Becoming Nancy

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Laurie Long describes reading Nancy Drew mystery books as one of her early influences in life. This strong character challenged typical models for young women by empowering them with a sense of independence, an inquisitive nature, and a tendency to go against expectations of how a young woman should behave. In this series of self-portraits, Long uses photography to recreate drawings from the books, and places herself, as Nancy, within the story. Each of the photographs is accompanied by a caption from the original illustrations; however, Long had added a pinhole photograph, presenting an alternative view of the scene and adding further mystery and suspense. I trusted the cover of this book, thinking that it would be a fun read, but I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, it does have its moments, and David is really sassy and funny. But that's about it. From homophobia to sexual abuse of a minor, this book has it all. It seems like whenever David finally caught a break and was able to just breathe, the author decided that it was enough and he needed to face some new tragedy, and the further the story progressed the worse it got.

Worsham, L. (1998). Going postal: Pedagogic violence and the schooling of emotion. JAC, 18(2), 213-245. Red taffeta flies at the Alliance Theatre in Becoming Nancy (mainstage, through October 6; although performances began September 6, reviewers were not admitted until September 18). Two-time Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell ( Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) directs and choreographs this world-premiere musical, which has Broadway aspirations.

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To some extent I wanted students to view their outlaw emotions as an early warning system that alerts them to examine the oppressive forces that may be connected to these emotions. This musical is meant to be fun, which it is, but the score by George Stiles (music) and Anthony Drewe (lyrics) is pretty forgettable. The Alliance still hasn’t mastered the art of finding a memorable opening number, which is exactly what this show needs. Royster, J. J. (1996). When the First Voice You Hear Is Not Your Own. College Composition and Communication, 47, 29-40.

Villanueva, V. (2004). “Memoria” is a friend of ours: on the discourse of color. College English, 67(1), 9-19. This chapter forwards memoir as a writing assignment that can be informed by a critical notion of subject formation. The heuristic activities that I describe were developed for courses on different levels: first year composition, English education writing pedagogy, and several graduate seminars. Recently, I incorporated a few of these generative strategies into an online graduate course about critical memoir. After commenting on the constraints of theoretical taxonomies, a series of heuristic strategies are outlined to increase awareness of identity as a conflicted representation that is always open to revision through writing. I think there’s a concern sometimes that certain media outlets might run something as a story that I’ve said [as Nancy],” he says. “So I do sort of watch what I say in terms of, ‘Would I be happy reading it in the Daily Mail?’” He pauses for a second. “But fundamentally I still tell jokes about fisting.” She begins instead to sing Bonnie Tyler’s “I Need a Hero” very loudly and dramatically, ignoring the lyrics on the karaoke machine in favour of her own: “Late at night I toss myself off and I dream of what I need.”

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People have to create selves that (in the metaphor of residence) inhabit the (social) structures and spaces (cultural imaginaries) that collectivities create, but they produce selves that inhabit these structures and imaginaries in creative, variant, and often oppositional, ways …. And, in the circuits of emerging communities of practice, innovation may play out and regularize the semiotic means for new identities and activities that lie beyond existing structures of power. (2007, p. 135) The Nancy Drew mystery stories, first published in 1930, continue to be written and have been revised, updated and distributed internationally. A selection of Nancy Drew books dating from the 1930s to 1990s, can be found in the display cabinet and Reading Table during the exhibition. Musicals director Jerry Mitchell told The Stage last week that he plans to produce and direct a new musical based on the book Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald. Jerry Mitchell in rehearsals for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels The first clue to this comes in a look he gives himself while applying makeup in the mirror – one of both cheekiness and recognition: a light switching on. It is the amused look of someone catching their own reflection while being buggered at an orgy. It says, “Hello Nancy, my dear, shall we cause some unholy mischief?” History is far more complex than any taxonomy can represent. Most scholars have careers that span decades with their positions developing if not taking twists and turns related to forces that may not be fully revealed. Proffering a new position will always come with great political risk and may indeed necessitate the Foucauldian moment of labeling others to create a somewhat undeserved distinction. Maybe the academic desire to coin a new concept leads to the emphasis on difference so we can offer a new and improved concept. Yet such stress on difference also may lead to categories that imply binaries and warring factions, even when they may not exist. Raul Sanchez comments on the need for a progressive cause and effect claim when forwarding a new theory: