huh. squee range.

Okay, so finally I sat down to sort through my bookmarks to read discussion on cesperanza's new fic--because I have done my homework. (Really. I mean, not all! But you know, some random amount.) So I deserve a reward. And chocolate milk.

Except--um. Is anyone discussing it *not* a member of academia or just really conversant with the themes of that? This is odd--but this is the first time in fandom I've felt my sheer lack of a degree in anything this strongly, because I am seriously *not able to follow* or really get into any discussion I've seen so far. But mostly, I just don't get what's being discussed. Okay, it's more the 'why' of what is being talked about. But it's also the feeling that I'm reading something in German but in this case, even throwing it through the translators isn't helping, as I have no translators and seriously. What are you people talking about?

It's very--I don't know. I wish for squee, but no place is squeeing on a level of "oh my god this is so awesome remember the part with the chair room" but mostly on the "did you notice the dissertation and footnotes of the x, y, z, it reminds me of that time back when I was teaching Very Horrifically Difficult Literature..." I am on a different squee range.

Er. That's kind of an exaggeration, but mostly not, because I'm serious, ,I am seeing in otherwise accessible ljs this entire--I don't know. It's like I'm missing some huge chunk of context. I keep having to fight down the urge to ask "WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING FOOTNOTE FORMAT" or something, because oh my God.

If I ask for an explanation of the squee range, is that going to show just dreadfully my terribly non-high-literature-inclinations so much that all will lose respect for me or something? I'm seriously kind of dazed by how inaccessible I'm finding a lot of these conversations.

Help? I'm kind of moving from dazed to the 'frustrated and annoyed' place and that can only end in staring resentfully at my laptop and eating way too much haagen-daz.

ETA: I now have people doing threads of squee and non-academic meta discussion. I have found nirvana. Yay!

Comments

[summertea.livejournal.com]

I completely feel you. I have no idea what all the academics are talking about, and didn't even completely understand aesc's fic.

D:

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*sits with you in solidarity*

You mean the poem? *chews lip* Yeah. I'm still not sure what's up with that one.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

It's simply art of one of the poems that might have been left by the Lanteans for future generations. The textual analysis is modeling what present day academics do to medieval (and earlier) poetry and the comedy comes from what a future scholar can't *possibly* know looking at scraps, as opposed to what we know as readers. I don't follow most of what aesc has said about the rhyming schemes or historic styles of the poetry, but it still makes me laugh a *lot* to imagine some future academic sitting down and trying to make head or tails of "Iohannes Cash"'s poetry and its place in the Lantean world.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Huh. So it was an exploration of a text that existed around the time of the secession. That part I got. I just wasn't sure why it was signficant.

A couple of people have chimed in that this is about the concept of historical discussion, which does help give it context. It's just during the straight reading, I couldn't really--understand what was going on without the context of "this is really cool because they are debating the historical signficance of Johnny Cash!"

It was confusing. Thank you.