Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Perceiving and Telling: A Study of Iterative Discourse... A Tale by Daniéle Chatelain



Have you ever pondered Einsteinian ideas of the spacetime continuum? Or wanted to redefine the parameters of narrative analysis? Or both? Then you may not be the only one!


Either way, you may defiantly enjoy destroying the binary structuralization Daniéle Chatelain challenges in her Perceiving and Telling: A Study of Iterative Discourse, and iteratively return to each new concept as it perplexes and unfolds with jigsaw corners connecting past analyst and the future.  

And in case you were wondering what iterative discourse is, like I was at first, Daniéle Chatelain plainly explains “Iterative discourse is the synthetic expression of what has been repeated n times.” Then she adds “But what is it that repeats?” As each page unfolds so do her intentions of destruction and rebuilding the boundaries and definitions of iterative discourse, structure, narrative, analysis, and so on...


           
            This image to the right illustrates a bit of her madness. Below are some complimentary sneak peeks.




Except for this image, it has nothing to do with Daniéle Chatelain’s work. But I thought it could provide a little mental exercise that could help understand the complexity of her analysis throughout her title.





1)      First start by looking at the larger triangle, that we may assume is the base of the image, which lies adjacent to our screen.
2)      Now look inside the larger triangle to the multiple white triangles, made up of smaller triangles. They seem to parallel and compliment the symmetry of the larger triangle.
3)      Then focus on the negative spaces of darkness. Each dark triangle points and its even larger counterpart, and in turn point at the second largest triangle in the picture, which is the center of the overall image.
We begin to question the complexity of the image by asking, what is the true focus of the image? “What is it that repeats?” Keep this in mind.





Here is an example of Daniéle Chatelain actually explaining Iterative literature, by explaining how English and French find different modes of grammar to portray a repeating idea, action, or circumstance.



Here is another example that I fancied from the text, and believe works much like the triangle mind twister above. It reads:
“The large candelabra, like bouquets of fire… repeated themselves, in the mirrors.”



Daniéle Chatelain sets blaze to her pages when she begins using the text of past analyst as her fuel. She transforms and grows iterative discourse from the traditionalism of its past, exclaiming that:
Perceiving and telling are an eminently human process, because they are open-ended and thoroughly engaged in transformation. If the methods of modern science are committed to such a process, it seems as if many theoretician of narrative still resist this idea of process and transformation in relation to narrative forms.
The complexity and technicality of her work are appropriately replicated to enhance the understanding and analysis. And though she may burn old hierarchies of theory, she opens a new door of perception, and telling, a new interconnectedness of narrative.

Have you ever wondered about the interconnectedness of everything? Like our thoughts and surroundings. That the reality might be, our perception solely lies in the experiences of our ever revolving day to day environment. And our narrative, our voice, helps to elaborate this iterative. This is exactly what Daniéle Chatelain proclaims.



Monday, July 01, 2013

Learning for Revolution: The Work of Kathy Acker


From the streets of New York City came punk icon and rebellious-extraordinaire Kathy Acker, or so she’s faultily labeled. 

In Learning for Revolution, Spencer Drew attempts to eradicate any misconceived labels and visions of Kathy Acker- even now after her unfortunate death due to cancer- in this wonderfully woven book.

Fearlessly, Drew covers Acker’s life, teachings, and argues against claims from a few of Acker’s critics. While making his readers feel as though they grew up alongside Kathy Ackler’s journey through academia, he also injects high doses of analysis on Acker’s most important aspects of her pedagogical model of teaching.

Learning for Revolution is crucial for the preservation of Kathy Acker’s work, which involved deconstructing patriarchy and challenging the oppression of all peoples. Many of the novels Acker published are controversial for “disorientating” and causing readers a form of trauma due to her lack of plot and open-endings, but that’s only essential for her goal. It’s an effective form of deconstruction, pushing readers to think beyond the constrictions of a capitalist society and begin to feel comfortable with things outside the “norm”. 

Essentially, Acker is more than an icon. In fact, as Dew says, any such labels “silence[s] the very goals to which her innovative tactics were employed.” Acker began the construction of a whole new community that involved a symbiotic relationship between literature and its readers. Just as she used pieces of literature for her novels, such as Don Quixote and Wuthering Heights, she hoped that her readers would use hers for learning and progressing. So whether you are a Kathy Acker fan or not, Learning for Revolution is a space itself that both aims to project a clearer image of Acker and continues a conversation in finding the best efficient way of incorporating revolutionary perspectives in the classrooms of all schools. I’m sure that after the last few pages, there will be something new taking root in your mind. 

