identity

the self is a kind of endless set of narratives

Submitted by raymond on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 11:29pm

http://www.umass.edu/umassmag/archives/2001/winter2001/athens.html

the cultural theorist Stuart Hall puts it:
"I don’t think that we are whole subjects or whole identities or have a pre-formed experience outside of the process in which that experience is represented. I think we know ourselves when we see ourselves represented. . . . (We) recognize our evolving selves biographically in the stories we tell about ourselves – the self is a kind of endless set of narratives."

identity expression vs. identity projection

Submitted by raymond on Fri, 02/15/2008 - 10:05pm

I once had to put up with this tool who couldn't string together coherent sentences because he didn't have coherent thoughts. instead, he spoke in sentiments suggesting depth and followed a schema of behavior that he must've modeled after that creepy kid in American Beauty. (you know, the "everything is so goddamn beautiful I just can't take it I'm gonna vomit everywhere unless you take off all your clothes so we make the nookie" kid.) this particular smacktard wrote awful poetry that suggested deeper melancholy, hunched over his guitar while listlessly strumming it and engaged awestruck women hunting for passion in conversations about "the nature of... things."

the worst were his quotes. I like quotes and aphorisms as much as the next guy and I don't mind when people whip some juicy ones out as appropriate. this assclown kept a little book of quotes with him at all times, but the quotes were all sort that uncreative people used to start or end shitty speeches and shitty essays. you know, quotes by kennedy, gandhi, lincoln, martin luther king and dr. fucking seuss. I may just be speculating, but it seemed to me that he'd memorize a few the night before just to throw them down in the middle of conversations about passion, connectedness / brotherhood or social change. the funny thing is that it's possible to maneuver just about any conversation to revolve around one of these subjects. the sad thing is that none of his quotes ever came close to fitting.

examples:
"if you really work hard, you could achieve your dreams."
"yeah and martin luther king once said, 'I have a dream.'"

or "shit! something's in my eye!"
"gandhi once said, 'an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.'"

don't get me wrong, I actually have little problem with plain stupidity. I am not the quickest of cats and I appreciate the consideration of those more brilliant than I, so I do my best not to be too much of a bastard to those less fortunate. I could understand if he was just learning to play guitar and played it shittily every chance he got in order to improve. I could accept that he might not have read as much on the philosophy of mind or obscure topics in psychology. unlike some nerds, I understand that to be a nerd is a choice and other people might choose to spend their time around real people.

the bottom line is I can accept earnest naivete and obliviousness. this isn't a matter of intellectual elitism though. there was something else going on. call it the difference between being multi-faceted and being a chameleon.

most of us have a tendency to embellish our stories a little. we pretend to be a little smarter, a little tougher, a little more unfazed, a little more knowledgeable than we actually are. we highlight and exaggerate and minimize for dramatic effect. I can accept harmless story manipulation even to the point of blatant white lies. still, there was something insidious about this particular guy. something about him gave those in the know the distinct feeling that things would be bad if someone fell for his ruse.

excerpt: punk kids

Submitted by raymond on Fri, 01/25/2008 - 9:41am

regarding:

The Time Traveler's Wife

p 212 "... some people, me included, believe that punk is just the most recent manifestation of this, this spirit, this feeling, you know, that things aren't right and that in fact things are so wrong that the only thing we can do is to say Fuck It, over and over again, really loud, until someone stops us."
"Yes," Bobby says quietly, his face glowing with an almost religious fervor under his spiked hair. "Yes."

p 213-14 "I was thinking about those kids. The Baby Punks."
"Oh, yeah. What about them?"
"I was trying to figure out what would cause that kid--"
"Bobby."
"--Bobby, to revert, to latch on to music that was made the year he was born...."
"Well, I was really into the Beatles," Clare points out. "They broke up the year before I was born."
"Yeah, well, what is that about? I mean, you should have been swooning over Depeche Mode, or Sting or somebody. Bobby and his girlfriend ought to be listening to the Cure if they want to dress up. But instead they've stumbled into this thing, punk, that they don't know anything about--"
"I'm sure it's mostly to annoy their parents. Laura was telling me that her dad won't let Jodie leave the house dressed like that. She puts everything in her backpack and changes in the ladies' room at school," says Clare.
"But that's what everybody did, back when. I mean, it's about asserting your individualism, I understand that, but why are they asserting the individualism of 1977? They ought to be wearing plaid flannel."
"Why do you care?" Clare says.
"It depresses me. It's a reminder that the moment I belonged to is dead, and not just dead, but forgotten. None of this stuff ever gets played on the radio, I can't figure out why. It's like it never happened. That's why I get excited when I see little kids pretending to be punks, because I don't want it all to just disappear."