Hermeneutic Heretic

From the Wikipedia entry: Accepted is a 2006 comedy motion picture about a group of high school seniors who, after being rejected from all colleges to which they had applied, create their own college.
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At one point Bartleby [the main character] wants to end the charade before it begins, but is overcome with pity after realizing that everyone in the college is in the exact same position he is in having been rejected from every other college. Thus begins the first year of classes, founded on the revolutionary notion of students choosing what they want to learn and teaching the very same courses.
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Bartleby successfully argues his way to a one-year temporary accreditation. The students return to the new college and begin a full year of ad-hoc classes and partying.

It is amazing to see so many “progressive” educational ideas in what is a fairly plodding genre film. I say plodding because the educational theorizing is carried on the back of a fairly formulaic narrative framework of teenage comedy (with not much of the inventiveness of American Pie). That is not to say that it is not an enjoyable film - it’s 36% rating on RottenTomatoes probably underating it - IMDB is much closer with 6.2. What makes it particularly interesting is this strange blend of Dewey and Montessori applied to higher education. The idea of students learning what they want when they are ready for it being straight out of Montessori (which, of course, is never applied beyond primary school). The school as a laboratory preparing students for real life by engaging with practice would be Dewey. (Rousseau would probably find justification for some of its cooky ideas in Emile in it, too.)

Where it is educationally fairly radical is the point where students truly choose classes they want: doing nothing, mixing drinks, staring at girls, but also doing art. This is where many reform projects typically fall apart when taken mainstream. Students are encouraged to choose but only certain choices are accepted which takes away the motivating element of freedom. But the reform usually relies just on such motivation to work and without it, fails. In other words, if we give students a choice, we must be prepared to live with the choice they make (I have made this mistake many times in adult education). Where the film is inaccurate is the assumption that all of these free motivating choices (which it makes its best not to judge) also result in happy liberal middle-class learning (also the main characters are reliable middleclass, and their approach to their charges is in part missionary). This relies on a typical enlightenment idea of ennobling knowledge. Here the film is prohibited by the narrative structure to discuss the idea of undesirable (in that they are unexpected) consequences of the free choice offered to students.

It would be interesting, but beyond my commitment to this topic at the moment, to investigate how the images (frames) activated by this narrative are integrated by its audience.

BBC - Radio 4 In Our Time - Home Page
the mammoth undertaking that was the Encyclopédie – one of its editors, D’Alembert, described its mission as giving an overview of knowledge, as if gazing down on a vast labyrinth of all the branches of human knowledge, observing where they separate or unite and even catching sight of the secret routes between them. [Download] [Listen]

This introduces a fascinating discussion of how the great French Encyclopedia (the one that begat all others, in a manner of speaking) came to be. What was particularly enlightening (no pub intended) was how similar the Encyclopédie’s fate was similar to that of Wikipedia’s.

1. They were both inspired by great ideas of collecting and mediating knowledge with the purpose of changing the world. Although, both have a “neutral point of view” policy. Often, in Wikipedia, the discussion of an entry is just as informative as the entry itself.
2. They were both edited by some of the great minds of our time. Although, that is yet to be determined in the case of Wikipedia. But more importantly, they were produced cumulatively. An interesting parallel to empty links in Wikipedia were references to entries that never appeared (and even one duplicate entry) that are a prominent feature of the Encyclopédie.
3. They both ran afoul of people attempting to censor its output. Wikipedia had some spoof entries and the entry on JFK or the Pope are locked for open editing. The Encyclopédie said some unfavorable things about Geneva which got it into trouble. (In both cases this was a result of breaking a policy of neutrality).
4. They both took a liberal view of authorship. See for instance here. It is telling that the Wikipedia’s entry on the Encyclopédie relies heavily on an old Britannica entry. In that same way there were entries in the Encyclopédie that would be considered plagiarized by today’s standards. With more than half entries (37870) in the Encyclopédie, authorship is undetermined, and many were written collaboratively without attribution. It even appears that Voltaire tried to “fork” the Encyclopédie when it came under pressure.
5. And most importantly, they both rely on community involvement for their success. Many entries in the Encyclopédie were contributed by volunteers. But it also depended on subscribers for financing.

