We are joined by our returning guest Zak Breckenridge in a conversation about the theories, ideas, and books behind Umberto Eco's debut novel. With his help, we establish a baseline understanding of Semiotics in order to make sense of the ways in which our author incorporated his own academic pursuits in "The Name of the Rose," as well as discuss the myriad of ideas, philosophies, authors and other books that appear in this labyrinthine "detective novel."  We have to ask though, can we consider Eco's novel a whodunnit?  We have our own opinions, but we would like to hear yours as well!  Let us know what you think on Twitter, Facebook or email us at thecasualacademic@gmail.com.  Enjoy!

Episode 11 - Semiotics, Sublimation and Inter-Textuality in Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"

In-depth literary discussion without the pretence.  Just good books.  Based out of Madrid, Spain, we compress big ideas and in-depth discussion of literature into a digestible, entertaining format.

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Episode 36 features Valeria Luiselli's "Faces in the Crowd," a novella we loved and can't recommend enough.  Our discussion includes a bit of her non-fiction, especially her essay "Relingos," as well as various interviews in which she shares her approach to writing and structure.  Luiselli allows shifts in point of view and temporality to intermingle and eventually blend together in a story of a writer writing of her days obsessing over a poet in New York City.

The novella is both dark and funny, and subtly deals with the way in which our pasts integrate and thus disintegrate our presents, and how identities shapeshift when lost in foreign lands and art.

Episode 36 concludes our miniseries on Mexican authors, but rest assured it shall be continued!  Let us know what you thought of the episode and the novella via social media, or email us at thecasualacademic@gmail.com.

Stay casual,
Alex & Jake

Episode 36 - Structural Tricks, Disintegration & Ghosts in Valeria Luiselli's "Faces in the Crowd"

Rising out of the depths of a busy summer and unreliable internet, we're back to finally put out a miniseries on Mexican literature that's been long in the making. We hope you all have had a wonderful past couple months, and that you've been able to read a few good books.

Speaking of good books, Episode 35 on Carlos Fuentes' "The Death of Artemio Cruz" is a discussion on Mexican identity via the writings on Fuentes and Octavio Paz; the good, the bad and the ugly of modernist formal experimentation, and a rehashing of how History as told by the victors is challenged in Latin American fiction. Fuente's novel is a modernist retelling of Mexican history through the life of a revolutionary turned robber baron.

As always, we hope you enjoy the episode and be sure to let us know what you think about our discussion via whatever internet superhighway medium you deem your favorite.

Thanks for listening and stay casual,
Alex & Jake

Music credits:
"Laid Back Guitars" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 35 - Memory, Self & La Revolución in Carlos Fuentes' "The Death of Artemio Cruz"

After several editing and technical hiccups, we're happy to present episode 34 on beloved travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor and his only novel.  A soldier who led the resistance in Crete during WWII, a spy posing as a shepherd who captured a German general, an insatiable traveler (lest we forget heartthrob), Fermor was a jack-of-all-trades whose travel writing is known the world over.  His novel "The Violins of Saint-Jacques," however, presents a West Indies that both gilds and destroys a European presence that reflects, perhaps, more the devastation caused by WWII than decolonization. 
 Check out our discussion on art and context, WWII and British Literature, and the work travel writing does in the wake of quickly disappearing cultures.   

Happy Listening
Alex & Jake

Music credits for this episode:
 "Lost Frontier" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
 "Magic Forest" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Traveler, Writer, Soldier, Spy: Lit & Context in Patrick L. Fermor's "The Violins of Saint-Jacques"

Good evening from Spain!  Allow us to present the 2nd episode of our "Books Casually Left on the Shelf" series on Sylvia Plath's only and much-celebrated novel.  Take a listen for some talk on the relevance of existential crises of the 1950's, Plath's style, the novel's structure, and of course two white dudes talking about the feminine experience in American society.

Don't forget to join the discussion on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, or email us at thecasualcademic@gmail.com!

Stay casual,
Alex & Jake

Episode 33 - Disembodiment, Structure & Millennial Existentialism in Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar"

The Casual Academic: A Literary Podcast

Episode 11 - Semiotics, Sublimation and Inter-Textuality in Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"

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