WHERE IS MY BRAIN?

[pegkerr]

I am still trying to come up with a proposal for Fantasy Matters.

Okay, for once I really am looking for advice. Amazing, Peg's actually asking for advice! I just have to get them 250 words of a proposal by Friday, something that looks half-baked enough that they might actually accept it.

Hearts of flesh and stone. Gee, I want to do something about this, because I've been chewing over it for so long, but right now whenever I attempt to corral my thoughts on this, they scatter unhelpfully in all directions like skittering mice, refusing to coalesce. Perhaps its the lingering effect of anaesthesia on the brain. I'd prefer to think it's that, rather than rank stupidity. However, whatever the cause, the problem remains the same: I need to come up with something!

Thinking about: The Snow Queen (the mirror cracks, a piece of glass lodges in Kay's heart, making it cold and frozen). I could re-visit A.S. Byatt's essay "Ice, Snow, Glass" in Mirror, Mirror on the Wall which I ran across while researching the ice palace book, and it really impressed me at the at time. But then I'm kinda pissed with A.S. Byatt at the moment (see "A.S. Byatt and the Goblet of Bile").

I've been thinking of my earlier essays on Heart of Flesh/Heart of Stone. I'm thinking about the afterward to Tam Lin, which started my whole obsession with this subject (although pameladean said the book was about the study of literature, and how that prevents the heart of stone, rather than about fantasy per se. But why did she choose a fantasy to tell the story? Other than the fact that, duh, she's a fantasy writer?) I've been thinking about George MacDonald's "The Light Princess," which is kinda getting at sort of the same stuff, sideways (using "gravity" and tears as the metaphor for the stamp of humanity, rather than the heart of flesh). Can people name other stories or tales which feature a heart of stone, or that explore this dichotomy? Esp. fantasy stories? Here is a pretty cool story that gets at what I'm struggling to articulate: "The Girl With the Heart of Stone." I've talked about seeing the theme in fiction in general (i.e., in Austen and Dickens) but what does fantasy in particular have to say about this theme?

Throw me a lifeline, anybody, help! Any thoughts that this sparks in you. I'll be ever so touchingly grateful.

Peg, hopefully

Thank you, Friendslist! You're the best! I knew you would come through!

I am now feeling much more confident.

Love and kisses,
Peg

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

This may be tangential, but there is the motif generally known as "the giant's heart," in which a giant or other creature hides his heart (in a box at the bottom of a well in the center of a fortress, etc), and so cannot be killed unless his heart is destroyed, often by a man who wants to marry the woman the giant has captured. There's certainly some metaphoric stuff going on there about the meaning of "heartlessness."

There's also the Indian story (a Jataka tale, I think) called "the Monkey's Heart," which I think parodies "the giant's heart" motif. A monkey escapes from an island on shark-back by convincing the shark that his tasty heart is hidden elsewhere; once he reaches the shore, he laughs at the shark for believing that anything can survive without their heart.

Then there's Yoon Ha Lee's story, "Eating Hearts." http://tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=392&Itemid=174

[shandra.livejournal.com]

There've been so many girls that I've known
I've made so many cry and still I wonder why
Here comes the little girl
I see her walking down the street
She's all by herself
I try and knock her off her feet
But, she'll never break, never break, never break, never break
This heart of stone
Oh, no, no, this heart of stone

- Rolling Stones.

Well, you didn't specify useful thoughts. :) But there is Victoria Strauss's The Garden of the Stone which I only remember dimly but I think hit on this theme a lot. Maybe. I presume you know the biblical origin of course but just in case - http://bible.cc/ezekiel/36-26.htm

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Drat, all that's coming to mind right now is the Russian folktale about the magician who keeps his heart stored in a secret place outside his body so he can't be killed. Which is a. vague, as I can't remember the name of the tale, and b. not quite what you're asking for.

(The Foreigner song is not helping either.)

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Koschei the deathless is one, but I know I've read others that are similar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koschei And there's a silly kid's song, The green grass grows all around, for that matter, that I think may come from a similar idea, since the progression of things is the same as how the hearts are usually hidden. But maybe I'm just projecting. :)

[wintercreek]

I think you're thinking of Mercedes Lackey's version of The Firebird - not sure if the hidden heart element is present in the folktale, but Lackey uses it.

[(Anonymous)]

Neither are Russian so far as I know, but stories about people who keep their heart stored outside the body also include Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart and, of course, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3...

[msavi.livejournal.com]

Well, the book that came to my mind is a good deal less apt than the above examples, but when I read A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories by Robin McKinley, it seemed to me like a collection of short stories about choosing the path of emotional vulnerability--following your heart--even though it's the more difficult or less obvious path. I suppose I thought of this because the stories are all fantasy except the last one, IIRC.

Then, of course, the silly example: Davy Jones in Pirates of the Carribean. XB

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

There's Kelly Link's fabulous story, "Travels with the Snow Queen" which plays with and possibly breaks that general idea.

