the round table 1
The Round Table n e w s
from the North American Branch
NAB Officers 1996–1999 (for full addresses see bbias) President: Donald L. Hoffman (Northeastern Illinois U) Immediate Past President: Keith Busby (U of Oklahoma) Vice-President: Alan Lupack (Rochester U) Secretary-Treasurer: Joan Tasker Grimbert (Catholic U) Bibliographers: Martha Blalock (U of Wisconsin) Glenda Warren Carl (Southwestern U) Advisory Committee: James Carley (York U) Carol Dover (Georgetown U) Elissa R. Henken (U of Georgia) Elizabeth Sklar (Wayne State U) Stephanie Cain Van d’Elden (U of Minnesota) Kevin J. Harty (LaSalle U) Bonnie Wheeler, Arthuriana Editor (Southern Methodist U, ex officio) IAS Officers 1996–1999 (for full addresses see bbias) President: Philippe Ménard (U of Paris-Sorbonne) Honorary President (Immediate Past President): Anna Maria Finoli (U of Milan) Vice-President: Jane H. M. Taylor (St. Hilda’s College, Oxford) Secretary and bbias Editor: Keith Busby (U of Oklahoma) Treasurer: Hans R. Runte (Dalhousie U) Back Issues of bbias and Arthuriana: For back issues of bbias (through vol. 46/ 1994), contact Hans R. Runte, Dept. of French, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., B3H 3J5, Canada ([email protected]). For back issues starting with vol. 47/1995, contact Joan Grimbert, Dept. of Modern Languages, Catholic U, Washington DC 20064 ([email protected]). Back issues still available are vols. 25–29 (1973–77) and 31–34 (1979–82), all for $10 each; vols. 36–41 (1984–89), 43 (1991), and 45–47 (1993–95) are $15 each. All other volumes are out of print. For back issues of Arthuriana, contact Arthuriana, Box 750432, SMU, Dallas TX 75275-0432 ([email protected]). Your bbias Abstracts: Please submit the bibliographical details and a brief, objective account of your publications to the NAB bibliographers: 1. Research in Germanic, Scandinavian, English, and Celtic studies to: Martha Blalock, School of Business, U of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706, USA 2 arthuriana
2. Research in Latin and Romance studies to: Glenda W. Carl, Dept. of Foreign Languages, Southwestern U, Georgetown TX 78626, USA Arthurian Studies at Kalamazoo: 33rd International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, May 7–10, 1998. (For information and registration materials write to Prof. Paul Szarmach, Director, The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI 49008; tel: 616–387–8745; fax: 616–387–8750; e-mail: [email protected]; Web Page: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/ congress.) IAS Business Meeting: Friday, May 9, 1998, 12:00 noon. Room to be announced. Box lunches available. Tentative Agenda: 1. Adoption of the agenda 2. Minutes of meeting of May 1997 (see below) 3. Matters arising 4. President’s report 5. Secretary-Treasurer’s report 6. Bibliographers’ report 7. Report from the editor of arthuriana 8. Other business Sessions sponsored by the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society (specific days and times will appear in the Program of the 33rd International Congress, and on the Web Page at
Jackie Jenkins (U of Calgary) 3. “Identities and Ideologies: Movie Merlins of the 80s and 90s” Barbara Miller (State U of New York at Buffalo) 4. “‘What’s Up, Duke?’ A Brief History of Arthurian Animation” Michael N. Salda (U of Southern Mississippi) Homosociality and the Arthurian Legend Organizer and Presider: Martin B. Shichtman (Eastern Michigan U) 1. “Identity Construction/Social Destruction: Homosociality in Sir Thomas Malory’s Arthuriad” Dorsey Armstrong (Duke U) 2. “The Visual Economies of Homosociality in Arthurian Literature” Laurie A. Finke (Kenyon College) 3. “Homosociality and the Ideological State Apparatus in Gottfried’s Tristan” Robert Sturges (U of New Orleans) Arthurian Anxieties Organizer: Bonnie Wheeler (Southern Methodist U) Presider: Judy Shoaf, Assistant Editor, Arthuriana, Moderator of Arthurnet (U of Florida) 1. “The Anxiety of the Romance Hero: Renaut de Beaujeu, Reader of Chretien de Troyes” Debora B. Schwartz (California Polytechnic State U) 2. “Heroic Anxieties: Chaste Knights in the Grail Quest” Peggy McCracken (U of Illinois–Chicago) 3. “A Questing Beast as Emblem of the Ruin of Logres in the Post-Vulgate” Antonio L. Furtado (Pontificia U Catolica–RJ, Rio de Janeiro) 4. “Gender Anxiety and Disciplining Laughter in Malory’s Morte Darthur” Sandra M. Salla (Lehigh U) Other Sessions of Interest to Members of the IAS/NAB: Tristan I: Tristan in its Medieval Context Organizer: Debora B. Schwartz (California Polytechnic State U). 