These are fantastic resources. Thanks everyone. Syllabi and fiction particularly welcome :)
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 4:37 PM Max Herman <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Rachel, > > I would actually recommend a novel: *Less*, by Andrew Sean Greer. (It > won the Pulitzer in 2018, but reading it now will get the jump on his new > novel due out in a year or so.) > > It's not too theory-based, in the overt sense, but it is very steeped in > the art and publishing worlds and, in my reading of it, quite ambitious in > its claims for and exploration of "chiastic structure." I recommend it > with mixed emotions as he treats Calvino and Leonardo, my own recent > research interests, in greater and more skillful depth than I've been able > to muster (Greer lives half time in Calvino's home turf Tuscany), at least > so far. > > Here is a word salad of notes and links I wrote up for my book club (we > read it last week). TL;DR totally understandable and OK. 🙂 > > All very best wishes and regards, > > Max > > +++++ > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Max Herman <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, October 29, 2020 10:38 AM > *Subject:* Re: Book Club invite > > > Correction: the sentence about the wrong car is called antimetabole, a > sub-type of chiasmus in which the words are same but repeated in reverse > (like "all for one and one for all"). > > This from Finley Dwyer is a true chiasmus, ABC-CBA: > > "I saw you stand there, and I had to take this opportunity to let you > know, because no one else has been kind enough." He smiles and repeats: > "Kind enough to say something to you, as I have now." > > I finally finished the book last night and saw a lot of puns and puzzles > that fit the definition of chiastic structure, (sometimes called as in > Herodotus "epic regression"). With a tinge of sadness I realized that > Greer based his novel on many of the same ideas in Calvino that I have been > working on, and has maybe even "cracked the code" of the Mona Lisa (two > years before me no less) though thankfully after sleeping on it I don't > think he has completely stolen my thunder. Perhaps in the true twist of > comedy from tragedy, this could be a happy similitude? One can never be > totally certain, at least in advance. > > Here is my latest blog, which I finished before finishing the book last > night. This caused about a thousand double-takes, which may be part of the > purpose of the chiastic mode, a kind of deja vu by design. > > A couple of sources of very extreme deja vu for me resulted from A) > reading Calvino for the first time in January 2018 (Thank you Jenn!) and B) > traveling to Paris and Italy in summer of 2019 while working on a book idea > for Calvino which then morphed into a blog series about the Mona Lisa > because the Louvre was closed the day we went to see it, due to a one day > strike by museum staff to protest an excess number of visitors. Greer has > also used a few images and phrases I have used in my own writing and always > felt were unique and inimitable, such as "asymptotically zero," various > ideas about XXXXX, and so forth. > > I am not saying this is a great novel though! At least not necessarily. > The method being used is not necessarily effective or admirable; I am > mostly just trying to parse it out as a method. Personally I find it to be > a mixed experience aesthetically and intellectually but I appreciate some > elements of it. > > The other "mixed" experience is that Greer finding chiastic structure > "before me" (though I pretty much spelled it out in this blog XXXXX) is a > strange lesson in "winning" and "losing." Somewhat reminiscent in ways of > Normal People come to think of it. Perhaps this is part of the "lesson" of > the "ingenious" Odysseus: he loses everything but achieves victory in > finding himself (so to speak). > > Other potentially chiastic features in *Less*: > > Less thinking of using his tongue to remove Javier's lens, as Humbert did > for Lolita; > cutting up passages from books and rearranging them; > "Carlos the Great" = Charlemagne, referencing the story from Calvino about > Charlemagne's ring > Laughing backward > Aging backward > Mixing up word order in German > Japanese dishes served in reverse order from more to less cooked > Many Hamlet references (ear poisoning, "crown prince of innocence," > indecision, etc.) > Many mentions of scorpions > Uses of spiral imagery -- the nautilus-room, the pants, sun dying in a > spiral, "spiral nature of being," Nietzsche > Seeing the boy at the airport then again leaving the retreat (boy starts > and ends the chapter) > Extra "a" in quaalude, mentioned twice > Possible reference to Borges' "Garden