2004-12-02 - 10:37 p.m.
literary theory can reorganize experience in arbitrary, relevant ways, thus creating new forms of analysis, new ways of understanding the world
a concept for performance art that would take weeks to perform:
i have a camera follow me around the entire day
the next day, i stay in a room and watch that tape in real-time
the next day, i watch a tap of myself in that room
then, the next day, i carry a handheld tv with a tape of what i did the first day, and try to do the exact same thing,
then, the next day, i carry a handheld tv with a tape of what i did yesterday, and try to do exactly what i did yesterday.
then, i get back in the room and watch a tape of what i did yesterday while deciding what i should do tomorrow,
then, i try to do exactly what i did on the first day from memory
then...(it only gets better)
--
to other radical people: in these times, we will be delighted when we find our voices reflected in voices of arab people in terms of similarlity in analysis.
we will, in fact, look for them. and we will be frustrated when we are confronted with voices unlike our own.
there is no reason to fear. our voices are everywhere. but they are everywhere in the minority. (except perhaps in third world countries where people's struggle has developed to a much higher level)
--
here are two mind exercises i came up with (ppl who drink come up with drinking games. people who become un-sober in other ways come up with games for those other occassions) i think most people jump around when they're analyzing. eduardo galeano changed levels in clever ways.
medium-high level of abstraction (analyze a part of the social system):
judges and prison guards have power/control over your time and body. it is a god-like power that is a symptom of capitalism.
a lawyer shares that power. most then side with the powerful, in different ways. a small handful rebel. this, too, is a product of capitalism.
medium level of abstraction (take one relevant process and expand):
aspects of the process a lawyer goes through when siding with the powerful: there is the draw of greed, and the constraint of debt simultaneously pushing. there is the socialization that occurs during law school, a reflection of those that have passed through it.
medium-low level of abstraction:
(take one sentence [in this case the second] from the previous thesis statements and provide details)
competition created by the "curve." obediance to the authority figure being rewarded. pressure to conform in a certain ways (heavily determined by class) etc.
lowest level of abstraction:
(write two, more detailed sentences for each sentence in the previous level of abstraction)
the curves calculates your score based on comparison with other students/if you help other students, they will help you get ahead. you learn that the professor controls your grade and time/a professor may punish you or reward you based on goals stipulated by the professor's position. people dress expensively/there's a guy who pours your drinks for you at the receptions etc. ever
second exercise:
[expurgated]
