Brief Note: Beth Penny, Friend extraordinary of the Dickens Project, has written the following account of this year's Universe for her Dickens Fellowship publication and has asked whether we would like to read it. And of course we would!
Monica Bosson is preparing a report for us from the standpoint of a graduate student who attended her second Universe. She promises we will get her impressions to us in a day or two, and I must say I am looking forward to it.
Patrick McC
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The Dickens Universe, UC Santa Cruz, August 1997
"Contrast" was definitely the word of the week. At the 17th annual Dickens Universe, 180 conference-goers (twice 1996's attendance) spent the week contrasting Dickens with Austen, and Austen with her several 20th-century interpreters. Also examined throughout the week, which certainly provided contrasts of its own in the weather, were various and fascinating contrasting notions of heroes and heroines. Through an extraordinarily warm first few days and a damp, drizzly close to the week of August 3-9, we heard lectures, attended workshops, drank tea, learned to dance, watched movies, and were entertained by a magician.
The week opened with "The Hero of my Life," the keynote talk, written by Dr. David Parker, Curator of the Dickens House Museum in London. The paper, which deftly contrasted the title character with romantic hero Steerforth, was delivered by Universe co-director John Glavin of Georgetown University. Dr. Parker, unfortunately, could not join us this year (the first year he has missed in some time) because of his mother's illness. Early-morning workshops this year were led by Philip Collins of the University of Leicester, Joss Marsh of Stanford University, and Jack Hall of the City University of New York.
The morning lecture series opened on Monday with a lecture entitled "Austen and the Narratives of Chance" by Maaja Stewart of Tulane University, who discussed the fact that women (embodied of course by Jane Austen) experienced the 19th century differently from men. On Tuesday morning, Jacqueline Jaffe of New York University gave an equally fascinating talk on "Exposure and Evaluation: Theories of Punishment and Control in David Copperfield and Pride and Prejudice." This in-depth comparison and contrast of the two novels proposed an interesting (and much discussed throughout the week) theory, that, as Jaffe said, in David Copperfield "everyone gets away with everything"; in other words, punishment in this novel just does not work.
Relaxation in the form of nightly postprandial potations and the Friends of the Dickens Project's afternoon teas was enjoyed by all attendees. Afternoon lectures included "Fact and Fiction in David Copperfield," by Philip Collins; "Dickens in China," by the husband-and-wife team of Ling and Yang Zhang, who are the principal translators of Dickens into Chinese; "Charles Dickens and a View of Victorian Childhood," by Susan Healey and Tony Pointon of the University of Portsmouth; and "Fagin Refashioned: Twentieth Century Appropriations of Oliver Twist in Film and Musical Media" by Elizabeth Boje of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Other lectures included "Going Unsteadily from the One to the Other: Split Mothers in David Copperfield," by Ruth Ginsburg of Hebrew University in Jerusalem; "Prejudice in Jane Austen, Emma Tennan, Charles Dickens-and Us," by Gerhard Joseph of the City University of New York; "Boxing Jane Austen," by Helena Michie of Rice University; and "A Tale in Two Media: Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities Adapted 1911-1991."
On Thursday evening, the featured lecture for the weekend conference, "Re-versions," was "Royal Poses: Elizabeth, Di, and Fergie do Victoria," by Adrienne Munich of the State University of New York, Stony Brook. The evening before, a "Victorian Panel," made up of Jack Hall of CUNY, Jim Kincaid of USC, Angie Mason of the BBC, and moderator Joss Marsh of Stanford, gave their varied views on "Depicting the Victorians," and on Tuesday evening, costumed participants were led in 19th-century dance instruction by Angela Elsey of Santa Cruz.
