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September 2012

Re-reading some Russell Hoban for a session I'm running for A-Level students on Friday. Will definitely discuss "Unnatural practices, yes!"

Had an excellent time discussing monograph production and labour context with OAPEN-UK today. Thanks @carenmilloy and @ellenscollins.

Wonder how long it will be before advertisers insist on longer platform waits (fewer, less frequent trains) on the Tube to increase exposure

I definitely dispute some of the assertions (and assumptions) in that last retweet, but at least they're thinking about it seriously.

Announcement when just left: "this train is not in service. There should not be any passengers on this train." Nervous laughs. #traintweet

I survived the 6 hour teaching day, despite having no voice. 2 of the seminars I'd class as fantastic :P. I've turned them on to DFW!

We're doing "about literature" in week 1 of my 1st year course this term. They're getting some DFW to think about (post-)metafiction.

Wish I could skip weeks 1 & 2 of my Texts in Time course and skip straight to John Donne. I love teaching Donne's Holy Sonnets.

Just seen that I scored a consistent 4/5 on all aspects of teaching evaluation last term. That's alleviating the usual pre-term nerves a bit

Permission has been gained, from my colleague with whom I share an office, to put a Pynchon muted posthorn on the door. Excellent.

Paper for Pynchon panel at @contemporaryfic going well; I love it when, after a day of not-so-fun teaching prep, I can sit down & write.

An apology: I'm sorry for acting in opposition to my promise. Clegg: I'm not sorry about how I acted, I'm sorry I promised the opposite.

Having my own transit of Venus now. The start of term appears but a speck passing in front of the massive sore throat I've contracted.

Many happy looking new students at Sussex today. Those behind the desk at the Conservative society didn't look so pleased, but hey.

Read 2.5 books, job app, sent #ecrbook proposal to external for comment, written conf abstract, planned teaching #ecrchat #goodday

And now, the man himself! China Mieville! @TheProfRog thanking @the_blochian and @contemporaryfic for their ace organisation! #mieville2012

Truth and authority are the crucial aspects of constructed genre upon which genre theory should focus, says Rieder #mieville2012

Problem is that genre theory trivialises own stakes as "science of forms". Rieder saying it's about more than categorisation #mieville2012

Rieder not going down traditional critique of Suvin's identification of SF, but rather at what is at stake in genre theory #mieville2012

Conventions for Bas-Lag novels set in first and generic expectations established. Iron Council defies these and is "punished" #mieville2012

Sangster re-sorting various GoodReads stats and giving interpretations of data and reasons for ratings/adds (eg trilogy) #mieville2012

"You'll never unsee again", Ashil's statement in C&C, purports to give unmediated view; we know is impossible says Easterbrook #mieville2012

“@DrMobs Wow, @martin_eve . Are there people there that actually answer "What do you do?" with "I'm a combinatorial teratologist." ?”

Sanders: Children's fantasy part of broader arbitrary social separation of childhood and adulthood. It fetishes the boundary #mieville2012

Arbitrariness of rules at end of His Dark Materials retained; "it sort of thinks it should", says Sanders, paraphrasing Deeba #mieville2012

Sanders: Familiar move of tragic child return to mundane world having gained power in magical realm (Narnia, Pullman?) #mieville2012

MacNeil: Iron Council shows repetition & difference of utopian systems rather than assigning static identity to moving concept #mieville2012

In fact, more Deleuzian terms emerging in this paper than I can tweet: lines of flight, difference and repetition... #mieville2012

“@damiengwalter theory of genre here which could describe all fantastic genres as approaches to the idea of the 4th dimension” #mieville2012

Blacklock tracing history of higher space fiction; Conrad, Hueffer, Lovecraft. Let me also plug Pynchon's Against the Day. #mieville2012

Cubist & Futurist multiple perspectives, & influence from non-Euclidean geometry, also relevant for Mieville, says Blacklock #mieville2012

Mieville's use of term "aether" in PSS links directly to 19C theories of science and light transmission, says Blacklock #mieville2012

Blacklock usually gives us excellent stuff on mind-bending 4th dimensional topography. Today looks to be no exception. #mieville2012

Maps are not institutionalised in PSS; not a tool of power says Zahringer. Contrast with Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, says Eve. #mieville2012

Difference between immanent walker & map-reading voyeur; tour vs map. Map in PSS just 1 perspective & "useless" says Zahringer #mieville2012

Isn't Language in Embassytown a little problematic: how can the hosts conceive of what they want to stage beforehand? #mieville2012

A quick warning to all that I'll be posting again today on the #mieville2012 conference. If that's not your cup of tea, mute in your client.