Of course, there are probably as many differences as there are similarities. For instance, people generally do not discuss Wikipedia entries in cafes (although they may talk about it in general). And nobody is trying to make money from Wikipedia whereas the Encyclopédie was a massively commercial enterprise.

I take it to be an interesting example, however, of how similar certain patterns in history of social development can be, the current technology notwithstanding (another good example is You’ve Got Mail vs. The Shop Around the Corner). But that is not to deny the differences that are inexorably interwoven with the similarities. No matter what is the level of difference/similarity it should definitely give pause to those denigrating Wikipedia with respect to commercial, centrally edited encyclopedias. In a way, those have become stogy and have lost much of the zest and vibrancy that powered these two projects. (For instance, Wikipedia already contains a link to the program that triggered this thought).

ANTI- Album - Orphans
What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear.

Just like true mythopoeic narrative is returning to its roots through TV series after a brief intermezzo of the novel. Poetry is coming home to song through popular music - Eminem, The Dressden Dolls, Randy Newman. Standing head and shoulders above these is Tom Waits. But there’s more. I’ve been thinking for several years now, inspired by Michael Hoey, about oeuvres as units. And listening to the extremely powerful Road to Peace available for free to download through Pitchforkmedia, eMusic or Anti.com, I was reminded how powerful an oeuvre can be as cohesive and conceptual interpretative framework. This song is a simple retelling of newspaper stories from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with concluding commentary - almost like a New York Times op-ed piece mixed with Sting’s Russian’s Lover Their Children Too - but it gains its power from two very simple devices. 1. Breaking of the rhyme structure on the resolution of each verse. 2. The refusal to offer any linguistic/surface level tropes. While the former is nothing new in Tom Waits, the latter is very surprising. With every line I expect to hear a psychedelic Waitsian image (such as the one above), really hoping for one to distract from the concrete images presented in the song. The constantly breaking expectation of style and structure (poetic frame) is a common poetic and general narrative device (and also commonly used to bolster an argument through tropic resonance where other evidence is missing - see Team America). But in this song, it is intensified because we have a textual space of Tom Waits’ song activated when listening to him. The reaction might be less acute for somebody who has never heard another song by Tom Waits. I suspect that the other devices would still be sufficient to convey the effect (particularly given that the absence of tropes breaks the general expectation of any poetic unit). It would be interesting to study this with some control groups but my guess is that some effect could be discerned.

YouTube - Team America Finale Speech

PhatGun (3 months ago) HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA SO TRUE!!!
Tomster22 (19 hours ago) Neo-Cons = Dicks, Peacenicks = Pussies, Islamo-Fascists = Assholes
AerisRocks (2 months ago) lol! Thats a great metaphor they used…assholes want us to shit on everything and dicks fuck assholes lmfao, great scene.

This post has been brewing in me ever since I first saw Team America when it came out in 2004. Thanks to you, tube, it is now ready to be poured into the pint glass of this blog. Every time I see the final speech, I find it extremely funny but even the very first time I realized that it is a perfect showcase for the power of conceptual blending in larger narratives. Here’s the YouTube clip followed by transcript:

We’re reckless arrogant stupid dicks. And the Film Actors Guild are pussies. And Kim Jong Il is an asshole. Pussies don’t like dicks because pussies get fucked by dicks, but dicks also fuck assholes. Assholes who just wanna shit on everything. Pussies may think that they can deal with assholes their way, but the only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick, with some balls. The problem with dicks is that sometimes they fuck too much, or fuck when it isn’t appropriate, and it takes a pussy to show ‘em that. But sometimes pussies get so full of shit that they become assholes themselves. Because pussies are only an inch and a half away from assholes. I don’t know much in this crazy crazy world. But I do know that if you don’t let us fuck this asshole, we’re gonna have our dicks and our pussies all covered in shit. http://www.teamamerica.craptv.com/

