This is my last regular post for the summer. I'm hoping to get back to blogging the results of my experiences in translating the short stories of the French writer, Villiers de l'Isle Adam here.
My obsession with dinosaurs has already featured on this blog. This may be the result of a traumatic experience watching Jurassic Park in 1993 and having to hide under a cardigan with my sister. A sucker for punishment, back in July I went to see Jurassic World with my friend and colleague, Rob Maslen. Rob is a Renaissance man - he started his academic career writing about Elizabethan Prose, but has switched his gaze to fantasy in recent years. Having run a highly popular undergraduate course in this subject he is now offering the first Masters degree in the UK on fantasy.*
He is also excellent company at the cinema. The image below is a result of our post film chat about the sexual politics of Jurassic World as we worked out the parallels between Bryce Dallas Howard’s character (starts the movie pent-up in stiff white suit, has to be thawed by ultra male, Chris Pratt) and the velociraptors (an all female team, who start the movie pent-up in a cage, until released by ultra male Christ Pratt). Hence my concern about how the velociraptors would feel after such a wild first date:
In comparison, I don't think this picture of a Mozzasaurus needs much explanation:
* I made this picture for publicity materials to go with the course and am hoping to collaborate with Rob in the near future:
