GILLIAN M. E. ALBAN
engages with women in her literary analyses,
exploring the theme of mythic women
in contemporary literature
Gillian M.E. Alban delivers a public lecture
at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
in conjunction with the exhibit
Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art
VIDEO LINK
WWW.METMUSEUM.ORG/METMEDIA/VIDEO/LECTURES/DANGEROUS-BEAUTY-MEDUSA-CLASSICAL-ART
Reaction to the MET lecture:
‘The “Medusa Gaze...” was well explained by Ms. Alban.
It is a timely book, demonstrating women's power and vulnerability as their egos develop.
As the present movements of women's empowerment grow,
Ms. Alban's book connects by stating one way to deal with adversity
is to face it with strength.’
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Gillian M.E. Alban presented
Teaching (Medusa) Empowerment Through Literature:
Humanity’s Need of Meaning in Literature and Myth
at UNESAK 2018 Congress
Necatibey Faculty of Education, Balıkesir
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The Medusa Gaze in Contemporary Women's Fiction
is a Cambridge Scholars Press best seller!
Now in paperback for just £19.99
To order visit Cambridge Scholars Press web site
The Medusa Gaze in Contemporary Women's Fiction: Petrifying, Maternal, Redemptive
©2017 Gillian M.E. Alban, Cambridge Scholars Publishing
“ALBAN’S BOOK...explores how women are treated within and by life and literature...
It introduces the conflicting, troubling, powerful and fascinating
Medusa roles of women in modern and contemporary fiction...It demonstrates
how a focus on the various interpretations of the Medusa function
can be applied to enrich our readings of literary works.”
“We are the “aggrandising mirrors” to men, as Woolf put it so cleverly.
How many times have our endeavours to find ourselves led to us getting lost
between becoming – in your words – the witch or the doormat?
And worse – schizophrenically ending up a bit of both?”
“The kind of power mothers have is enormous.
Take the skyline of Istanbul –
enormous breasts, pathetic little willies,
a final revenge on Islam.
I was so scared I had to crouch in the bottom
of the boat when I saw it.”
Noteworthy
Perseus/Andromeda/Medusa
by Sarah Henstra, recipient of the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award winner for fiction
“When the hero returned I was ready for him. I took him at daybreak, rising over his body golden and serpentine, pouring honey from my mouths. I can't breathe, he said. He gasped and bucked and gaped at me. His lids fluttered, incredulous. He spread his palms flat and pressed, seeking ballast, seeking earth, but I took him airborne, glimmering, gasping. Gorgon! he hollered, panicked. I had learned to use my teeth, you see, how to grip him with my thighs. How to curl my fingers into claws. How to immobilize both his arms with the fingers of one hand. How to draw his tears and then lap them away.”
© Sarah Henstra