Here’s a little gem straight from Learning for Revolution

“Novelists must be allowed, first by themselves, to say, to make what others perhaps-politicians, community people-cannot say and make; novelists allow themselves to speak contradictions, irrationalities, the actualities of human nature and of nature. To dissent, so to speak, with limitation. To question and so, to open the door for perception and comprehension depends on its width and depth, the more devastating the question is, the greater the comprehension. Perhaps here lies the morality of the novelist.”

- Kathy Acker 



For futhering venturing: 

Kathy interviews one of her biggest influences- William S. Boroughs: 


Neil Gaiman (a good friend) talks a little bit about Kathy Acker in an interview here: 

An interview with Kathy Acker for BOMB Magazine: 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Representations of Fashion: The Metropolis and Mediological Reflection Between The Nineteenth and The Twentieth Centuries



          Metropolis and photography are the two conductors in Antonio Rafele’s Representations of Fashion proving the mundane cycle of life and death that is experienced each day. Rafele prescribes it as a “sequence of isolated moments” created by natural time that hangs our obvious looming death at the hems of our subconscious, pushing society to scour for methods of distraction. These distractions now come through the temporariness of television, web, photography and fashion, which have become so crucial, they’ve fallen into a basic need. They’ve become methods for society to fulfill an emptiness dug from the predictable one-way road of our lives full at the belly with illusions of success and disillusionments that arrive thereafter. 

          Dissecting the “The Metropolis” by Georg Simmel and W. Benjamin’s “The Passages”, Rafele offers the formula of the individual’s growing relationship with discontinuous media that took root at the birth of the metropolis, eradicating societies who’ve experienced life through instances of solitude and self-motivated accomplishments. It was when the population grew denser that identities began to be shaped by the gaze of others, pushing people to bend and mold to the choreography of expectations. At this time, Rafele highlights,  the creation of new media, such as photography, became popularized. It allowed and continues to allow people to capture moments of our lives that become pictures in a dusty shoebox, ephemeral and dust-ridden at best. 


         Rafele’s essay is an excellent inspection of a world still breathing through the streets of our neighborhoods and the alleyways of our consciousness. Giving us a punch in the stomach, he uncovers a deeper and eery relationship with fashion and the devices of our world that envelop us in a dream. 





Here's a trailer of a classic film capturing the metropolis in both the title and the setting:




Saturday, May 25, 2013

Goat Tails and Doodlebugs - Everett Gee Jackson's attempt to catch your attention!

I don't know about any of you, but Goat Tails and Doodlebugs: A Journey Toward Art is a title that I won't soon forget.

My fellow avid readers,
Are you tired of reading long novels for school?  Maybe you've been going through a phase where you are delving into the latest classic to suit your fancy, and you're craving some kind of break - but you just can't stop reading!  Well, my dear friends, I am here to solve your problem.

Evert Gee Jackson's book is a delightful read.  It is said to be a "testimony to the notion that art imitates life" - through the stories and illustrations within this novel, one is submerged within the life of Jackson and his journey on the way to becoming a successful artist.  The print is big, the content fulfilling; the pictures take up an entire page, and will fill a void present within the depths of your mind.  Not only will this title remain with you forever, but the impact of Jackson's words and art will continue to influence you in every aspect of your life.



AND to top it all off, THIS BOOK IS FUNNY.  Jackson has quite the sense of humor laced throughout his personal story, and weaves his intelligence in between the laughs so that his readers can understand how some events in life occur for a reason.  Admire the words and the works of art; this book is one that will remove any cobwebs that have formed in your library (or on your bookshelf).  You simply will not be able to put it down!  And then of course, you'll share it amongst your friends and tell Jackson's story to the next listener at your company's Christmas party.  Honestly, reading this is a win-win situation for everybody.
 






Now that it is summer, enjoy the nice weather (or bring this on the vacation you're going to take to get away from the craziness of life) and flip through this book.  I guarantee that you'll love it - if not for the title itself, then for the phenomenal story told from cover to cover (through words and pictures).

GOAT TAILS AND DOODLEBUGS; You know you want to take this Journey Toward Art.



Monday, April 15, 2013

An Angel Walks Among the United States/Mexico Border

Enrique Morones - An angel among mere mortals. View his book here: BOOM


Isn't this view absolutely breathtaking?  To one side, you have a vast expanse of open land, and to the other, you can see the sprawl of modernization.  Unfortunately, that giant wall in between these landscapes prevents individuals to cross from one side to the other--particularly, from Mexico into the United States. There are those (too many) who crack jokes about individuals crossing from Mexico into the United States. Others truly believe that those men and women who risked their lives to support their family do not deserve the job that they worked for.  Despite the fact that so much hatred resides on the American side of the border, there is a group of angels who want to do nothing more than help provide a life to those risking everything for a chance at freedom. 

