Bricolage!

Feb 28, 2015 06:51

Reprise on bricolage, after a bunch of related discussions online and at cons. Plus mentions of a couple books, including Andrea K. Höst's new release.

writing, culture, history, worldbuilding

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Comments 15

whswhs February 28 2015, 15:13:07 UTC
That totally wasn't what I thought "bricolage" meant.

Looking at the Wikipedia entry, I see an emphasis on using found material in artistic creation. I suppose it's natural that when I think of applying that to literature, I think of incorporating found text into a literary text; the kind of thing T.S. Eliot did in The Waste Land, for example, when he quotes a Wagnerian lyric at one point and later on has the line "They wash their feet in soda water," apparently from an Australian ballad. Because for me literature is made of text ( ... )

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sartorias February 28 2015, 15:36:07 UTC
When it comes to talking about writing, we have to create and define terms. Research I think of as the assemblage of facts. Georgette Heyer is a great example here, in her medieval book about King John. Chock full of facts, but utterly dead, because she did not seem to understand how people of that time looked at their world, how they lived in it.

Whereas a novel that academics might scorn for its lack of correct period detail is still enormously popular because the author manages to convey how the characters live in their world, how they view themselves.

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whswhs February 28 2015, 16:20:19 UTC
I'm not sure if you intend either of those to be an example of bricolage. Does bricolage relate at all to the point you're making, or have we shifted to a subtopic?

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thistleingrey February 28 2015, 17:16:54 UTC
It seems to me that a term that has been seized by certain critics is not necessarily reserved for them ever after.

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thistleingrey February 28 2015, 17:16:14 UTC
Hild is a great example to use, since there are not indeed a ton of errors on page one, even though people have lodged such a complaint. :))

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martianmooncrab February 28 2015, 21:24:07 UTC
I found it interesting that Host's books arent that readily available, I had looked online at Powells and they were all "remote warehouse" .. which kinda answered my question to myself of why I havent seen her works before, because Pyramids in London? I am all over that.

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sartorias March 1 2015, 01:00:42 UTC
She is an indie writer, whose books are mainly ebook. Or POD (she lives in Australia, so she might have print books more readily available down there.)

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martianmooncrab March 1 2015, 10:04:33 UTC
The London book isnt available on my Nook as of yet, I have it shortlisted mow.

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sartorias March 1 2015, 14:00:58 UTC
It should trickle through via Smashwords' distribution. (I know she usually goes through Smashwords, who distributes to B&N and Kobo, etc.)

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