1. “Silence is Golden: Mining Voids in the Vulgate to Construct the Prose Tristan” Janina P. Traxler (Manchester College, IN) 2. “Editing the Tristana Panciatichiano” (Florence, Bibl. Naz. Panc. 33) Gloria Allaire (Purdue U) 3. “Distortion of a Legend and Creation of a Hybrid Saint’s Life: Intertextuality between Clemence of Barking’s Life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the Tristan Romance” Alexia Gino (Catholic U of America) 4. “Art as Reading: The Tryst Beneath the Tree” Melissa Furrow (Dalhousie U) Tristan II: Joseph Bédier and His Sucessors Organizers: Joan Tasker Grimbert, Alain Corbellari 4 arthuriana
1. “Ysé the Healer in Claudel’s Partage de Midi” Stephen Maddux (U of Dallas) 2. “John Updike’s Tristanian Passion” Alain Corbellari (U de Lausanne) 3. “Bédier à rebours: Paul Griffith’s Lay of Sir Tristram” Joan T. Grimbert (Catholic U of America) Sir Thomas Malory: Unity in Difference Sponsored by The Texas Medieval Association Organizer and Presider: D. Thomas Hanks, Jr. (Baylor U) 1. “Dialogue in Le Morte Darthur: Difference in Sameness” Felicia Ackerman (Brown U) 2. “Questions of Coherence in Malory’s Works” Fiona Tolhurst (Alfred U) 3. “The Exile Motif in Middle English Romance: Sir Orfeo and Malory’s Book of SirTristram” Richard Garrett (Baylor U) Call for Session Proposals: Kalamazoo 1999. Members wishing to organize a session (especially in fields other than English and French literature) for the Fourteenth Symposium on Arthurian Studies at the 34th International Congress on Medieval Studies in May, 1999, are invited to send their proposals by December 31, 1998 to Donald L. Hoffman, Dept. of English, Northeastern Illinois U, 5500 N. St. Louis Ave., Chicago IL 60625. Minutes of the NAB Business Meeting held on May 9, 1997 at 12:00 noon in Fox Lounge (Medieval Institute Meeting, Kalamazoo MI): The meeting was called to order by D. Hoffman, presiding. Since the members of the Executive and Advisory Committee had changed since our last meeting, he introduced all members present at the meeting: D. Hoffman (President), A. Lupack (Vice-President), J. Grimbert (Secretary-Treasurer), E. Henken (Celtic Literatures), C. Dover (Romance Literatures), S. Cain Van d’Elden (Germanic Literatures), and B. Wheeler (editor of Arthuriana, ex-officio). The agenda was adopted (Hamel/Samples) as published in the Summer 1997 NAB news (The Round Table section of Arthuriana 7.2). J. Grimbert asked that the permanent agenda be amended to include henceforth the report from the editor of Arthuriana. The minutes of the May 10, 1996 Business Meeting as published in the Winter 1996 NAB news (Arthuriana 6.4) were approved (Hoberg/Schwartz), with one abstention. Matters arising: a. Nineteenth IAS Congress. J. Grimbert read her translation of the flyer in French that had been sent to her by the Congress organizers (J-Cl. Faucon, A. Labbé, D. Lecroix). The following is a summary of the information contained therein. The Congress is presently scheduled to be held in Toulouse from July 25 to August 1, the round table 5
1999. The four subjects chosen for the paper topics are: (1) Production and Illustration of Manuscripts and Printed Books; (2) Encounters Between Cultures in Arthurian Literature; (3) Time and History in Arthurian Literature; and (4) The Comic in Arthurian Literature. All those interested in presenting a paper are requested to submit a title to the Organizing Committee by Nov. 30, 1997, followed by an abstract of 20–30 lines by June 1998. A second flyer featuring a preliminary program and a registration form will be sent out in 1998, followed by a third flyer at the beginning of 1999 requesting confirmation of registration. After J. Grimbert had finished communicating the contents of the flyer, an animated discussion ensued, resulting in a consensus as to the following points: —The deadline set for a title is much too early. The title and abstract should be due in May-June 1998 at the earliest. —It would be necessary