This is an amazing progression of imagery: from purely idiomatic/’metaphorical’/schematic to visual/’literal’/rich image imagery. While all the time aware of its metaphorical nature the aptness of the metaphor is buttressed by the anatomical accuracy of the rich image. Some time ago, I actually searched for more reactions to this speech online and the results confirmed that audiences integrated this “construction” in a variety of ways consistent with its complex conceptual structure. The complexity, however, also predictably, led to partial integration explicitly (and it would interesting to ask to what extent there was a subconscious full integration). Personally, to engage in a bit of 19th century introspective psychology, I can wallow in rich integrated constructions (I’m vaguely referring to construction grammar here) for hours and hours replaying them in my head - kind of like the Necker cube mentioned in my previous blog posts - viewing all its possible permutations that can never be in my consciousness all at once. And that gives me an immense satisfaction - similar to playing Tetris for a long time and then closing your eyes. It also reminds of when I was in primary school and my friends and I would go see a movie which we would then replay scenes from on our way home. I believe that some of the comments on Your Tube (and the very existence of YouTube, really) suggest that my introspection reflects a more common trait of human cognition and narrative.
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BBC - Radio 4 - Feedback
Love quadrangle
Things have been getting very steamy in the cowshed at Brookfield lately and Archers listeners who’ve written to Feedback talk of sensationalism and complain that some of the main characters seem to have had personality transplants. After David Archer’s flirtation with his old flame Sophie, his wife Ruth has now embarked on secret trysts with the farm’s cowman, Sam.

Listeners comment: “In the last few years there has been far too much of this stuff - melodramatic events which happen at twice the speed of real life and are often resolved at the same speed” and “The current story line in The Archers (Ruth and Sam) really is the worst they have dreamt up. It is completely out of character for both the programme and the characters and is really bringing the standard of this wonderful series down.” As The Archers builds up to its 15,000th episode on 7 November, Roger Bolton interviews Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn on this week’s Feedback.

What is particularly striking about this debate is how awareness of the storytelling format and engagement (to the extent of identification) with the narrative are combined. It is almost as if this was a mental equivalent of one of the many optical illusions such as Necker cube or Rubin vase. The recipient of narrative is constantly switching between two incompatible perspectives on the drama. One where the listener is transported to a different world (exemplified by expressions such as “Ruth has become …”) and awareness of the method by which this transportation is achieved (e.g. ’storyline’, ‘out of character’). This is a much underestimated aspect of our cognition which is usually seen as something unconscious (which it of course mostly is) over which we have no power and at other times as something over which we have complete control.

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
They’ve been laughed at, picked on and put down. But now it’s time for the odd to get even!

I decided it’s time to start keeping track of my frequent encounters with popular culture - in other words, I’m adding a new category: Reviews. I’m going to try to reflect briefly on films and books I read, as they come my way (or as I’m reminded of them). Although, I’m calling the category reviews, they will mostly be brief reflections from the point of view of my interests rather than summaries of content - we have IMDB, Amazon and Wikipedia for that.

And what better way to start this enterprise than with a look at Revenge of the Nerds.

There are two things that this film brought up for me (as many others do, as well). First, it is interesting to observe the intersection (blending) of several genres. Bildungs roman, freedom narrative, teenage comedy, cult classic. Looking at this from the perspective the conceptual blending theory would be beneficial for both fields. The question that blending allows us to ask is to what extent are the different genre spaces integrated and are there any obstacles to this integration. This film (BTW: more cult than good) treads a not very fine line between a freedom narrative and lewd farce but seems to borrow elements from both genres to further the other. For instance, nerds are portrayed as the oppressed pseudo-minority but at the same time their oppression is defined as sexual deprivation.

Which leads me to my second point. Something I’ve been noticing a lot lately (I even wrote a short article in Czech on this topic) is the extent to which many scenarios that seemed commonplace only twenty years ago would be considered completely unacceptable today. The film contains two scenes - one where the ‘nerds’ install hidden cameras in the girls’ dorms and the other where one pretends to be someone else to have sex with a woman. (A similar film in this respect is Porky’s). Both of these things might be considered borderline rape, yet they are included as part of the positive characterization of characters in question. This is just another reminder that if we look closely at the behavior of any “oppressed” group, we will find another group that is being trod on in the name of liberation of the first group (strangely enough it reminds me of a BBC Radio 4 reading from a memoir of a female judge during the Iranian revolution).

