tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16064557274176470882024-03-13T19:30:40.747-07:00Project SilexBDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02892521220943111096noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606455727417647088.post-16176825853444825762012-07-26T16:27:00.003-07:002012-07-26T23:53:05.624-07:00On #EarlyModern<div class="MsoNormal">
Having been a user of Twitter since 20 February 2011, I have
had a generally positive experience with the site and have amassed 2,186 tweets
in that time. The first 1,000 to 1,200 were thoroughly uninteresting and often
gave little else but glimpses into my personal life with no thought given to
who would read them. Like most users of the site, though, I slowly began to
understand its potential to connect users with those of similar interests. I
began seeking out fellow grad students, and, when I was lucky, fellow students
of English Literature. Suddenly, and quite accidentally, I began developing a
personal brand—I began scrutinizing my tweets based on the types of people I
hoped would read them. A <b>@justincaron</b> recently tweeted that, “<span style="color: #262626;">Facebook is for friends that are now strangers. Twitter is for
strangers that should be your friends.” This is a statement that captures
perfectly my emerging commitment to the website.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;">I have had some success communicating with
fellow graduate students. <b>#GradSchool</b>, <b>#GradLife</b>, #<b>PhDChat</b>, <b>#PhDAdvice</b> channels
enabled me to discover people who were dealing with the same trials and
tribulations that were staples of my life. (And, more positively, a shared love
for these trials.) <b>#ENGChat</b> was useful for finding people interested in discussing
English language and English literature studies. This channel, like those
above, was good for broad and fleeting connections with fellow users. This
general searching after similarly minded people connected me with Medievalists,
Victorianists, Modernists, etc. (And even, thankfully, a few Early Modernists
for me to adore.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;">However, as I built these various connections,
something became apparent: many of the other periods went out of their way to
connect and network. Early Modernists, though, seem to cross their fingers and
hope that they’ll chance upon kindred spirits. There are many active and
wonderful Early Modernists on Twitter, but there is hardly a sense of
community. Indeed, vis-à-vis fellow Early Modern scholars, my Twitter experience has
been largely unilateral. I have ‘listened’ to discussions that I have not been
invited to, and, as with all eavesdroppers, I have been reluctant to barge into
these discussions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;">Today I decided to test the waters and see
whether or not there was an interest in greater community involvement from my
fellow Early Modernists. I issued the followed tweet (that I expected to be
absolved into the digital ether): “EARLY MODERNISTS: Do we have a standardized
chat hashtag (e.g., #EMChat)? I feel like we're collectively lagging behind
some disciplines.” Of course, I quickly realized that EMChat is well-populated
by enrollment management folks, but, before I could delete and edit my tweet, I
had received a reply. John Gallagher, <b>@earlymodernjohn</b>, confirmed my hopes that
there was a larger interest in community involvement from Early Modernists.
After a few quick exchanges, in which others slowly began contributing, we
arrived at the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><b>#EarlyModern</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;">More importantly, we quickly realized a few
things. The hashtag should be discipline-inclusive. Rather than a collection of
people studying literature, oblivious to the rest of the disciplines that
contribute to the nuanced and responsible understanding of the period, we
decided that we should aspire to elicit participation from a broad range of
scholars (independent or academic) whose interests are couched in the Early
Modern era. We are hopeful that #EarlyModern will enjoy use from a wide range
of scholars—whether dramatist, historian, literary critic, archeologist, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;">This is, obviously, a fairly obtuse manifesto. But
I am nevertheless hopeful that this new channel will experience a degree of
success that, collectively, we have not known on Twitter. By way of introduction,
then, let me simply say this: <b>My name is Brycen (@JanzenBrycen). I study the poetry of Henry
Vaughan. More generally, though, I am interested in Interregnum Anglicanism in
Wales.<i> It is nice to meet you all.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>BDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02892521220943111096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606455727417647088.post-60550862892341615952012-06-05T12:47:00.001-07:002012-06-05T12:52:57.129-07:001. Silex Scintillans, Titular Emblem, and “Authoris (de se) Emblema”<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<em>Silex Scintillans </em>(The Fiery Flint) first appeared in 1650. Its author, Henry Vaughan, was known only for his <em>Poems, and the Tenth Satire of Iuvenal, English'd</em> (1646). The title, <em>Silex Scintillans</em>, was taken from a passage in the Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg's <em>De Arte Voluntatis</em>--a work which Vaughan was to later translate in his <em>Flores Solitudinis</em> (1654). Vaughan translates the passage thusly: "Certaine Divine Raies breake out of the Soul in adversity, like sparks of fire out of the afflicted f<em>lint</em>" (249). Many of the poems in the volume are intended to console disenfranchised Anglicans who found themselves religiously compromised following the Interregnum ban on Prayer Book worship. One can see the connection to Nieremberg in both, the titular emblem (below) and the explanatory Latin poem, "Authoris (de se) Emblema" ("The Author's Emblem of Himself.")</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<img alt="" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/vaughan/silex.jpg" height="471" src="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/vaughan/silex.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Silex Scintillans 1650" width="265" /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
One can see here that the redemptive (forgiving and absolving) hand of God is seen striking a a heart of flint. The heart appears to be softening as it is seen dripping (or crying) tears of blood.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
"Authoris (de se) Emblema"</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<em>Tentâsti, fateor, sine vulnere saepius, et me<br /> Consultum voluit </em>Vox<em>, sine voce, frequens;<br />Ambivit placido divinior aura meatu,<br /> Et frustrà sancto murmure praemonuit.<br />Surdus eram, mutusque </em>Silex<em>: Tu, (quanta tuorum (5)<br /> Cura tibi est!) aliâ das renovare viâ.<br />Permutas Curam: Jamque irritatus Amorem<br /> Posse negas, et vim, </em>Vi<em>, superare paras,<br />Accedis propior, molemque, et </em>Saxea<em> rumpis<br /> Pectora, fitque </em>Caro<em>, quod fuit ante </em>Lapis. (10)<em><br />En lacerum! Caelosque tuos ardentia tandem<br /> Fragmenta, et liquidas ex </em>Adamante<em> genas.<br />Sic olim undantes </em>Petras, Scopulosque<em> vomentes<br /> Curâsti, O populi providus usque tui!<br />Quam miranda tibi manus est! </em>Moriendo<em>, revixi; (15)<br /> Et </em>fractas<em> jam sum ditior inter </em>opes.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Lines 5-10 have the most explanatory power in this brief poem: "I was deaf and dumb, a <em>Flint</em>: You (how great care you take of your own!) try to revive another way, you change the remedy; and now angered you say that <em>Love</em> has no power, and you prepare to conquer force with <em>Force</em>, you come closer, you break through the <em>Rocky</em> barrier of my heart, and it is made <em>Flesh</em> that was before a <em>Stone</em>" (Martz, <em>George Herbert and Henry Vaughan</em> 248).</div>BDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02892521220943111096noreply@blogger.com0