Dr. Pat Michaelson, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Dallas (she commutes from Atlanta), was a speaker on Saturday. Her topic, "How to Talk Like Mrs. Palmer (and other silly people)" kept us in stitches. It was very droll! We asked her for some of her thoughts on this year's conference.
A Scholar's First AGM
“This is so much fun!” I kept saying to myself. I’ve been teaching Austen for 20 years, have presented on her at scholarly conferences, have even written a scholarly book* using her work extensively—and I had never been to a JASNA AGM. I don’t think I’m a snob; I just didn’t think “regular people” would be interested in what I have to say. But then a graduate student of mine invited me to speak at the North Texas regional meeting, which led to an invitation to the AGM, . . . and here I was having a blast in Fort Worth.
[*ed: see review at JASNA.org]
My first event was a lesson in English country dancing, and thankfully Randy was there to be a partner. He had a bit more experience than I did; I flubbed every move. The later dances, with different partners, were even harder, but the instructor taught contingency plans: when you mess up, just smile and get ready for the next part of the dance. Useful advice!
At scholarly conferences, we dress like academics; one of the things I enjoyed most about the AGM was seeing so many people in Regency clothes. I have to admit I spent a lot of time fingering the dresses for sale. Luckily, they were all in tiny sizes, so buying one was not an option. I also found that some people may take this a tad too far. When I mentioned that I adored the costumes, a woman said to me, “This is not a costume. These are my clothes.” Let’s keep reality and fun/fantasy separate, please, folks.
My favorite events: Andrew Davies, of course. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. A talk by Susan Allen Ford, who followed up on a reference to the novel “Columella,” and found that it foreshadows much of the plot of S&S. And Kristen Miller Zohn’s talk on portrait miniatures. Confession time: I started buying on eBay right after her talk, always at the low end, which gets me the work of amateurs. One portrait I bought, I am sure, is by Emma. (Kristen warned me about how addictive eBay is and after my October splurge, I'm taking a break.)
My own talk was on Saturday afternoon. I had been a bit surprised that so many presenters read formal papers (which is what we do at scholarly conferences); I chose to talk more informally, from notes. My subject is language and gender, and I wanted to show people how Austen uses stereotypes about “woman’s language,” especially in the 2 earliest novels (Northanger Abbey and S&S). I secretly wanted people to role-play a bit and practice woman’s language, but I didn’t know if the audience would go for it. When I asked, tentatively—WOW, were they game! They chattered away like experts, and 2 teens in the front row, in costume, were willing to come up to the mike and demonstrate, and they were fabulous! Nobody believed that I hadn’t prepared them ahead of time.
So now I know: people who go to the AGM are not only well informed about all things Austen, but are bold and fun-loving. I’ve already submitted my proposal for 2012.
Pat Michaelson
Pat Michaelson
November 2011
