From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #503 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, November 2 2001 Volume 01 : Number 503 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 12:11:50 -0700 From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Cedar Fort Publishing Hi Todd. I think I'll let Lyle (or Lee at the conference Friday morning) answer your questions, but my take on it is that the "overhead" cost of publishing (just like the exhorbitant overhead cost of theatre) is not "figured out" to the letter. It costs about $7,000 counting overhead and publicity and all (To put a book in one of those Books and Things costs $3,000 apiece for a bitty piece of a page) the author HELP he gives to the publishing is about half. And yes, they do say how many books they will do. We'll have a good chance to talk to Lee Saturday morning! Thanks. Marilyn Brown - ----- Original Message ----- From: Todd Petersen I've been interested in the fact that some of Cedar Fort's books are "author sponsored" and some aren't. Does an author who puts up 3K for his or her book have any guarantee that they are not in any way subsidizing the other books that don't require an author partnership? Also is there any guarantee of an initial print run of some given amount? I've seen the Cedar Fort contract, and there isn't, as I recall, any indication of that kind of thing in that document. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 12:02:46 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] God in Fiction J. scott bronson wrote: > Which is why He's perfect for Mormon fiction. He *can't* make anything > happen. There are several places in the LDS canon where God mentions > that certain things will bind Him or cause Him to cease to be God. Actually, to be fair - God never says this - Lehi and other prophets do, but they may have been being hyperbolic - as in "God would cease to be God - but that is such a ludicrous idea, it's not even worth contemplating." God does say he is bound when we do what he says - but that' s sopen to interpretation - is hebound because he must be, or because he chooses to be? I personally don't like the idea of God as merely an advanced scientist, as that gives the impression that perhaps he will learn something new that will invalidate the entire plan of slavation of course, a fictional God can be whatever we want him to be, so I don't mind how he's portrayed in fiction, as long as it doesn't try to be a representation of how God really is (which I'm sure none of us has first-hadn knowledge on). - --Ivan Wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 12:06:21 -0700 From: Russ Asplund Subject: RE: [AML] Dave EGGERS, _A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius _ (Review) (Pt. 2) At 10:41 PM 10/30/01, you wrote: >Perhaps I've abused this list by posting a review of a book that has no >direct connection to even the most liberal definitions of Mormon literature >used here. But the book so moved me, so impressed me with its style, wit, >and honesty, that I want to see my own people's reaction to it. Some time ago there was a discussion here about what qualified as art, or what the purpose of art was, or one of those other tangential arguments people with literary or artistic aspirations get into. To me, this book served as a perfect example of what I want literary art to be. Not necessarily an opportunity to convince someone of the artist's way of viewing things, but an attempt to get people to understand the author's worldview. It should entertain, too, which this does--but it is this aspect that makes literature something more than just entertainment to me. I remember a little shiver I had when I first saw the preview for God's Army--that up there on the screen for the first time I was seeing people who were recognizable me-like. Reading Eggers' book I felt the same kind of reaction. Although we a different in background and beliefs, here is still someone close enough to me in age and temperament that I connected. I understood where he was coming from. I'm a little disappointed that despite looking, I can't find anything in LDS literature that gives me that same kind of thrill. I loved Eric Samuleson's comments on the Fluff thread: "It's all us. It's all pretty funny. It's all pretty amazing. Why not cheerfully, ruefully embrace our own lumbering walrus selves?" This book is a lumbering walrus, and I sure wish there were more of them. Russell Asplund - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 12:06:21 -0700 From: Russ Asplund Subject: RE: [AML] Dave EGGERS, _A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius _ (Review) (Pt. 2) At 10:41 PM 10/30/01, you wrote: >Perhaps I've abused this list by posting a review of a book that has no >direct connection to even the most liberal