Welcome!
This is the first-ever post on Transforming Tradition, my blog devoted to artmaking and writing for children of all ages. Transforming Tradition will be part chronicle and part agony aunt, the place where I'll log projects and research while sharing cool books, writers, artists, stories and, no doubt, numerous watercolor disasters. (Is anyone else as abysmal at watercolor as I am?) I've christened this blog Transforming Tradition to reflect the nature of my work: I use text and image to give fresh, creative expression to the themes and motifs found in fairy tales, folklore, customs and rituals.
And then there's Victorian children's literature.
Transforming Tradition has a rather auspicious birthday. For all you Lewis Carroll fans out there, November 4 is the day that Alice steps through the parlor mirror in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. When the story opens it's late afternoon, and Alice has been at the window "watching the boys getting in sticks for the bonfire." This suggests the bonfires set ablaze for Guy Fawkes Night (or Bonfire Night), celebrated in Britain on November 5, as does her remark to the black kitten, "we'll go and see the bonfire to-morrow." Pretty cool, right?
When I learned the true significance of Bonfire Night my first year in England, I was...a little freaked out. JK Rowling and Lewis Carroll make it sound rather jolly in their books, and the festival I attended in Ottery St. Mary - which includes a carnival and flaming tar barrels carried through the streets by burly, completely insane men - was fantastic. Bonfire Night in fact commemorates the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and the execution of the surviving conspirators, including Guy Fawkes. The Brits traditionally burn an effigy (not necessarily of Fawkes) at the top of the fire. I enjoy traditions, of course, but that smacks a little too much of 'The Wicker Man' for comfort.
Anyone have a good Bonfire Night story?
Thanks for reading. Have a lovely day.
Love this, Christie! Can't wait to see what more you pop up. A very merry birthday to your blog!
ReplyDeleteYay for the new blog! My favorite bonfire scene comes from Return of the Native, where Eustacia has her very own bonfire and all the heath folk are talking about her. It's so Eustacia.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm. Bonfire night. It seemed to be the one day where the overly fire-safety conscious Brits let loose with fire. Every apartment I had came with at least 2 fire extinguishers, fire doors, and a fire blanket. I found it odd that they chose to set off their fireworks from the tops of tall buildings. Talk about a fire hazard! Yow!
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean, Dana. In Ottery St. Mary these men would lumber through the crowds with these HUGE burning barrels - and you wouldn't know they were coming right at you until you felt the heat on your back. Yikes!!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the good wishes, ladies!