of Forking Paths" (Garden of Bad > Gays) > Possible reference to the Mona Lisa: "with his sad expression, > three-quarters turned to Javier" > "Ask me and I will stay" thought but not said by both Freddy and Arthur > Arthur as Arthurian hero > Tahiti/Tahiti passage pp. 166-167 > Gauguin's carvings in Paris and Tahiti > Ait/8 in Morocco > Repeated Twain references (Huck as Odysseus?) > Chaplin appearing in two locations > Repeated visits to Art Bar by Lewis and Clark > Multiple appearances of the Last Supper (which has an X composition, the > perspective lines converging on the location of Christ's optic chiasm, > which Leonardo considered the site of the "sensus communis" or "common > sense," center of the human spirit > Swift as book name may relate to Calvino's "Quickness," the section in *Six > Memos* in which the story of Charlemagne's ring appears > Swift as comic? A Modest Proposal? > Repeated reference to chow-chow/cha-cha > Medusa reference to Swift, from the first section "Lightness" of Calvino > (who lived and worked in Tuscany) > Swift/Less as fool rather than hero (Yorick/Hamlet) > "Epiphany" about laughter on p. 195 (may relate to the ML, la gioconde, > the jocund one) > Relevance of banana references to Cattelan's 2019 work "Comedian"? > Labyrinth references > Frankenstein references as "backward," dead to living > Glowworms in Berlin and India > Dante references echo Six Memos > Leonardo's drawing of Matilda from Dante (one of his last) see blog at > XXXXX > Less's recurring dream, avoids Love to find answer, and the answer is Love > Four-eyed fish, sees above and below the water > Process of reversing scenes in Swift from tragic to comic > Damaged foot a reference to Oedipus? > Marco and "invisible cities" possible reference to Calvino's novel > Carlos' theory of life as half comedy, half tragedy > "We have to take care of our Robert" said twice > Teiresias = Robert, both "genders," reference possible to Eliot's "Waste > Land" > "just reverse your mind" p. 248 > Seeing mother again, scarf again > Poplar/unpoplar > Humility = a good "less," the piece of luggage not lost > Something about key to exit garden? > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Max Herman <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Sunday, October 25, 2020 7:52 PM > *Subject:* Re: Book Club invite > > > This is exactly a chiasmus: > > "He did not take the wrong car; the wrong car took him." > > The two trips to Mexico are also a chiastic pattern. Also perhaps, Robert > and Greer both winning the Pulitzer (which I've lately been thinking I > pronounce wrong, because I so often hear Pewlitzer). > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Max Herman <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Sunday, October 25, 2020 5:25 PM > *Subject:* Re: Book Club invite > > Hi all, > > I'm catching up on the parts of Less I had to skip over, and I do think > there is a structure being used. The host in Mexico City for example being > named Arturo, Freddy's remark "all you ever write is the gay Ulysses," the > Art Bar.... > > The most full of structural clues I think are Less at First and Less at > Last, departure and homecoming, with a cavalcade of stars between, but it > was reading about the mushroom market that something strange and unexpected > happened. > > When Arthur lost his ring, I was reminded of the story in Herodotus about > the too-lucky king who had to throw his favorite possession (a ring) into > the sea, and a story from Calvino about a ring, trying to think of literary > uses of the lost ring image. Of course I thought of Lord of the Rings, and > the Ring of the Nibelungen. But none of these really fit. > > So, I typed into internet search "the lost ring in literature," which > returned virtually nothing useful, but it did return the below link about > something I had never heard of before, and am now so very happy to have > heard of -- another book club marvel! > > +++ > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiastic_structure > > 'Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in > narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic > structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', > being presented as A,B,B',A'. Chiastic structures that involve more > components are sometimes called "ring structures", "ring compositions", or, > in cases of very ambitious chiasmus, [don't laugh] "onion-ring > compositions". These may be regarded as chiasmus scaled up from words and > clauses to larger segments of text. > > These often symmetrical patterns are commonly found in ancient literature > such as the epic poetry of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Classicist Bruno > Gentili describes this technique as "the cyclical, circular, or 'ring' > pattern (ring composition). Here the idea that introduced a compositional > section is repeated at its conclusion, so that the whole passage is framed > by material of identical content".