Iconological Criticism

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‘Anne of Green Gables’ and ‘Twilight’

January 20, 2010 in Iconological Criticism, Spotlight | 7 comments

Sorry to have been gone for so long but I have been vacationing on Prince Edward Island and Avonlea with Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I’m working on a new book now that Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of the Twilight Novels is available for purchase on Amazon.com. The new book is tentatively titled Bella Swan’s Bookshelf (creative, I know) about the literary influences playing on the Twilight series and putting this together requires a lot of reading time with Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved Anne Shirley-Blythe.

Today I want to start the discussion of the Anne of Green Gables (hereafter Anne) Montgomery (”LMM’) link to Mrs. Meyer’s Forks Saga here with some notes about Mrs. Meyer’s comments about Anne, the obvious parallels in the stories, and the several reasons well outside of plot points that I think Anne Shirley and Bella Swan are a match. Read the rest of this entry »

WaPo on Twilight: ‘Chaste Vampires Are Not Us’

November 28, 2009 in Iconological Criticism | No comments

Just a quick note here about just how deep the reach of interest in Twilight has gone: can you believe The Washington Post ran a story last week about our favorite Mountain Meadows couple on page A1? A front page story, not on the movie release, not on book sales, but on the embarrassment that educated, sophisticated, and liberated women feel about loving these stories? That’s reach. Read the rest of this entry »

The Three Literary Pigs of Postmodern Criticism

November 27, 2009 in Iconological Criticism, Twilight Bashing | 16 comments

Here is some good news. Spotlight: An Up-Close Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Novels is off to the publisher and should be available for purchase at Amazon.com in a few weeks. I’ll post information here, of course, when that happens and what you can do to pre-order the book if you want an autographed copy before Christmas.

Something I cut out of Spotlight was my defensive explanation of why I thought the two avenues of interpretation I took — iconological and, for lack of a better word, psychological — were better than other more conventional approaches. I left this out because I thought a positive explanation was sufficient justification for the four layered “deep mining” and dream interpretation I give Mrs. Meyer’s novels.

But I thought I’d discuss here the three accepted approaches to reading books critically, what I call ‘The Three Literary Pigs,’ that are prevalent in the academy and in public reviews today. Understanding how professional book readers analyze and categorize a work of fiction is helpful in understanding why Twilight gets such dismissive and flippant treatment from critics as a rule despite stratospheric sales and reader following. Sadly, these consensus driven approaches tell us nothing about the meaning, artistry, and power of the Twilight books, specifically, and all reading, really, in general. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome, ‘Nerd World’ Readers!

August 28, 2009 in Iconological Criticism | 6 comments

Lev Grossman of Time Magazine interviewed me about all things Harrry and Bella last week and our Q&A was posted on the ‘Nerd World’ blog at Time.com this morning — and the article came with a link to Hogwarts Professor. If you are joining us for the first time after reading that online exchange and visiting Hogwarts Professor (HogPro), welcome! Please make yourself feel at home and join in any of the conversations on the various threads here.

I recommend — to get a feel for what the discussions are like at Forks High School Professor — that you check out my response last week to a Twilight-focused editorial in the Washington Post about damning the series with faint praise, a note on Mrs. Meyer’s denial of profound meaning in her books in August, 2008, and a series of posts comparing the critical receptions Ms. Rowling’s and Mrs. Meyer’s popular series received.

I look forward to reading what you’re thinking about Edward and Bella!Thanks for joining us — and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Christianity Today on ‘Twilight:’ So Close!

August 27, 2009 in Iconological Criticism, LDS Beliefs in Twilight | 3 comments

Christianity Today’s online ‘Campus Life’ division (”Ignite Your Faith”) has posted What Shines in Twilight? Looking at Four Key Ideas of the Vampire Saga that stand out for Christ Followers, a web exclusive by Stacey Lingle. (H/T to Arabella) While aimed at connecting the dots between Twilight text and Christian life and Biblical thinking — I was reminded several times of Connie Neal’s The Gospel According to Harry Potter — it still makes several good points and avoids at least two of the usual devotional objections to the Bella Swan books. Read the rest of this entry »

John Mark Reynolds on ‘Twilight’

August 7, 2009 in Iconological Criticism | 16 comments

John Mark Reynolds, Biola University Professor and Director of Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute, has given a mixed review to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. In a Scriptorium Daily featured article, ‘Twilight’s Flawed Faith,’ Prof. Reynolds notes the front and back of the books themselves and the enthusiasm many readers have for them.

Read the article and then let’s look at what he says. I think he’s onto something but misses the elephant in the room (if I am glad he doesn’t twist his hands endlessly about a vampire in the upstairs bedroom with a teen girl he loves). Read the rest of this entry »