Re:Views

Fall 2015

Write Only What You Want to Write: Interview with Laura Dockrill and Filip Krajník

Fleming & Bond: The Secret Agent Story

Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative

Tento projekt vznikl za finanční podpory a taktéž nemateriální pomoci Grantu TGM Spolku absolventů a přátel Masarykovy univerzity, Filozofické fakulty MU, Katedry anglistiky

a amerikanistiky FF MU, Brno Expat Centre, ESCape, Krmítka a Plánotisku.

This project was realized with financial as well as non-material help and support of TGM Grants of Alumni and Friends of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts MU, Department of English and

American Studies FA MU, Brno Expat Centre, ESCape, Krmítko, and Plánotisk.

Unless stated otherwise, contributions in the magazine do  not necessarily express opinions of the entire editorial staff, external contributors and staff, sponsors, partners and patrons, Department of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, or Masaryk University. Neither does the magazine wish to act as an official medium for communicating opinions of the above mentioned subjects. Authors of the particular articles and pieces are solely responsible for their content. Unless stated otherwise, the magazine does not own

any of the pictures or photographs; their authors or owners are always credited. The magazine is a non-profit project.

Editorial staff

Markéta Šonková, editor in chiefAnna Formánková, chief of staff

Martina Krénová, finances and webTereza Pavlíková, PR

Šárka Panochová, external staff coordinatorBlanka Šustrová, editor

Tereza Walsbergerová, editor in waiting

Cover picture and permission to use it was kindly provided by Laura Dockrill, photo credit Dhillon Shukla.

Dear readers,

An academic year has gone by and here comes a brand new issue of Re:Views, our third so far. Some things changed, some remained the same, yet I am pleased to say we, as well as the whole project, keep moving forward. We had to say goodbye to Bára Orlická, but we also welcomed Tereza Walsbergerová as a new permanent team member. Some of our external writers contributed again, couple new joined, and we are very glad to see that the whole project keeps growing, for which a big thanks goes also to you, our readers!

The underlying theme of the issue you just opened is creativity which connects and brings together some of the core articles, reviews, and interviews, turning the magazine into a playful and inspirational mixture of ideas. Moving from illustrations in literature, Creative Writing Contest, and perks of being a subtitler, through literary and film reviews, to the highlight of this issue - the interview with Laura Dockrill and Filip Krajník, the creativity is truly omnipresent in the Fall 2015 edition.

Have you ever wondered what have the house-elves in common with their fellow wizards? How can an arrival - both fictional and real – to a British university look like? How can a creative conception of a book and its artistic content influence you as a reader? And how about the new and eagerly-awaited Bond movie? If you answered yes even to only one of the questions, then you are in the right place.

Dive in, like the mermaids in one of Laura’s works, or go fearlessly ahead like Ian Fleming and his Bond. Either way, have fun, because that is what it is all about!

On behalf of the Re:Views team, Markéta Šonková editor-in-chief

It is believed that usage of low-resolution images for scholarly, commentary, criticism, research, and the like purposes qualifies as fair use. We used all the book covers with this in mind and credited all the respective authors.

External Contributors

Lucie Horáková, Denisa Krásná, Zuzana Motalová, Pavla Nováková, Melissa Upton,

Tomáš Varga, Jan Zajíček

Barbora Orlická, honorary member

Katarína Gažíková, editing and quality checkŠtěpán Šonka, graphic design

Contents

Subtitles .................................... 4 - 6

Interview ................................. 7 -16 Write only What You Want to Write .................. 7 - 10 Works of Laura Dockrill .......................... 11 - 12 Translating for Children means Greater Responsibility ................ 13 - 16

Illustrations ........................... 17 - 20

Co-op Housing ..................... 21 - 24

Bristol .................................... 25 - 26

Canada .................................. 27 - 29

Language and Content

Policing ................................. 30 - 33

Reviews .................................. 34 - 43

Fleming .......................... 34 - 37

Spectre ............................ 38 - 41

Robert Olen Butler: Severence ....................... 42 - 43

CWC ...................................... 44 - 49

Purgatory ....................... 44 - 47

Wendigo ......................... 48 - 49

AWC .... ................................. 50 - 51

KAA ...................................... 52

4 Subtitles Subtitles 5

When the Videos Speak to You, but Not to the Others:

The Subtitler’s Struggle

By Anna Formánková

Please do not take the following article too seriously. I was not that serious writing it.There are moments in life when a video, film or a TV series needs to be seen. Not just by those who can speak the language, but by everyone. Those are the moments when the brilliance of the writing, and on-point jokes and arguments have to be shared. With family, friends, enemies, that whiny neighbour who is never happy about anything and hates your dog with passion... EVERYONE. One person is hardly able to create a fully-fledged series dubbing. Subtitles are, therefore, the way to go in order to widen the audiences of the piece. So one simply goes and brings the video to life in another language through a brand new, shiny set of subtitles. And yet...

DO IT DESPITE TECHNOLOGY

Of course you can search the vast lands of Internet to find subtitles made by somebody else. But is that the challenge? Is that it? After years of studying English at university, can’t you just use your skills of

the English (grammar) nazi and nail it yourself? Of course you can. Translating skills are the essential ability of a good translator and subtitle maker; however, if the subtitler can’t get along with the specialised programme, that is where the process ends. Of course there can be another person

who can retime the subtitles for you. But unless one wants to turn into the pain in the neck, it is essential to conquer the technology. It’s not only retiming, but also encoding, frame speed, or special characters. Even though it might seem intimidating at first, once conquered, conquered forever.Then it is only a matter of patience, long battery life of all the devices used, and a successful upload on the website. As for that matter, always follow the instructions, it’s all there. Even if it seems tricky, the website will guide you. And it would be a waste of all that hard work if you did not manage to share the results with the world. And nobody wants that to happen. (Save for the competition – but who wants them to win? Not you.)

FORGET THE OTHERS, JUST DO IT

As amazing a translator as you might be, once you delve into the waters of the community, you will inevitably have to come into contact with the rest of the translating world dwellers. No matter how brilliant you are, there is no way around it. Then you should get familiar with the several groups of people in the subtitling field:

Self-Proclaimed Masters of EnglishThey think they are perfectly skilled (even though they are not) and happily start ruining any audiovisual work they fancy. This group then divides into people who can accept criticism and either build on it or stop subtitling; and into those who ignore any advice and keep on disfiguring the poor videos, being rude to those who mean well and who ask them – the so-called translators – to stop the torture.

Rude Jon SnowsThey know nothing of the harsh life of a subtitle maker and they think that translating is super quick and easy, and that those who can’t give them 900-line subtitles in six hours are wimps who are just buggering about all day. Scarily enough, these individuals sometimes evolve into the type mentioned above.

“I Would Prefer Not to” aka Backseat DriversPeople who have the necessary language skills,

but somehow don’t feel they should or can make subtitles. So they lounge around the subtitling forums and websites, sometimes giving (often unsolicited) advice to the translators and basically waste their talents. The reaction they get fairly often is: “Why don’t YOU do it, then?!”

Sensible Subtitle MakersPeople who have the language skills and take on translating projects matching their abilities. Sometimes they make a mistake, either in the translation or in the technical matters. They can also get really angry, both with themselves and the people who dared to point out the flaws (but mainly with themselves – for allowing the mistakes to happen). They mostly accept the comments and try to improve their work based on the feedback (which can be sometimes really infuriating and patronising).

As a rational human being who wants to do the work well, prosper in the community for a longer period of time or even plan on a career in subtitling, you should find yourself in the last group. If you are not interested in subtitling whatsoever, please disregard all of the abovementioned classification. However, you might find it handy as subtitling is basically a metaphor of life. You can disregard this comment as well, nevertheless, one day you might need the subtitling metaphor in your life, but it won’t be there. As it has been said above, if the subtitles are to be shared with the world it is inevitable to come into contact with other people in the community. Though chiefly online, one should at least strive not to make enemies – basically, not to get into the forum/website admins’ bad books. They are the ones that can turn the upload cloud into a fiery hell: pulling the subtitles, making up reasons for not accepting them, cancelling your holy grail of automatic authorisation (and nobody wants to lose that privilege). As for the rest of the community (see typology above), it is inevitable to crash into people who will make one see red, for example when they – following the discussion on whether or not to use the book translation in a TV adaptation – crash all the arguments by insisting on the dogmatic

Even though the ‘Subtitle Edit’ programme might seem a bit complicated it is actually quite easy to work with as it features many useful tools, such as audio waveform add-on or a format converter.

Interview 76 Subtitles

status of the book translation, because the book was first. One might try arguing, which could be the reason why Shakespeare’s works have been translated several dozen times, but it usually isn’t worth it. It’s always better to leave it alone. Shout at the screen for a bit and then delete the comment right away as such are the uploader’s powers and privileges.

DO IT FOR THE BETTER WORLD

There are only few things in the world of an English major that are worse than automatic video caption. And one of them is badly done, man-made subtitles. Sometimes they are not just wrong, they turn evil. Pure evil. We all know that YouTube meant well when they decided to have a machine for the automatic caption, to capture the words said out loud in the videos. Their subtitler is just a programme, an artificial creation which does not possess the human brain powers.

However, if a real person, a being that should be educated and have the capacity and/or a conscience, chooses to impose their misinterpretations on an innocent TV series episode, drag it through the mud and ditch it among the other disfigured bodies of their damaged fellows... Dante’s account of Hell lacks the description of a circle appropriate for these people. As the piles of subtitles maimed by such inconsiderate individuals get bigger and bigger, there is no other way than to step in and save those that have managed to evade the torturers’ attention.

When the feelings of despair over a ruined TV series add up to all the above mentioned, the force that drives one to stand up for the abused audiovisual works is immense. But it’s not only the subtitle messiah complex. You want all those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy the piece, have the chance to judge for themselves. Of course you are showing off your skills, but they are needed for the translation to be a good one, right? At the end of the day, you create the subtitles to widen the audiences of the film or the TV series and make the world a tiny bit more cultivated place. Because a bit of a nice translation never hurt anybody.

Glossary

subtitler: the translator and subtitle maker in one person

retiming: adjusting the timing of subtitles according to another version of the video which might differ in frame speed and editing (e.g. forced commercials which get cut out differently). That is a whole new level of a subtitling challenge, for that part, translating is the easiest thing.

technology: to start translating/creating subtitles you only need the video for which the sub(title)s are to be made and a specialised subtitling programme; there are many free or open source programmes, such as Subtitle Edit or Subtitle Workshop.

website: there are many various websites where the subtitles can be stored and shared, some of them focus on TV and films as such and the subtitle section is included to supplement their services

automatic authorisation: depending on the website, subtitles can be either uploaded without any previous control, or – to ensure a certain standard – the server administrators provide a pre-upload check, assessing the quality of the file. Verified translators who consistently upload high-quality subtitles can then receive the privilege of automatic authorisation: their subtitles are uploaded automatically without any previous check needed

uploader: the person who uploads the subtitles on the website, it does not necessarily has to be the subtitles’ author. Sometimes translators and subtitle makers cooperate, the former translating the actual text and the latter turning it into a working subtitle file and uploading it on the Internet. Also, as sad as it is, your subtitles can be even (re)uploaded without your knowledge, either with or without giving you proper credit.

automatic video caption: YouTube video special function; when the subtitles are not provided for the video, their automatic programme tries to capture the spoken word, more or less successfully.

by Martina Krénováedited by Blanka Šustrová

Such are the words of Laura Dockrill who was kind enough to spare a few minutes to answer our questions. Writing is only one of her many accomplishments as she is a woman of numerous talents; apart from being an author, Laura is also a performer and an illustrator. Laura’s works cover various genres, diverse characters, but they all have a few things in common: a creative spirit and an empathy towards all the heroes and heroines, whether feisty of insecure ones. It is not difficult to find yourself in any of her works, because even though her characters come from different worlds, they all have quite ordinary struggles. And when Laura starts to perform poems, the rhythm of her performance draws you in. Whether you are an aspiring artist or “just” a reader, she has the power to reach and inspire you.

You are a writer, an illustrator and a performance poet; tell us, where and when did it all start?

I have written, performed and drawn since a very young age, it has always been a second nature for me to play, create, make, show off… whether that be stories, art, theatre. I am only truly happy when I have a creative outlet of some kind bubbling away nicely. I guess the performance poetry was the first time I began doing for a real life job, calling my art “work”.

Did The Brit School of Performing Arts influence your creativity in any way?

Yes, I found the Brit school hugely influential. Mostly I felt encouraged to know there were others that responded in the same way that I did to art and making. It gave me confidence in myself to take risks and be brave as we discovered new artists and celebrated established ones, too. For example,

we would spend months at a time learning about Steven Berkoff or The Beatles or David Lynch. Absorbing ourselves entirely in the work and way of thinking of those free thinkers. That is an amazing way of schooling and inspiration.

Growing up is very hard, it is easy to feel like you have to fit in and tempting to imitate and not want to stray from the norm for safety and security and fear of being judged.

Write Only What You Want to Write

© Laura Dockrill; Corgi ,Transworld Publishers, The Random House Group

8 Interview Interview 9

In one of the interviews I heard you say that Roald Dahl is your ultimate favourite author; is there one book that you like the most? And what exactly about his writing did you as a child find so inspiring and captivating?

It is completely terrifying that people quash their identities and uniqueness to be like everybody else.

Yes, The Big Friendly Giant is probably my all time favourite, but it is so hard to choose. I love the Big Friendly Giant’s character so much. I find him charming and kind, I love that he doesn’t change his values to fit in. He does his own thing. It’s a beautiful and reassuring story but you still get the ugliness and wickedness of the giants to counteract that. I love the way Dahl doesn’t patronize his readers, doesn’t change his approach to the text and language or content whether he is writing for adults of children. He had an amazing imagination, a dark sense of humour and always managed to polish everything off nicely with a moral.

