Academic Essays/Discussion?

I know Scorp has written some stuff, but was it ever published? Hmmm. Scorp will have to fill you in.

Also, the annotated version of Mireille Ribière should have lots of quotable stuff as well, but I'm not sure when the book is due.

Not a fan of the Phantom Project.  Claims Leroux's novel was written in 1911 and merely perpetuates clichéd nonsense about the book (i.e. that it's apparently "Victorian").

I do have stuff in the pipeline but this year has been so stressful that I'm very behind with where I want to be.  The earliest my stuff will be out is 2011.  And I've got more that I need to write based on my findings from the manuscript last year... Sorry for being rubbish.

In the meantime, you may find the following academic articles useful:

• Hogle, Jerrold E. 1996. ‘The Gothic and the “Otherings” of ascendant culture: the original Phantom of the Opera’, in: South Atlantic Quarterly, 95, pp. 821-46.
  
• Hogle, Jerrold E. 2002. The Undergrounds of The Phantom of the Opera (New York: Palgrave).
  
• Newark, Cormac. 2009. '"Vous qui faites l'endormie": the Phantom and the buried voices of the Paris Opera, in: 19th Century Music, 33, 1, pp. 62-78.
  
• Žižek, Slavoj. 1991. ‘Grimaces of the Real, or when the phallus appears’, in: October, 58, pp. 44-68.
  

There is a lot more that is written in French, but not sure whether you'd want those?

I've written a thesis on Phantom at Stockholm university for my bachoelor degree. It's in Swedish though so I guess it wouldn't work for most people here.

You know, I didn't know that! Or did I? I don't think so. But I want to read it.

http://ftp.iza.org/dp5065.pdf

http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375761133&view=rg

file:///home/chronos/user/Downloads/societies-04-00001%20(2).pdf

The Ghost-Image on Metropolitan Borders—In Terms of
Phantom of the Opera and 19th-Century Metropolis Paris

I bought the Jerold E Hogle book Undergrounds of the Phantom of the Opera for a sixth-form essay on the development of the Phantom in popular media (basically, from Lon Chaney to Gerik, a devolution of horror)  and if anyone's interested in Phantom read in the light of literary theory, this book is an absolute gem! It's university-level discursive essays on Phantom in many different lights. Hogle puts it through it paces with Marxist theory, Freudian analysis, and looks at different versions (up to the Charles Dance Yeston and Kopit version, I think), but it's also written in an easily accessible way - and really prepared me for my extended reading around when I went on to study English Literature. I'd definitely recommend this book! Do you still have your copy, Scorp? I sadly lent my copy to my Gothic Literature professor and it mysteriously vanished into her book collection, never to return - although I can see why she wanted to hang on to it!

TwelveInchTailor wrote:I bought the Jerold E Hogle book Undergrounds of the Phantom of the Opera for a sixth-form essay on the development of the Phantom in popular media (basically, from Lon Chaney to Gerik, a devolution of horror)  and if anyone's interested in Phantom read in the light of literary theory, this book is an absolute gem! It's university-level discursive essays on Phantom in many different lights. Hogle puts it through it paces with Marxist theory, Freudian analysis, and looks at different versions (up to the Charles Dance Yeston and Kopit version, I think), but it's also written in an easily accessible way - and really prepared me for my extended reading around when I went on to study English Literature. I'd definitely recommend this book! Do you still have your copy, Scorp? I sadly lent my copy to my Gothic Literature professor and it mysteriously vanished into her book collection, never to return - although I can see why she wanted to hang on to it!

Yep, I own Hogle's book. It was written in 2002, though, so no discussion of Gerik or LND (thank God).

I know some fans/'phans' and other academics don't seem to like it because they find the Freudian analysis in the first section OTT, but the way Hogle argues it, I think, is valid and he makes some good points. He has tended to repeat his thesis quite often, though (in many ways the Undergrounds book is a summation of one particular argument he has promulgated repeatedly in his career in respect of many Gothic texts, from Frankenstein to Dracula) - and in that sense the book doesn't say much that is new if you're already familiar with his previous work, including his journal articles on Phantom -- and to that extent the book sometimes comes across as trying to confirm a predetermined thesis before the research was undertaken. Also, as Hogle is an English professor, his insight into the French influences on Leroux isn't quite as developed, although in recent years he's begun to develop this further (his most recent publication on the novel discussed its connections with Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, which weren't discussed much in the Undergrounds book). But overall I do like the book and the more I re-read it, the more I find myself agreeing with certain points (that's not to say I agree with everything he says, but I rate the book more highly than others I know do). Hogle also credits Josefine, who is a member of this board, with her research into the Daaé/Nilsson connection -- few others have bothered to credit Josefine as the one to have uncovered this.

In particular, Hogle's point about the Gothic in general being a highly simulative genre, where everything is a refaking of what has already been faked (which is the main argument he uses in his articles about most Gothic texts), is very appropriate to Leroux's novel -- and more so than he expected. If you have access to academic journals through a university log-in, this journal article, published this year, reveals findings about Leroux's novel (derived from research into the manuscript) that actually back up Hogle's point about simulacra and simulation (although he would not have known about this, as he wrote his book before the manuscript was released by Leroux's estate).

You're too modest, Scorp, you should say who wrote that paper :-)
It was fascinating reading...
Btw, how would you translate the title of Husson-Casta's piece? "L'obscure clarté".... I once tried my hand at translating it, and came to a grinding halt over that....

If I translate straight off, it means: The work of dark light in Gaston Leroux’ “Phantom of the Opera”. I can’t find a good explanation of the phrase “L’obscure clarté” anywhere, and I’ve done some extensive googling. The author herself puts it in quotation marks, so I wonder if it’s a specialized term of some kind. It did ring a bell, reminded me of a quote from “Le Cid” a 17th Century play by Corneille, where one of the characters says:

“Cette obscure clarté qui tombe des étoiles” meaning roughly “the dark light falling from the stars”. A lovely evocative poetic turn of phrase. But I don’t know if it’s the same thing.

Not sure if this will be of benefit, but I own 'The Essential Phantom of the Opera' annotated edition by Leonard Wolf. If there are any footnotes/references from the novel you are interested in I'd be happy to look them up for you!   

I also wrote an essay in university about the Lloyd Webber musical and how his score helped define character and the relationship between the Phantom, Christine and Raoul. It mentions Leroux's novel in passing but I'm not sure it's quite what you're after?

I wrote my Masters thesis on Phanfiction. It's not published yet, though I do hope to do that as soon as I can figure out how without it costing me a fortune that I don't have up-front. LOL! But I'd be happy to share if people would like! Basically, I look, in it, at how Phanfictions use the motif of the unmasking to talk about the moment when "normal" meets "othered" from a critical dis/ability framework.

Blind Phan wrote:I wrote my Masters thesis on Phanfiction.  It's not published yet, though I do hope to do that as soon as I can figure out how without it costing me a fortune that I don't have up-front. LOL!  But I'd be happy to share if people would like!  Basically, I look, in it, at how Phanfictions use the motif of the unmasking to talk about the moment when "normal" meets "othered" from a critical dis/ability framework.

Doesn't your university publish/print your thesis? My university (in Sweden) pays for a certain number of copies to be printed.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in a thread on this site, it'd be interesting to hear more about them...

Another option for publishing/printing your thesis and making it accessible to the general public at a reasonable cost (if your university allows it) would be to use a self-publishing resource, such as for example createspace. I've used that myself a couple of times to publish annotated translations of parts of Leroux, and some background research.

Showing here: https://www.createspace.com/

Aw, thanks Jenny! No, I don't think my university automatically publishes theses. I wish! Though, I will double-check that. I thought about going the self-publishing route, and that might yet work. My main concern with that, though, was, well, academic prejudice against self-published works. If you know what I mean?

