Last week my class presented the Textualities ‘26 conference at UCC. The presentations varied not only across Med/Ren and Modernities, but across an assortment of topics regarding binaries, narrative, thresholds, and antiheroes.
The day opened with a bang, with Francis talking about body horror in film, from the 80s to the present. I’m a fan of the topic—I love horror movies and grotesque imagery that makes you recoil, yet captivates and thrills you. The panel continued exploring bodies and binaries, including my fellow Med/Ren student Sally, who analysed gender and nature in ‘The Wife’s Lament’ and Tolkien.
The next panel explored ‘hidden narratives,’ from Adrian’s definition of a narrative itself to Emma’s intriguing analysis of the role of empathy in mobilising literature. It was interesting to see similarities between her Dutch sources and wartime propaganda more familiar to me. Emma also introduced my own panel, handling it fabulously.
The third panel took us ‘Beyond Thresholds,’ with a distinct Freudian flavour. Ben’s presentation on the uncanny in Ring (1991) got me thinking about intersexuality in a Freudian context. Venus’ presentation on the female-authored haunted house went beyond Freud, decentering masculinity (something I’m always in favour of).
Finally, the conference closed with the antiheroes panel. I loved the anti-elitist message of Siria’s presentation, which brought popular literature into the discussion. I never thought I would be hearing an academic presentation on One Direction fanfiction, but I’m lucky to have cool enough classmates to make that happen! I was also struck by similarities between my own presentation and Whitney’s, who spoke about monstrous heroism in Sir Gowther. Both of our projects incorporated satire of the trinity, and the discussion of sin.
Overall, I was happy with how the conference went. Everybody was checking in with each other, giving reassurances, and providing many helping hands. I think the Pecha Kucha format increased some of the anxieties going into it, so it was nice to see everybody banding together to make the day a success.
I have never made a Pecha Kucha before, so it was a learning experience. While some people were put off by the restrictions on the amount of text per slide, that didn’t bother me. The visuals of each slide were enough to stay on track, and any long quotation would be poor time management in a presentation so short.
The main cause of anxiety was the automatic change of slides every 20 seconds, as it causes a bit of a panic if you stumble over your words or need a moment to gather your thoughts (which have a habit of flying away when speaking in front of a crowd). Alas, I survived with the help of careful planning, and copious amounts of cold medication carried me to the finish line. I hope everyone was happy with their presentations; we can all enjoy some healthy pride in our work. Congratulations to everyone, and finally—
PHEW!