What other authors influenced your childhood and how?

Spike Milligan, Sylvia Plath, John Cooper Clarke, Edward Lear, Ernest Hemingway, Jaqueline Wilson, but most recently I love food writers. Nigel Slater and Marina O’Loughlin are my absolute favourites.

Darcy Burdock is not an ordinary child, she has a very vivid imagination and she writes poems and short stories. Did you as a child keep a diary and write stories and poems as well?

Yes, absolutely. I don’t think diaries are really that healthy because although cathartic, I find them miserable and ploddy, they often highlight the negatives - it is nice to live your life rather than analyzing and investigating it the entire time. Doing something creative, for me, was a much more productive form of expression.

What gave you the idea to write the Darcy Burdock series and when writing it, did you go back to your own diaries for inspiration?

No, I didn’t go back to any old diaries - HA! They are all in the bin! (joking) But I got the idea because I wanted to create a feisty female lead that was just doing her own thing. Darcy is opinionated and passionate, but she makes errors and that’s really important in a protagonist, especially for children, that they are relatable. I also wanted to create a character that was passionate about their

art, proud of it. Darcy is mostly just me though. Although I wish I was more like her. How important do you find the illustrations to be when creating your work? Is it something not to be separated from the narrative?

I just draw. I always have done. I don’t think too much about it, I just pick up a pen sometimes and

find lines coming out and go with it. It is fun and relaxing. What are your thoughts on the Italian cover of the first Darcy Burdock book? Do you think that it lacks the essence of Darcy’s spirit?

No, I absolutely adore the Italian cover. I think they have done a gorgeous job. It’s different from mine, but special and beautiful.

I had the first Darcy Burdock book with me at my friend’s and gave it to her 12-year-old sister who, after finishing the book, just took out a notebook and a pen and started writing. Was it your intention to create something that would inspire young girls to be creative?

That’s absolutely lovely! I  am so glad to hear that. It wasn’t a deliberate intention but I guess anybody being inspired by something you’ve made is wonderful to hear and really special. I would love if it inspired young people to pick up a pen and have the confidence to write.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I would tell all aspiring writers to never give up. To write only what you want to write - don‘t focus on the reader too much because you will have no control over who finds your writing. To share as much as possible. To get feedback from as many different places but take all with a pinch of salt. To let yourself make mistakes and don‘t punish yourself. To try and idea out even if you‘re unsure of it - be experimental and brave.

A lot of your characters are a bit different from the rest of the world they live in, in Darcy Burdock there is this beautiful poem about being different. Are you trying to send out a message to your readers to embrace their difference and not be afraid to be who they are?

Most definitely. I think it is a must. Growing up is very hard, it is easy to feel like you have to fit in and tempting to imitate and not want to stray

from the norm for safety and security and fear of being judged. I hate that. It is completely terrifying that people quash their identities and uniqueness to be like everybody else. Individuality should be celebrated, it is what makes our planet so special.

Ugly Shy Girl and Mistakes in the Background have an unusually arranged text that looks playfully chaotic. What is the reason for it?

I wanted to create books that were special, secrets and nuggets of magic exploding everywhere on the page. At the time I used to work like that, even just as home for no reason making birthday cards for friends etc, I was developing my own style, finding my voice I guess, playing around and experimenting. And I had an amazing editor, Claire Bord at Harper Collins, who was constantly encouraging me to be brave.

Individuality should be celebrated, it is what makes our planet so special.

Ugly Shy Girl is a story of a girl being picked on for being different and out of nowhere a murder happens. What inspired you to give it such a twist?

That short story is a delicate piece of work that is fictional. I was finding a writing voice with this piece, it was the longest story I had ever written and I was exploring with form and language. I wouldn‘t say it was a twist, it‘s revenge, an outburst.

Darcy likes colours, in Lorali there are the beautiful tapestries that define the mermaids. You are often seen to wear colourful clothes and make-up. What are your favourite colours and why? What do they represent for you?

My favourite colour is sparkles. I cannot describe how I feel about colour because it is much more internal but I know I have a strong relationship with colour, light, shadow and it inspires all my work greatly. Thanks for saying nice things about my work.Lorali is a beautiful story for young adults featuring mermaids. Why mermaids?

© Cinzia Sileo, Fanucci Editore

10 Interview Interview 11

I  am obsessed with the bizarre and strange, I wanted to make a fairytale lead female that was not prepared to buckle under pressure and had to be beautiful and alluring but I’m not much up for your regular princess, she had to be weird and odd, so I stuck a tail on her! I love the sea and have spent lots of time in Hastings over the last ten years, I’ve gotten to know it and wanted to give the seaside town a heartbeat. The story just started writing itself, at first I thought it was something I’d just try but before I knew it I was building a world.

Lorali is quite different from Darcy Burdock. How was the process of writing different? Was it more challenging, putting mermaids and modern pop culture together?

Yes, they are different, Darcy has become such a comfort blanket for me now, I could write in her

for years and getting my head around the three voices was challenging at times, sometimes their voices were sounding seamlessly similar so I had to define them and embody them. I guess writing the seas opinion was a brave leap of faith that I really wasn’t sure if it would work or not. I wanted to just be playful and imaginative. It is very hard building a world from scratch, too, as you can write yourself into a corner. The pop culture references actually were the easy bit, it is creating moral laws and a society under water that is a challenge. And also working with so many characters.

Echoes is a  collection of 26 retold modernized fairytales that is disturbing, horrifying, at times even darker than the brothers Grimm fairytales, yet very amusing. Where does it all come from? And which one is your favourite?

I am fascinated with the macabre. I  love dark writing and have been heavily influenced by classic

tales. I enjoy to collide the beautiful with the ugly, growing with death and fear with comfort. I am influenced by writers such as Angela Carter and Roald Dahl where there is often a juxtaposition of good and bad, joy and terror. I wrote a very long time ago so it‘s hard to say which story I bonded with the most but I think “Gutted” is probably my favourite because a young artist illustrated the story for me for a school project and she did it so beautifully it made me love the work even more. She completely elevated it.

Your works have been translated into a few languages. Do translators contact you? How often? Do you enjoy working with them? Do you find it important?

My Czech translator Filip Bul Krajnik is absolutely amazing, checking things and trying to do a great job. Obviously, Darcy has her own tongue and speaks in her own style which very much relies on her “darcy-isms” and some of these are very British in reference and tone, relying on puns or jokes or sounding words or rhyme so I didn’t even think the books would sell around the world, because the voice of Darcy is so personal to her and the book itself is character lead; I feared it would isolate readers outside of the UK, but it has been totally overwhelming to know that the book is printed into languages that I can’t read! That is funny. So yes, it is a must that a translation can adapt your work, make the jokes and voice of a character translate. I feel very lucky.

Are you working on a new book right now?Yes, a new Darcy Burdock, a fifth book in the series. And something else which is a secret.

You are also a performance poet. I have seen a few of your performances on YouTube and I  love listening to you because you bring them to life. You seem to enjoy it very much. What do you like more, performing or writing?I don’t really “perform” so much these days. But when I read I love it just as much as I always did… and I’m always performing anyway - every day in my own little way.

I enjoy to collide the beautiful with the ugly, growing with death and fear with comfort.

Works of Laura Dockrill

by Martina Krénová

Mistakes in the Background

After the book was published, Laura Dockrill quickly gained a place among the top ten talented authors of 2008. The book combines a unique style of writing and an artistic collage of her own illustrations with clippings, various papers, labels, and even shoelaces that inspire to be creative. The narrative is very funny, witty and honest. Wears the Trousers magazine describes the book as “an absolute treat …it’s about pure, old-school imagination and art. The poetry shines with playful juvenilia, discussing everything from childhood memories and sibling feuds to croissants, robots and opinionated inanimate objects. It often runs like stream-of-consciousness prose, and is both articulate and wildly creative. The passion that has created this work is evident in every sentence and illustration.”

Ugly Shy Girl

Published in 2009, it is a story everyone knows, of a girl bullied for being different. But unlike many, she gets her revenge. The book is a combination of the omniscient narrator with diary entries and illustrations as well.

Echoes

This darkly humorous and terrifying collection of 26 stories, either modern-day or retellings of the classics, will leave you with a range of emotions, from being scared through disgust to amusement. The stories are full of wit, energy, charisma with, once again, illustrations that complement the atmosphere of the narrative.© Laura Dockrill, HarperCollins

© Laura Dockrill, HarperCollins

12 Interview Interview 13

Laura Dockrill is an English writer, illustrator and performance poet. She attended The Brit School of Performing Arts in Croydon where she other creatives such as Kate Nash and Adele. Laura likes performing of any kind; from performing at different festivals such as Glastonbury and Latitude to reading stories and poems for children. She loves children literature and lists Roald Dahl among her favourite authors and her influences. Her early works Mistakes in the Background, Ugly Shy Girl and Echoes, where she combines writing with her own illustrations, earned her a placement among the top promising authors. She is currently writing the fifth book of the Darcy Burdock series for pre-teen children. Her most recent book is Lorali, a novel for young adults where the world of mermaids and the sea merges with our modern culture.

Photo by Dominika Sirná, 2015

Laura Dockrill

Darcy Burdock series

A pre-teen book series narrated by a 10, soon-to-be-11, year old girl about her daily struggles at home and school that anyone can relate to. Darcy is a very creative and observant young lady who learns that some people might not be as bad as they seem at first and who puts her own experience and wild imagination on paper. Together with Laura Dockrill’s illustrations it is a perfect read for the whole family.

Lorali

Published earlier this year, Lorali merges two worlds; a modern world with the one of the sea and mermaids. The tale of a modern day teenage boy discovering a naked mermaid, a princess escaping her world, on the shore offers narrative voices not only of the two very relatable protagonists, but also of the Sea who describes the history and politics of the world under water that will leave you desiring to be a mermaid or a pirate.The two worlds put together result in creating a story about family, friendship, and falling in love any young adult can relate to.

Sources:http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007300594/mistakes-in-the-background

Translating for Children Means Greater Responsibility

An Interview with Filip Krajník, the Czech Translator

of the Darcy Burdock Series

by Martina Krénováedited by Blanka Šustrová

You are the translator of Laura Dockrill’s Darcy Burdock series. Why did you choose to translate a series for pre-teen girls? Tell us the backstory.

Actually, it wasn’t me who made the choice. I’d love to say that the book chose me or something like that to create a bit of cheap dramatic effect, but the truth is that I was chosen by the Czech publisher. More than two years ago, I stopped by the offices of Argo publishing house in Prague to discuss some translation I was doing for them at the time and decided to make use of the opportunity and say hi to Alena Pokorná, the editor in chief of Argo’s children’s department. She has an absolutely wonderful office in the attic of the building, with many bookshelves filled with children’s books – one of the most beautiful workplaces I’ve ever seen. I don’t actually remember what happened there, but I do recall myself leaving Alena’s office about half an hour later with a little blue book with some weird girl and a sheep on the cover which I promised to translate without actually having read a single word of it. When I arrived home, I opened the book and after a couple of pages my thoughts were like, “Oh my God! I’ve just made the biggest, fattest mistake in my life! I can’t translate this – this is a book for GIRLS. Narrated by a girl. Who is ten and paints her fingernails different colours. And yes, she’s totally CRAZY!” But then I learned that Darcy, the book’s eponymous narrator, hated mushrooms – which I despise as well – so I decided to give it a try. (Laughs.)

What is it like to translate books narrated by a young girl for young girls? Does it take you longer than

translating books for adult readership?

It wasn’t too easy and I’m still not sure whether I’ve succeeded or failed. But, on the other hand, every book is difficult in one way or another and you always have to put some extra effort into your work in order to translate it properly. The aim is always to produce a piece of writing that looks as if it had been originally written in the language, not showing any signs of it being “just” a translation (although the readers, of course, know they’re not reading the original words by the author, which is part of the game). But, as I said, this particular book was not an easy one. I had to come up with a believable language for a ten-year-old girl, conveying her inner world and most private thoughts in a convincing way so that Czech girls could relate to her. But when reading Laura’s novel and trying to figure out how to achieve this, a miracle happened: I realised that Darcy Burdock cannot simply be labelled as a book solely for young girls. You know, Darcy doesn’t fight dragons or evil magicians in order to be a strong child protagonist with whom her readers could identify; instead, she faces very real, everyday dilemmas we have all struggled with at some point, no matter whether we were boys or girls or ten or twenty. The details might be different, but the big questions are always the same. They are of universal value. Darcy behaves like a real person, not an artificial construct: she copes with the world around her the best way she can and yes, she is often wrong and frequently makes mistakes. But that only makes her a human being like everyone else. I was surprised by how easily I myself could relate to Darcy’s – sometimes wholly confused,

© Laura Dockrill, HarperCollins, © Laura Dockrill; Corgi ,Transworld Publishers, The Random House Group© HotKeyBoooks

14 Interview Interview 15

stubborn, mistaken or even selfish – thinking. For instance, there was a passage about friendship in book two which almost exactly reflected my thoughts about my own life at the point when I was translating it. When I realised who Darcy was and what she was trying to tell her readers, it became a sheer pleasure to me to be her interpreter for a Czech readership, despite all her oddities and my lack of first-hand experience of being a ten-year-old girl. (Laughs.) Laura Dockrill’s Darcy Burdock writes short stories and poems. What are the translation perks you came across in this series?

