Dear James,
it was a pleasure to have you this month. Thanks for the thoughtful insights!
On 6/29/06, James Barrett <jim.barrett@humlab.umu.se> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> In concluding my guest-ship here on -empyre- I would like first to express
> gratitude for having been a guest. Thanks!
>
> Next, to make a "closing statement" in a discussion on Liquid Narrative
> [the tap is turned off?] I thought I would comment on the idea that the
> term "Narrative" and its associated methods and paradigms frame in
> cultural terms how people relate to and accept stories. The focus upon
> narrative/narrated/narrator positions much of that which may actually
> exist from outside in subordinate relations to its system of values. The
> need for a classification such as 'liquid narrative', I believe, is a
> response to the growing presence in western mass culture of story forms
> which move further and further away from those describable in terms of
> Aristotelian plot. Perhaps narrative can adapt to causality not being
> present within the text but rather developing in the "real world" between
> the text and what is presently called 'the reader' or 'user'. Even if this
> is true and considering the excellent work done in narratology, there is a
> need to look at these developing story environments in ways far removed
> from the terms and classifications of narrative.
>
> In 1955 "The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms Vol.1 Language" was published in
> which Ernst Cassirer wrote that
>
> "Aristotle strove to raise the grammatical distinction which we express by
> the opposition between "active" and "passive" to the level of a universal
> logic and a metaphysical category." (1980: 254)
>
> To continue to apply systemic models operating under the title "Narrative"
> to how story emerges from distributed networks that display chaotic
> behavioural patterns [cautious use of the term chaos, chaos theory etc.]
> does not do full justice to the textual worlds humans are weaving in the
> 21st century. There are many ways to look at these relationships but one
> which I think is potentially fruitful is as cultural or social systems of
> meaning. In this their can be strong parallels drawn between stories told
> using distributed networks, spatial and nodal configurations and involving
> the person experiencing them, and the ancient stories that seem to have
> functioned as webs for cultural practice and the interaction between group
> and personal identity. I have studied some of the "story webs" of a couple
> of language groups of Aboriginal Australians. In regards to this Sergio
> wrote that he
>
> "see[s] the comeback of ancient or pre-modern cultural forms -
> polyphonies, oral cultures and tribalisms (McLuhan), the perception of
> reality as a fluxus, sounds images and words rituals "
>
> My understanding of Aboriginal multimedial story systems is that they
> were/are very conservative. The polyphony was gained through each member
> of a group having a designated place in the group for as long as they
> adhered to the laws, as expressed in the story systems. I am aware that in
> the Gulf country before a ceremonial dance is staged the body paint of
> each of the dancers must be inspected by a senior dancer to assure that
> every mark is in its correct place and form. The painting up itself must
> be done in a suitable place, depending on such factors as if it is male or
> female dancers. There is "reality as a fluxus", in that the world around
> the person is recognised as being of enormous age, changing and complex.
> But the rituals, sounds, songs and images are passed down along the
> generations and individual interpretation, particularly of sacred/secret
> images and songs, is not often tolerated. The work of Rover Thomas Joolama
> (1926-98) in the open ceremony of the Gurirr Gurirr (Kril Kril) is an
> accessible example of how a story cycle extends out from the body, through
> images, diagrams, sculptural forms through the clan group and its history
> and into the country. A simple summary of Rover Thomas' work can be
> downloaded here: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ed/kits/rover_thomas
>
> My point is that the concept of narrative cannot accommodate something
> like the huge expanse of the cartographic Gurirr Gurirr. New media
> technologies have not yet achieved this level of complexity with story
> telling but it is not completely unreasonable to believe that they could.
> How would the western cannon accommodate such a text? If we are to
> believe Pierre Bourdieu the western concept of narrative cannot do so.
> Bourdieu in "Censorship and the Imposition of Form" wrote that:
>
> "…it is the structure of the field itself which governs expression by
> governing both access to expression and the form of expression, and not
> some legal proceeding which has been specially adapted to designate and
> repress the transgression of a kind of linguistic code".
>
> If we keep looking for beginning-middle-end narratives we are going to
> miss so much of the view out so many fractal windows.
>
> Thanks Again...
>
> /jim
>
> > the idea of having more perspectives when editing a documentary is
> > really fascinating... there are a couple of projects that go in that
> > direction, such as Talhofer's documentaries developed with the
> > Korsakow system (http://www.korsakow.com/), but this called my
> > attention specially because of its connections with social network
> > related solutions.
> >
> > btw, we are appraoching the end of the month... it would be nice if
> > all the guests could post their closing statements. Despite the now
> > and then quiet month, there were some nice exchanges.
> >
> > On 6/29/06, Benson, Tracey <Tracey.Benson@deh.gov.au> wrote:
> >>
> >> This does look very cool!
> >>
> >>
> >> Tracey Meziane
> >> PhD Candidate
> >> Centre for New Media Arts
> >> The Australian National Universtiy
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ---------------------------------------------------
> > Marcus Bastos
> > http://pfebril.net
> > http://www.pucsp.br/~marcusbastos
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
> --
> Doctoral Student, Umeå University
> Department of Modern Languages/HUMlab
> +46 (0)90 786 6584
> HUMlab.Umeå University.SE-901 87.Umeå.Sweden
> Blog: http://www.soulsphincter.blogspot.com
> HUMlab: http://www.humlab.umu.se/
>
>
>
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--
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Marcus Bastos
http://pfebril.net
http://www.pucsp.br/~marcusbastos
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