Enrique Morones' The Power of One: The Story of the Border Angels, sheds light on the current situation going on in the American Southwest. Listed under 7 different genres (border studies, history, memoir, political science, social justice, activism, chicana/o studies), this is a book that will be sure to leave an impression on all of those who are lucky enough to read it.  Even for those of you who prefer pictures to words, this book is filled with real pictures of real people which enriches the overall beauty of this piece.  





















If you are interested in more information about Enrique and his activism, take a trip to his site: http://www.borderangels.org/.  Not only will this site further your knowledge when reading Enrique's book, but it may make you think twice about looking down upon immigrants who risk their lives every day crossing miles and miles of unruly desert.  

According to Josefina Lopez, author of Real Women Have Curves, "Enrique Moronoes' story is remarkable and needs to be told.  He is a man of conscience who stands up to injustice by simply being on the side of love and human dignity.  Let us all rejoice that an angel walks among us in this fight for immigration reform, truth, and justice for all."

Join the journey to save humanity and do your part by reading this book.  I promise you that you won't regret it.  If anything, your inner activist will come forward and change how you look at life. 



Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Future of Poetry in a Pretty Little Pink Book

Hello there Poetry Patrons! Let's jump right to the Good Stuff

For those of you who tend to cringe when you hear the word poetry, I was once in your shoes.  After sitting through middle school, high school, and college classes where teachers didn't know how to teach poetry - or more importantly, taught me how boring poetry was - I loathed the course assignments that had anything to do with poetry.  But now, as my eyes have been privileged to glance upon pages and pages of poetry I actually understand, and have had the opportunity to work with professors who eat, breathe and live poetry, I have come to realize just how beautiful poetry can be.

Just this past January, during the President's Inauguration, poetry came to the forefront of the minds of United States' Citizens.  A man by the name of Richard Blanco delivered a beautiful poem about his experiences in America.  In a CNN interview with him, Richard said, "Regardless of my cultural, socioeconomic background and my sexuality, i have been given a place at the table, or more precisely, at the podium, because that is America."  Richard brought life back into the poetry world (even though it never really died, he mainly brought it back into mainstream society) and a new found love for poetry seems to be pounding through the heart of America.  

Here, I shall introduce you to the book ZAUM: The Transrational Poetry of Russian Futurism

Pronounced ZA-OOM, Zaum is a Russian Futuristic neologism used to describe words or language whose meaning is "indefinite" or indeterminate.  It is a theory, which was given the clever nickname "beyonsense" because those who wish to understand this theory must learn to both embrace and let go of rational thinking while utilizing those witty and intelligent muscles sitting stagnant in your brain just waiting to absorb Gerald Janecek's brilliant work. 






















Don't worry if you don't know how to speak Russian.  Like every great book that is translated for you enjoyment, it is completely written in English, and those Russian poems are translated to suit your poetry needs.  

If you are interested in modern poetry or art (or are simply trying to become a cultural American citizen by branching out of your comfort zone) take some time to read through this book and enjoy a whole new side of poetry which has not been explained in depth like this before.  With spring coming around the corner, this is a perfect buy!  What could be better than lounging out in the sun with this book in your hands?  Lounging out in the sun with this book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other! 

 
A Pink Book with Pink Wine?  That sounds Perfectly:


Friday, February 08, 2013

SDSU presents "Reading in America". Does Such A Thing Exist Anymore?

HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! Don't have time to read this entire blog, but interested in reading the book?  Follow this link: Slim Blue Book

Hello there my beautiful blog readers! 

I have some exciting news to share, which may actually come as a surprise to those individuals who believe that TV, computers and movies have replaced the need for reading.

IT HASN'T! 

According to Reading in America: A Progress Report, Professor James Flood says, "It is through reading that we achieve  our greatest potential  so we thank you for sharing these thoughts with us, and what we wanted to talk with you about is where as a nation we are in reading.  We want to rejoice, we want to celebrate our successes" (4). 

Congratulations America!  Contrary to popular belief, you are ALL competent readers - and this, my dear dear SDSU Press shoppers and avid readers, is the gift you are capable of giving to the next generation. 