Well, there were many both little and huge things. First of all, I had to decide how Darcy would speak: the codified, standard Czech, which would sound somewhat unnatural in the mouth of a child, or the colloquial, “common” form of the language, which some might consider odd when printed on paper? Not to mention all of Darcy’s “worserer” and “upsetted” words, as well as her neologisms (such as mermaid + marmalade = “mermalade”, of course). And what about all those references to particular brands of products, TV shows and VIPs, well-known in Britain but obscure or totally unknown here? (Darcy is a very British book, on both obvious and less obvious levels: this is just one example.) Should I have preserved numerous cases of alliteration, which is typical of Darcy’s playful language (and the English language and literature in general) but which 90% of Czech children probably won’t spot since Czechs are not used to it? Is the Head of Darcy’s school in the first book male or female? (I had to ask Laura in this case). And, of course, all those stories-within-the-story were a task of their own. When Darcy’s mum wipes her tears when she’s finished reading “The Invisible Link” story at the end of book two (which is a kind of mise-en-abyme of the whole novel), it simply HAS to be a bit naive, but most sincere and moving at the same time, otherwise the readers wouldn’t believe the emotion. I’d say that book two is getting really serious in comparison with book one: see, for instance, Darcy’s poem “You are More than a Lamb to Me”, which she writes when she has lost her pet lamb and, with her best friend having abandoned her, has no one to share her sadness with. You can’t, as a translator, approach these lines as

children’s rhymes, but must make them a testimony of someone whose world is falling apart and who puts everything into her writing. You translated the second book in the series in a  tandem with Michaela Večerková. How did it influence the translation process?

Significantly. Michaela was a student of translation at the University of Olomouc back when I was teaching there in the English Department. I gave her the typescript of my translation of the first Darcy to read just before I submitted it to the publisher, and she suggested some last-minute changes and told me that Darcy was “her kind of girl”. So when Argo bought the second Darcy book, I asked her whether she would like to collaborate on it with me and she said yes. We took half of the chapters each and translated our parts, continuously giving each other our passages for comments and suggestions.

Although I could tell you who originally translated which sections, we both copiously contributed to the other’s parts so I don’t think you can actually attribute any individual bit of the book to any of us. Plus there were cases when we collaborated from the very beginning: for instance, Michaela translated the “Dompy” story in Chapter Five, leaving the word “Dompy” itself to me to translate into Czech. However, a careful reader will see that Darcy’s language in book two is a bit different from that of book one: whereas when working on the first book on my own, I had no real system in terms of Darcy’s register and slang and mostly improvised, for book two, Michaela and I agreed on precise rules of how to render certain things into Czech, so I would say that the language of Hi So Much is somewhat more consistent. Plus, Michaela and I are from Silesia and Central Bohemia respectively, two very different regions in terms of their dialects, so we had to find a compromise about some things which we would both be comfortable with. But, most of all – although I tried to be as “girly” as possible in book one (actually, to my surprise, I received an e-mail from a reader praising precisely this aspect of my translation) – collaboration with a female translator, and such a talented one, brought a much needed feminine element both into the translation process and the final text. Are there going to be translations of any other Laura Dockrill’s works?

That’s actually not my decision but I hope Darcy Burdock is a success on the Czech market and Czech readers will be given the opportunity to enjoy more of her adventures. So far, there are four books in the original series. A few weeks ago, I translated about twenty pages from an older book by Laura (not from the Darcy Burdock series) and sent it to the publisher, asking them to consider buying it, so we’ll see. What was the first children’s book you translated? What did you learn from it?

Actually, the first book for children I translated was Frindle by Andrew Clements. I was a huge Harry Potter fan in my late teens (the first Harry Potter was published in Czech when I was eighteen, and

I spent the sabbatical week before my grammar school finals reading the first four books instead of studying), even briefly having my own Internet website devoted to the series, and I came across this little book which included a character – the strict, book-loving “Professor Granger” – who was said to have been one of the possible inspirations for Hermione Granger (which I really doubt). So when I was about twenty, I think, I translated the whole Frindle into Czech and submitted it as the final project at a translation seminar here at the department, where I was then an undergraduate student. Sadly, no publishing house was interested in the book as the genre of the school-story was not very strong here at the time. Perhaps I should try it again if I find the typescript in my old floppy disk collection. (Laughs.) The first children’s book translated by me that got published (actually, it was again in a tandem with another translator, this time

my step-sister) was A Fistful of Cherries by Matthew Nicholls. Some years ago, Matthew taught at our department and, in 2005, he directed his own musical staged by the Gypsywood Players, in which I played the roles of a slightly (well, massively) demented director of NTSPAM (“Not The Secret Police Any More”) and secretary to the English Queen. After rehearsals, Matthew and a few “most faithful ones” usually stopped by a KFC restaurant (which is no longer there, by the way) and talked about various things, including literature. At one point Matthew mentioned that his children’s trilogy was better than most bestselling fantasy novels for children at the time, especially in terms of the delineation of the characters. I immediately asked him where I could buy it and he said that it hadn’t been published yet. So I asked whether I could translate it into Czech if I found a publisher. He said yes – probably assuming that I’d never manage to find one. But eventually I did, so I asked Matthew to send me the manuscript. But since, until the very last moment, he didn’t really believe that his book would actually get published, he never sent me the entire novel but always just With Matthew Nicholls at A Fistful of Cherries signing event

Photo Courtesy of David Konečný, 2010

Oh my God! I’ve just made the biggest, fattest mistake in my life! I  can’t translate this – this is a book for GIRLS.

Illustrations 1716 Interview

should have been finished a long time ago); at the beginning of next year, my translation of Philip K. Dick’s novel We Can Build You will be published with my afterword about women in Dick’s life and fiction. I’ve also started working on my second Chaucerian translation, The Legend of Good Women – a wonderful collection of nine stories about both historical and mythical virtuous women, perhaps written for Anne of Bohemia, the first wife of the English King Richard II. Plus there’re a couple of books which I would like to translate in the near future if I have time and if there’s a publisher for them. So translating children’s books is and will always be my pleasure, but admittedly not the only one.

two or three chapters or so. So for several months I was translating a story whose ending I did not know. And it’s a wonderful story, I have to say – about two sisters risking their lives to save the post-apocalyptic world from a disease caused by a global war. During their adventure, Carrie and Persephone have to fight real pirates, motorcycle gangs, flesh-eating batmen – but, most importantly, human maliciousness, greed, selfishness and their own prejudices (especially the older one, Carrie). Matthew did not manage to find an English publisher as he already lived in the Czech Republic when completing the story, so the translation is, in fact, the first and only edition of his work so far. I hope that the book gets published in England one day (it would deserve it) and that I get the opportunity to translate the sequel(s) as well. Although I would probably approach Cherries differently today, since I wasn’t really a mature translator when working on the novel (the book was published in 2009, but most of the actual work was done between 2005 and 2008), it was a wonderful experience, one of the milestones of my translating career. Do you like translating books for children or do you prefer any other genre or particular author?

Children’s books are, sadly, a kind of literature’s poor stepchild in many respects. There are not as many translators willing to translate them as one might think, and even fewer of the translators are actually good. By which I’m not trying to say that I’m necessarily one of the latter, I’m just stating the facts. However, whenever I’m translating a story for children, I feel extra responsibility. I mean, every translation has to be done properly, but when you imagine a small child reading your text, you automatically try harder, which makes this work a bit special. Maybe I’m wrong but I think that an adult can overlook a small mistake or clumsiness from time to time, but children are much more demanding and unforgiving readers. But I also enjoy translating other genres, of course. The problem is that I’m not a full-time translator – my main job is teaching at the University and doing research – so sometimes I translate a book or two a year, but some years I don’t translate anything due to a lack of time. At the moment, I’m finishing a non-fiction book about the American secret services (which

Filip Krajník (b. 1982) obtained his PhD at Durham University, UK in 2013 and has been a  Lecturer in British Literature at the Department of English and American Studies in Brno since. He teaches courses on English medieval and Renaissance literature and literary translation; at the moment, he is working on an edited volume with the working title Reading and Writing Dreams and Visions in Medieval and Early Modern England. He translates both fiction and non-fiction books, as well as articles and short-stories for journals and magazines. His book translations mostly include works of the American science fiction author Philip K. Dick (e.g., The Divine Invasion, Deus Irae and The Penultimate Truth), but he also translates children’s novels (e.g., Matthew Nicholls’s A Fistful of Cherries and Laura Dockrill’s Darcy Burdock) and medieval poetry (Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Parliament of Fowls).

At King‘s Cross StationPhoto Courtesy of Mgr. Filip Krajník, PhD., 2005

Filip Krajník

Illustration: Magic in the Books

by Zuzana Motalová

Have you ever wondered what is the connection between the text and the images accompanying it? Between the author and the illustrator? If the authors illustrate their own work or if they ask someone to do it for them? Whether they have any say in what their characters and worlds they created shall look like when transformed into visual media? In her article, Zuzana Motalová addressed these exact questions in connection with literatures in English.

Opening a book reminds me of treasure hunting. While reaching for the content, no one can be sure what is to be found inside – even if you already know the text. There is so much more of what makes the book into what it is: the type of paper, the choice of the font... and its illustrations. A good illustration has the potential to complement the simple meaning of the text and elevate what was originally only a written message to a new level. Despite that, illustrations are often disregarded by readers as a somewhat less important part of the book and the majority of contemporary fiction (except for children’s books) has hardly any illustrations at all – except for the occasional cover art. That, however, does not make book illustrations unimportant and the work behind them is unlikely to be less demanding than the work behind the text. The journey to the career of an illustrator is a painful one and requires a lot of determination. In addition, even professional illustrators often struggle to make a decent living, thus dreaming of a cozy life is in most cases rather naive. For many artists, illustrating is only secondary and they cannot depend on it as their main source of income. There is no recipe how to become a successful illustrator and – as in most crafts – successful does not always mean good. You usually start with a publisher. In the beginning, you need a portfolio of carefully selected illustrations to send to publishing companies. Though, the hardest part is to persuade at least one publisher to look at your portfolio. As there are millions of illustrators, publishers are daily showered with their work, and therefore it may take years before you are even properly noticed, if you ever are. On the other hand,

publishers are always on the hunt for new illustrators, so the most important rule is to never give up and work on your skills along the way. When you finally receive the chance you have been waiting for, it is only the starting point. Your first job may also be your last job as publishing companies may decide that choosing you was a mistake. And then there is the work itself. Artists hardly ever get the choice of

Cover of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter RabbitArt by Beatrix Potter

18 Illustrations Illustrations 19

what they illustrate; because the income is so low and unsteady, repeated refusal of offers is way too risky. That brings a lot of issues for the illustrator. The most typical problem arises when

the artist and the author/publisher (depending on who has the upper hand) do not share the same opinion on how the book should be visually presented. While the illustrator is supposed to be the expert in fine arts, the author is the one who has written the text, and therefore, has better idea of what needs to be highlighted and how. And, of course, the publisher has the money, which often means that the decision is theirs. The average illustrator usually has to follow the wishes of the author and the publisher, even if he or she knows that the result will be tasteless and will fail to impress the readers. Some artists have their policy and are prepared to refuse the job when they feel that they would have to break it, but not everyone can afford to do so. Others are so lucky that they

meet an author with whom their relationship is utterly symbiotic, finishing each other’s thoughts and ideas. And such was the case of the late Sir Terry Pratchett and two most famous of his illustrators: the late Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby. Kirby made covers for Pratchett´s Discworld series until his death in 2001 and his cover art was so specific that for many readers Kirby´s artwork equals Discworld. Pratchett himself sometimes disagreed with Kirby´s interpretations, but nevertheless, he is known to have said: “I... only invented the Discworld. Josh created it.“1 That is probably also related to the fact that Pratchett’s view on illustration was a little bit different to that of many other authors and he liked to be surprised by the imagination of others. Paul Kidby illustrated for Pratchett since 1995 and he started to paint the covers after Kirby´s death. He was well acquainted with Josh Kirby and they respected each other since Kirby believed that there is enough space for both of them in Pratchett´s books. There was also a difference in the way the author communicated with them: while with Kirby, Pratchett was keeping in touch mostly by phone and the illustrator was often left to work by himself, with Kidby – Pratchett´s illustrator

of choice – they cooperated well organized manner and very closely. Even in this case, Pratchett sometimes felt that Kidby´s interpretation differed from what he had imagined. Pratchett claimed that this may have been due to the fact that his visual imagination failed to be detailed

enough which hints that Kidby had filled some empty spots and completed Pratchett’s work1.Perhaps even finer example of a quality cooperation between author and illustrator is the one of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Gaiman works with a number of artists and he seems to be on friendly terms with all of them. Still, when you hear him talk about Dave McKean, it is clear that he definitely considers him his favourite one. And here is the situation somewhat similar to Pratchett´s. When asked why he favours Dave McKean, Gaiman replies: “... because he surprises me.”2 Dave McKean has cooperated with Gaiman on many books and graphic novels, and so it is hard to choose the best example. However, their fairy-tales, such as The Wolves in the Walls (2003), deserve special attention. Compared to classical illustrators, Dave McKean is a mixed media specialist. He uses everything – fabrics, objects, copy-printers, computers, and his own drawing skills and this way shows the possibilities of modern technology in illustration. Not everyone is lucky enough to meet someone who satisfies their requirements and many writers, therefore, try to illustrate their work themselves. Even Lewis Carroll

originally planned to illustrate his books personally. He made a few illustrations, but was persuaded to leave the job up to a professional and so the first edition of Alice in Wonderland (1865) entered the world with the artwork of Sir John Tenniel4,3. Alice in Wonderland has been republished many times, featuring illustrations by many famous artists including Salvador Dalí. Despite that, Tenniel´s illustrations remain the most popular and are regarded as a classic which proves that Carroll made a good choice.On the other hand, there are writers whose decision to take care of both the text and the illustrations results in a true piece of art. When a talented British woman called Beatrix Potter managed to have first of her little books – The Tale Of Peter Rabbit (1902) – published, it was almost like a miracle. What’s more, The Tale Of Peter Rabbit came out with her own illustrations which fitted the text so perfectly that they stand completely equal. Peter Rabbit was quickly followed by more books and shortly, she became a huge success. Ever since, republishing her books with different illustrations is out of the question. As Beatrix Potter was very pedantic and guarded her books with the ferocity of a watchdog, she prevented her publishers from doing any experimenting with the visual aspects. Thus, she became a role model for many others, especially in the area of literature for children. Illustrating children’s literature is regarded as one of the most competitive within the area of illustrations and it is exceedingly hard to satisfy not only the adults, but also children whose wishes often differ significantly from those of their parents. Of course, there are many other types of illustrations and a number of possible ways to categorize them, none of which is definite. One rule is generally agreed on: there is children illustration and “the rest”. “The rest” may be further divided into a variety of subgroups. Some of the illustrations can be accepted as rather distinctive, for example Josh Kirby´s covers for the Discworld series clearly belong to the category of fantasy illustrations. Artists who illustrate commented versions of the Bible or educational literature have to follow the text very carefully. Perhaps even more peculiar type is a satirical illustration which is in most cases made by caricaturists and has the potential to stand rather independently. In the beginning, I skipped any definitions on what the word “illustration” means. In fact, everyone who has ever seen any book has an idea of what illustration is. Although visual works are not here to be described by