[1] Meanwhile, in classical prose, > scholars often find chiastic narrative techniques in the Histories of > Herodotus: > > "Herodotus frequently uses ring composition or 'epic regression' as a way > of supplying background information for something discussed in the > narrative. First an event is mentioned briefly, then its precedents are > reviewed in reverse chronological order as far back as necessary; at that > point the narrative reverses itself and moves forward in chronological > order until the event in the main narrative line is reached again."[2] > > Various chiastic structures are also seen in the Hebrew Bible, the New > Testament, the Book of Mormon,[3] and the Quran. > > +++ > > One example being "young (Less), old (Brownburn), old (Less), young > (Freddy)." > > I don't know if Joyce used chiastic structure in his Ulysses but I'm > wondering if he might have. And *Catcher in the Rye* as a Ulysses story, > walking around, going on a circuit, etc. Or other images even: the two > lobsters uncovered in clouds of steam, Dr. Van Dervander, "I alone have > lived to tell the tale" (p. 47), the suit in blue and gray, most of the > images are pairs. > > As punishment for my presumptions here, I will get my copy of Ulysses out > of basement storage and read it! > > Thanks again for fun book and talk, > > Max > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Max Herman <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, October 24, 2020 5:29 PM > *Subject:* Re: Book Club invite > > > Hi all, > > Fun conversation and thanks for a cool choice XXXXX! > > I would be up for trying outdoor meeting on Pearl Harbor Day if everyone > else is. We'll just have to talk fast. I would love nonfiction too but if > the group wishes to make the genre more randomized I can survive. > > This rather sums up my case for the literary allusion at the heart of the > book: "It is long past time to answer the question -- and I see you, old > Arthur, old love, looking up to that silhouette on your porch -- what do I > want?" Joyce had the answer: "Old father, old artificer, stand me now > and ever in good stead." 🙂 > > All best and don't forget to vote! > > Max > > +++++ > > ------------------------------ > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> > on behalf of Carolyn Guertin <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 28, 2020 1:58 PM > *To:* Rachel O' Dwyer <[email protected]> > *Cc:* Nettime <[email protected]>; nettime-l <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: <nettime> a reading list for 'what comes after tactical > media' > > This sounds like a fascinating line of inquiry. > > Perhaps Finn Brunton and Hellen Nissenbaum's *Obfuscation: A User's Guide > for Privacy and Protest* might fit your criteria? > > Carolyn Guertin > > On Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 11:58 AM Rachel O' Dwyer <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I'm starting to think about an elective for postgraduates of studio art > and art theory next semester that looks at network art, and hacktivism > after 2015. I think this ties in somewhat with the 'after networks' theme > of last year's Transmediale and also to this year's theme of refusal. I'm > provisionally titling it 'what comes after tactical media?' > > This is not well formed at all yet but I'm considering looking at topics > like 'doing nothing' and refusal, care and care ethics, hope and capitalist > realism, post-truth, facism, the local and the hyperlocal, critiques of > entanglement and decentralisation... > My first thought was to start putting together a reading list to map this > space. > I recognise that this is still very broad but wondered has anyone got any > suggestions? > > For example I had the pleasure of chairing a panel with Eva Giarud at last > year's Transmediale that focused in part on her book 'what comes after > entanglement' and this is definitely on my list. > also this Basics series book from MIT edited by Maria Hlavajova and > Wietske Maas *Propositions for non-fascist living: tentative and urgent* > and work from Brian Holmes' *Unleashing the Collective Phantoms*. > > I'm open to any and all suggestions. > Best and Thanks in advance, > > Rachel > > > > -- > http://www.rachelodwyer.com/ > > +353 (85) 7023779 > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] > # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: > > -- http://www.rachelodwyer.com/ +353 (85) 7023779
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