Put down the remote control and pick up this book (a mere 37 pages to read) so that you may see some of the research done by Professors Diane Lapp and James Flood. In this University Lecture series, you, the reader, are given puzzles to figure out, charts to analyze, and paragraphs to think about critically.  This is, after all, a book that was written to give you the option of participating in The University Research Lecture Series.  You deserve to read about how great you are as an educated American and should bask in your glory while flipping through the pages of this book.  You may learn something you didn't know...like: 

"[Americans] spend for entertainment and reading about $1,100 a year...$140 or 12% of their fun money is spent on reading...Americans are reading" (Lapp 10).

You hear that?  Reading is FUN! (Buy me, Buy me, Read me!)

 


Here are some examples of what you might come across.  Even though they say not to judge a book by its cover, I'd have to say that this one looks pretty sharp.  Be one of those Americans who loves to read because you know it is a tremendous gift to be literate, and you should not take it for granted. 


Sixth University Research Lecture; San Diego State University.  Reading in America: A Progress Report.  Research by James Flood and Diane K. Lapp.   

Monday, February 04, 2013

Renato Barilli Poses the Question: What's in A Word?


Click here if you want to skip ahead to the book itselfCLICK

Language: it is a beautiful thing.  Whether it be English, Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian, Polish...there is something mesmerizing about the way people use words.  Renato Barilli, a Professor at the University of Bologna, takes language a bit further by attempting to shred the definitions and assumptions that are associated with a word.

Barilli writes, "By 'working below the phrase,' I mean returning to its essential ingredient, the word, no longer respecting its previously sacrosanct feature of wholeness, but on the contrary subjecting it to fractures and successive segmentations." 

Take a moment to imagine a world with no words - no set definitions.  Where "cat" does not conjure the image of a pointy eared creature scratching at your brand new furniture, but simply the letters C, A, and T, sitting next to one another in harmony.  Barilli wants you to stretch your imagination even further, and try not to recognize each letter with a sound - which can be difficult considering humans have developed to speak a multitude of different languages based on definitions and differing accents.  

*A note of Irony: when picking up this book, one might want a dictionary on hand.  There are some words used that one might want to understand further in order to grasp why Barilli wants his readers to let go what they already know. 


Without further ado, I'd like to personally introduce you to Renato Barilli's book:




First published in Italian in 1981, and later translated for your enjoyment by Teresa Fiore and Harry Polkinhorn. Take a moment to give them a round of applause, because without them, people who are unable to read in a language other than English (like me) would not be able to indulge in such an extraordinary work of art.  



If you are interested in challenging your mind to understanding ideas that would otherwise be foreign to you, turn off your television and purchase this book.  And then give your mind a chance to breathe by reading the mini-anthology of poems which are published after Barilli's critical discussion.  They are full of puns, visuals, new words, and multiple poetic devices that have been used to give life to expressive language. 

Light up your day and pick up a copy of this book.  You don't even have to leave the comfort of your computer!! All you have to do is click the following link and let technology do the rest:  



Don't take it from me.  Read it yourself and spread the word.  We have already embarked on the voyage to the end of the word.  

Monday, December 10, 2012

What is "the Power of One?" THE POWER OF ONE: THE STORY OF THE BORDER ANGELS by Enrique Morones with Richard Griswold del Castillo | SDSU Press 2012

Ever been to a borderland? You know, that dry, volatile, and daunting space between Mexico and the United States. The stretch of miles that blurs both cultures into a hybrid of Mexican tradition and American customs. Well, activist Enrique Morones is on the front lines of this borderland fighting for a peaceful bridge between both worlds.

In 1986, Morones founded the non-profit organization, Border Angels which has saved thousands of immigrants from certain death while attempting to cross into the United States. Morones was born in San Diego, and with the help of thousands of volunteers he has become a presence of support for those struggling in this borderland. In The Power of One: The Story of the Border Angels's165 pages and with the help of Chicano historian, Richard Griswald del Castillo, Morones has been able to document his personal and public battles for social justice and for the protection of human rights. Mexican president Felipe Calderon personally awarded Morones in 2009 with Mexico's National Human Rights Award for his dedication and constant fight for justice.

Enrique Morones is an educated and passionate activist that has profoundly changed the lives of people on both sides of the border. His deep loyalty to his Mexican and American roots have motivated him to work hard and inspire others. Morones believes that there is power within every individual and that even one person has the capacity to make a profound impact.

Purchase you copy of The Power of One: The Story of the Border Angels from the SDSU Press and learn about the borderland through the eyes of the person that saves it!!