Because I've been thinking about a heartless story in general, I can also think of the tin man in Oz, and the Russian fairytale bad guys who tend to store their hearts outside of their bodies so that they're safe/can never be killed. (the story I'm working on has the man's heart kept safe by an ex-girlfriend who didn't want him to wander). There's a song on the latest Keane album, Crystal Ball that's also got the same theme. (and actually, considering the idea that the bad guys can *only* be killed by destroying their hearts, there's a lot of similarity to Vampires in general there as well.)

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Oh, and howl's moving castle. Can't believe I forgot that one.

[tenantofwildfel.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind if I chime in as well, even though I'm just a lurker . . .

I agree with the earlier poster, above, that mentioned Robin McKinley. I think someone could make several interesting claims about the choices her characters make in her short fiction. Her "Sunshine" is another book that focuses on the heart.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's fiction explores this as well. I honestly can't remember the name of the series (Argonia?), but the novel I'm thinking of is the second book collected in the first volume of "Songs From the Seashell Archives." In that book, Gypsy Davey's heart has literally been removed so that he won't stray from his mother. (I hope that's not a spoiler for anyone!)

Also, Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel series is focused on the heart, although in this case, it's a heart of lead.

Finally, Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" also has all sorts of good things to work with involving the nature of the heart.

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

Also, Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel series is focused on the heart, although in this case, it's a heart of lead.


I loved that series when I discovered it as a teen! ah, memories.

Your brain may have stepped out during the zombie apocalypse...

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Something occurs to me in connection with Patricia McKillips's The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath, which has just been reprinted. My copy is buried in here somewhere -- does anyone remember if there is a reference to the heart?

Have not read yet IN THE FORESTS OF SERRE, but the flaps and several reviews speak of the prince "losing his heart" and having to catch a firebird and take it to a feared witch to retrieve his heart. There's a lot of people running around in this story, in layers of myth, as Pat does so well. But trading a heart of stone for a living heart once again seems to be Ronan's quest.

And McKinley's THE HERO AND THE CROWN -- the true source of power and magic, clean, pure power, is the dragon's heart. The head, which is mistakenly mounted on the wall, is actually poisoning the people. Head VS heart sounds promising.

BRIDGE OF BIRDS The bad guy hid his heart away to enable him to live forever -- some clever and wonderful stuff in there, if you haven't read it.

Re: Your brain may have stepped out during the zombie apocalypse...

[voske.livejournal.com]

In the Forests of Serre also explores the hidden heart theme with a Baba Yaga-type figure.

An re: heartlessness, there's also the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

[wintercreek]

Why fantasy for exploring this kind of message? Because the world can be created to host the message/exploration of topic in ways that further whatever metaphor is being used. I read an argument at some point (and now cannot remember where, of course) that fantasy and scifi provide the ideal media for examination of specific aspects of humanity - such as hearts of stone/hearts of flesh, or morality, or gender - because in "created" worlds like those that can be used in fantasy or scifi settings it is possibly to remove (or simply never create) complicating factors which distract from the message. Obviously this doesn't hold completely true for fantasy that overlaps with reality in its setting, but something like Tolkien could be an example of this - a fantasy taking place in a world crafted to hold that story.

Hope this helps spark something for you!

In case you find any of this useful

[a-c-fiorucci.livejournal.com]

Heart of stone shown to outside world: Tarma, of Mercedes Lackey's Oathbound, Oathbreaker books; possibly Jenny Casey, of E. Bear's Hammered, Scardown, Worldwired books; Granny Weatherwax in Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series; Aeryn Sun in Farscape (TV series)

Cultivation of the Heart of stone as protection of self (converted to heart of flesh later in the story): Kerowyn, By the Sword; Vanyel Ashkevron, Magic series, both by M. Lackey; Aeryn again

Beauty and the Beast concept as conflict between types, Robin McKinley (as noted above) has done several nice versions of this.

Are there main characters or significant characters with true hearts of stone, or are they by definition unsympathetic to the reader?

Do the types map to gender? Can a female human character have a heart of stone in the same way a (for example) Queen of the Elves can? (I'm thinking of the Dark Queen in the Outstretched Shadow/To Light a Candle books, specifically, or Barbara Casey in the E. Bear books, or the Snow Queen in Narnia)

Do the types map to right/wrong? Is there a case where the heart of stone is the proper choice?

Good luck! I will be very interested to see what you come out with!

Organizing your thoughts: some help, hopefully

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

"I'm still searchin' for a heart of sto-o-one..."

Everyone so far has given lots of ideas about fantasy literature examples; maybe I can offer you the assistance of my organization-addicted brain. ;-) Here goes:

O.K. First of all, we're talking about a 15-minute presentation, here, not a doctoral dissertation. AND, for the next 48 hours, we are talking about a 250-word blurb about your 15-minute presentation. So keep perspective: You won't be writing an exhaustive exploration of "hearts of flesh and stone" (HOFAS, forgive the acronym) in fantasy literature. I would suggest that even analyzing HOFAS in one work of literature might be a bit much to boil down to a short presentation, especially right now when your brainpower is not at its peak.