Book cover Terry Pratchett’s Equal Rites, created by Josh Kirby.© Josh Kirby; Corgi ,Transworld Publishers, The Random House Group

Paul Kidby’s cover of Pratchett’s Snuff.© Paul Kidby; Corgi ,Transworld Publishers, The Random House Group

Neil Gaiman’s The Wolves in the Walls illustrated by Dave McKean© Dave McKean; HarperCollins

Co-op Housing 2120 Illustrations

While pursuing the goal of getting a university degree, Zuzana embarked on a journey to become a professional illustrator. She had tried studying various programs, notably classical animation and psychology, until she finally chose her favourite: English. So she continues her quest after the career of an illustrator and tries to learn what she considers the most appropriate additional field of study to the craft – language and literature.Zuzana has often lost track of time when looking at pictures in books which is why she loves to dig up information about illustrators in the hope of not only learning from them but also of bringing the experience of submerging herself in their visions to people around her. Other than that, she collects fairy tales and has a passion for naval and pirate stories, sailing ships, and marine biology.

Zuzana Motalová

words, since they exist to provide immediate visual picture, illustrations live within the text they refer to. They can help the reader to imagine what the text is about, they offer explanations of messages written between the lines and as a result, they create the final effect of the book. A bad illustration can influence the potential reader not to even read the book. A good illustration, on the other hand, can magically open the door into the world of literature even to those who are not very inclined to reading any book at first. Truly like treasure hunting.

Works Cited:1. Alton, Anne Hiebert, and William C. Spruiell. “Cover Art.“ Discworld and the Disciplines Critical Approaches to the Terry Pratchett Works. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &,, 2014. Print.

2. Gaiman, Neil. “Neil Gaiman on Dave McKean.“Neil Gaiman. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.

3. “John Tenniel.“ Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 1 Oct. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tenniel>

4. “The Lewis Carroll Society Website - The Works of Charles Dodgson.“The Lewis Carroll Society Website - The Works of Charles Dodgson. The Lewis Carroll Society. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.

Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative

by Denisa Krásná

UK housing crisis

Edinburgh, Scotland‘s stunning capital is a place I now consider my second home. It is a city rich in history and a vibrant hub of international culture. Nonetheless, like all British cities, Edinburgh is facing a crisis in housing – with students and young people often at the forefront.When I visited Edinburgh in June 2014 to search for a summer festival job, it took me more than a month to find a place to live. Being homeless at that point did not pose too big a problem to me. I was filled with enthusiasm, free from my studies, and, most importantly, I had no strings attached. For the typical Edinburgh student, however, housing is a nightmare. An expensive nightmare.Britain‘s housing crisis is affecting people of all ages. There is a shortage of housing, rent is rocketing, wages are stagnating and house prices are now massively out of reach for the average earner. Issues of substandard housing, exploitative landlords, and overcrowding have not existed on this scale in Britain since the Second World War. But some are benefiting. Private landlords have seen profits increase at a staggering rate, usually on the backs of the poor and the young. Landlords in Edinburgh have been making more profit from students than in any other part of Britain. So is there a way out of all this? One solution is cooperation

Somehow I stumbled upon one alternative. While sleeping on strangers’ couches, I met Mike Shaw who introduced me to a completely new world in which – instead of landlords – students have the upper hand, the world of student co-operatives. In a typically British manner, Shaw and some friends met over a cup of tea and decided to take matters into

their own hands. The plan was to tackle the tricky housing situation themselves, and to demonstrate an alternative, radical vision for housing. In little over a year, they managed to establish the 106 member Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative, which is now the city‘s cheapest student housing provider. It is an entirely student-owned and student-run democratic organization, in which every member has one vote. Collectively, they manage the properties that make up their home, and in doing so, they foster a vibrant community whose members equitably share responsibilities as well as the joys that it brings along. Being free from landlords means taking control over your own living and acquiring new abilities, such as maintenance, and financial or organizational skills. There is no clear division between work and play,

among some of the most popular activities have been regular member-led meditation or yoga lessons, repair workshops, mental health awareness training, and jam sessions that often run late into night. It is currently the only student project of its kind or size in Europe (Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative).

History of co-operatives

Cooperation is the core of what it means to be human. We are fundamentally social creatures who thrive best when working together, as equals, towards a common goal. In an economic sense of the word,

Issues of substandard housing, e x p l o i t a t i v e l a n d l o r d s , a n d overcrowding have not existed on this scale in Britain since the Second World War.

John Tenniel’s take on Alice and the flamingo.Art by John Tenniel

22 Co-op Housing Co-op Housing 23

the co-operative movement started with the so-called Rochdale Pioneers, a group of British textile workers who in 1844 established a small dry goods store in response to the poverty and desperation provoked by the loss of their jobs after an unsuccessful weavers‘ strike. The pioneers collected their ideas into the Rochdale Principles, which still form the basis for co-operatives across the globe. Co-operatives are organisations or businesses which a r e d e s i g n e d to serve their m e m b e r s – ordinary workers, tenants, customers, or members of a   community, r a t h e r t h a n investors, bosses, m an a ge r s , or landlords. Worker co-ops are owned and run by the workers, housing co-ops by the tenants, consumer co-ops by the customers, etc. Co-operatives do not seek to amass profit – any surplus is reinvested back into the co-operative, distributed equitably amongst members, or spent supporting worthwhile causes in the wider community. And, crucially, all major decisions are made democratically by the members. Co-operatives therefore stand opposed to the corporate model of private ownership that epitomises capitalism. Co-operatives exist in every country, and in almost every sector of the economy. Student housing co-operatives are particularly popular in the United States and Canada where the movement quickly spread in the wake of the Great Depression in the 1930s as an answer to economic hardship (The Cooperative Movement).

Setting up the Edinburgh housing co-op

In recent years, student co-ops have been set up across Britain, primarily as food co-ops where students

come together to bulk-buy affordable, healthy food. It was not until 2014 that the first housing co-ops opened – Birmingham and Edinburgh. Sheffield soon followed in 2015. With 106 members, Edinburgh is the largest of the three (Shaw). So how exactly do you set up a co-op? “Co-ops are first and foremost people,” explains Shaw. “Through campaigning we managed to speak with thousands

o f s t u d e n t s . There was an incredibly strong desire for change, with immense enthusiasm for s t u d e n t r u n housing co-ops as a  part of that c h a n g e .” T h e idea was clearly popular, but the next stage was far more tiring, with seemingly pointless meetings and no apparent progress. “Suitable properties were

few and far between. Nobody was willing to lend money to students. But we slogged on, searching, shouting about our ideas, meeting with potential supporters, and exploring the practicalities.” It finally paid off. They managed to strike a deal with Edinburgh’s largest not-for-profit housing provider,

Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association, who owned two blocks of student halls, comprising 24 flats. The students didn‘t have the money to buy, but agreed to lease. It was negotiated for the lease payments to be paid in arrears, and the various start

up costs, such as legal fees, to be paid later – giving the co-op time to begin collecting the first rents. This bypassed the need for cash upfront, or for taking out major loans. In fact, upon finally taking over a property worth millions, they had only needed to part with £64 cash – which had been spent on flyers advertising to prospective members (Shaw).For students, the location could not be any better. Wright‘s Houses are within easy walking distance of the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University, and the views across the historic Bruntsfield Links onto Arthurs Seat, an extinct volcano, are breathtaking. However, competition for membership is high, with over 230 applications received last year for just 45 available places. Why do you want to live in the co-operative? What skills, experience or ideas would you like to bring to the co-operative? These are the two questions that all applicants have to answer. “We need to ensure we attract and accept members who will put in the work to make the co-op not only function, but flourish. But we also want members who themselves will gain the most from co-operative living,” stresses Shaw.

EHSC now

It is almost by accident that I had the privilege to be the first non-member to live in the Edinburgh

Student Housing Co-operative when it opened in August 2014. Seeing it practically uninhabited, and now just over a year on, has enabled me to appreciate the immense change it underwent over the first year of its existence.I found myself living in an incredibly welcoming, international community full of enthusiastic students

with a  rich diversity of interests and passions. They have all learnt priceless skills they can apply later on in life. Many have become more political and concerned about world issues, eager to make a difference. They have participated in campaigning over local housing issues and they also host events for the wider community such as Disco Soups? to raise awareness of food waste “by intercepting more than 250 kg of food that would otherwise have gone to the bin, cooking together, eating together, and enjoying some amazing local music”(Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative). They are soon to renovate their two basement car parks into large communal spaces which will enable them to host even more events for like-minded groups. The co-op‘s parties, band nights, talks, mass cooking and film nights are already gaining popularity amongst students and across the city. I also witnessed a few member meetings - each differed in formality, but all showed the dedication, imagination, seriousness, newly gained experience, and confidence of the many members who had to start from scratch, but who have managed to build an incredible, welcoming home that continues to flourish.

The future of co-ops

The Edinburgh Housing Co-op was also a founding member of Students for Cooperation, a federation of all sorts of different student co-ops across Britain It is not just about cheaper rent. It is

about being part of a strong community of like-minded people. It is about having 105 neighbours to whom you can turn for advice or help. It is the freedom that gives you control over your own home without landlords dictating the terms.

Cooperation is the core of what it means to be human. We are fundamentally social creatures who thrive best when working together, as equals, towards a common goal.

Courtesy of Edinburgh Student Housing Cooperative

Courtesy of Edinburgh Student Housing Cooperative

Courtesy of Edinburgh S

tudent Housing Cooperative

Bristol 2524 Co-op Housing

Denisa is in the last year of BA studies in English Language and Literature and Spanish Language and Literature. She has a keen academic interest in US history and society, especially in the rights of oppressed minority groups including Native and African Americans.As a low-budget traveller, she thrives on camping, hiking, hitch-hiking and couchsurfing. If she is not abroad, she spends most of her spare time editing videos from her last trip and preparing photo presentations for public talks about her travels. Both American continents are among her favourite destinations, but she is convinced that there is no better city than Edinburgh.Often fed up with capitalist society, she finds peace in solitude, in a company of a good book or a  film, preferably by Woody Allen or Peter Jackson. Although anti-religious and sceptical about pretty much everything, she has a leaning towards spiritual philosophy of Eckhart Tolle.As a  passionate defender of animal rights, she hopes for a brighter future for animals.

Denisa Krásná

aspiring to build the movement to a much larger scale and to support wider social change. Students for Cooperation is in the process of securing sizeable investment to purchase properties across Britain

that could be turned into co-ops. Shaw stresses the importance of close ties among co-ops across the country, “We could not have become established without the support of others across the wider co-operative movement, it is critical that co-operatives support one another and like-minded movements.” He and his fellow co-operators are active in supporting other aspiring students, and in spreading the ideas behind co-operatives by speaking at conferences, organising workshops, and giving lectures across Britain and Europe. “Co-operatives can play a part in tackling so many of the biggest problems humanity faces, but to do that we need to develop a new generation of co-operative organisers,” added Shaw. So why would anyone want to become a member? It is not just about cheaper rent. It is about being part of a strong community of like-minded people. It is about having 105 neighbours to whom you can turn for advice or help. It is the freedom that gives you control over your own home without landlords dictating the terms. It‘s also about the little freedoms, like being able to paint your walls, decorate your stairwell, or to have pets. It is about learning new skills, becoming an effective organiser, gaining confidence, becoming a better person. It is about realising that another world is indeed possible.Co-operatives have the potential to change lives, and to help transform wider society. In my little time there I learnt how to better trust people, and made friends more easily than ever before. It helped me become more optimistic, made me believe that change is possible. There is hope. We just need to get back to our principles, to organise and co-operate. And what better place is there to start than at home?

Works citedEdinburgh Student Housing Co-operative. Edinburgh Student Housing Cooperative, n.d. Web. 7 September 2015. Shaw, Mike. Personal interview. 25 August 2015.“Th e Cooperative Movement.” University of Michigan. University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 7 September 2015. “What is the housing crisis.” Shelter England. n.p., n.d. Web. 7 September 2015.

They Have a Lovely Suspension Bridge

By Tereza Pavlíková

“Are you a child or a parent?” asks a girl roughly my age, trying to outshout the music and the all the people talking around us. “I’m a child, although a lost child at this moment. What about you?” – “I’m a parent, but I don’t know where my children are.”

A seemingly random (or a particularly disturbing) conversation, and yet one that you would hear at probably any student event at the start of the year. I had not been warned that staying at Bristol University requires learning a  completely new language, but I ventured onto this quest with the determination to keep my wits together and emerge victorious.

Let me give you a crash course on this strange dialect. A course is called a “unit” here, and instead of semesters there are “teaching blocks”. Students write “formative” essays, and they also write “summative” essays, the former of which are not marked, and the latter are. If one happens to encounter such strange signs as “WR3/5 LR2” or “WR13 G64”, there is no need to seek the help of the Enigma machine as these are merely the locations of a seminar or a lecture. And whenever you overhear a particularly strange debate about socks, then chances are (unless you have stumbled upon a seminar led by professor Dumbledore) that the topic of the conversation are actually “socs”, i.e. “societies”! And, to finally explain my strange introductory paragraph, these have a few special terms of their own. The custom is that in every society, new incomers, freshers, and exchange students, are the “children” who are cared for by their “parents” – people who have been in the society the previous year. The society then gets divided into as many of these families as necessary, with each family having around five to ten members. Throughout

the year, these families spend time together, go out, have dinners, or just simply exist as a group chat on Facebook as a kind of helpline for freshers.

Given the amount of societies, being a member of more than one of these families is nothing unusual. At the moment there are more than 300 clubs and

societies to choose from. There is one for each department, every sport imaginable (including Quidditch – and even cricket!), societies are founded for individual states, cultures, languages, and religions. There are international organizations, there are political parties, and of course, any interests or pastime activities you might enjoy. It is not uncommon to find oneself being torn between going to a choir practice, an Irish dancing event, or an English department social. This is of course

Bristol harbour, photo courtesy of velodenz @ flickr

Canada 2726 Bristol

exaggerated but actually not that much. One of the many pieces of advice I have heard on how to keep up with this many extra-curriculars was: “Just don’t do any work!”

All of these clubs and societies are joined together underneath the University’s Student Union. An organisation of an impressive size to say the least, but also a building of no smaller proportions just a few minutes’ walk from the university. Apart from a caffe, a theatre and a cinema hall it houses a great number of seminar rooms, studies and all sorts of other rooms used regularly by the societies. And, just in case you were wondering, there is a swimming pool on the lower ground floor.

The university itself is a little town of its own, with a number of buildings located on a hill in the very heart of Bristol. Some faculties have their own buildings and some are dispersed across a number of buildings, whether in a single complex or further down the road, very much like our Faculty of Arts. Sadly only law students are lucky enough to have lectures inside the famous Will’s Memorial Building, but it is nevertheless possible for students to take a look around and admire the beautiful interior.

After settling down you find out that the units themselves are very much like at KAA. Classes range from very small tutorials and somewhat bigger seminars to huge lectures. Sometimes a unit involves

a selection of these in one week, for example three lectures and a tutorial, or the unit consists of just one two-hour seminar per week. Either way, books are read, topics are discussed and essays are written. Most of the lectures here are simply papers being read, which may be a tad disappointing for someone, but to give the lecturers credit, they nevertheless try to deliver their talks in an entertaining and engaging way.

And finally, I have heard many stories of people who have fallen in love with Bristol, and I must admit that the city does have an irresistible charm. In some ways it is actually similar to Brno, with around the same size and a large student population. Culturally it is incredibly diverse and the range of events and activities is so broad it is hard to keep up with all the things happening. And when all of the buzz gets too overwhelming, there is nothing nicer than taking a stroll down the Harbourside or having a picnic in a park, whether it be in the University’s Royal Fort Gardens or at such marvellous places as the Clifton Observatory, overlooking the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge.

To conclude in a rather imperative tone: please do go on exchange trips, do try new things, do meet new people, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and, most importantly, don’t be afraid to become a lost child as you are to find a whole new welcoming family.

Language and Quebec: the Fixation

by Melissa Upton

As language students, we are familiar with the impact that language has on cultures and peoples. We are fluent in how it has shaped history and continue to learn how it affects our own generations. As a resident who was born and raised in Quebec, I am no stranger to this ever growing conversation and have tried to capture if nothing but a brief portion of it below.

As a  resident of Quebec, one quickly develops an understanding of the tumultuous linguistic history that has given shape to the province as it stands today. Language, explicitly that of French and English, has been at the forefront of many high profile discussions, laws, and political and artistic movements within Quebec. This struggle that began as early as the 18th century with the desire for the recognition of the Francophone population and the reconstitution of governing affairs has since developed into a battle between Canada’s two nationally sanctioned languages. The progression of which has seen Francophone Quebec call for autonomy from Canada and what appears to be the quieting, as well as the cooperation, of the Anglo and Allophone communities under the pretense of this being necessary for the preservation of the French language and the history of Francophone Quebec.

Since the early 1900’s, Quebec nationalism and the sovereignty movement have carried the French language as their torch. It has been the driving force behind a  multitude of historical events; some more recent and influential examples being

the Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis. The Quiet Revolution was a momentous chapter of political and cultural change amongst Quebec society, beginning with the provincial government of Liberal Jean Lesage in 1960 and ending just shy of the October Crisis of 1970. It was a period in which the Quebec government secularized the education system, introduced a Ministry of Social Affairs – which would go on to become the Ministry of Health and Social Services in 1985 – and mandated the nationalization of the province’s electric companies, resulting in the creation of Hydro-Quebec.

The Quiet Revolution put in motion not only the province’s journey towards economic autonomy, but its desire for political independence.

Soon after, the October Crisis took place involving numerous members of an organization known as the FLQ. The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) was a separatist paramilitary faction who coordinated upwards of 160 violent acts over the course of a seven-year time frame (~1963-1970). The October Crisis involved the kidnapping of James Cross, the British Trade Commissioner, and Pierre Laporte, the Minister of Labour and Vice-Premier of Quebec. This crisis lead to the government of Pierre Trudeau calling for the first ever invocation of the War Measures Act during peacetime.

Pierre Laporte was later executed by the FLQ when their demands were denied, and after 62 days of captivity, James Cross was released following negotiations. The significance of this occasion lies in the manner in which it contributed to the transitioning of support away from such violent and

Since the early 1900’s, Quebec nationalism and the sovereignty movement have carried the French language as their torch. It has been the driving force behind a multitude of historical events; some more recent and influential examples being the Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis.

Clifton Suspension Bridge, photo courtesy of Joe Dunckley, source flickr.com

A postal box in Montréal with FLQ oui (FLQ yes) graffiti, 1971. Photo by Harryzilber, commons.wikimedia.org

28 Canada Canada 29

radical measures and towards more political means.

Quebec nationalist and sovereignist sentiments have since continued to make themselves present in most every facet of daily provincial life, from political parties, to the creation of laws and bills which go on to touch fundamental areas such as those of education and business.

Politically, Quebec nationalism and sovereignty has inspired the creation of parties at both the federal and provincial level. At the federal level exists the Bloc Québecois (the Bloc). The Bloc Québecois was

founded in 1990 by Lucien Bouchard, the former cabinet minister for the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. This federal party aimed to give the province of Quebec a voice within the House of Commons and further the support for an independent Quebec. Provincially, the Parti Québecois (the PQ) was created by René Lévesque around 1968 with the merger of the Mouvement Souveraineté Association and the Ralliement national. The PQ stood for Quebec’s independence from Canada on all major platforms; economically, politically and socially, and is also responsible

for the introduction of the referenda tactic. In addition to their shared goals, the Bloc Québecois and the Parti Québecois were also likeminded in their consideration of Quebec’s relationship with Canada post-separation. Both the Bloc and PQ founders, Lucien Bouchard and René Lévesque, recognized that Quebec would need to have some sort of an association agreement with Canada if Quebec expected to be successful in its newfound independence. The economic uncertainty that this generated went on to play a defining role in Quebec’s second referendum held by the PQ during their time as the elected provincial government in 1995. The vote surrounding this referendum brought forward a record-breaking turnout of 93.52% of the voting population, and was arguably the closest Quebec has been to sovereignty with the deciding No votes totaling 50.58%.

The state of Quebec’s legislation is in direct association to the aforementioned political parties. The laws and bills that are most weighted with nationalist inclinations are those proposed and implemented under the governance of the Parti Québecois. The creation and application of bills such as Bill 101 is a prime example. Bill 101 is officially instated as La charte de la langue française (the Charter of the French Language). Camille Laurin, the Minister of Cultural Development, under the government of the Parti Québecois, proposed this legislative piece in 1977. The Charter was intended as an expansion to the Official Language Act, also known as Bill 22, of 1974 that made French the official provincial language. Bill 101 is made up of six titles and two schedules spanning topics from the status of the French language to punitive stipulations. Areas affected by the Charter are those such as education and business.

Bill 101 acts as a controller early on in provincial life when it comes to determining which language of instruction a child may and may not receive, and by association, which schools they are able to attend. These conditions are written out in Chapter 8 of the Charter of the French Language and are a part of the Charter that has been revised to be more considerate of constitutional rights. Initially in 1977, the Charter mandated that other than French being the language

of instruction from Kindergarten to Secondary school, a child may only receive instruction in English if either of their parents is a Canadian citizen and they themselves received elementary instruction in English within Quebec. So long as this comprised the bulk of their education. In 1982, this was amended to be more tolerant by allowing a child to be taught in English if the parent’s English instruction was received anywhere in Canada.

On a corporate level, the Charter repurposed the Office québecois de la langue français (OQLF) by extending its responsibilities. The OQLF was established in 1961 by Liberal leader Jean Lesage with the aim of prioritizing the French language in Quebec. With the formation of the Charter, the OQLF was given the mission of enforcing all policies pertaining to the francization of corporations and of civil administration as one of its duties. The impact that Bill 101 and the OQLF had on businesses was that by the French language being mandated as the official language of the province, it was also mandated as the language of labour relations, commerce and businesses. In recent years, the OQLF has been criticized for being overzealous and even oppressive in this undertaking, an example being making suggestions to restaurateurs that go so far as to recommend the change of the Italian use of pasta on menus.

Looking back upon Quebec’s Francophone roots and history to where it stands today, one is taken on a journey of high and low points. Plenty of changes have been implemented that benefited Quebec and righted past wrongs towards the Francophone community, these are changes we as a province, and Canada as a country, can be proud of. Yet recently there have been paths and discussion forums for changes that one simply cannot support. Be it the Quebec Charter of Values that the Parti Québecois attempted to implement, which would have infringed on and restricted basic human rights and freedoms. Be it the excesses that the Office québecois de la langue français has taken when enforcing the French language. Or be it the anti-immigration comments which translates as Quebec-elitists worrying about the “pureness” of their province – failing to recognize that Quebec does not subsist as it is today solely by

Melissa is a recent graduate from Concordia University who completed her BA in Specialization in English Literature. Her main interests are the study of language and literature across history and cultures.

Melissa Upton

Politically, Quebec nationalism and sovereignty has inspired the creation of parties at both the federal and provincial level.

the doings of Francophones born in Quebec. That there are centuries and generations that came before them and that acceptance and growth is what has made Canada and Quebec the wonderfully colourful amalgam of cultures they are today. There is nothing offensive or wrong with celebrating the French language and the history it has here in Quebec, it is entirely understandable. However, it is less evident why the promotion of one language and one culture mandates the oppression and dissolution of others.

Note on the sources:I  used the Canadian Encyclopedia for any information I needed - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/

Hydro-Québec Building, Montréal. Photo by Jean Gagnon, source: commons.wikimedia.org, somerights reserved

The "N

o" side's election sign. Photo by Z

orion, source comm

ons.wikim

edia.org

Building of l'Office québécois de la langue française, Montréal (Quebec Board of the French Language). Photo by Chicoutimi, source commons.wikimedia.org, somerights reserved

30 Language and Content Policing Language and Content Policing 31

Language and Content Policing on US Colleges and Campuses

By Jan Zajíček

If we ask Czech university students what their number one worry is when it comes to the university life, they will probably say something like “not failing my exams” or “finishing school on time.” But the current situation is a bit different at US universities, even President Obama touched on this issue in his recent speech:

“I’ve heard of some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative,

or they don’t want to read a book if it had language that is offensive to African Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women...I’ve got to tell you, I don’t agree with that either – that you when you become students at colleges, you have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. Anybody who comes to speak to you and you

disagree with, you should have an argument with them, but you shouldn’t silence them by saying you can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.” (qtd. in Ross)

What President Obama referred to is a very recent trend; US college students started to go out of their way to police language and content they find objectionable. Since June 3, 2015 a Vox article titled “I‘m a liberal professor, and my liberal students

terrify me” has been circulating the internet. It has become a viral hit with almost 300 thousand shares on Facebook up to this date. An anonymous professor going by a pseudonym Edward Schlosser writes about a changing atmosphere at US universities where merit is no longer the most important aspect of an argument. Today it is also important to keep

in mind that merely stating an argument might negatively affect the mental state of some students. Schlosser claims that he “once saw an adjunct1 not get his contract renewed after students complained that he exposed them to “offensive“ texts written by Edward Said and Mark Twain.” Combined with the brutality of the academic job market, this creates an atmosphere where professors fear for their jobs and as a result they leave out the most important part of the educational process – exposing students to ideas they might disagree with, Schlosser concludes.

Let us now look at a few examples of this supposed oversensitivity. At Rutgers University, several students requested that some books, including Virginia Woolf ‘s Mrs. Dalloway or F Scott Fitzgerald‘s Great Gatsby, be labeled with so called “trigger warnings” designed to warn students from

discomforting content, i.e. “The examination of suicidal tendencies in Mrs Dalloway may trigger painful memories for students suffering from self-harm” (Wythe). At Columbia University, students have called for the removal of Ovid’s Metamorphoses from the classes curricula, because “like so many texts in the Western canon, it contains triggering and offensive material that marginalizes student identities in the classroom,” and “These texts, wrought with histories and narratives of exclusion and oppression, can be difficult to read and discuss as a survivor, a person of color, or a student from a low-income background.”(Johnson, Lynch, Monroe, and Wang)

Unlike Edward Schlosser, some professors did not feel the need to stay anonymous. Harvard law professor Jeannie Suk wrote a piece for The New

Yorker, in which she describes how she deals with a  similar situation when she teaches rape law. Students have claimed that discussing rape law might be “triggering” and for that reason some have asked her not to include rape law on exams, because, as a consequence of invoking traumatic memories, some students might perform less well on the exam. When a debate on sexual assault on campus took place at Brown University, a journalist and author Judith Shulevitz reports that for anyone who would feel “triggered” by the debate, volunteer students put up a “safe space,” which was a room “equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets, and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma.”

But President Obama was not only talking about students being overly sensitive. He specifically mentioned that they are silencing those they disagree with. Student protests and petitions against inviting certain commencement speakers, honorary degree recipients, or guest lecturers are not limited to controversial figures like former Bush cabinet member Condoleezza Rice, head of I.M.F. Christine Legarde, or a writer and a critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Even a liberal comedian Bill Maher got petitioned against when it came to him delivering a commencement speech2 at UC Berkley.

Of course people reporting on these incidents had some conclusions to make. Similarly to Edward

1 In the US, adjunct professor is someone who typically teaches a  very limited number of courses and does not work for the university full-time.

Not being confronted with ideas we might find upsetting, unmerited or even triggering robs students of the ability to see the world from other people’s perspective and thus make them unprepared for dealing with differing opinions outside the safe environment of the university.

Greg Lukianoff, photo by Gage Skidmore, source flickr.com

Jonathan Haidt, photo courtesy of TEDx MidAtlantic, source flickr.com

Courtesy of The FIRE, source thefire.org

32 Language and Content Policing Language and Content Policing 33

Schlosser, Judith Shulevitz asserts that trying to make the university a  place where no student would be confronted with unsettling material or interaction might do more harm than good. Not being confronted with ideas we might find upsetting, unmerited or even triggering robs students of the ability to see the world from other people’s perspective and thus make them unprepared for dealing with differing opinions outside the safe environment of the university. Jeannie Suk comments on her case where students refused to study rape law by saying that a law student afraid of studying rape law is like a “medical student who is training to be a surgeon but who fears that he’ll become distressed if he sees or handles blood.” She comes to an unsurprising conclusion that removing rape law from the curriculum would be a great disservice to the victims of sexual assault.

But perhaps the most comprehensive assessment of this situation has been offered by the lawyer and free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff in cooperation with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in The Atlantic. Their diagnosis is that the sensitive, self-infantilizing mindset of US millennial students

is a result of overprotective baby boomer parents combined with overprotective public measures in the 90s (banning peanut butter from school lunches, stripping playgrounds of anything dangerous, zero tolerance anti-bullying campaigns, etc.). All of this has been sending the message that “life is dangerous, but adults will do everything in their power to protect you from harm.” And as a consequence, campus atmosphere is more than ever dominated by trends like rejecting the notion that offense is never given, but taken, attributing the worst intentions to the other side and magnification of emotional discomfort. In simpler terms, to feel offended has become enough to get the other person in trouble. Last but not least, the rise of social media makes it possible to instantly coordinate any collective language and content policing effort. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an organization where Lukianoff is the CEO, estimates 240 student campaigns have been launched in order to prevent a public figure from speaking at a university.

Lukianoff and Haidt do not limit their conclusions to angrily commenting on how avoiding emotional discomfort kills intellectual growth, fails to prepare students for the harsh reality of the world, and how all there is to be done is to make students

Jan is a BA graduate of the Department of English and American Studies where he currently pursues his MA degree. During the first year of his studies, he started to follow American and British politics and he quickly became obsessed. His main academic interests are political philosophies of the anglosphere, modern American history and the nature of political discourse. He also recognizes how useful an honest linguistic research can be. His dream is to one day reenact Walden, a  masterpiece written by Henry David Thoreau.

Jan Zajíček

grow thicker skin. They support at least partial institutionalization of “cognitive behavioral therapy,” which is merely a set of mental hygiene exercises anyone can practice, i.e. not presuming to know what the other side thinks, giving the other side the benefit of the doubt, avoiding overgeneralizations, or disengaging with catastrophic “what-if ” scenarios. In short, “cognitive behavioral therapy” teaches us how to look at the world from a more sober, less passionate, and visceral perspective.

That “students need to feel safe in the classroom” (Johnson, Lynch, Monroe, and Wang) is what those who push for trigger warnings and other similar measures see as their ultimate objective. But many who comment on this issue fear that such measures simply go too far and become counterproductive. They often conclude their writings by invoking quotes from classical liberals or the Founding Fathers. All these quotes go in the spirit of how Evelyn Beatrice Hall summarized Voltaire’s philosophy: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Whether this trend will come to our country remains to be seen. And if it does, it will certainly be interesting to find out what will become of the established Czech translation of the collocation “trigger warning.”

Works cited:

Flood, Alison. “US Students Request ‚trigger Warnings‘ on Literature.”The Guardian 19 May 2014. Web.

Johnson, Kai, Tanika Lynch, Elizabeth Monroe, and Tracey Wang. “Our Identities Matter in Core Classrooms.”Columbia Spectator 30 Apr. 2015. Web.

Lukianoff, Greg, and Jonathan Haidth. “The Coddling of the American Mind.”The Atlantic 1 Sept. 2015. Web.

Ross, Janell. “Obama Says Liberal College Students Should Not Be ‘coddled.’ Are We Really Surprised?”The Washington Post 15 Sept. 2015. Web.

Schlosser, Edward. “I‘m a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me.”Vox 3 June 2015. Web.

2 Commencement speech is a speech given to students during a graduation ceremony.

Shulevitz, Judith. “In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas.”The New York Times. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Suk, Jeannie. “The Trouble with Teaching Rape Law.”The New Yorker 15 Dec. 2014. Web.

Wythe, Philipe. “Trigger Warnings Needed in Classroom.”The Daily Targum. 18 Feb. 2014. Web.

Photo by Rebecca Barray, source flickr.com

FlemingIan Fleming, the man who introduced the world to one of the biggest British heroes: Bond. James Bond. Though best known as a successful author of the Bond novels, Fleming drew inspiration for 007’s adventures from his own experience which he gained while working at the British Naval Intelligence Division. His life before Bond, including the WWII espionage period, is now uncovered in the four-part dramatisation ‘Fleming’, starring Dominic Cooper as the iconic personage.

© Liam Daniel for Sky Atlantic, Promotion of BBC AMERICA

36 Review Review 37

Review:

Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond captures Fleming’s life in Bond style, paralleling lives of both the real person and the fictional character. Bringing the significant people of Fleming’s life back to existence, the creators of the series manage to awaken the archetypes of Bond’s world: Muriel Wright as the prototype of the adventurous, fearless Bond girl; Ann O’Neill as the femme fatale, Rear Admiral John Godfrey upon which M was based, and his secretary, Second Officer Monday, who was the original Moneypenny.

Bond enthusiasts will find many hidden hints and references to the Bond franchise, which – combined with the archetypes mentioned above – turn the whole series into a  television prequel, the first, original Bond story of the man who created 007. And even those who do not follow the Bond franchise that closely will get a greater insight into the life-story of a man who created the most famous fictional secret agent in history.

As for the main protagonist, even though Dominic Cooper does not much resemble Ian Fleming physically, he delivers a captivating performance. Cooper manages to show both the vulnerable side of a young, twenty-something Ian, as well as the edgy, dangerous, and intense Fleming in his late thirties. He definitely does not lag behind the actors of the Bond tradition, yet his performance is definitely not too Bondish; his Fleming comes from the real life rather than from the 007 fantasy.

Re:Views verdict: 90%Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014)Running time: 4 x 44 minsDirected by Mat WhitecrossStarring: Dominic Cooper, Lara Pulver, Annabelle Wallis, Rupert Evans, Samuel West, Anna Chancellor and othersOfficial websiteIMDB profile & selected promo videosAvailable on Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube

Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond

By Anna Formánková

“This is not a true representation of who this man is . . . it’s my idea of who I thought he would have liked to have been seen by others,” says Cooper about his role in the series. The actor took on the Bond inspiration and made Fleming into the man who would be Bond had he had the chance.

As the grandson of the Scottish financier Robert Fleming, founder the Scottish American Investment Trust and Robert Fleming & Co. merchant bank, Ian Fleming gave in to the family pressure and embarked upon a banking career. Under constant pressure of his despotic mother and overshadowed by his older brother Peter, a successful novelist, Fleming welcomed the opportunity to take part

in the national espionage scheme and become an officer in the Naval Intelligence Division. And even though he is often considered to be a fantasist whose true schemes were happening only on the pages of his book, Ian Fleming was a vital member of the division’s activities over the course of the Second World War.

“There were new ideas then . . . actually [the] ones which are still being used today [and which] he was coming up with. . . .[When] you talk to a number of people . . . those who have had some connection in the spying world and they talk of Ian like: ‘He was the real deal,’”comments Cooper on Fleming’s real-life engagement with espionage. According to Anna Chancellor, who portrays officer Monday – the model for Bond’s Moneypenny – James Bond is clearly Fleming’s “alter ego and if you’d really examined his life, you can see where he gets his inspiration from.”And it’s not only Bond’s spy career, but also his complicated relationships with women which are based on

Fleming’s real life. Problematic relation with his mother – who after her husband’s death took on the role of the head of the family rather aggressively – left a significant imprint on Fleming’s emotional life. “He never commits to any of these women who truly loved him. He’s quite brutal with them, they’re definitely not his priority; he’s terrified of any form of commitment.”

Apart from the obvious adventures at the intelligence office, Fleming captures the important loves of the author’s life, concentrating on Muriel, the crucial, adventurous

love of Ian’s life and the first Bond girl of WWII; and then on the volatile connection with Fleming’s wife Ann O’Neill, a unique relationship full of “extremes of behaviour: from tears to laughter, from passion to anger. They allowed each other to be that way,” concludes Lara Pulver, starring the series as the high-society, very spirited woman, Ann O’Neill.

When the director of the miniseries, Mat Whitecross, was

planning on taking part in the project, he knew about the espionage aspect of Fleming’s life, but what he was even more interested in was the novelist’s love affairs which clearly get mirror in Bond: “When I came aboard I felt we should do more of Ann and more of Muriel, and more of the loves of his life because that someway explains the kind of the coldness and the strangeness of Bond.”

Ian Fleming wanted to be Bond; what he wrote was based on the version of his life he wanted to live. For what Fleming never managed to accomplish, he had Bond to achieve. The director of the series concludes his thoughts on the connection between Fleming and Bond: “I suppose, what makes [Bond] so attractive to people now is he’s not kind of a straight-down-the-line hero, he’s actually quite complicated, quite an antihero in a lot of ways and it seems that comes from Fleming’s life.”

“James Bond is clearly Fleming’s alter ego and if you’d really examined his life, you can see where he gets his inspiration from.”

“When I came aboard I felt we should do more of Ann and more of Muriel, and more of the loves of his life because that someway explains the kind of the coldness and the strangeness of Bond.”

© Matt Holyoak, Promotion of BBC AMERICA Only after her death Muriel Wright became Fleming’s muse and inspiration for his female characters. © ECOSSE, Promotion of BBC AMERICA

SpectreThree years after the 50th anniversary of James Bond on screen, the franchise continues with what is expected to be the most successful Bond movie yet: SPECTRE. The embodiment of what Ian Fleming always desired to become returns on silver screen in the 24th instalment, the fourth adventure starring Daniel Craig as the iconic MI6 agent.

© MGM, Columbia Pictures, Danjaq, LLC

40 Review Review 41

Bellucci, who at the age of 51 breaks the stereotypical mould of Bond’s young love interests, becoming ‘the oldest’ – and probably the most sensual and charming – Bond girl to date. Even though both characters seem very different, “they both have great mystery [and] they both have depths,” creating great counterparts to Craig’s cold and distant Bond.

In Mr White’s words, SPECTRE’s Bond is “a kite dancing in a hurricane,”fluttering among SPECTRE, MI6, and the problems of his own past. The other characters which went through Skyfall with Bond: M, Q, or Moneypenny, “help him and they all in different ways risk their careers and risk their livelihoods” for Bond. What is much different from the previous film is the fact that “Bond is the one who has more experience than they did and . . . he’s got a greater wisdom. And that’s very much what the movie is about: whether or not to pursue the life [Bond has] always pursued.”

Bond: The Man Fleming Always Wanted to Be

While MI6 tries to recover from the fatal blow that was the bomb attack on their headquarters in Skyfall and try to prove the legitimacy of their position in the government activities, Bond sets off on a hunt. After uncovering part of his family secrets in Skyfall, he goes on a ruthless mission the objective of which

is unknown to all but him. SPECTRE“is a movie entirely driven by Bond. He is on a mission from the very beginning; he is on the hunt, on the trail of somebody. You don’t know why, you don’t know what he’s doing there and that sense that something is out is also tied to the second part of the crucial story of Bond’s childhood,” says the director of the film, Sam Mendez, who returns to the franchise for the second time to direct yet another Bond adventure.

Even though not entirely clear at the beginning, the story which is to be uncovered in SPECTRE is not just another 007 one-off action; it is directly linked to the events of the previous films featuring Daniel Craig as Bond: “Ever since Craig slipped into the Bond tuxedo for 2006’s Casino Royale, something has changed. There is no reset button for Craig’s Bond. There’s continuity. . . . It’s now an epic . . . story told over the course of four films, with SPECTRE functioning as an explicit sequel to Skyfall.”