The back cover of this new SDSU Press volume appears there to your left--click it to enlarge and read more about THE POWER OF ONE.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Coroebus Triumphs: The Alliance of Sport and the Arts (edited by Susan J. Bandy)


The languid movements of an athlete are as fluid as the motions of a painter, or the feverish rush of a writer’s fingertips across their keyboard.  Coroebus Triumphs: The Alliance of Sport and the Arts is a collection of papers, which were presented during the summer of 1984, at what was referred to as The Coroebus Conference.  Scholars, athletes, and artists united in this singularly unique alliance of the arts and sports.
            The dalliance between the arts and sports is perhaps the longest known love affair, dating back centuries.  The ancient Greeks united the arts and sports what seems like a lifetime ago, yet the Coroebus Conference, and the papers that became the bold brain child of artists, scholars and sports enthusiasts, was a new sharing of knowledge and understanding of a beauty previously untouched upon.  Each party stroked the flame of interconnectedness between their given fields.
            Coroebus Triumphs:  The Alliance of Sport and the Arts is a reflection of the awe and knowledge that came from the fruit of those who met at the Coroebus Conference.  It offers the reader the opportunity to sink one’s toes into the convictions of sports and scholarly study, both in literature and the arts. Begin your own journey into the torrid affairs of the arts and sport by purchasing Coroebus Triumphs:  The Alliance of Sport And the Arts:

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Adventures of Four Trips to Antiquity By Everett Gee Jackson

All great books are meant to take us on an adventure, to places unknown, with people unknown, to a world unknown; Everett Gee Jackson does just this in his book Four Trips To Antiquity.  Although an artist by trade, Jackson manages to immerse us in the ruined lands of old:  Chichicastenango and Copan.  These are lands of such fruitful history and Jackson manages to bring to life societies long since dead. 
His true accounts and experiences pull us deep into a land of imagery and culture, wrapping our brains in hand drawn pictures of images we hardly knew existed; always urging us to grasp for more, want for more, beg for information that only his experiences could provide to us.  He adapts customs and traditions, held so dearly by certain people of the world, into words and images that we can understand through our senses.
Jackson provides image after image of statues, idols, monuments, caressing our minds, and beckoning us to follow him on an adventure through these exotic lands.  He is our tour guide, telling us when and where to step while recounting his own tales, and inviting us along for the ride.  His visual aids are our stepping-stones from this land to the very one he is enthusiastically describing to us and we have no choice but to jump in beside him.

His words ruminate in our brains as images flash by, pushing us further along on our voyage to a land we never even knew we wanted to visit:  Chichicastenango, to Copan.  We are children again, as we adventure by his side, thrust into adventure after adventure, each one causing a deep craving in us.  A craving for more, more knowledge, more visual imagery, more history, more adventure. 
With each new stepping-stone, Jackson thrusts us forward, toward beauty, toward the beautiful oblivion that only a true adventure can provide to us.  As we turn each page in a feverish rush, we see through Jackson’s eyes, the beauty of what once was but is no more.  These lands which now lay in ruin, are reimagined by Jackson for our own amusement.
            Jackson takes us back to a time and places where certain things mattered more, others mattered less, but one can finish reading his book and be certain that the time and place we have just visited is not our own.  We must thank him for that, for without him, we never would have made it there and back again, to this land so alien to us. 
            

For information about Popol Vuh (Jackson’s reason for adventuring) look no further:

Interested in an adventure of your own?:

You can find your own adventure with Everett here:

Monday, September 24, 2012

Spencer Dew's, Learning for Revolution: The Work of Kathy Acker, Brings this Feminist's Work Back to Life



Spencer Dew's Learning for Revolution: The Work of Kathy Acker is providing the public with a comprehensive insight into the work and theory of Kathy Acker. This experimental thinker's theories have not stopped making an impact in various facets of society. Kathy Acker broke the mold of the 'sophisticated scholar' through her provocative and controversial style. Spencer Dew's analysis of Acker does not limit itself to her narratives as he takes a dive into her essays and criticism as well as her teachings. This exploration of her work is crucial for a true understanding of Acker's message and perception of society.

Her scholarly work is not the only component under the microscope; Dew also uses aspects of her life and overall philosophies to take the reader into Acker's world. Dew writes: "Kathy Acker's broadly conceived political and ethical dreams-of a world less defined by inequality, hierarchy, oppression-are dreams which I share. As a scholar and writer, I am urgently concerned with questions of to what extent and through what means literature and art can bring about change of political structures, alter and construct communities, and redefine relations between human beings."
click to enlarge 

This feminist theorist is brought to life through Spencer Dew's Learning for Revolution: The Work of Kathy Acker! Make sure to pick up your SDSU Press copy today!