Analyzing one piece of literature is a worthy project for another year (I really like your Snape idea) but for this year, and for this conference, I think you should consider focusing on your theme, itself (HOFAS), and on what it means to you. WHY are you so passionate about this subject? What does it evoke in you? (emotions, associations with events or experiences, ideals, values, etc.) I think you may find it much easier to research your own heart and mind than to take on the burden of a more research-intensive paper at this time.

Ideas for process:

Sit down with paper and pen. Make two columns, or use two sheets of paper: Label one "Heart of Flesh" and the other "Heart of Stone." Start letting your brain go to mush and free-associate and brainstorm every possible word and phrase that you can think of in connection with each concept. Get it all out on paper. Go through as many sheets of paper as you need until you've exhausted every brain cell. Keep the writing on one side of each page so you can spread them out before you when you're done.

There's your raw material for your paper.

(continued in next comment...)

Re: Organizing your thoughts: some help, hopefully, Part 2

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Now frame your raw material:

I. An introduction. State your thesis about HOFAS, tell how you found your "theme" in the afterword of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin.

II. Give definitions and bullet-point descriptions of the two hearts.

III. Flesh out (sorry) your descriptions with examples from fantasy literature -- 3 to 5 or so, selected for variety and vividness of illustration.

IV. Wrap with a few words about how fantasy thus helps us better understand the human condition, etc. etc., at least this one aspect of the human condition. You might want to work this point into the thesis/introduction section, too. One of the conference themes is connecting fantasy with non-fantasy literature, and one fundamental role of literature is to explore what it means to be human -- and your theme is a perfect way to show that fantasy can and does run deeper than swords and sorcery action pulp. ;-)

O.K. So if the above ideas more or less work for you, your proposal could read something like this:

Hearts of Flesh and Hearts of Stone

A key function of literature is to connect us more deeply with our humanity. A prominent theme in fantasy literature is what Pamela Dean calls the Heart of Flesh and Heart of Stone. I explore what it means to have a Heart of Flesh versus a Heart of Stone, and I discuss examples from a variety of works that show how fantasy, at its best, can and does illuminate the human condition.

Hope that helps, Peg! Play with it, and with the suggested stories, and see what you can come up with. Just focus on that blurb and get it in by Friday; then you can ask our advice again while you write the paper itself. ;-) HOOT.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay... Everyone else seems to be suggesting stories for you to use, but my brain clicked in a different direction when I read this post. So here are some thoughts that may or may not be helpful in a general sense.

My inclination is to go all meta about it; that is, not to say "hearts of flesh and stone is a neat theme and here are some stories that use it" but rather "neat theme, and here's what it means, and here's why it's important in fiction and in fantasy in particular." (I also, for what it's worth, read PD's afterword and immediately hooked into that idea.) I would say, the idea of a heart of flesh vs. a heart of stone is really a metaphor for a variety of things -- especially in the sense in which PD uses it; having a heart of flesh means being engaged with the world, being curious, being creative, being compassionate, a whole host of things that are, when all boiled down, about being human. The faery queen uses this phrase because she's NOT human, and in Tam Lin (both the ballad and the book) human is a good thing to be.

So that's part 1. Part 2 would perhaps be something about how fiction, in general, is all about making us more human. That's just the bridge. Part 3 would be about fantasy. Why is fantasy so important to the exploration of this theme? I think there are two reasons: 1, there are lots of non-human characters, which sets up the human vs. non-human dichotomy nicely. But 2, and more importantly, because fantasy gives us the chance to make metaphors literal. Does the faery queen mean that she would have made Thomas non-human? Or does she mean that she would have literally plucked his heart out and turned it to stone? It could go either way. (I've always read it as the latter, actually, until writing this comment, and now I'm debating. But that's neither here nor there.) The people mentioned above who remove their hearts and keep them elsewhere to be immortal? They're doing that literally.

Now that I've actually written all that out, I want to write an essay of my own about it. :P Since I don't have time to, I hope it's helpful to you so you'll write an essay and I can read it.

-E with no LJ

[handworn.livejournal.com]

In your earlier thoughts about the hearts of stone thing, you acknowledge that it's not as simple as an ordinary dichotomy, like east is east and west is west, et cetera.

But if that's true-- that it's not so simple-- then is it a useful metaphor?

[hamsterwoman]

I know you're long since done with your paper and with this convention, but I read a story the other day that immediately made me think of you and your "heart of flesh/heart of stone" topic, so I thought I'd mention it anyway. It's Holly Black's "Heartless", which I found in the Young Warriors anthology. It's about a girl whose heart has been drawn into a fingerbone and chopped off, and the choices she makes.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.