definitions of Mormon literature >used here. But the book so moved me, so impressed me with its style, wit, >and honesty, that I want to see my own people's reaction to it. Some time ago there was a discussion here about what qualified as art, or what the purpose of art was, or one of those other tangential arguments people with literary or artistic aspirations get into. To me, this book served as a perfect example of what I want literary art to be. Not necessarily an opportunity to convince someone of the artist's way of viewing things, but an attempt to get people to understand the author's worldview. It should entertain, too, which this does--but it is this aspect that makes literature something more than just entertainment to me. I remember a little shiver I had when I first saw the preview for God's Army--that up there on the screen for the first time I was seeing people who were recognizable me-like. Reading Eggers' book I felt the same kind of reaction. Although we a different in background and beliefs, here is still someone close enough to me in age and temperament that I connected. I understood where he was coming from. I'm a little disappointed that despite looking, I can't find anything in LDS literature that gives me that same kind of thrill. I loved Eric Samuleson's comments on the Fluff thread: "It's all us. It's all pretty funny. It's all pretty amazing. Why not cheerfully, ruefully embrace our own lumbering walrus selves?" This book is a lumbering walrus, and I sure wish there were more of them. Russell Asplund - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 12:18:40 -0800 (PST) From: Darlene Young Subject: Re: [AML] God in Fiction Thom Duncan wrote: I could see a > fictional God character > wanting to intervene in a fictional LDS character's > life but being > restrained by Free Will. You don't have to make that character God--just make him a parent. Same plot. ===== Darlene Young __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 14:56:23 -0600 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] God in Fiction At 07:31 PM 10/31/01, you wrote: >Besides Cowboy Jesus in The Backslider, the only example I can think of of >divinity personally appearing in LDS fiction is God in Tim Slover's >wonderful story "Jim of Provo" (Sunstone, 1998). I did it in _Prodigal Journey._ I find it interesting that some of the people on the List who seem to be looking for God in our fiction also are the same people who disagreed with my fictional (but I believe in character) portrayal of Christ. However they are in the minority; my general reader response has been overwhelmingly positive to the way I handled that situation. I also used personal appearances by Satan. I feel, as in the (JST version) account of the temptations of Christ and the account of Moses with the burning bush, that wherever there is a great spiritual experience Satan will follow after looking for a way in. Both must be represented. While I can accept Alvin as "The" Maker perhaps, in Cards' series, I also felt a bit cheated that he used were so many direct contacts with evil and none from the divine. There was a lack of balance. Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 14:10:01 -0700 From: Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Extension to Missionary Bib (Pt. 1) >Hey, I just realized that the missionary bibliography Chris Bigelow put >together doesn't include nineteenth century missionary journal accounts. >While he may not be interested in those sources, I am. I'd like to write an >essay on how missionaries have evolved from the days of Samuel Smith, and >what effects those evolutions have had, good or bad. Perhaps this topic has >already been written about--if so, does anyone know where, and by whom? What >missionary journals/accounts do you know of (obscure sources are sometimes >the most interesting). Thanks for any help. Here are the historical accounts/analyses I have from the BYU Studies Mormon Bibliography. I have separated them into personal vs. historical accounts. I'm sure there are more accounts that have missionary stories in them, but these were the ones with "mission"/"missionary" in the title. [MOD: For purposes of length, I have split this into two posts.] Personal: Andrus, Hyrum L. "Milo Andrus, Missionary, Pioneer, and Colonizer." 2 parts. _Andrus Recorder_ 15 (March 1979): 3-73; (December 1979): 2-65. Arrington, Leonard [J.] "Missionary at West Point: Brigham Young's 11th Son Served His Nation Well." _This People_ 9 (fall 1988): 13-15. Bailey, Jack S[tephan]. _Inside a Mormon Mission: The Candid Story of a Faithful Mormon Missionary._ Salt Lake City: Hawkes Publishing, 1976. Barney, Ronald O. "Letters of a Missionary Apostle to His Wife: Brigham Young to Mary Ann Angell Young, 1839-1841." _BYU Studies_ 38, no. 2 (1999): 156-210. Barron, Howard H. _Orson Hyde--Missionary, Apostle, Colonizer._ Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1977. Beebe, Fred G. _The Cluff Missionaries in the Sandwich Islands._ N.p., [1987?]