to have in hand an estimate of the cost of the Congress (lodgings, meals, etc.) before any member could make a firm commitment to attend. —Since the end of the Congress as presently scheduled would coincide with the time when the French traditionally leave for summer vacation, it would be preferable if the Congress could be rescheduled for the third week of July. —The flyer should be sent out in English, French, and German; alternatively the flyer for the NAB should be furnished in English, if the organizers wish the NAB to distribute it at its own cost. It was agreed that D. Hoffman would write a letter to the Congress organizers expressing our concerns and listing our suggestions. b. Kalamazoo 1998. D. Hoffman read the topics that had already been proposed for next year: Arthurian Homosociality (D. Hoffman), Celtic Literature (K. Lorenz), Arthurian Film (K. Harty), and Testing Motifs or The Messenger in King Arthur’s Court (S. Samples). S. Samples asked that her proposed session be moved to 1999. B. Wheeler then suggested a session called Arthurian Anxieties, which would be proposed to the Congress organizers as a fourth session. c. Kalamazoo 1999. D. Hoffman then called for topics for 1999, and the following sessions were proposed: S. Samples’ session, originally proposed for 1998; B. Wheeler’s session, if we were not allowed to have more than three sessions in 1998; Villains, Knaves, and Scoundrels (S. Samples); and, given the approach of the millennium, Arthurian Apocalypses (B. Wheeler), which M. Shichtman recommended retitling as Taking it to the Next Level: Arthurian Apocalypses. J. Grimbert read the NAB Financial Statement for April 15, 1996–April 14, 1997, which was duly adopted. She suggested adding a special dues category for retired professors ($25) to bring the NAB in line with organizations such as the MLA and to encourage those members to remain with the NAB. This initiative was approved, as was the idea that some of the surplus monies in the NAB account be placed in a separate money market account and/or CDs or Treasury Notes. The interest accrued could eventually be used for graduate student travel grants. Since both bibliographers were absent, there was no report regarding the progress of bbias 49 (1997). d. Other business. S. Samples expressed her concern that proxy votes had been used by the French branch at the General Assembly in Garda in a way that put the 6 arthuriana other branches at a disadvantage in the voting for the site of the 1999 IAS Congress. Several suggestions were made to regularize the voting procedure regarding proxies for the future. B. Wheeler suggested that a copy of the international by-laws be printed in bbias every three years, and proposed that if the by-laws did not reflect a common method of voting for all branches, a common method should be developed and promulgated. M. Shichtman proposed that no proxy votes be allowed at international meetings and that such a motion be put on the agenda for the 1999 General Assembly. Since it was not known what the by-laws contained regarding proxy votes, a consensus was reached finally that (1) we should examine the international by-laws to see if a motion was necessary, and, if so (2) we should ask the International Committee to amend the by-laws to disallow voting by proxy. M. Trout added a friendly amendment: that the international by-laws be published in bbias, along with the by-laws of all branches. B. Wheeler announced that Arthuriana was sponsoring a reception in the Webster bar of the Radisson Hotel that evening on the occasion of the awarding of the prize for the best article published in Arthuriana 6. She also distributed calls for proposals and essays for two future issues of the journal, one guest-edited by S. Eisner collecting reminiscences of the great Arthurian scholar/teachers, and a second guest-edited by H. H. Peyton focusing on Wagner’s achievements as an Arthurian artist. B. Wheeler said that Arthuriana was more and more expensive to produce and that we needed to increase library subscriptions. The meeting adjourned at 1:17 p.m. (Hoberg/Shichtman). Update on 19th Triennial IAS Congress: The Congress is presently scheduled to be held in Toulouse from July 25 to August 1, 1999. The organizers had originally requested