A high-school teachers' workshop was conducted throughout the week by Julie Minnis of Santa Cruz High School Several of the lectures focused on the weekend topic of translating the 19th century to the 20th, particularly in film. To accompany these discussions, the following films were unspooled after the evening lectures: A&E's brilliant rendering of Pride and Prejudice (in parts, throughout the week); the 1935 MGM David Copperfield; and Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. On Friday evening, participants were treated to a book auction, the proceeds of which benefited the Friends of the Dickens Project, courtesy of donor Vic Zoschak of Tavistock Books; a reading of the Mr. Bumble/Widow Corney courtship scene from Oliver Twist by actress Miriam Margolyes; and a fascinating magic show by east coast performer Robert Olson, who has perfected techniques used by 19th-century magicians, with no 20th-century embellishments.
For next year's Universe (on August 2-8) the novels will be Oliver Twist and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Thanks to the Dickens Project staff, including co-directors John Jordan of UCSC and John Glavin of Georgetown University, for another wonderful week.
Beth Penny of the Dickens Fellowship
Subject: Dickens Universe 1997 (2)
Here, as promised, is Monica Bosson on the 1997 Dickens Universe, with my thanks to her and repeated thanks (and apologies for misnaming her report) to Beth Penny. PJM
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Dickens Universe 1997
First, I would like to say thank you to Beth Penny for her detailed description of this year's Universe. As a graduate student attending the conference for the second time, I can only hope to add a somewhat different perspective on the week's events. So, here we go....
As Beth said, the week was one of contrasts, but it was also one of comparisons. Perhaps the most pressing issue for the academics attending the conference was whether or not the pairing of Dickens' *David Copperfield* and Austen's *Pride and Prejudice* was valid. This meant that we had to discover and define what kinds of assumptions scholars make when they pair texts. Indeed, much discussion centered around the ways in which the two novels intersect and whether such intersections are organic or forced by the desire to find connections. Finally, the consensus was that such anxiety was useful in promoting good scholarsip but ultimately, a moot point. So, we all relaxed into an intellectually invigorating week.
Although Beth Penny has already provided an overview of the lectures, here is a synopsis of some of the highlights of the lectures from my standpoint.
The keynote lecture of the Universe, "The Hero of My Life," centered on a discussion of Carlyle's definition of a hero as a man of letters whose heroism is achieved through work. As Beth pointed out, the paper contrasted Steerforth as the Romantic hero (the hero of narrative) with David Copperfield as the hero of the bildungsroman (the hero of drama). John Glavin's 'performance' of David Parker's paper (see Beth's note about David Parker's absence) was truly inspired. Standing at the podium as he read directly from the paper and then stepping away from it when he commented on David Parker's words, John Glavin's performative technique was often evoked throughout the remaining days of the conference.
On Monday morning we were treated to Maaja Stewart's (Tulane U) lecture, "Female Experience and Universal Truth," which revolved around a discussion of Austen's letters and the argument that larger social and historical realities are not repressed in *P&P* as is often assumed. Ruth Ginsberg's Monday evening lecture, "Going Unsteadily from the One to the Other: Split Mothers in *David Copperfield*," used Freud's work to explore the ambivalent attitudes towards mothers in literature. She argued that such ambivalence necessitates the split in *DC* between the bodiless girl (Clara Copperfield) and the maternal, nourishing body (Clara Pegotty).
The literary work began anew on Tuesday morning with a lecture by Jacqueline Jaffe from NYU. Centering her lecture around Foucault's *Discipline and Punish*, in "Exposure and Evasion; Theories of Punishment and Control in *DC* and *P&P*," Jaffe exposed the different ways in which punishment is either present or absent in the two novels. Her lecture elicited much excited discussion throughout the week. Whereas no one in *P&P* gets away with anything, she argues that the world of *DC* is a "form of utopianism" where the state apparatus does not work, thus allowing everyone to get away with everything.