Anthony Lang now speaking on international law in Mieville's work. His 12-year-old kid thinks it's cool he's speaking! #mieville2012

McNeil says that diegetetic structuring of Iron Council is pre-Adorno's missed moment. Optimism, not philosophy, lives on? #mieville2012

Lots of Modernist anchors at #mieville2012 today; definitely one for David James' project of Contemporary-Modernist interlink #mieville2012

A great conversation with @19thC4d gave me a great idea for one of my Chaucer sessions this term. They're now getting some Riddley Walker.

Anej Korsika (really this time) on abstractions and Mieville. Kicks off with Hegel and logics historical immanence. #mieville2012

Butler shows interesting framing of the law in City&City - ideas of externality especially considering Breach #mieville2012

Butler on police function. Reminds me of Foucault's description: dual function of repression & creation of productive subject #mieville2012

Butler points out that Ul Quoma associated with wolf. Mentioned Derrida... But given context, what about Freud's Wolf Man? #mieville2012

A quick recommendation for all at #mieville2012 who also like/are curious in Schulz: read David Grossman's See Under: Love. Incredible.

Scholz talking on our complicity and self-recognition as monsters. I'm thinking of Borlu joining Breach - coerced complicity #mieville2012

Mieville inverts Lovecraft's "weird" - can side with monsters, against Lovecraft's ingrained social anxieties (miscegeny etc) #mieville2012

Metafictional aspects of City & the City are done with light touch, says March-Russell. I'm not so sure; intra-dietetic book.. #mieville2012

In Mieville, invisibility instrument of state power, says March-Russell. Worth contrasting w/ Sam Thomas' Pynchon & Political #mieville2012

Language pre-determining consciousness also applicable to notions of unseeing in The City & The City, says March-Russell #mieville2012

I haven't read their book, but I'm not taken with their theorisation of the cloud, mostly because I think the term meaningless #mieville2012

Interesting to consider how various theories of historical employment interact w/ notion of contemporary reality proposed here #mieville2012

Mieville does not offer us a utopian vision of multiculturalism, says Pont, but rather a querying of the challenges therein. #mieville2012

Pont is looking at historical parallels with the outlawing of Catalan alongside Iron Council. Communication breakdown. #ledzep #mieville2012

My question so far, given Bassett's signposting, is how Erhsul's pre-use of language is dissembling: multiple "best friends"? #mieville2012

Mieville has argued that SF can't be judged by its import of "real" science, so shouldn't it hold for linguistics asks Bassett #mieville2012

Slide reading "insert obligatory quotation from Bruno LaTour on hybrid objects here". Then we get Pynchon's octopus Grigori! #mieville2012

Yashmeen Halfcourt in Pynchon's Against the Day also works on the Riemann hypothesis. No knitting involved, though. #mieville2012

Claims there's 4th dimensional text in Arcades Proj. I feel @TheProfRog may be making a point with humour #academicconference #mieville2012

Right. I've found time to get through King Rat and The City & The City and reckon I can jam one more in before #mieville2012. Embassytown?

Spent a long time reworking #ecrbook proposal today for specific publisher. Preliminary inquiry: they've just commissioned in my area. #damn

Sadly I won't make the Thursday wine reception opening of the China Miéville conference (with @Gylphi), but looking forward to the rest!

I think it's probably pretentious to put my new title in my Twitter name field, but that's tough. I'm going to be pretentious for a bit.

For those who know their Joe Orton, one of my FB congratulations read: "well done, Dr. Rance". The sane appear as mad to the insane.

MT @VC_UEL: Watching Paralympics Closing Ceremony tonight mostly ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶ to assess the mood of UK to AtoS.

Right. Spent last hour writing induction document for tomorrow's new workshop tutors at Sussex. Rest of the day is final viva prep.

Travelled down to Sussex for viva pep-talk with supervisor. Lovely meetups with @lizith, @jharvell, @chriskeene and @SFD85.

“@natematias @martin_eve Clearly, to qualify for the title "digital humanities,' you have to snark about digital humanities on twitter ;-)”

Odd gender imbalance in my teaching this year. Judging from names, I have no more than 3 males in any class. 2 more common. Class size 14-16

I have to confess, I've never seen "The Thick of It". @liannedemello has lent me boxset. Am I going to like it? (or is it like The Office?)