BBC - Radio 4 - Archive Hour - 21 October 2006
Matthew Parris uncovers the remarkable story of the Electrophone, the first sound broadcasting service to operate in Britain.

Electrophone (information system) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The name Electrophone was used for a telephone-distributed audio system which operated in the United Kingdom between 1895 and 1926, relaying live theatre and music hall shows and, on Sundays, live sermons from churches via special headsets connected to conventional phone lines.

Who knew that YouTube existed more than a hundred years ago. A fascinating program on the BBC showed a world full of excitement and technical innovation that was happening a hundred years ago. The question we have to ask is what is the real speed of innovation. If it took this long to deliver true ‘content on demand’, how long will it take for ideas like the ‘paperless office’ to become a reality? It is possible that many of the technical innovations we see know won’t bear fruit for decades if not longer.

The other, related, interesting aspect of this is Kuhnian notion of ideas being lost as well as found during paradigm shifts. While the Electrophone ultimately had to be superseded by the ‘wireless’ - simply because the ‘tubes’ were too narrow then - the idea of ‘content on demand’ was lost for many decades and could only be resurrected when the technology allowed it. Traditional radio itself (and push content in general) is now under pressure from new ways of offering content.

Buzz Out Loud: CNET’s podcast of indeterminate length on CNET.com [click here to listen to clip] recently featured this fascinating discussion of analogies. A caller suggests an analogy and the hosts discuss both the aptness of the analogy itself as well as the medium of analogies for elucidating certain issues. The combination of negotiating a frame and the framework (i.e. the medium of communication) at the same time is extremely intriguing and also something that happens all the time at all levels. The problem is that it mostly goes unnoticed in the relevant literature on language. Conversation analysts and ethnomethodologists know all about it but linguists often see it as something of no consequence to the study of ‘lower level structures’ such as morphology and syntax.

It goes without saying that this also underscores the importance of analogies and tropes in general in any kind of discourse. They are not only important structurally (very often they play the role of topoi) but also essential for the conceptual organization of extensive discursive interactions such as the thing often referred to as public discourse.

14 WFIE, The Tri-State’s News Leader: Manhunt Ends, Baby Found Safe
A fugitive couple who hid in a camper are now behind bars.

The kidnapped baby is safe, and the funeral for the social worker who cared the baby is over. It’s been a busy and emotional 24 hours.

What a great little example of content intensification by an almost percussive delivery. What attracted me to the story, of course, was the title where a typical reader will not even notice the dissonance but a certain person (such as one who is then likely to read certain books and listen to certain shows) will be immediately attracted to it and replay it in his or her head. However, the really interesting part are the opening lines. Short, straightforward and leaving a very strong impression. No need to read any further (as indeed, I didn’t). What this reminded me of was the seductiveness of the Homeric narratives which were always intensified by their meter or performed poetry - I’m reminded of a superb performance by Yevtushenko in Prague once and regretting never hearing Mayakovsky. Of course, also a great opening sequence in a potential noir criminal narrative. Change the first article to definite and you’ve got Marlow.
I’m not trying to elevate this simple news account by any means. Rather, I’m fascinated how the often highly praised classics rely on some very basic mechanisms - something I wouldn’t hesitate to call a localized textual performance.

Evening News 24 - Cyclist attacked by
An N&N spokesman said: “According to sources this gang has been doing this for a while - stopping people at the bridge and demanding money to get across.

“But this was the first time they have actually attacked anyone and he has been not only harmed, but also shaken up by the incident.�

This is an interesting statement revealing the current focus on the importance of mental health even to the exclusion of physical well-being. The fact that a man was bruised is not nearly as important as the fact that he was ‘traumatized’. While this might be a trivial (or even humorous - though not for the victim) example of a conceptual frame, there might be much more significant consequences for the clash of civilizations. I was recently involved in a discussion about Bourdieu’s symbolic violence against students in education - which struck me as a slightly strange thing to worry about having just returned from Albania where actual violence on students is not uncommon. With metaphorical sensibilities such as these, it might be even more difficult to communicate across cultural and conceptual divides. (Which is not to suggest that we have another option or that things would be fine if we only took the effort to understand each other better.)