in my hand to review that novel by a famous man, she slipped behind me and whispered: ‘My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure.’ And she made as if to guide my pen. …. I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her… Had I not killed her she would have killed me.”

From Three Guineas (1938)

“[I]n fact, as a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world”

From Jacob’s Room (1922)

"It's not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and kill us; it's the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of omnibuses."

Bravo!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while... In the meantime, congrats on the success! Here are a few pictures from the performance. (Sorry the pictures are grainy...)

Masculinity as Masquerade

Hemingway's chest hair

W.B. Yeats' implant of monkey glands and the "second coming"

Pound readings

On PennSound

includes:

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley [549-59]:
[listen] 4. E.P.: Ode Pour L'Election de Son Sepulchre (2:45)
[listen] 5. II, IV, & V (2:59)
[listen] 6. Yeux Glauques (1:11)
[listen] 7. Envoi (1919) (from "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" at the end of Part I) (1:32)
[listen] 8. First two sections of Part II of the poem ["1920 (Mauberley)"] (3:07)
[listen]
9. Cantico del sole (0:58) [572] [text]
[listen] 10. Canto XVII ("So that the vine burst from my fingers')(7:00) [76-79]
[listen] 11. Canto XXX (0:58) [147]
[listen] 12. Canto XLV (3:12) [229-30]
[listen] 13. Canto LVI (19:30) [301-310]

and more...


Canto LXXXI

More links to Ezra Pound

Poetry Sites

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

Resources & Criticism on "The waste Land" here and here

Exploring the Waste Land

Berkeley Webcast/Courses

Get the mp3 files of various courses at Berkeley here

BBC Radio 4 Discussions on Kierkegaard, his work & life

Listen to the broadcast here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime.shtml

Kierkegaard's "Diary of a Seducer," part of his important work, Either/Or, is a great philosophical reflection on love. It's often considered to be autobiographical, drawn from Kierkegaard's decision to break the engagement to Regine Olsen and to stay celibate. Listen to BBC Radio 4's broadcast of an interesting discussion on Kierkegaard's philosophy and this episode.

Can a "sick" society produce "healthy" literature?

Can a sick society produce healthy literature? -- That is the question. If you have responses or further questions and would like to share with us, please post them in comments. Here's one that I find really thought-provoking:


"In my perception, it depends upon the modernity, which is
various from different ages and societies. I have no exact definition
about what is 'sick' or 'healthy', but if we set up a premise here
that the function of literature is to reflect the modernity of its society
the problems of the "sick" society will be presented vividly through
literature. The premise here regards literature as a doctor to society,
and the poets or authors take up some social responsibilities for the people,
not just create their masterpieces because of "art for art's sake".

In my opinion, 'healthy' doesn't stand for 'morality' or 'doctrine' but 'something to benefit society'... "

Holy Grail variations

King Arthur and the Holy Grail



synopsis of Parsifal



Wagner, Parsifal, Prelude



Monty Python & the Holy Grail, "The Knight Who Said Ni"



"three questions"

T. S. Eliot clips

("The Hollow Man" read by Marlon Brando as Kurtz, from "Apocalypse Now")
( text & explications of "The Hollow Man")

T.S. Eliot reads "The Waste Land"



(Cats, based on Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats")



Memory

Auden & America

A retrospective look at Auden and his time:
http://www.nysun.com/article/72350


"Even those leaden meditations on "nature and history" were impishly transformed in his verse. In "Archaeology," the last poem Auden wrote, in August 1973, a month before his death, he stated:

From Archaeology
one moral, at least, may be drawn,
to wit, that all

our school text-books lie.
What they call History
is nothing to vaunt of,

being made, as it is,
by the criminal in us:
goodness is timeless.?

Amis and Islam

Recent controversies over Amis' comments on Islam--
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/review/Donadio-t.html

"In the press, Amis has been accused of lazy thinking and Muslim-bashing. The left-leaning Guardian ran a prominent feature, “Martin Amis and the New Racism,” with an unflattering illustration. Things have only heated up since January, with the British publication of 'The Second Plane,' Amis’s new book of essays, subtitled 'September 11: Terror and Boredom.' (The book, which received fairly tepid reviews in England, will appear in the United States in April.)"