. Beecher, Dale F. "Rey L. Pratt and the Mexican Mission." _BYU Studies_ 15 (spring 1975): 293-307. Benson, Ezra Taft. _A Labor of Love: The 1946 European Mission of Ezra Taft Benson._ Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989. Brice, David. "Excerpts from the Diary of Teancum William Heward, Early Mormon Missionary to Georgia." _Georgia Historical Quarterly_ 64 (fall 1982): 317-25. Brunt, Joseph Alfred. _Missionary Journal of Joseph Alfred Brunt. Southern States, 1903-1905._ Provo, Utah: Lavon Brunt Eyring, 1982. Buice, David. "'All Alone and None to Cheer Me': The Southern States Mission Diary of J. Golden Kimball." _Dialogue_ 24 (spring 1991): 35-54. Bushman, Richard L[yman]. "The Crisis in Europe and Hugh B. Brown's First Mission Presidency." _Dialogue_ 21 (summer 1988): 51-59. Cannon, Donald Q. "George Q. Cannon and the British Mission." _BYU Studies_ 27 (winter 1987): 97-112. Christensen, Harold T. "The New Zealand Mission during the Great Depression: Reflections of a Former Acting President." _Dialogue_ 24 (fall 1991): 69-76. Clissold, Edward LaVaun. "My Missionary Assignment to Kona in 1921." In _Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History_, ed. Grant Underwood, 339-55. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000. Dahl, Paul E. "William Clayton: Missionary, Pioneer, and Public Servant." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1959. Ellsworth, S. George. _Samuel Claridge: Pioneering the Outposts of Zion._ Logan, Utah: Privately printed, 1987. Flake, Lawrence R. "George Q. Cannon: His Missionary Years." Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1970. Flake, S. Eugene, comp. _James Madison Flake, Nov. 8, 1859-Feb. 4, 1946, Pioneer Leader Missionary._ Bountiful, Utah: Wasatch Press, 1970. Franson, J. Karl, ed. _The Mission Journal of Elef J. Franson: 1909-1910, Northern States Mission, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints._ Farmington, Maine: By the author, 1994. Gates, Susa Amelia Young. _Memorial to Elizabeth Claridge McCune: Missionary, Philanthropist, Architect._ Salt Lake City: Privately published, 1924. Godfrey, Kenneth W. "Charles W. Penrose: The English Mission Years." _BYU Studies_ 27 (winter 1987): 113-25. Goodro, Sean, and Konei Goodro, eds. _The Missionary Journal of Daniel Hanmer Snarr: And His Experiences in Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico._ N.p., 1994. Gorton, H. Clay. "Pioneer Journal: A Mission to the Ute Indians." _Latter-day Digest_ 2 (September 1993): 56-61. [William W. Sterret] Hall, John Charles. _John Charles Hall--Mission Journal 1852-1857; and Other Items._ Salt Lake City: Henry Vernon Hall, n.d. Hanks, Earl W. "English Born Tooele Settler Is First Missionary President." _Pioneer_ 3 (July-August 1984): 6. Hardy, Richard W. "Missionary Doctor." _Journal of Collegium Aesculapium_ (fall 1994): 16-21. Hartley, William G. "Albert K. Thurber: Gold-Mining Missionary in California." _Mormon Heritage Magazine_ 1 (December 1994): 8-11. Herold, Mari. "Alberta Hill Henry: An Uncommon Missionary." _Network_ 15 (August 1992): 9. Hill, Marvin [S.] "An Historical Study of the Life of Orson Hyde: Early Mormon Missionary and Apostle from 1805-1852." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955. Kimball, Spencer W[ooley]. "The Mission Experience of Spencer W Kimball." _BYU Studies_ 25 (fall 1985): 109-40. Kirby, Dale Z. "Without Purse or Scrip: A Missionary in the Territory." _Chronicles of Oklahoma_ 60 (winter 1982-83): 388-99. Lamb-Kwon, Tracie. "Because I Was a Sister Missionary." _Dialogue_ 25 (summer 1992): 137-49. Larson, Andrew Karl. _Erastus Snow: The Life of a Missionary and Pioneer for the Early Mormon Church._ Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1971. Lyman, Albert R. _The Edge of the Cedars: The Story of Walter C. Lyman and the San Juan Mission._ New York: Carlton Press, 1966. Martin, Jane Chapman. "A Building Mission: John Watkins and John Told: Answering the Call." _Salt Lake City_ 5 (March/April 1994): 46-52. Neilson, Reid L. "Alma O. Taylor's Fact-Finding Mission to China." _BYU Studies_ 40, no. 1 (2001): 176-203. Oblad, John Frederick. _Missionary Journal of John Frederick Oblad (Johan Fredric Ablad, 1841-74)._ Trans. Carl-Erik Johansson. Comp. William H. Oblad Jr. Salt Lake City: William H. Oblad, 1975. Oldroyd, Julia Ann. "'A Mighty Woman in Zion': The Roles of Mary Jane Dilworth Hammond as an LDS Missionary Wife in Nineteenth-Century Hawaii." _Thetean: A Student Journal of History_ 23 (winter 1994): 29-44. Palmer, A. Delbert, and Mark L. Grover. "Hoping to Establish a Presence: Parley P. Pratt's 1851 