There are several features of the story that link back to the previous films: First, another aspect of Bond’s childhood is set to be revealed, possibly uncovering the connection between SPECTRE, sinister global criminal organisation, and Bond’s past. Also, Jesper Christensen reprises his role as

Mr White, a villain character which first appeared in Casino Royale, reappeared in Quantum of Solace, and now comes back in SPECTRE to tie the loose ends of the Quantum organisation storyline. However, the most important return is the one of the SPECTRE organisation itself, connecting the latest Bond instalment with the classic 007 films and raising many questions regarding the main villain: Is Christoph Waltz’s Franz Oberhauser a new rendition of Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE? And what is his connection to Bond?

When it comes to the tradition of the Bond franchise – apart from sinister villain organisations – Bond girls are a must; in the Craig era one girl is not enough and SPECTRE is not an exception to that rule as it features two, very different, strong female characters: a young doctor Madeleine Swann and an Italian widow of an infamous criminal, Lucia Sciarra. When talking about her character, Madeleine Swann, the actress Léa Seydoux says: “She’s intelligent and very sensitive and human character.” Lucia Sciarra, on the other hand, is “an Italian widow with secrets; her Mafioso husband is killed and she risks the same thing happening to her,”comments on her part Monica

sceneries – including Mexico City, Rome, and the Austrian Alps – SPECTRE could make use of these and turn them into visually stunning jewels of the film; instead there is always a hint of the possibility, which is sadly never quite fulfilled.

The previously mentioned star cast does not disappoint, neither it surprises. Craig retains his Bond coldness accompanied by his trademark poker face, while balanced out by the passion and feelings of his Bond girls. Andrew Scott, in his character of Max Denbigh, channels vibes not dissimilar to his Jim Moriarty (BBC Sherlock), most of the time standing in for the main villain portrayed by Christoph Waltz, whose character sadly does not get enough screen time to allow for Waltz’s villain-portraying qualities to shine.

As for Thomas Newmann’s score, as usual it does not disappoint, however, many of the themes from Skyfall are repeated; on one hand, the soundtrack thus offers less new material, though on the other, it sets a certain level of familiarity between the film and the viewer, enabling the audiences to slip into the Bond movie experience more easily.

SPECTRE as a proper Bond movie retains the 007 standards in every respect; however, those standards are the reason why the film remains rather underwhelming. With SPECTRE the Bond franchise does not evolve, it rather stands still. Thus considering its predecessor, Skyfall, the 24th Bond instalment feels like a small step back.

Re:Views verdict: 70%SPECTRE (Bond 24)- in Czech cinemas from 5th November 2015- Running time: 150 mins- Directed by Sam Mendez- Starring: Daniel Craig, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Andrew Scott,Jesper Christensen and others- Official theme song & official website-IMDB profile & Promo videos

Review:

The first impression of yet another return of Daniel Craig’s Bond is the familiar feeling of a  grand 007 action adventure, although pondering about SPECTRE for a bit longer, some of the film’s issues start to come up to the surface. And this is exactly what SPECTRE is like: the Bond enthusiasts will definitely enjoy and appreciate Sam Mendez’s second 007 instalment; nevertheless, audiences unfamiliar with the Bond franchise archetypes might find the movie rather underwhelming in some respects.

SPECTRE offers everything a Bond film needs to have: plenty of fights and action, impressive vehicle fleet, (even more than one) Bond girl, a villain mystery (this time made double). But formally, the movie does not use its potential to the fullest. Offering a plenty of wonderful

SPECTRE is a movie entirely driven by Bond. He is on a mission from the very beginning; he is on the hunt, on the trail of somebody, you don’t know why, you don’t know what he’s doing there.

Bond is “a kite dancing in a hurricane”, fluttering among SPECTRE, MI6, and the problems of his own past.

Bond (Daniel Craig) approaching Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci) at her husband’s funeral.© MGM, Columbia Pictures, Danjaq, LLC

SP

ECT

RE

does not lack the classic Bond car action.

© M

GM

, Columbia P

ictures, Danjaq, LLC

42 Review Review 43

Robert Olen Butler: Severance

By Lucie Horáková

Butler’s Severance is an unexpected take on the format of a short story collection. It contains sixty one very short texts that all adhere to some rather specific rules. Each short story has exactly 240 words. Why? Because Butler used some interesting facts as his starting point. First, “After decapitation, the human head is believed to remain in a state of consciousness for one and one-half minutes1.” And second: “In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at the rate of 160 words per minute.” This suggests that a decapitated head should be able to deliver a 240-word-long inner soliloquy and this is the content of Butler’s short story collection – sixty one 240-word-long inner monologues inside various severed heads. For arranging his collection, Butler chose strictly chronological approach. He starts off with what runs through the head of Mud, a “man, beheaded by saber-toothed tiger, circa 40,000 B.C.” In the first text, Butler

establishes his main tool of the trade – capturing a stream of consciousness. This gives him the freedom to write in hints and leaves much of the interpretation of the texts on readers. After the first reading, some of the texts resemble only incomprehensible mess, but given more time and contemplation, they start to fit together and reveal a message. The first decapitated character of the book, the aforementioned Mud, is of course a fictional one. But this is not the case with all the people, or – to be more precise – beings in the book. Starting way in the pre-historic era, Butler moves on the age of antiquity, where he reveals the last thoughts of such well-known personas as Cicero, John the Baptist, Messalina or apostle Matthew. Later on, he picks other well-known heads from British history and when he approaches the time of the French revolution, it is a literal head-harvest. WBut not only real historical figures appear in Butler’s collection. The author decided to include mythical creatures

Robert Olen Butler, born in 1945 in Illinois, USA, is a  prolific writer and teacher. So far he has written more than ten novels and six short story collections, and has gained several literary awards, the most important being a 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his short story collection A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. Originally a  theatre major, Butler joined the Vietnam War efforts and become a special agent and a translator for the counter-intelligence. This experience, alongside with the various jobs that ensued, formed and inspired his writings and gained him a  Tu Do  Chinh Kien Award for “outstanding contributions to American culture by a Vietnam veteran”.Apart from being an acclaimed author of fiction, Butler is also famous for his support of creative writing. He teaches Creative writing at Florida State University and published a  collection of his lectures on this topic called From Where You Dream. His greatest achievement in this field is, however, his short story This is Earl Sandt the whole creation of which- from the initial idea to the final editing - was recorded and posted online as a webcast. In the broadcast author explained every aspect of writing this particular short story and also answered questions posted by the audience. The whole webcast, called Inside Creative Writing can be found on Youtube.

Robert Olen Butler

as well, so the readers can read the mind of the famous Medusa, the dragon slain by St. George or even look into the mind of the infamous Lady of the Lake. The closer the author gets to our times, the more culturally varied his characters are: he offers insights from not only European and American heads, but also from inhabitants of Vietnam, Japan, Iraq, Burkina Faso or Israel. This makes his work an interesting cultural tour and Butler manages to create a perfectly humane portrayal of each and every one of his literary victims in his book.

The biggest challenge Butler had to face while composing his audacious collection was to make each text absolutely unique. With such a number of unstructured soliloquies, it might have been very easy to get repetitive and confuse or even bore the readers. Luckily, Butler is such a skilled and experienced writer this is not the case. He managed to give each of his characters a distinctive voice and a story to remember. And the most daring piece of text he left to the very end – the last severed head is his own. The author of this review is pleased to say that it was the cherry on top of the deliciously heady meal Butler prepared.

1 All direct quotes in the following text come from the book that is an object of this review.

© Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Book designed by Brooke Johnson for Chronicle Books; Photo by Dominika Sirná

Book designed by Brooke Johnson for Chronicle Books; Photo by Dominika Sirná

44 CWC CWC 45

Last year the fourth Creative Writing Contest in short prose and poetry was announced and thanks to all the contestants, jury and, last but not least, the organizational staff, it turned out to be a very successful event. There was a record turnout of thirty-six contestants, perhaps due to the 3-year break between the previous contest and this one. Starting as an event for the students of the English Department, the contest is now accepting submissions from all students of Masaryk University. The Department of English and American Studies and ESCape hope that this event will now take place every year. So take out your laptops, or notebooks, pens, and typewriters – if you are one of the old-fashioned people – and start writing, because the fifth year of this competition is approaching quickly. To encourage you in participating, we are publishing the winners of the two categories of the contest – poetry and short prose.

Creative Writing Contest

Purgatory

By Blanka Šustrová

15 Dec 2014 12:03 GMTDear Student,The College still had not received your payment for the first term. Your studies here are to be terminated in a week, unless you pay the tuition fees in three days. Consider this the final notice.On behalf of the Study Department, Maria Carter

15 Dec 2014 23:49 GMT+1Dear Ms Carter,The College cannot receive the payment for the first term, as I happen to be an exchange student starting the studies in January, in other words, in the second term. I have not been listed as a student in the first term, therefore could not take any classes nor use the College Housing System.

16 Dec 2014 00:00 GMTMaria Carter is taking a holiday from 16 Dec 2014 to 20 Dec 2014. If you need to contact the tuition fees advisor, please contact Carol Upchurch.This is a computer generated message, do not reply.

16 Dec 2014 07:45 GMT+1Dear Ms Upchurch,There has been a mix-up considering my tuition fees for the first term. I am to start studying at the University in January, in the second term, and

therefore cannot pay for the first one. Could you please look into the system and confirm that I am enrolled for the second term and was not enrolled in the first term? Thank you very much.

16 Dec 2014 11:30 GMTDear Student,Your name is not in the College Database. Are you an Erasmus student? I do not see your enrolment in any study programme. Have you filled in all the necessary documents? Did the university accept your application? I can see no records to your name.C.U.

16 Dec 2014 11:45 GMT+1I’m sending you the acceptance letter, the learning agreement, the housing agreement and the contract with my home university in the attachment. These are all the documents concerning my studies at your university I received and got confirmed by your Study Department earlier this year.

***I got out at the Gloucester Green station after I’ve spent six hours stuck on M40 that was heavily buried under one inch of snow. The bus driver threw all my belongings out of the majestically old vehicle, hopped in, and covered my face in thick black fumes that no provocative industrial town deliberately violating the pollution law would be ashamed of.

The College where I was supposed to pick up the keys and the ID card was basically just around the corner and yet I feared I would spend my first night here on the street, since I arrived fifteen minutes after the building officially closed. I ran through the slippery George Street in a horrible sleet that was pinching my cheeks just like my elderly shrivelled catholic spinster witch-aunt who could easily pass for a Joyce’s Dubliners character. The rain changed into solid snowflakes as I was approaching the College, half dead under the weight of my huge damp backpack.God, let there be light.And there was.But then, in a single blink, it went out. A man in a yellow raincoat locked the main gate, whistling the opening theme of East Enders. I felt my legs giving up, I felt the backpack crushing my spine, I felt the rest of the air in my lungs to form a pathetically weak stream.“Wait!” I whined in the yellow-raincoat-man’s direction. He stopped whistling and looked around.“Eh?”“Over here, sir! I am terribly sorry but…”“You’re alright?” “Yes, I am. Do you work at the College? There was an accident on M40 and my bus had a delay and I just need…” “The keys to the house, right? They told me some kid is coming today for the keys and ID card but you didn’t show up.”“Oh, thank God I ran into you. Could you please give me the keys, then?”“No.”“Excuse me?”“It’s after my shift. I’m going home.”“Excuse me?” I asked again, with a heart attack approaching. The man was staring at me without blinking for five seconds and then he started to laugh.“I’m kidding you! Just kidding!” he patted me on the shoulder. I  fainted and broke my nose hitting the gold-plated plaque commemorating the beginning of co-education in 1974.

***

8 Jan 2015 13:46 GMTDear Ms Nicholls,I tried to enrol in MA courses for the second term through the College Intranet System but I could not get to any lists of courses that would provide any information at all. Could you please tell me where could I find them? I need to enrol in courses for twenty credits in total so I would not pay a penalty fee back at my home university.

9 Jan 2015 10:00 GMTDear Student,I cannot find you in the MA Student Database, nor can see your learning agreement. You seem not to be enrolled in any of our study programmes, therefore you cannot enrol in any of the courses taught here. Moreover, I can see that you have still not paid for the first term. That would explain why you are not enrolled in any programme.Best,E.N.

9 Jan 2015 10:04 GMTMs Nicholls,All the documents proving that I am studying at this university as an Erasmus student from the second term have been sent to Ms Carol Upchurch who was supposed to deal with entering all the information in your computer database.

