So why did I decide to create this blog and why did I decide on this concept? In truth it all comes down to being irritated by other people. Irritated and inspired, but primarily irritated.
As a history buff who would read treatises on various aspects of life in various historical periods I would find myself annoyed when I would read historical fiction or watch period pieces on television. They rarely seemed to care for any semblance of accuracy in their depictions of the particular time the stories would be set in. Most people I would speak to about this would answer along the lines of “So what? It’s just a show” or “If you can;t enjoy it then it’s not for you.” These responses would bother me just as much as the book or show would. It revealed in the audience (and the writers) a full disrespect for the humans that came before us and their intelligence, their struggles and their accomplishments as well as neglecting to present the continuous aspects of human character.
I found this type of neglect actually continued into the sphere of the authors, critics and social media personalities (book tubers etc). This was especially clear when they started talking about philosophy. Having made philosophy an extensive part of my education, I am currently studying philosophy in conjunction with my MA thesis, this was something I felt I could address particularly well. Concepts that were presented by these people were poorly understood and based on flawed arguments and then these ideas were applied to literary works that I absolutely adore. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett, these colossal figures and their incredible works were being misrepresented and appropriated, and the philosophies being used to do so were so far removed from the actual meanings and intents of the individuals who composed them.
The idea to create a blog came to me after several years of interesting and enjoyable conversations about fiction with my fellow students. I found the ability to challenge their ideas and to have my own challenged engaging. Instead of the old conversations I would have that would be written off and dismissed based purely on the fact that the others enjoyed the piece. (I recall one of these older talks resulting in the group saying that “not everyone reads pretentiously” as if that was an actual counter to my complaints about the authors excessive use of purple prose, something I will undoubtedly discuss in a future post).
And so here we are. A blog entirely devoted to encouraging people to question what the read and watch, to inquire as to what messages the authors are presenting, and to educate people on the factual presentations of historical life and philosophical views.
Going forward I will not be posting too frequently for a while, starting an enterprise like this whilst simultaneously starting grad school does not leave much in terms of free time and as such I will have to prioritize appropriately. Most of my posts will follow along one of three patterns:
1) What People Get Wrong, in which I will present to the reader an idea about history, philosophy or about a particular authors work and break down some aspect that gets frequently misrepresented or are just outright wrong.
2) Literary Criticism, in which I investigate concepts of tropes, writing styles, themes, etc. Pretty typical stuff.
3) Hot Topics, in which the nature of the gadfly truly presents itself by investigating and inquiring into the various hot button issues. Questioning the arguments and presenting the cases before the reader so the reader can make up their own mind, or perhaps reinforce their opinions.
I will also post other types of things, such as book reviews or even selections of my own fiction writings.
Going even further into the future I would love to have guest writers from a broad spectrum of categories write about their own ideas along these lines, perhaps presenting their own ideas or responding to some of my own.
As can probably be witnessed, this site is not yet in its complete phase and is a work in progress and I ask for your patience during this time as we figure out exactly what we are doing.
All the Best
DPJ Miles
Gadfly Fiction 