[-empyre-] soft _skinned space and lurking vs.participating

[Johannes Birringer]

Dear Iannis:

yes, but there has to be an interest in discussing the critique, 
or maybe a moment to give pause and ask ourselves why this space?  and why would anyone care if mostly the 'discourse', as you suggest, is in any case exclusive or intimidating, 
and some, as Simon says, may not be up to speed with their Foucault or Baudrillard (i love that one),  and others (most), as Renate proposes, may be lurking/reading but not partaking in conversation, or too busy to engage and ponder the longer postings we have had.  I guess i have no problems with member-subscribers of soft-_skinned space being busy or too busy; I enjoy reading too, and i always look forward to seeing and discovering thoughts and experiences shared here, in various languages used,  academic and non academic, and i think we have always had a variety of conversations, at least as far i remember. This list was not always or primarily an academic/scientific list.

But Iannis you suggested an issue exists regarding who the discourse(s) addresses?  who are we writing to?
You said you wished "to confirm that I felt exactly that while trying to participate in the discussion. It is difficult to adapt to the highly specialised tone, it feels like entering a world (to avoid using the word 'discourse') that one does not entirely belong to".   and Julian argued that

>> This is the sort of thing that'll keep many lurking on a list like Empyre,
regardless of whether they're at the periphery of a "western cultural and
academic hegemony". Even the fact I felt the need to put that in quotes derives
from an academic habit built around the strategic performance of Evidence>>


ah, the citations?  i didn't think they were a problem, I kind of like it when stuff gets credited, and also a helpful link or URL provided -- i can decide to follow up if i choose to do so.  

Refering backwards, if you permit, Yiannis and Helene,   what was a problem for me conceptually, or rather emotionally, was spending 31 days last month moderating a flow and tyring to find a rhythm on last month's subject (whether it constituted a subject of interest and empathy to the list at large, i can not say) that could involve and engage as many perspectives on "[e]motion deceleration" as possible,  and there were about 30 or 35 folks sharing the conversation, but i had invited a somewhat larger group of practitioners and researchers last month, twenty-five to be precise (Yannis and Helene, how many did you invite?)  as i had wanted to build from such an ensemble and see how the movement (of body minds and soundings here) would resonate outward, how a workshop here would travel.......

It didn't resonate outward, to be honest, as barely 1 % of the subscriber base participated. But it resonated deeply amongst participants some of whom are still engaged in correspondence ever since, probably something quite normal that all of you have experienced also;  and yet, in other words, if the debate could have taken place easily among the guests, but soft_skinned space is not a "host" or hosting community (albeit possibly a readership),  then function and transmission, and the ethics of engagement, quite apart from languages used when we bump into each other happily, of such a list, and who one is writing to, may be an open issue.


with regards
Johannes Birringer
dap lab
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/dap
 
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Subject: Re: [-empyre-] soft _skinned space  and lurking vs.participating

Dear Johannes,

To answer briefly: I believe it would be useful to discuss the critique, especially if it leads us to review what has been written and try to summarise the different thoughts, in order to find common ground, possibly "translate" to a common language, and finally above all to identify the common concerns.

Iannis Zannos

On 1 Dec 2011, at 10:40, Johannes Birringer wrote:

dear Yannis and Helene, dear all,

i believe the critique, offered very modestly by last month's discussion moderators, concerns us all, and is addressed to the those who make  or partake or belong to such a soft_skinned community or, to use a less optimistic term, 'space', -and perhaps the critique needs to be discussed, unless others feel there is no need to.  I very much agree with Iannis,  that "a lot of translation has to happen behind the stage screen,"  but man of these translations, or the work involved,  might get lost, and so the assumption of sharing perhaps also?

with regards
Johannes Birringer