Comments on: Benson Parkinson’s “Three Kinds of Appropriateness”

By: Jon Ogden

Jon Ogden — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:41:42 +0000

Would you still say that all broadly appropiate Mormon literature shores up faith at home, or is there room there for broadly appropiate literature that is neutral about shoring up faith for fellow Saints?

Or is shoring up faith so much a part of who we are we do it unconsciously always?

A terrific article, by the way. Thanks for the reposting.

By: Moriah Jovan

Moriah Jovan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:51:41 +0000

Just you use different fluids than Evenson.

Heh.

By: Th.

Th. — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:14:57 +0000

Oh, you’re shockingly appropriate. Just you use different fluids than Evenson.

By: Moriah Jovan

Moriah Jovan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:11:49 +0000

Hmmm… I wonder where I can wedge myself in there. To paraphrase Yukon Cornelius, “Even among misfits, I’m a misfit!”

By: Th.

Th. — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:04:13 +0000

What? What? A straight guy writing a gay teen? Sounds like speculative fiction to me.

By: Jonathan Langford

Jonathan Langford — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:19:18 +0000

Hey! I’ve been a mainstay of the sf&f crowd, too, and that’s NOT what I produced…

By: Wm Morris

Wm Morris — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:44:31 +0000

Of course, it is, Jonathan. You have been a mainstay of the broadly appropriate crowd for more than a decade so that’s naturally what you would produce. Which is why it’s such an effective novel, and, sadly, as you note, the lack of support that comes with that.

By: Wm Morris

Wm Morris — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:33:05 +0000

Used in the classroom and allowed (to a certain extent) its faculty to publish works that fell in to such a category. I would imagine that it’s primarily a reference to Brian Evenson.

By: Lisa Torcasso Downing

Lisa Torcasso Downing — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:30:13 +0000

I hadn’t read this and am glad I had the opportunity. I suspect I’ll be adopting Parkinson’s use of these terms.

Is he saying BYU was a publisher of “shockingly appropriate” lit? Or is he speaking of supporting such lit via the classroom?

By: Jonathan Langford

Jonathan Langford — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:47:57 +0000

William,

By my own reading, my book would fit as “broadly appropriate.” Would you agree?

Assuming that is the case, I can absolutely agree that there is (still) very little in the way of market and institutional support for broadly appropriate books.