Today’s special episode is in two parts. In the second, I am joined by my friend, literary scholar and co-host of the Horror Vanguard podcast, Jon TheLitCritGuy. (He also makes YouTube videos!) It is SUCH a great interview! But first, a story to begin exploring the question I’m pondering right now: What does Halloween signify in this time? A time of pandemic. Of nihilism. Of violent state repression. Of darkness and anxiety. Of ghosts of the things we’d rather not think about. Inside the Text presents, “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe. MUSIC CREDITS: The Swamp, Loyalty Freak Music https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/WITCHY_BATTY_SPOOKY_HALLOWEEN_IN_SEPTEMBER_/The_Swamp_1569 Glitterhater, CC BY, Computer Music All-Stars https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Computer_Music_All-Stars/CPlaylistsRandom/Glitterhater Psychout, CC BY, Computer Music All-Stars https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Computer_Music_All-Stars/CPlaylistsRandom/Psychout

In the last couple episodes, we’ve established some of the the ways fiction functions morally as well as how various thinkers have argued it OUGHT to function. But we were left wondering about what the upshot of fiction’s moral functioning is. Why does fiction work on the moral level?  In this final episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: several notes reflecting on Black Lives Matter protests, Star Wars, evangelicalism, “these unprecedented times,” and the workings of ideology. Find a full transcript at insidethetext.wordpress.com REFERENCES & CLIPS: Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) “Trump threatens to deploy military against protesters” The Guardian, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btjk0_WRIQ4 “Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Entertainment,” Carol Cuppy, Focus on the Family “‘Magic’ in Movies and Entertainment,” Focus on the Family “Does Violence in Movies Matter?” Matt Kaufman, Boundless.org (a ministry of Focus on the Family) “Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter,” Daniel Victor, New York Times “Every Covid-19 Commercial is Exactly the Same,” Microsoft Sam, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM3J9jDoaTA (used with permission) Ideology: An Introduction, Terry Eagleton

We established last episode that fiction does seem to have a moral function, along with most other discourses. But what should that moral function be? In this second episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: the opinions of, like, a bunch of white dudes and an actually good one by Susan Sontag. References: - John Gardner, Moral Fiction (1978) - Aristotle, Poetics - Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007) - Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008) - Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poesy (1595) - Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 4 (1750) - Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (1869) - Terry Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction (1991) - Peter Lamarque, The Philosophy of Literature (2009) - Henry James, The Art of Fiction (1884) - #MAGA, “Donald Trump on ISIS - ‘I'm gonna bomb the SHIT out of 'em!’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OES7kbWZ70Y - Mary Gordon, “Moral Fiction,” The Atlantic, 2005 - Susan Sontag, “At the Same Time: The Novelist and Moral Reasoning,” At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches (2004) Music: - grapes, “I Dunno (Grapes of Wrath Mix), CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/56346 - Kevin Macleod, “J. S. Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze - BWV 208,” CC BY, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler/Sheep_May_Safely_Graze_-_BWV_208 - Visager, “We Can Do It!” CC BY, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Visager/Songs_From_An_Unmade_World_2/Visager_-_Songs_From_An_Unmade_World_2_-_09_We_Can_Do_It

We talk about fiction in moral terms all the time, from saying certain movies are inappropriate for kids, to claiming that video games aren't political. But when you think about it, how does fiction function morally if it's just made up? To answer that question, we have to ask a couple others: What is fiction? And what is moral? In this first episode in a series about the moral function of fiction: Harry Potter, evangelical Christianity, literary theory, and fake news, and other sundry characters. For more about history as fictive, watch this video by PBS Idea Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N5zfBzzTvs For more about how the U.S. military and popular movies get intertwined, watch this interesting video by Pop Culture Detective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5xfBtD6rLY For more about semiology, watch this short series I did about it a long time ago: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqDbDyQNACJ4ji8z7yPraq95w9sP_Y1K_ Get in touch and find a transcript of this episode at insidethetext.wordpress.com. # References: - Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged (2001, Jeremiah Films) - Alun Munslow, "Where Does History Come From?" (March 2002, History Today) - Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem (2007) - Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2008) - William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984) - John Fiske, Television Culture, 2010 - 2016 Donald Trump press conference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veZs75jlAlw - Whitney Phillips, "Putting the Folklore in Fake News," http://culturedigitally.org/2017/01/putting-the-folklore-in-fake-news/ - Abbot & Costello, "Who's On First?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg - Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? (1897) # Music: - Intro and outro music by Jedd Cole - Stefan Kartenberg, Oryk Taiko Rhap, CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/57432 - CARL iCON, Quasi una fantasia, CC BY, http://ccmixter.org/files/KarLos/58249 - Kimiko Ishizaka, Aria (BWV 988), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kimiko_Ishizaka/The_Open_Goldberg_Variations/KIMIKO_ISHIZAKA_-_Goldberg_Variations_BWV_988_-_01_-_Aria__44k-24b - Soft and Furious, You're Magic, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_and_Furious/Bae/Soft_and_Furious_-_Bae_-_01_Youre_Magic

Inside the Text is a podcast about meaning, because if reading is really rewriting, it's up to us to rewrite the world for the better. In this first episode, some musings on how meaning works and what this podcast wants to do. Also Jacques Derrida. Also an eggplant emoji.  Find out more about the podcast at insidethetext.wordpress.com.