that all prospective presentors submit a title by November 30 of this year. Many members of the NAB were concerned about this unrealistically early deadline, as well as about various other aspects of the organization (as enumerated in part 3a of the Minutes above). After expressing these concerns to the organizing committee, Don Hoffman received a letter from Prof. Faucon, in which he promised to discuss these issues with the other members of the organizing committee when he met with them in mid-September and to report back to us. He agreed that the November 30 deadline was perhaps a bit early and promised that, whatever the committee should decide, our members would enjoy an extension of the deadline. Arthurnet: Arthurnet is an electronic discussion group for scholars and students of Arthurian subjects from the early Middle Ages to the modern moment. Scholars in all fields of inquiry from literature and history to mythology and philosophy—and in the several languages pertinent to the Arthurian story—are invited to participate in this open list. There is a moderated line in the list to allow more structured conversation for those who wish to engage in it. Details of the moderated list are broadcast on-line. Any scholar willing to act as a discussion moderator is asked to contact Assist. Editor Judy Shoaf ([email protected]) with potential topics and timetables. Each moderator will be asked to prepare a summary article about the the round table 7 topic line (crediting appropriate participants) for publication in The Round Table section of Arthuriana. To subscribe, send the command ‘sub arthurnet [your name]’ to [email protected] as an e-mail message. The Arthurian Network: New or changed e-mail addresses appear on the arthuriana Homepage. New or Returning Members since last news: Armstrong, Dorsey, Dept. of English, Box 90017, Duke U, Durham NC 27708 Aura, Monique, 5180, rue Fabre, MontrCal (Que), CANADA H2J 3W5 Barban, Judith L., Modern Langs., Winthrop U, Rock Hill SC 29732 Clements, Dr. Pamela, English Dept., Siena C, 515 Loudon Rd., Londonville NY 12211-1462 Demorsky, Susan, P.O. Box 861387, Plano TX 75086-1387 Frietsche, Carrie, 6454 Zinnia St., Arvada CO 80004 Gardner, Leila, 809 Weedon St., Fredericksburg VA 22401 Holzerland, Ms. Gloria J., 17181 Beech-Daly Rd., Redford MI 48240 Hopkins, Pamela S., Celtic Langs. & Lits., Harvard U, Cambridge MA 02138 King, Ms. Karyn, 14 Retford Ave., Cranford NJ 07016 Mullin, Mr. K.R., P.O. Box 112, Mantua NJ 08051 Pesec, Mr. David J., 1633 Hickory Lane, Mansfield OH 44905-2945 Pidgeon, Mr. Sean, 412 Vose Ave., South Orange NJ 07079 Pinti, Prof. Daniel, Dept. of English, New Mexico SU, Box 30001, Dept. 3E, Las Cruces NM 88003-8001 Robeson, Dr. Lisa G., Bluffton C, 280 West College Ave., Bluffton OH 45817-1196 Roth-McKinley, Ms. Rebecca, 711 Emerald Ct., Newport News VA 23608 Sariego, Dr. Jack, 512 Marion Blvd., Forest MS 39074 Schultz, Ms. Jerrianne, 512 N. Oakland Ave., Carbondale IL 62901 Singleton, Mr. Paul, 104 Second Ave., #3, New York NY 10003 Stemen, Mr. Brian, 2302 Scenic Dr. NE, Lancaster OH 43130 Sullivan, Joseph M., 1401 St. Edwards Dr., #238, Austin TX 78704 Tuttle, Ms. Debbie, 81 4th Place, Apt. 4L, Brooklyn NY 11231 Change of Name or Address since last news: Damberger, Prof. Stanley J., 910 Los Arboles NW, Albuquerque NM 87107-1140 DeVille, Thomas, 208 Westward Dr., Corte Madera CA 94925 Kinsner, Mr. Clay, 2925 Cumberland Ave., Waco TX 76707 Kovach, Prof. Claudia Marie, 226 Kirkpatrick Dr., Gallatin TN 37066 Madondo, Dr. Sibusiso H. (formerly D.H. Mdluli), Dept. of Romance Languages, U of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, 0001 Pretoria, South Africa Markowitz, Ms. Susan J., P.O. Box 656, Lahaska PA 18931-0656 Nightingale, Prof. Jeanne A., 2626 Glenway Ave., Cincinnati OH 45204 Resau, Mrs. Lisa, 8632 Sandy Plains Rd., Baltimore MD 21221 Sieber, Miss Kristen M., 4804-239th St. S.W., Mountlake Terr. WA 98043 8 arthuriana
Thomas, Mr. Michael W., P.O. Box 8001, Bay Saint Louis MS 39521 Traxler, Dr. Janina P., 1601 Heckathorn Dr., North Manchester IN 46962 Walters, Dr. Lori, 2415 Winthrop Rd., Tallahassee FL 32312-3224 Warner, Dr. Linda Sue, 4001 North Ninth St. #418, Arlington VA 22203
Submitted by: D. Thomas Hanks, Jr., IAS/NAB Newsletter Editor