Giving Orlando an introduction would be easier if s/he weren’t so socially awkward.
“It can’t be that difficult,” you might be saying. Well, think again. The last time we went to a party together, it went down something like this…*
This is my friend Orla–
Hi, I’m very interested in heteroglossia and the dialogization of travel narratives through their translation into dramatic form.
Ah, sure. Well, I think I need some more punch. Nice to meet you.
…
Hi, I’d like to introduce you to Or–
Which definition of tragicomedy do you find most instructive? Sidney’s or Fletcher’s?
I think I hear someone calling me. Be right back.
…
Hey, this is Orlando.
So. I heard you talking about your trip last summer. Did you realize that by telling that story you’re contributing to a nationalist discourse that renders foreigners nothing more than metaphors for your domestic anxieties?
How rude. This is a friend of yours?
Well…it’s complicated.
Good luck with that.
…
::sigh:: Orlando, I can’t take you anywhere.
What? What did I do?
Never mind.
*Obviously this is hypothetical, because graduate students don’t have time to go to parties.
Snark on the Side 