Mission to Chile." _BYU Studies_ 38, no. 4 (1999): 115-38. Parkes, Steven R. "Arnold Potter: From L.D.S. Convert to Pioneer to Missionary to Sect Leader." _Pioneer_ 32 (January-February 1985): 11, 14. Peterson, Charles S. "Jacob Hamblin, Apostle to the Lamanites, and the Indian Mission." _Journal of Mormon History_ 2 (1975): 21-34. Pratt, Louisa Barnes. _Mormondom's First Woman Missionary._ Salt Lake City: [Daughters of Utah Pioneers], n.d. Rogers, Thomas F. _A Call to Russia: Glimpses of Missionary Life._ Provo, Utah, BYU Studies, 1999. Sadler, Richard W. "Franklin D. Richards and the British Mission." _Journal of Mormon History_ 14 (1988): 81-95. Shaffer, Donald Robert. "A Forgotton Missionary: Hiram Clark, Mormon Itinerant, British Emigration Organizer, and First President of the L.D.S. Hawaiian Mission, 1795-1853." Master's thesis, California State University Fullerton, 1990. Shaffer, Donald R[obert]. "Hiram Clark and the First LDS Hawaiian Mission: A Reappraisal." _Journal of Mormon History_ 17 (1991): 94-109. Smiley, Winn Whiting. "Ammon M. Tenney: Mormon Missionary to the Indians." _Journal of Arizona History_ 13 (summer 1972): 82-108. Smith, Albert E. _Thales Hastings Haskell, Pioneer, Scout, Explorer, Indian Missionary, 1847-1909._ Salt Lake City: By the author, 1964. Smith, Joseph F. _From Prophet to Son: Advice of Joseph F. Smith to His Missionary Sons._ Comp. and ed. Hyrum M. Smith III and Scott G. Kenney. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981. Taylor, Lorenzo. _Hawaiian Mission, 1904-1908: From the Diaries of Lorenzo Taylor._ Hyde Park, Utah: Taylor, 1990. Thayne, Richard. "Courageous Colonizers and Missionaries." _Pioneer_ 38 (May-June 1991): 19. [Ebenzer Thayne Jr. and John Johnson Thayne] _Three Mormon Classics._ Comp. Preston Nibley. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988. [reprints of Wilford Woodruff, _Leaves from My Journal_; George Q. Cannon, _My First Mission_; and James A. Little, _Jacob Hamblin_] Walker, Ronald W. "Heber J. Grant's European Mission, 1903-1906." _Journal of Mormon History_ 14 (1988): 16-33. Marny Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 14:31:12 -0700 From: Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Lee ALLRED, "For the Strength of the Hills" (Review) >if the Utah Mormon settlers, using repeating >rifles developed by Jonathan Browning (father, presumably, of the famous >gunsmith John Moses Browning) This is a point Lee didn't invent. Jonathan Browning invented one of the earliest repeating rifles. He converted to Mormonism in 1843 and moved to Nauvoo, where his gunsmith shop was one of the earliest restoration projects. He moved West with the Saints and settled in Ogden. His son John M. became known as the world's greatest gun inventor. For more information, see John Browning and Curt Gentry, _John M. Browning, American Gunmaker_ (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964). Marny Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 14:10:01 -0700 From: Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Extension to Missionary Bib (Pt 2) [MOD: This is part 2 of a split post.] Historical: Allen, James B., and Malcolm R. Thorp. "The Mission of the Twelve to England, 1840-41: Mormon Apostles and the Working Classes." _BYU Studies_ 15 (summer 1975): 499-526. Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. _Men with a Mission, 1837-1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles._ Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992. Anastasion, Andre K., Sr. "Survival of the British Mission during World War II." _Improvement Era_ 72 (April 1969): 60-63. Aspinwall, Bernard. "A Fertile Field: Scotland in the Days of the Early Missions." In _Mormons in Early Victorian Britain_, ed. Richard L. Jensen and Malcolm R. Thorp, 104-17. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989. Benson, Michael T. "Harry S. Truman as a Modern Cyrus." _BYU Studies_ 34, no. 1 (1994): 6-27. [Orson Hyde's mission to Palestine] Bitton, Davis. "Kirtland as a Center of Missionary Activity, 1830-1838." _BYU Studies_ 11 (summer 1971): 497-516. Boone, David Flake. "The Worldwide Evacuation of Latter-day Saint Missionaries at the Beginning of World War II." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1981. Bradley, Martha Elizabeth, and Lowell M. Durham Jr. "John Hafen and the Art Missionaries." _Journal of Mormon History_ 12 (1985): 91-105. Brewer, W. Karl. _Armed with the Spirit: Missionary Experiences in Samoa._ Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1975. Britsch, R. Lanier. "The Closing of the Early Japan Mission." _BYU Studies_ 15 (winter 1975): 171-90. Britsch, [R.] Lanier. "Earlier Latter-day Saint Missions to South and East Asia." Ph.D. diss., Claremont Graduate School and University Center, 1968. Britsch, R. Lanier. "The Expansion of Mormonism in the South Pacific." _Dialogue_ 13 (spring 1980): 53-62. Britsch, R. Lanier. "The Founding of the Samoan Mission." _BYU Studies_ 18 (fall 1977): 12-26. Britsch, R. Lanier. "Founding the LDS Church in Melanesia and Micronesia." In _Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History_, ed. Grant Underwood, 267-85. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000. Britsch, R. Lanier. "The Latter-day Saint Mission to India: 1851-1856." _BYU Studies_ 12 (spring 1972): 262-77. Chard, Gary Ray. "A History of the French Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1850-1960." Master's thesis, Utah State University, 1965. Chase, Lance D. "The Hawaiian Mission Crisis of 1874: The 'Awa Rebellion Story." In _Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History_, ed. Grant Underwood, 59-70. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000. Coates, Lawrence G. "The Spalding-Whitman and Lemhi Missions: A Comparison." _Idaho Yesterdays_ 31 (spring-summer 1987): 38-46. Cummings, David W. _Mighty Missionary of the Pacific._ Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1961. [L.D.S. Church building program] Daines, Newel G. "Helping Missionaries in Hispaniola." _Journal of Collegium Aesculapium_ (fall 1994): 12-15. Dibble, Charles E. "The Mormon Mission to the Shoshoni Indians." _Utah Humanities Review_ 1 (January 1947): 64. "Early Foreign Missions." In _An Enduring Legacy_, comp. Lesson Committee, 10:149-92. 12 vols. Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1977-89. Ellsworth, Maria S. "The First Mormon Missionary Women in the Pacific, 1850-1852." In _Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History_, ed. Grant Underwood, 33-47. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000. Ellsworth, S. George "A History of Mormon Missions in the United States and Canada, 1830-1860." Ph.D. diss., Univ. of California-Berkeley, 1951. Ellsworth, S. George. "New Wine and Old Bottles: Latter-day Saint Missionary Work in French Polynesia, 1844-1852." In _Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History_, ed. Grant Underwood, 13-31. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000. Esplin, Ronald K. "The 1840-41 Mission to England and the Development of the Quorum of the Twelve." In _Mormons in Early Victorian Britain_, ed. Richard L. Jensen and Malcolm R. Thorp, 70-91. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989. Esplin, Ronald K. _The Expanded Samoan Mission History._ Comp. Jennie M. Hart, John W. Hart, and R. Carl Harris. N.p.: Privately printed, 1988. Flake, David Kay. "A History of Mormon Missionary Work with the Hopi, Navaho, and Zuni Indians." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1965. Gentry, Leland H. "Light on the 'Mission to the Lamanites.'" _BYU Studies_ 36, no. 2 (1996-97): 226-34. Grattan-Aiello, Carolyn. "New St. Joseph, Nevada: The Muddy Mission Experience Revisited." _Nevada Historical Society Quarterly_ 29 (spring 1986): 31-52 Hanks, Maxine. "Sister Missionaries and Authority." In _Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism_, ed. Maxine Hanks, 315-34. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992. Hatch, C. Steven, Virgil J. Parker, E. Arnold Isaacson, and Lindsay R. Curtis. "Minding Body and Soul: The Life of Physician Mission Presidents." _Journal of Collegium Aesculapium_ 3 (1985): 21-33. Hawkins, Claire. "Rummaging in the Attic: Missionary Memos." In _Women in the Covenant of Grace: Talks Selected from the 1993 Women's Conference Sponsored by Brigham Young University and the Relief Society_, ed. Dawn Hall Anderson and Susette Fletcher Green, 99-105. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994. Homer, Michael W. "The Italian Mission 1850-1867." _Sunstone_ 7 (May-June 1982): 16-21. Homer, Michael W. "Lorenzo Snow, the Italian Mission, and the Religious Tract Society." _Mormon Bibliographic Newsletter_ 1 (September 1992): 1-3. Jennings, Warren [A.] "The First Mormon Mission to the Indians." _Kansas Historical Quarterly_ 37 (autumn 1971): 288-99. Jensen, Richard L. "Without Purse or Scrip? Financing Latter-day Saint Missionary Work in Europe in the Nineteenth Century." _Journal of Mormon History_ 12 (1985): 3-14. Jenson, Andrew. _History of the Scandinavian Mission._ New York: Arno Press, 1979. Knowlton, David [Clark]. "'Gringo Jeringo': Anglo Mormon Missionary Culture in Bolivia." In _Contemporary Mormonism: Social Science Perspectives_, ed. Marie Cornwall, Tim B. Heaton, and Lawrence A. Young, 218-36. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994. Kroll, Douglas. "The Decline and Restoration of Mission San Diego de Alcala, 1821-1931." _Southern California Quarterly_ 68 (winter 1986): 315-28. Law, Wesley R. "Mormon Indian Missions: 1855." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1959. Lee, John D. "Diary of the Mormon Battalion Mission." Ed. Juanita Brooks. _New Mexico Historical Review_ 42 (July 1967): 165-209. Lively, Robert L., Jr. "A Non-Mormon Religion Professor's Impressions of Mormon Missionaries." _BYU Studies_ 33 (1993): 151-59. Lively, Robert L., Jr. "Some Sociological Reflections on the Nineteenth-Century British Mission." In _Mormons in Early Victorian Britain_, ed. Richard L. Jensen and Malcolm R. Thorp, 16-30. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989. Mabey, Rendell [N.], and Gordon T. Allred. _Brother to Brother: The Story of the Latter-day Saint Missionaries Who Took the Gospel to Black Africa._ Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984. Madsen, Carol Cornwall. "Mormon Missionary Wives in Nineteenth Century Polynesia." _Journal of Mormon History_ 13 (1986-87): 61-85. McPherson, [Robert Spowart]. "The Elk Mountain Mission: Moab's First Settlement." _Blue Mountain Shadows_, no. 6 (spring 1990): 60-64. Mecham, Leonidas DeVon. _Book of Remembrance: Australia LDS Mission, 1840 to 1976._ Salt Lake City: n.p., 1975. Mehr, Kahlile. "The Eastern Edge: LDS Missionary Work in Hungarian Lands." _Dialogue_ 24 (summer 1991): 27-45. Mehr, Kahlile. "Keeping Promises: The LDS Church Enters Bulgaria, 1990-1994." _BYU Studies_ 36, no. 4 (1996-97): 69-105. Mehr, Kahlile. "The 1903 Dedication of Russia for Missionary Work." _Journal of Mormon History_ 13 (1986-87): 111-23. Mehr, Kahlile. "The Trial of the French Mission." _Dialogue_ 21 (autumn 1988): 27-45. "Missions to the Indians." In _An Enduring Legacy_, comp. Lesson Committee, 12:353-400. 12 vols. Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1977-89. Montague, Terry Bohle. _Mine Angels Round About: Mormon Missionary Evacuation from Western Germany 1939._ Murray, Utah: Roylance, 1989. Nash, John D. "The Salmon River Mission of 1855." _Idaho Yesterdays_ 11 (spring 1967): 22-31. Nibley, Preston. _Missionary Experiences._ Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1975. Ostler, David R., and Brent H. Ostler. "What's in That Glass of Water?" _Journal of Collegium Aesculapium_ (fall 1994): 34-39. [missionaries in Russia] Penley, Kaija Hannele. "Leadership of Mormon Missionary Efforts in Finland and Its Influence on Conversion Rates in the Finnish Mission, 1947-1969." Master's thesis, Utah State University, 1994. Peterson, John DeLon. "History of the Mormon Missionary Movement in South America to 1940." Master's thesis, University of Utah, 1961. Poll, Richard D. "The British Mission during the Utah War, 1857-58." In _Mormons in Early, Victorian Britain_, ed. Richard L. Jensen and Malcolm R. Thorp, 224-42. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989. Price, Rex Thomas, Jr. "The Mormon Missionary of the Nineteenth Century." Ph. D diss., University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1991. Rex, Joyce A. "Mormon Missionaries and Members in Early Oklahoma." _Oklahoma Genealogical Society Quarterly_ 38, no. 3 (1993): 93-94. Ricketts, Norma B[aldwin]. "'Lost' Elders Who Reopened California Mission Identified." _Mormon Life_ 3 (December 1984): 18-19. Riedel, Albert. _Geschichte der Deutschsprachigen Missionen der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage._ Salt Lake City: [By the author?], 1971. [History of the German Mission. Five more volumes will be added] Romig, Ronald E. "The Lamanite Mission." _John Whitmer Historical Association_ Journal 14 (1994): 24-33. Scott, Steven J. _Notes to Note: The Canada Vancouver Mission._ Provo, Utah: Harris Enterprises, 1980. Seifrit, William C., ed. "'To Get U[tah] in U[nion]': Diary of a Failed Mission." _Utah Historical Quarterly_ 51 (fall 1983): 358-81. Smith, Agnes M. "The First Mormon Mission to Britain." _History Today_ 37 (July 1987): 24-31. Smith, Thales. "A Balkan Adventure: Humanitarian Missionaries in Albania." _Journal of Collegium Aesculapium_ (fall 1994): 26-33. Stanley, David. "Mormon Missionaries in Polynesia." _Tahiti-Polynesia Handbook_, 45. Chico, Calif.: Moon Publications, 1989. Takagi, Shinji. "Mormons in the Press: Reactions to the 1901 Opening of the Japan Mission." _BYU Studies_ 40, no. 1 (2001): 141-75. Tullis, F. LaMond. "Early Mormon Exploration and Missionary Activities in Mexico." _BYU Studies_ 22 (summer 1982): 289-310. Tullis, F. Lamond. "Reopening the Mexican Mission in 1901." _BYU Studies_ 22 (fall 1982): 441-53. Walker, Ronald W. "Strangers in a Strange Land: Heber J. Grant and the Opening of the Japanese Mission." _Journal of Mormon History_ 13 (1986-87): 21-43. Whittaker, David J., and Chris McClellan. _Mormon Missions and Missionaries: A Bibliographic Guide to Published and Manuscript Sources._ Provo, Utah: Special Collections and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1993. Williams, Frederick Salem, and Frederick