The Second Coming

Study Guide & Worksheets

ps-- Blackboard is not working. If you see this, please send your group response papers to me by email. Thanx. :-)

Sociological Approach to Pop Songs

If Joyce and the music of the "northern race" depress you, check this out. It is hilarious!!

http://sociologicalimages.blogspot.com/

Songs in "The Dead"

“The Lass of Aughrim”

If you be the lass of Aughrim
As I am taking you mean to be
Tell me the first token
That passed between you and me.
The rain falls on my yellow locks
And the dew it wets my skin;
My babe lies cold within my arms:
Lord Gregory let me in.
Oh Gregory, don’t you remember
One night on the hill,
When we swapped rings off each other’s hands,
Sorely against my will?
Mine was of the beaten gold,
Yours was but black tin;
Refrain
Oh if you be the lass of Aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be
Come tell me the last token
That passed between you and me.
Refrain
Oh Gregory don’t you remember
One night on the hill
When we swapped smocks off each other’s backs,
Sorely against my will?
Mine was of the Holland fine,
Yours was but scotch cloth.
Refrain



“I Dreamt that I Dwelt”

I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls,
With vassals and serfs at my side,
And of all who assembled within those walls,
That I was the hope and the pride.
I had riches too great to count
Could boast of a high ancestral name;
But I also dreamt, which pleased me most,
That you loved me still the same;
That you loved me, you loved me still the same,
That you loved me, you loved me still the same.

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand;
That knights upon bended knee,
And with vows no maiden heart could withstand
They pledged their faith to me;
I dreamt that one of the noble host
Came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt, which charmed me most,
That you loved me still the same;
That you loved me, you loved me still the same,
That you loved me, you loved me still the same.

Composed by M.W. Balfe
Nelson, Lesley. (n.d.). Folk Music.





“Silent, O Moyle” (at the end of the clip)

Silent, O Moyle be the roar of thy water,
Break not, ye breezes, your chain of repose;
While murmuring mournfully, Lir’s lonely daughter
Tells to the night star her tale of woes.
When shall the swan, her death-note singing,
Sleep with wings in darkness furl’d?
When shall heav’n its sweet bell ringing,
Call my spirit from this stormy world?

Sadly, Oh Moyle, to thy winter-wave weeping,
Fate bids me languish long ages away;
Yet still in her darkness doth Erin lie sleeping,
Still doth the pure light its dawning delay!
When will that day-star, mildly springing,
Warm our Isle with peace and love?
When shall heav’n, its sweet bell ringing,
Call my spirit to the fields above?

Lyrics by Thomas Moore
Nelson, Lesley. (n.d.). Folk Music.


“Let Me Like a Soldier Fall”

Yes! Let me like a soldier fall
Upon some open plain,
This breast expanding for the ball,
To blot out every stain.
Brave manly hearts confer my doom
That gentler ones may tell
Howe’er forgot, my unknown tomb
I like a soldier fell.
I only ask of that proud race,
Which ends its blaze in me,
To die the last, and not disgrace
Its ancient chivalry.
Tho’ o’er my clay no banner wave
Nor trumpet requiem swell,
Enough they murmur o’er my grave
He like a soldier fell

Composed by William Vincent Wallace; lyrics by Edward Fitzball


“Killarney” (No clip)

By Killarney’s lakes and fells,
Em’rald isles and winding bays;
Mountain paths and woodland dells,
Mem’ry ever fondly strays.
Bounteous nature loves all lands
Beauty wonders ev’rywhere;
Footprints leaves on many strand,
But her home is surely there!
Angels fold their wings and rest,
In that Eden of the West
Beauty’s home Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney.

No place else can charm the eye,
With such bright and varied tints,
Ev’ry rock that you pass by,
Verdure broiders or besprints.
Virgin there the green grass grows,
Ev’ry morn Spring’s natal day;
Brighthued berries daff the snows,
Smiling winter’s frown away.
Angels often pausing there,
Doubt if Eden were more fair,
Beauty’s home Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney.