At the university where I work, people's papers and theses are registered and published on-line in the university library archives thingie stuff or whatchamacallit..... if you see what I mean. Sic: http://stud.epsilon.slu.se/ At no cost to the researcher/student. And also printed in a number of physical paper copies. 7 copies of everything published have to be sent to the Swedish National archive by whoever prints them....

Yes, I think I do know what you mean about academic prejudice against "self-published" works. But if it's an "official" master's thesis, approved by your university/passed by your professor that you happen to print on your own initiative?.... Or a peer-reviewed article in an academic publication if that's possible... It all depends on who you want to reach. If it's other academics, or if it's the general public (with an interest in Phantom).

I've "self-published" a booklet containing among other things a chapter on the real-life "chandelier" accidents at Paris theatres/operas, based on contemporary newspaper sources, because I wanted to share this information with people in general. Have done some translations too, from French into English and Swedish of Leroux, just to share my knowledge. But with no "official academic" backing.

Jenny. Wow! That's really awesome the way your university publishes all your stuff, both online and in print, and even puts it in the national archive! Sweet! :-( I guess that's one of the differences between a country with a strong sense of public welfare and one that's more neoliberal. It'd be awesome if we did that here in Canada! But, here, my sense of it is that academics are generally left to work out there own publishing deals.

:-) I see what you mean, though, about the merits of self-publishing depending on who I'm hoping to reach as an audience. Obviously I'd love for other academics to read and use it, but also non-academics and, of course, Phans!

A self-published book, or an article that is not "peer-reviewed" may not carry the same weight as an academic thesis - but if you want to reach a wider audience in general, and fans in particular, don't be afraid to follow that path, Blindphan

:-) Aw, thanks Jenny! And thanks for pointing me to Create Space. Wow! Cool! That definitely looks like something that might be useful, especially since they do music as well as literature. Sweet!

Blind Phan wrote::-) Aw, thanks Jenny!  And thanks for pointing me to Create Space.  Wow!  Cool!  That definitely looks like something that might be useful, especially since they do music as well as literature.  Sweet!

De rien, you're welcome Blind Phan.

It was actually thanks to FdelOpera that I discovered Createspace. She published her translation of the Magic Envelope through them. https://www.createspace.com/4588630

I used it for my annotated translation into Swedish, http://www.amazon.com/Fantomen-p%C3%A5-operan-magiska-kuvertet/dp/1495920593 and then put up a second book, a translation into British English, with notes and some extra material. https://www.createspace.com/4748749. And yes, there are differences between American and British English

[/end of shameless plugging of own work].

Well, the thing is, that if you feel that you have something you want to share with the world in general, and the fandom in particular, does it matter how you make the material accessible? By going through for example Createspace, you get an ISBN number, and your book and work is "registered" officially, in a way. More so, than if you just publish it online, IMO.

:-) Cool! Is your stuff available in e-text as well as actual, hard-copy print? Do they offer that option btw? I'm a big fan of e-text for accessibility reasons. And that's cool that you get an actual ISBN so, I assume, libraries and off-line bookstores could carry your stuff too. Neat! :-) *wink* And yeah, I know what you mean about the differences in English! In Canada, ours is, confusingly, half way between British and American.

Blind Phan wrote::-) Cool!  Is your stuff available in e-text as well as actual, hard-copy print?  Do they offer that option btw?  I'm a big fan of e-text for accessibility reasons.  And that's cool that you get an actual ISBN so, I assume, libraries and off-line bookstores could carry your stuff too.  Neat!  :-) *wink* And yeah, I know what you mean about the differences in English!  In Canada, ours is, confusingly,  half way between British and American.

Hi Blind Phan, it is indeed possible to sell your book as an e-book if you want to, but I stuck with the paper format. Don't have a Kindle or similar myself, and just didn't want to use a format I wasn't familiar with.

:-) Cool! I'll have to see if they have an option to get your stuff into the I-Book store, and/or offer it as a .pdf. I know those formats are (relatively) accessible, but I've never tried Kindle or any of those others either.

Anyway, LOL um, I think we've drifted a bit off the original topic of this thread! Oops! :-)