G. Williams. _From Acorn to Oak Tree: A Personal History of the Establishment and First Quarter Century Development of the South American Missions._ Fullerton, Calif.: Et Cetera, Et Cetera Graphics, 1987. Marny Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 15:37:09 -0600 From: James Picht Subject: Re: [AML] Credit/Blame in Drama, Movies Terry L Jeffress wrote: > When you read a book, you know who gets all the credit and all the > blame... So when you watch a movie (or a play), how do determine to whom > you should give the credit? ... when a work fails, where do you place the > blame? Credit and blame for what? For your feelings or for the quality of the work? If the latter, then I don't see that the issue is at all problematic for film - each person gets the credit or blame for the quality of his part of the collaboration. Sometimes it's difficult to tell who was responsible for what, but I don't generally worry myself distinguishing between the work of the cinematographer, the lighting director, and the key grip. If in practice assigning credit and blame for the failures and successes of a collaborative effort is difficult, in principle it isn't, and I'm not certain why you'd think the question is interesting. If the issue is the former, then the question is much more interesting in my opinion, and the distinction drawn between film and a book is much less clear. Who gets the credit when you're uplifted and inspired by a sacrament meeting talk? You or the person who wrote it? The reverent kids in the pew in front of you or whomever put the flowers in front of the pulpit? The Holy Ghost? It's a collaborative effort, just as is the movie, and it involves the listener. But so do your feelings upon reading a book involve collaboration - you, the author, and even the weather. I've heard very bad talks (from both technical and content perspectives) that have nevertheless uplifted me. That's rare, but sometimes I'm just in a mood for it and it happens. I've enjoyed badly written books and poorly directed/acted/filmed (sometimes all three at once) movies. And I've been left cold by some movies and books that most cognoscenti consider excellent (so far as I'm concerned, James Joyce was a talentless hack who wrote meaningless drivel, but some of my colleagues insist that it's wonderful drivel, and who am I to call them cretins for it?), so I know that various elements of quality aren't the sole determinants of whether I like or dislike a piece of work. Whose fault is it? Who gets the credit? If Anthony Hopkins does a brilliant job reading a phone book, I'll say he gets the credit for whatever technical merits his performance has, the writer, none. As for his impact on _me_, he and I both get some credit, the writer probably gets none. Technique is good or bad, proficient or sloppy, and that's not so hard to judge. The credit or blame for the emotional impact and value of a work is much more difficult to assign or deny to anyone, including the recipient. Even painting and sculpture depend on the observer for some of their value. Unless you believe the Sistine Chappel ceiling has intrinsic value (value to God?), its value really derives from the culture that looks at it. If humanity were swept away tomorrow and replaced by a race of mole people, that ceiling would cease to have value to anyone on Earth except as shelter, so the credit for its value would go to the architect who designed and the workers who built it. Michaelangelo would become a meaningless bit of historical trivia. > When you consider movies or even particular scenes that just don't work, > where [do] you point the finger. At the writer if the writing is bad, at the actors if they can't breath life into their lines, at the cinematographer if he can't make the wretched scene look good (or depressing, or whatever is called for), at the audience if the others have done their job and we still don't like it. > How do you recognize the influence of the director separately from the > actor's skill at portraying a character? Unless you're voting on who gets the Oscar, why do you care? A good collaboration should be seamless; if there are seams, it shouldn't be that hard to hand out kudos and blame. Jim Picht - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 16:35:55 -0600 From: James Picht Subject: Re: [AML] Fluff Michael Martindale wrote: > I say [fluff is] the [work of the devil], and here's why. Fluff isn't just > art that's > lighthearted, or presents a simple concept, or even has a happy ending. > Fluff is something that so distorts truth that it actually can cause > damage by skewing a person's view of the world. Then it seems to me that you define fluff by its effect on the observer. Unlike Eric, I won't argue that all art is good. I believe that work done in artistic media, whether painting or theater or literature or music, can deliberately be designed to intimidate, degrade, desensitize, enslave, or incite the consumer to self-destructive behavior. I imagine that that's extremely rare, but it's hardly impossible. Still, your definition of fluff converts the meaning from a comment on style to a comment on effects, without regard for the intent or skill of the artist. You can define it as you like, but you seem in danger of making the meaning idiosyncratic, always a dangerous thing to do when you want to communicate meaning. > Fluff is something that so simplifies truth that when real truth hits a > consumer of fluff square between the eyes, he can lose his testimony over > it. But then mightn't one man's fluff be another man's truth? The consumer in this market isn't passive. If you allow a work simply to act upon you, you're subjugating your mind to the ideas of another, and that can't be good whether the other is da Vinci, Andy Warhol, or Meatloaf. You bring your own understanding, spirituality, taste, and hunger for truth with you when you consume art, and _Saturday's Warrior_ will affect different people in different ways. A friend of mine finds deep meaning in _The Matrix_, while I find a sophomorically superficial treatment of philosophers from Plato to Foucault (both of whom I find appalling on their own, let alone acted out by Keanu Reeves and with Hollywood-level intellectualizing thrown in). Well, as I say, to each idiot his own. We may be philosopher-kings, but no one has given us our republics to rule, and I'm not convinced that anyone other than me has the sense or insight to decide which art is fluff, and which is useful to encourage right-thinking. We _are_ talking about art in instrumental terms, aren't we? > Fluff is that which confirms a believer in his simplistic world view to a > point of arrogance, so he condemns those who don't think like him. People who don't think like me deserve to be condemned, but that's beside the point. Because you're arguing that fluff serves a function, albeit a negative one, I can't get away from the feeling that you're approaching art in the same way. "As Damon says, and I am convinced, the musical modes are never changed without change in the most important of a city's laws." Is it really that instrumental? I'm not convinced. > A lot of times, fluff is created by the audience, not the artist. Is it > "Saturday's Warrior's" fault that the theological speculation it used for > dramatic effect was taken as official doctrine by member of its audience? In this we agree. The audience helps determine the meaning of a piece of art, so can't be excused if the art acts as what you call 'fluff.' And I agree with this: > But sometimes the author is at fault... Indeed, I haven't been arguing that art can't act as you've described, that it isn't sometimes intentional, and that it's not a bad thing. But I see your approach to this as a two-edged sword that can lead us to view art mainly in terms of its ability to make people think in certain ways. Propoganda may always be a part of art, but it's often a very minor part. > What to one person seems like silly sentimentality seems to another to be > inspiring. Is one right and the other wrong? Or are they just at different > levels of development and need different food? I think it's obvious that > the latter is true. Suddenly zigging when you might expect me to zag, I don't think it's so obvious at all. If there are eternal principles of beauty and truth, then art can be good or bad, and who loves bad art is wrong. I won't applaud an infant's ability to find joy in a pile of poop; I'll wrinkle my nose and introduce him to soap. > Yet that very statement remains condescending. "Level of development" > implies that one level is more advanced than another, not just different. > This may sound arrogant, but I don't care if it sounds arrogant or not. Good for you! Too many people are afraid to call a dolt a dolt. Tying this to your previous thoughts, perhaps we agree more than I at first thought. Fluff is the art of people less developed than we are, the art of children. It's mothers' milk served with poulet valee d'Auge, hot pants on an octagenarian with bad legs, an incongruity for adults who think to be childish is to be child-like and so cling to childhood. Art isn't intrinsically fluff; art plus a stunted observer is fluff. And, I note as I re-read the rest of your post, that's precisely what you say. So we agree on your main point, though I'll retain my quibble with your abuse of definitions. Words _do_ matter, and your approach to this isn't without its dangers, but you've posted non-fluff (for me, at my current stage of development), so I salute you. Jim Picht - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #503 ******************************