Sour Duck’s Carnival Host Notes: Introduction, Definition, and Disclaimer (Part I)

The Sleep of Reason Begets Nightmares (1797-98), Goya.

Welcome to Sour Duck’s Carnival Host Notes!

This is an informally written and entirely voluntary summary of my experience hosting Issue 3 of The Carnival of Feminists.

These notes are written for the benefit of future and potential hosts, with a view to aiding them in their Carnival project.

The notes are split into five sections:

• Part I: Introduction, Definition, and Disclaimer
• Part II: Technical Notes
• Part III: Meta-Issues
• Part IV: Reference Links
• Part V: Revisions

What is a “carnival”?

A carnival is a collection of links, a “best of” endeavor, published regularly on a blog platform, which usually rotates.

There is usually a “carnival organizer,” who oversees the smooth running of the carnival and deals with administrative issues; there are also carnival “hosts”, who volunteer to put together an issue and publish it on an agreed date at their blog.

Blog Carnival, a directory site, explains the need for carnivals in their FAQ:

There is so much stuff in the blog-o-sphere, just finding interesting stuff is hard. If there is a carnival for a topic you are interested in, following that carnival is a great way to learn what bloggers are saying about that topic. If you are blogging on that topic, the carnival is the place to share your work with like-minded bloggers.

The Carnival of Feminists differs somewhat from the system outlined at Blog Carnival’s FAQ. The FAQ states that the criteria for submissions is set by the Carnival Organizer, this does not hold true for The Carnival of Feminists. While the Carnival Organizer sets the general parameters for The Carnival of Feminists, the host sets more specific criteria.

What is “The Carnival of Feminists”?

The Carnival of Feminists aims to gather together the best of recent feminist blog writing.

The issues rotate from host to host. The official blog states:

The Carnival hopes to build the profile of feminist blogging, to direct extra traffic to all participating bloggers, but particularly newer bloggers, and to build networks among feminist bloggers.

Interested parties should contact contact the Carnival organizer, Natalie Bennett. She determines the potential of volunteers, and oversees the general organization of the Carnival.

For further explanation of blog carnivals, see Science and Politics’ “ConvergeSouth—Blog Carnivals,” and the more lengthy and philosophical “Blog Carnivals And The Future Of Journalism.”

Disclaimer

These notes reflect my experience hosting one issue of a blog carnival; they naturally reflect my own personal biases, and perhaps even idiosyncrasies. Usenet’s handy acronym, YMMV applies to all I assert.

Part of the purpose of these notes is to share some of my tips, offload some residual stuff, and perhaps to contribute to the dialog about how to best run a carnival.

The Carnival of Feminists Organizer has created a more official and authoritative guidance document for hosts. Obviously, if you host an issue, defer to Natalie’s judgement.

I leave it to the reader to meditate upon the many possible meanings of my choice of Goya’s “The Sleep of Reason Begets Monsters” (the last word is sometimes translated from the literal to the more general “nightmares”). (I came up with seven readings for this context.)

This concludes the introduction. Let’s move on to the technical notes…

Part I: Introduction | Part II: Technical Notes | Part III: Meta-Issues | Part IV: Reference Links | Part V: Revisions

Image: aquatint, Plate 43 from the Los Caprichos series by Francisco Goya. Courtesy of The Web Gallery of Art:

“Sinister creatures of the night torment the artist—presumably Goya himself—who lies slumped over his table, unable to work. Yet the real clue to Goya’s print lies in its subtitle: ‘Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her, she is the mother of the arts.’

The etching of the sleeping artist, threatened by fantastical faces, was originally intended to open the Caprichos series. Goya later decided to replace it with a self-portrait, the picture of a self-assured man dressed in a top and wearing a critical expression.”