Music there for Echo dwells,
Makes each sound a Harmony,
Many-voiced the chorus swells
Till it faints in ecstasy.
With the charmful tints below
Seems the Heaven above to vie,
All rich colours that we know,
Tinge the cloud-wreaths in that sky.
Wings of Angels so might shine,
Glancing back soft light divine,
Beauty’s home Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney.

Composed by M.W. Balfe


“Arrayed for the Bridal” (from Vincezo Bellini's "I Puritani") (No clip)

Arrayed for the bridal, in beauty behold her
A white wreath entwineth a forehead more fair;
I envy the zephyrs that softly enfold her,
And play with the locks of her beautiful hair.
May life to her prove full of sunshine and love.
Who would not love her?
Sweet star of the morning, shining so bright
Earth’s circle adorning, fair creature of light!

Composed by Bellini; lyrics by George Linley

On Hating Picasso

"“Imagination without skill gives us contemporary art,” says Tom Wolfe, a journalist and founder of "New Journalism," who hates Picasso.

Read the article on The New Criterion:
"Radical un chic"

Alain Robbe-Grillet, novelist and screenwriter, has died.

"An originator of the Nouveau Roman, or New Novel, and the screenwriter for Alain Resnais’s 1961 cult film “Last Year at Marienbad,” Mr. Robbe-Grillet was the very model of a postwar avant-gardist. His attempts to wrest fiction free from 19th-century constraints like plot and character, and to wrest objects free from imposed meaning, were never entirely popular with readers but had a decisive influence on critical theory and on the art of the novel, as well as on film, art and even psychology."

...

"The novel, Mr. Robbe-Grillet contended, was a 19th-century form, epitomized by the rich, naturalistic worlds of Balzac and Flaubert. The 20th century, though, was characterized by fragmentation and existential doubt, and the novel reached “a degree of stagnation,” he argued in his essay “A Fresh Start for Fiction.” He called for a radical departure: anti-realist, anti-naturalist, anti-descriptive, apolitical. “In this future universe of the novel, gestures and objects will be ‘there’ before being ‘something,’ ” he wrote. “They will still be there afterwards, hard, unalterable, eternally present, mocking their own meaning.”

Read the entire article on Times:
Remembering Alain Robee-Grillet

Two Events

轉寄: 台社論壇連二場「大學開門三件事？」與「陳冠希艷照門」
2008台社論壇「大學開門三件事？」座談會
大學開門三件事：應付評鑑、擔心退場、賣力招生？

2004年9月底，台灣的批判學術社群首度針對當時新上路的評鑑體制展開集體討論，並提出各種解決方案與社群自主的願景。之後，該研討會內容並集結成書《全球化與知識生產—反思台灣學術評鑑》（2005，台社論壇叢書4）。
然而，當年學術社群的歷史性行動似乎曇花一現，而做為規訓體制的評鑑則也愈來愈被人們以各種不同的方式予以認可與順從。
有鑑於此，此次座談會與先前不同之處在於，問題脈絡的重新詮釋與發言位置的特殊性。




問題脈絡的重新詮釋，旨在以較長的發展時間，討論高等教育十餘年來的擴張與普及化，希望藉其過程與結果來面對現今高等教育的諸多問題（例如綜合大學與技職科大、傳統老大學與新設大學、高等教育內部對年輕世代就業機會的收放與流動、以及學校系所招生與評鑑等問題）。
至於發言位置的不同，則見於本次座談會的受邀者。相對於傳統被承認的「學術社群」，與會者具有明顯的「邊緣性」或「外部性」，同時他們裡頭也有部分是經歷過不同學院位置的流動經驗。故我們希望透過各種多元的具體經驗來激發更多對話。

學術社群對於自己與所處環境的關係討論，應該持續。因為這種面對自我的反思與批判，就是民主化的一個過程。同時，也有助於我們理解台灣高等教育普及化背後的不均衡發展困境。
主持人：
馮建三（政治大學新聞學系教授）
座談與會發表人（按姓氏筆畫）：
王之相（南開技術學院副教授）
何東洪（前佛光大學社會系，現輔大心理系助理教授）
吳挺鋒（開南大學通識中心助理教授）
周芬姿（美和技術學院老人服務事業管理系副教授）
曾建元（中華大學行政管理學系助理教授）
翁裕峰（前義守大學公共政策與管理學系助理教授，現成功大學「醫學科技與社會研究中心」專案助理教授）
劉兆隆（彰化師範大學政治學研究所助理教授）

時間：3月1日（六）下午一點半開始
地點：世新大學管理學院大樓四樓 M406教室
地址：木柵路一段 111號。管理學院大樓不在世新校園內，在木柵路上考試院旁邊。
開車的朋友可以把車停在考試院對面國家考場收費停車場，每小時 20元。
搭捷運請搭新店線至景美站，二號出口出來後過馬路至景美國中對面 (景行公園 )的站牌，任何往深坑石碇方向的公車都可以，三站後在復興派出所下車。
主辦單位：台灣社會研究季刊社、世新大學台灣社會研究國際中心
聯絡：世新大學台灣社會研究國際中心 02-22360556





2008台社論壇
「性、警察、互聯網－－陳冠希艷照門的社會攻防」座談會

在台灣稱為「網路╱網際網路」的媒介，在中國大陸被稱為「互聯網」。中國大陸以嚴厲管制網路出名，而台灣網路在管制這方面也早就互聯網化、中國化了，只是還沒正名為「互聯網」而已。1989年好萊塢拍攝「性、謊言、錄影帶」，宣告新的個人化低成本攝錄影像媒介如何改變了人們性與親密的感覺、以及人際聯結的關係。在今日，個人化的影像生產工具與互聯網這一低成本流通媒介，也正同樣地改變性與身體的地景，並成為次文化或小圈圈自由集結（互聯）的媒介，然而新科技所帶來的政治潛力也正被網路警察嚴密監控。本次座談題為「性、警察、互聯網」的意義正在於此。
過去的觀察已經顯示，網路隨時可能意外地掀起波瀾，挑戰公共權威，動搖既存的性秩序。陳冠希的「艷照門」就是這樣的一個事件（典故出自美國前總統尼克森的水門醜聞）。而在秩序貌似失控的緊急時刻，為了保衛社會，各地的警察勢力斷然中止法治，恫嚇網民，緊縮資訊流通，已經引發香港網民的抗爭，餘波蕩漾。中港台網民不但對性管制、性偽善、隱私、公共「性」、娛樂工業等議題熱烈討論，還流動旁及到許多雜異的主題，儼然成為大中華區域的共同歷史事件。《台灣社會研究》將藉著這次座談，探討這個事件的多方面向，並提出批判視野。
主持人：中央大學性╱別研究室 何春蕤
引言人： 導演 侯孝賢
交通大學傳播與科技學系 魏玓
中國文化大學大眾傳播系 林純德
中研院人社中心 陳宜中
台灣性別人權協會 王蘋
作家、花魁藝色館站長 董籬（Double 12）
中央大學哲學研究所 卡維波
網路自拍實踐者 Cum Cruise（虛擬現身）

時間：2008年3月2日（日）下午1:30-5:30
地點：光點台北主題館，二樓多功能藝文廳，台北市中山北路二段18號（捷運淡水線中山站，4號出口步行約3分鐘）
主辦：台灣社會研究季刊社、世新大學台灣社會研究國際中心
協辦：光點台北、中央大學性╱別研究室、媒體改造學社、台灣性別人權協會、文化研究學會
聯絡：世新大學台灣社會研究國際中心 02-22360556

The Hapless Dilettante News

This website is hilarious. Don't miss out "Yeats, Joyce, Hemingway, Elephant" and its sequel, "Interview with James Joyce" (click on "Samuel Beckett Interviews").

Hapless Dilettante

The Modern World and its Representations

"The modernist crisis of representation was two-fold: a crisis in what could be represented and a crisis in how it should be represented... One especially influential strand of modernism, often taken as emblematic of the movement as a whole, rejected representation altogether." -- Pericles Lewis, The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism



John Cage, 4'33"


Ingrid Bergman, Persona

Concrete Poetry
Jessica Newman

Haroldo de Campos



Philip Glass, Glasswork



Action painting


Leger, Ballet Mecanique