9 Jan 2015 10:45 GMTWho is Carol Upchurch?E.N.

***

The salty slush was eating my shoes as I walked from the hospital towards my new home. I always thought this to be a town too posh for having actual snow. As my shoes were covered in white crust of salt and the soles were peeling off in small bits and pieces, I realised that the dirty wet melting remnants of beautiful white snowflakes were a peasant problem, because I saw the best minds of my generation happily wandering on the streets in shoes that were showing no signs of being dissolved. Maybe

46 CWC CWC 47

the people just could afford to ignore the snow so much that the slush just decided not to interfere with their patent leather brogues. And yet, all this could be a good sign. Maybe the ninth circle of hell was thawing and all my bad luck would thaw with it.Those four days I spent in a hospital after that unfortunate memorial plaque incident were exactly what I needed. I could not recall what happened after I fainted to the next morning but I felt just fantastically relaxed! The doctor came to have a look at me the third day and was very optimistic and in a great mood.“Your recovery is just remarkable! I’ve never seen anything like that! I would like to run some tests before I let you go home but do not worry, it all looks very promising.” he said.“Well it was just a broken nose, right?” I winked at him. He did not wink back and it almost seemed that his smile froze in a very unnatural way. I could swear I saw a little twitch in his left eyelid.“Haaaaaa! Yes, right, a broken nose!” he said very loudly, as the twitch moved to the corner of his smiling mouth. “It is only natural that you recovered so fast, right?” he was writing something frantically in his little note pad, still showing his teeth. “I’m just making a fuss of it all, am I not?” he patted my leg and got up. “I think you can go home tomorrow.” He waved at me and gave me so forced a smile that I could not see his eyes anymore.I unlocked the door and entered the house. I heard a squeaky noise. It could have been a chair. It could have been a dying frog. No, it was probably a chair.“Who’s there?” a deep voice shouted and I decided to play a little game.“Nay! Answer me! Stand and unfold yourself !” I shouted from the hallway, anticipating the right answer. I could hear his ponderous footsteps slowly pussyfooting on a worn-out carpet towards me. I imagined he may be of a heavy stature as his intentionally silent creeping was as effective as embroidering a pillow with a pneumatic drill.“Long live the king?” he said uncertainly, hiding behind the corner.“So you do humanities, then?” I peeked at him and smiled. Guy was the Prince of Herbert Close. There was always something rotten in his kitchen and the life he led definitely resembled a tragedy. He studied

Classics which led me to the assumption that his parents were quite wealthy. He left his room only when brewing another cup of coffee, as it was the only thing he needed to maintain his well-being. He usually drank six to eight cups a day, and yet he still looked like a bear tired of his pathetically boring life. He had those perfectly English watery eyes without any particular colour and a blank, bland stare. But if you looked more carefully, you would notice all his nightmares and all the world’s burdens encrypted in there. Exhausted armies of Punic Wars crossing the Alps having to leave the poor elephants behind. The people of Carthage, defeated, enslaved, shedding tears over their once fertile soil. The burning of Rome. Having to wash the dishes after dinner.And that name of his. Guy.Guuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyyyy.

Stretching in your mouth like the Roman Empire, pathetically mundane and without any need of a proper articulation. People were always waiting for the moment when he will introduce himself with a proper name. Not just a random sound. That moment never came. He didn’t even have a middle name that would save him. Nothing would save him and he knew that. And at that moment, when I was still standing at the doorway, looking at him, all I wanted to do was to hug this poor boy and let him weep bitterly on my shoulder.

Unfortunately, I had no time for that. The moment of caritas disappeared as I entered my dark, damp, depressing bedroom and started to unpack. As I was slipping into something more comfortable than a sweater stained with blood, I noticed there was something weird with my lower abdomen.A  scream of terror echoed through the neighbourhood.My appendix was gone.

***

13 Jan 2015 9:05 GMTDear Ms Thompson,The College Housing System repeatedly refused to

accept my payment for housing this month. I assure you that my credit card is not blocked.13 Jan 2015 10:56 GMTDear Student,Is it possible that your credit card may be blocked? I recommend you unblock the card and try again.

***

I needed to get away from that coffee-drinking ancient ruin and refresh myself somewhere. I was not really in the mood for clubbing in the city centre with those posh people whose shoes were far away from having been eaten by a salty slush. I wanted some peace and quiet and a pint. Or two. Or as much as I would handle. I missed my appendix so much I wanted to weep into a pint of heavy black stout.The Marsh Harrier was just a fifteen minute walk from my house. It was an ordinary pub, nothing too hipster, filthy or postmodern and I liked it there. I ordered a pint of Fuller’s Black Cab and headed to a table in a sombre corner.I opened a letter from the College Director inviting me to a formal welcoming reception that was about to take place tomorrow. It was black tie. I wore formal clothes only once and I swore not to do it again since a full-armour with a sword would be more comfortable.I tried to imagine myself at such event and my forehead was soon covered in a cold sweat.“What is your research field, if I may ask?” a sleazy old professor would say.“Hm?” I would peep, flustered.“What do you plan to write your MA thesis about?” he would fill up my glass with Riesling and show me his shark teeth. How would I know? I don’t even know what fresh hell will tomorrow bring to me. Two days before I fled the country for this Kafkaesque experience, I met my thesis supervisor in the hallway. He gave me one of his famous dead stares. Apparently, I haven’t mastered the technique of blending in with the walls yet. The Black Cab teased my nostrils with caramel aroma and coffee undertones and I could not hold myself any longer. Bitterly dry stout kicked me in the face and the taste filled me like like like like it was

like a Whitehall civil servant pushing his deep brown patent leather brogue down my throat and with every thrust a new wave of caramel coffee coffee caramel flavour was hitting my palate hard and soft at the same time full and thick and it would subside silently in a perfect bitter dryness after the last DROP.The pint of the opaque ruby heaven-hell washed away all my anxieties and cleansed my soul.

***

16 Jan 2015 8:00 GMTDear Student,The extended time period the College gave you to pay for the first term expired yesterday. I am obliged to inform you that your studies at this university have been terminated. Please, leave the housing facility by Monday 19th January 2015. Your file has been deleted from the Student Database as well as the Housing Database. You will find all the necessary documents concerning the expulsion for your home university in the attachment.All the best,Alan Stonebreaker, College Director

I turned off the laptop and went slowly to the kitchen. I took the coffee dregs out of the coffee machine and smeared it all over my face. I took the documents proving I should have been properly enrolled in the study programme for the second and the third term and stapled them all over my jacket frantically. Guy came to the kitchen with a pressing question engraved in his blandly colourless eyes.I took a potato masher out of the kitchen drawer and looked at that poor boy in an assuring manner.I kissed Guy goodbye and marched to the College headquarters.They took my dignity.They took my sanity.They took my appendix.If I’m going down, they’re going down with me.

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Wendigo(The Woman in Paint)

By Michaela Dragounová

She ate her ownSorry black heart

Her tiny tired heartWith tiny tired gears

(Done ticking)

She came outOut of the woods

To bite your fingersBite your fingers off

(So no feeding)

But ohWhen sated

But ohWhen full

Such graceSuch style

Such athleticismWas never seenIn Wonderland

As she danced on the edgeOf a dirty kitchen knife

She – the ballerinaIn slippers

Of clear white iceShe – the divine dancer(Her hair was cut short

Long time ago)In her blood-red

Cabaret skirt(Slithering submissively around her ankles)

Un, deux, trois!Un, deux, trois!

I’ve never seen such strength of will

Will to lifeWill to deathWill to power

Will you dance for us?

I am a head of open-wide windowsI am a head full of sky

Behind my carnival maskThe North wind murmurs for you

(Cruel little beastSavage little beast)

How I long to eat m-e-a-tEat that which isn’t my own

(Sweet little trapFine little trap)

But hushNow

The curtain falls(That thunderingThat devouringThat incessant

That inward pullThat involuntary motion

That abysmal feelingIs me

And mineI am a cavern

In meVast spaces resideIn plain language -I am full of holes)

This dance will be the last of the seasonBe seated and

Be still

On a great brick wall(The Great Divide)

Dangling her feet daintilyThe una-ballerina

The woman in paint(Half creatureHalf abstract)

At reposeAnd behind her paleMonolithic shoulders

A tree full of facesA sky full of heads

50 AWC AWC 51

Harry Potter and Inequality: House-Elves Are Humans Too

by Helena Brunnerová

Dear readers,

it is a widely held belief that works are to be either analysed or enjoyed. We, however, believe that these are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, thinking and rethinking fictional worlds creates additional value and is an undisprovable evidence that some works are worthy of coming back to. The world of Harry Potter is believed to be such work. To illustrate its academic potential, we proudly present to you the winning work of the Harry Potter Academic Writing Contest by Helena Brunnerová! Enjoy her insightful paper on the rights of house elves and tell us if you liked it on our website. (R:V)

In J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, house-elves are small magical creatures who resemble humans in many respects. However, very few witches and wizards realise that this does not involve only their appearance but also their psychological characteristics. Because they are rarely seen and treated as anything more than servants who are bound by magic to obey their master, it is not surprising that little is known of their history besides the fact that their “enslavement goes back centuries” (Goblet of Fire 224). This has been long enough to make both wizards and house-elves perceive it as natural, to the extent that wizards commonly share Ron‘s opinion that “[t]hey like being enslaved” (Goblet of Fire 224). Despite the little support showed by wizards in the books, I will argue why it is not only moral to fight for their rights but how it can also bring benefits for both wizards and house-elves if wizards stop treating them as nothing more than perfectly obedient servants deprived of freedom.

Although there are house-elves working at Hogwarts, in the first three books only one of them, Dobby, is mentioned. For most of the series, they are invisible. After all, as Nearly Headless Nick explains, this is a sign of a good house-elf: “Ideally, you don‘t know it‘s there” (Goblet of Fire 182). When they do appear, they are often treated with cruelty or indifference, and not only by wizards “on the dark side”, such as Voldemort and Mr. Malfoy. Hermione observes that Winky, a house-elf, is treated “like she wasn‘t even human” and it is her who stands up for Winky, not the Ministry employees who

witness the unjust treatment which she has to suffer (Goblet of Fire 139). Even Sirius, Harry‘s godfather, dismisses Dumbledore‘s advice to treat his house-elf Kreacher “with kindness and respect” (Order of Phoenix 832) and it takes almost two years for Harry himself to be able to follow Dumbledore‘s words. When he finally sees Kreacher as a complex being who has had to endure a life full of mistreatment and emotional pain, he not only overcomes his hatred of Kreacher but even feels compassion for him. This causes a huge change in the elf, making him “happier and friendlier” and, in a time when Voldemort is back and the evil is on the rise again, he turns their “gloomy and oppressive” hiding place into something welcoming and comforting enough to be called “a kind of home” (Deathly Hallows 271).

Although house-elves are often spoken about as a group of identical servants or housekeepers, the examples of Dobby, Winky and Kreacher show that they are all individuals with their distinct characteristics, with feelings, fears and hopes. In this respect, they are not different from humans. However, for most of the time the majority of wizards are not able to see this and understand the moral implications. House-elves are being taught to suppress their own identities, seeing themselves and their own value only through the eyes of the wizard who is their master. When Hermione meets a house-elf (Winky) for the first time and objects to the cruelty she has to endure, Winky explains: “House-elves is [sic] not supposed to have fun. (…) House-elves does [sic] what they is [sic] told. (…) Winky does what

she is told. Winky is a good house-elf (Goblet of Fire 98-99). When Winky is dismissed by her master, she moves to Hogwarts where she falls into depression and where other house-elves show a similar lack of sympathy or ability to see anything else than their work. They look “disgusted” when they see Winky getting drunk and when she falls on the floor, they “cover her with a tablecloth, hiding her from view” (Goblet of Fire 538). This scene shows the danger of the elves’ habit of suppressing their feelings because by doing so, they also suppress sympathetic emotions which would make them more humane. And as Dobby shows, there can be humanity in house-elves and they can be as capable of compassion and empathy as any witch or wizard. He is both the only house-elf who is free and the only one helping Winky, treating her as a fellow being who is in need, instead of seeing her, as other house-elves do, as a failure that embarrasses them in front of wizards.

Moreover, subordinating house-elves into flawlessly obedient servants does not give wizards real power. Instead, it makes them vulnerable. Sirius lost his life because he had mistreated Kreacher who then, as a result, lied to Harry whom he disliked at that time. Voldemort lost one of his horcruxes because he was testing its defence mechanism on Kreacher in a way so cruel that Kreacher‘s master, Regulus, decided to destroy it in revenge. Conversely, when house-elves are treated with kindness, they can be caring and loyal even when they are not bound by rules of magic, as Dobby shows multiple times, including sacrificing his own life to save Harry, and also Kreacher, who leads the house-elves against Voldemort, shouting: “Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus” (Deathly Hallows 734).

Winky‘s suffering when she was given freedom shows that Hermione‘s approach towards freeing house-elves against their will might not be the best one. However, if house-elves, instead of being raised to be faultlessly obedient, are taught to see themselves as individuals who can feel and show their emotions and wishes as well as act on them, if they find their identity, they will see the value of freedom. They share enough psychological characteristics with humans for it to be morally necessary to give them more rights and treat them with respect. What is more, if they see their own value and accept responsibility for their lives, a huge potential will be unlocked. Dobby and Kreacher prove that house-elves

can be caring friends, loyal companions or even fierce leaders. If they are reduced to the role of mere servants who internalise the rules of the oppressive system, it is a loss not only for them but also for the whole wizarding world.

Works CitedRowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, 2003. Print.

Helena is a BA student of Social Anthropology and English Language and Literature. She has always been a bookworm but it was the Harry Potter series that first motivated her to read in English because she could not bear to wait for the translations. She is a big fan of audiobooks so when she is not hiding behind a book, it is often because she is listening to one. She also enjoys photography, destroying the gender binary, and travelling. She loves volunteering abroad, so far she has participated in ten projects which included helping with a festival of traditional crafts in Wales or renovating houses in Ireland. When she wants to experience or explore something even more unusual, she sometimes does so in the safe and free of charge way of writing stories.

Helena Brunnerová

52 KAA

The Gypsywood Players

by Tomáš Varga Pavla Nováková

This year the Gypsywood Players production brings alive a  timeless classic despite the company’s mostly modern repertoire. To celebrate the 600th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death the company will perform his Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play has attracted a number of new talents including several foreign exchange students and the company has already started the arrangements for spring tour which might involve festivals and guest performances abroad. The Brno audience can witness the spectacle on the following occasions:

December 15 – 7:30pmDecember 17 – 7:30pmAll performances will take place in Buranteatr at Kounicova 22, Brno.Follow the Facebook page for ticket information.

IDEAS Student ConferenceThe second IDEAS Student Conference is going to take place on 18th December thus aspiring to become a new tradition at the Department of English and American Studies. The conference is aimed at all Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degree students whom the organizers wish to provide with a platform to present their work and research so that they can gain valuable experience for their further studies or their prospective academic careers, confidence in their abilities and feedback from the audience. The organizers from ESCape Students’ Club hope to build on the success of the first conference which generated many fruitful discussions and was a pleasant experience for both the presenters and the audience.

A glimpse of last year's conference by Romana Juriňáková