On Wednesday morning, Gerhard Joseph (CUNY) lectured on prejudice in both novels and presented an interesting argument about the different ways in which that word functions in the world of the two novelists, as well as our own. Looking at sequels to Austen's work, "Prejudice in Jane Austen, Emma Tennant, Charles Dickens -- and Us" explored the ways in which Emma Tennant's modern sequels, *Pemberley* (1993) and *An Unequal Marriage* (1994), reshape the "nature and affective impact of the original" work. His argument centered on the premise that all hermeneutics, or "how we understand what we understand," is dependent on a "pre-understanding." The evening panel on "Depicting the Victorians" was very informative. In particular, Jim Kincaid's 15-minute synopsis of the meaning of history and Victorian studies evoked both laughter (at his wit) and awe (at his high-wire daring) from the audience.
The lectures for the Dickens Universe ended with Helena Michie's "Boxing Jane Austen," which discussed the ways in which male affectivity works in both the novel and the A&E film adaptation. She argued that male affect has the power to reorder the universe in the film adaptation. This pairing of the text and film provided a seamless transition to the first lecture of "Reversions," the weekend conference.
That lecture, Kamilla Elliot's overview of film adaptations of *A Tale of Two Cities*, raised a point that continually resurfaced throughout the weekend conference -- What is the role of faith and fidelity to the original text in the production of adaptations? This point was also central to the keynote lecture by Adrienne Munich (who gave a fascinating talk on food and Queen Victoria at last year's weekend conference), which focused on the ways in which "our Victorians exist [only] as reproductions and reconstructions." She made this argument by highlighting the "traces" of Queen Victoria present in the contemporary British royals Elizabeth, Di, and Fergie.
Now in full-swing, the weekend conference was a whirlwind of lectures on the various ways in which reversions to Victorian texts and issues can be defined and explored. These lectures ran the gamut from Kelly Hagar's (Harvard) discussion of the resurfacing in contemporary adolescent literature of the Brontes' novels, to Hilary Schor's (USC) lecture on A.S. Byatt and the way in which literature itself constitutes "real property" for the author, to John Jordan's (UCSC) illuminating overview of his present research on revisions of Dickens by postcolonial authors, to James Buzard's (MIT) discussion of cultural studies and the argument that the popular "repudiations of the Victorians amy [in fact] lead to a Victorian reversion." Although too numerous to be discussed in detail, all of the weekend lectures provided us with new ways of reading the Victorians, but more particularly, new ways to read how we read the Victorians!
Of course, the conference itself is much more than a week of scholarly lectures. The late-morning discussion sessions provided a chance to mull over the issues that the texts and lectures raised, while the graduate student seminars were always informative and lively. In addition, we were treated to screenings of films, a magic show, a rousing Regency and 19th-century dance in the Town Hall, nightly post-prandial potations, and a hilarious performance by Miriam Margolyes! Bravissima! The pleasure of all the participants was evident when John Jordan and the Universe staff received a standing ovation after the announcement of the end of the Universe and the unveiling of next year's texts, *Oliver Twist* and *Alice in Wonderland*.
Despite the nonstop schedule of the conference, many participants still found time to take advantage of the great weather by escaping to Santa Cruz's lovely beaches, riding the famous rollercoaster on the boardwalk, playing darts at a local pub, and attending the offerings of the Santa Cruz Shakespeare festival, as well as making appearances at the impromptu nightly parties that provided the opportunity of dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
On a final note, and as a part of the graduate student committee picked for the honor, I am happy to say that the tradition of dressing the "hanging man" statue in front of the Town Hall was reinstated after a slight lapse last year. This year the statue was dressed as Miss Mowcher from *DC*. Although too tall to be a convincing midget, the statue in its new-found garb was immediately identified by the conference participants!
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to John Jordan, John Glavin, Murray Baumgarten, and the energetic staff of the Universe for an unforgettable week on the beautiful UCSC campus (despite the fact that the elusive banana slug never appeared this year!). In addition, I would like to thank Patrick McCarthy for allowing me the opportunity to attend for the past two years. This has been both an invaluable experience for me and a lot of fun!! I speak for all the grad students when I say that I am eagerly anticipating the fall follow-up conference at UC Riverside!
Monica Bosson, Grad. Student (UCSB)