Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People"

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2018

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

JF and Phil delve deep into Arthur Machen's fin-de-siècle masterpiece, "The White People," for insight into the nature of ecstasy, the psychology of fairies, the meaning of sin, and the challenge of living without a moral horizon. WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED Arthur Machen, "The White People" - full text or Weird Stories audiobook read by Phil Ford Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Jack Sullivan (ed)., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison J.K. Huysmans, Against Nature (À rebours) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Specter Vision Radio
0:03.3	Welcome to Weird Studies, an art and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:21.8	For more episodes and to support the podcast, go to Weird Studies.com. So today, Phil and I will be exploring the philosophical overtones of a true classic of weird fiction,
0:57.0	Arthur Mocken's short story, The White People.
0:59.6	This is a story that I've loved for a very long time.
1:04.0	Mocken was one of H.P. Lovecraft's biggest influences.
1:07.2	He's one of the four writers whom Lovecraft call the four great masters. So he,
1:13.7	the others were Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James and Lord Dunsaney, each of whom could get their
1:21.8	own podcast episode, I think, Phil. These are all pretty fantastic writers. But today we're looking at
1:27.1	Arthur Mockins, the white people. But today we're looking at Arthur Mockens,
1:28.0	the white people. But before we get into it, I'm just going to say a few words about Mokin
1:32.1	himself for listeners who aren't familiar with him. So he was born in 1863. He was a son of an
1:38.6	Anglican vicar. And from a very young age, he had this fascination with the Welsh countryside where he grew up and the legends and lore that kind of permeated that place.
1:49.9	And when he moved to London as a young adult to become a journalist, he kind of took that fascination with him and started to write weird fiction that was kind of inspired by that Celtic kind of twilight landscape that he grew up
2:04.4	in uh he was he was fascinated by the occult by uh magic uh and religion um but he chose to explore
2:14.4	these themes through fiction and um his fiction stands to this day as one of the great examples of weird literature.
2:25.3	Phil had the kindness to record a wonderful reading of the story which you can find on our website.
2:31.3	You may or may not want to listen to the story before our discussion. This is
2:36.0	one of those stories that are almost plotless and it just simply can't be spoiled. So you could
2:40.9	easily listen to our conversation and then, you know, read or listen to the story afterwards.
2:47.3	And it might even enrich your experience. I don't know. Maybe Phil, could you like give us a bit of a summary of the story?
2:53.6	Yeah, sure. So the stories in three parts, the central and by far the longest portion is called the Green Book.
	...

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