New material on Marvell’s ‘Horatian Ode’ excites me more than any other subject, I would wager. It is one of the iconic poems upon which every Marvellian faces his or her own judgement day. Continue reading »
Tagged with Public Sphere …
Media Revolutions and “Friends”
One of the most eye-catching details about Andrew Marvell was his lack of friends. On the one hand, who could blame all those who knew him? He was (or became) a private, suspicious man, angry and fractious at times. On the other hand, who could blame him? A few concerned observations on what media revolutions in the 1640s and 2000s mean for ‘friendship’. Continue reading »
Virtual Public, Virtual Private, and Immeasurable Distances
A sombre weekend is sometimes really useful and sometimes really difficult. I listened to ethereal soundscapes as the sun slowly ebbed away. I made tea and watched words blend upon its surface. It’s the kind of combination that can fuel anything… Continue reading »
Privacy and Parliamentary Privilege
This recent period has been plagued with privacy issues, the biggest of which, no doubt, has been the issue of super-injunctions and the exercising of parliamentary privilege. So, what is parliamentary privilege? Continue reading »
“Finders Keepers, holder Seekers hidden Secrets”: Writing in Cryptics
Most of us are guilty at some point of writing in cryptics. Why do we do it? Why express ourselves in terms that are not meant to be understood? Is it, perhaps, a deep subconscious desire to be public with our privacy? Is it more about reaching out, or being reached out to? A few thoughts on why we so often seek to tangle rather than untangle. Continue reading »
A Vote of No: Social Media and Sacrifices
Regular users of social media networks will no doubt have noticed – if their friends lists are anything like mine – that politics is again becoming a very public sport. Yesterday, a referendum was held on whether to adopt the ‘Alternative Vote’ system, turning social networking sites into moral and ideological crusades. Continue reading »
East Midlands Early Modern Colloquium
Delegates from Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, and Nottingham Trent convened at De Montfort University for the second East Midlands Early Modern Colloquium. Continue reading »
A Long Winter’s Tale
A summary of research activity from January-March 2011. This features a lecture by Nigel Smith at the Andrew Marvell Centre in Hull; a teaching event at the University of York; and the biannual British Milton Seminar at Birmingham Central Library.
The Second Anniversary: A Song For No-One
This place has never needed to be about me. It has needed to be about pieces of research that tell a good story; about events or developments that have some form of interest… Commemorating two years of Writing Privacy. Continue reading »
Solitariness: A Sweet Side-Note
I recently thought a little about what modern interpretations of Shakespeare can offer. What, then, of accidental crossovers – when something from early-modern literature leaps out as being particularly well-suited to a new moment? People often ask why I am fascinated by literature of the English Civil War but so little other war literature. I’ve found three main reasons. Continue reading »
