I have to send props out to the deconstructionists. As much as I hate them.
Back story. I was in the PhD. program at a large school studying history. It was my passion. It was what I did in my spare time. I was really good at it. I was one hell of a teacher too.
So I got an education, all right. I had attended a smaller school, with an older faculty. They did in no way prepare me for modern (see post 1975) historical philosophy. I had never heard of Foucault. I had never heard of Derrida. So imagine my chagrin when in my first seminar at the new school, I was confronted by all of this. My study had previously been on Jacob Burckhardt- the father of art history. 19th century Swiss. Confortable. Familiar. Not French.
It wasn't a good meeting of the minds. Basically, I thought that the whole deconstructionalist approach was shit. And I dropped out of the program after a semester of hell. And was depressed. I spent a month in bed. Kenga almost (very, very close) left me.
So I was left with a lasting hatred of all things deconstructionalist. But then I had a realization last week. If I hadn't been exposed to the idea of there being a different set of parameters for source material- i.e. that my experiences are just as valid a document of the past as Kenga's, or my sister's etc. I wouldn't have had the aforementioned discussion with Kenga. The whole blogging thing, you see, I think of as an amazing conglomeration of voices. Voices that wouldn't ever reach this kind of exposure back in the day. I think that a sociologist or historian could have an amazing time studying it all someday. But it's also such a fluid medium- which is not as easy to wrap your head around as newspapers on microfiche, or letters in an archive.
So, that's why I have to tip my hat a bit to Foucault and Derrida. Begrudgingly. Because I am still bitter. But working on it.
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2 comments:
see, the problem for these sociologists is sifting through the million plus sites of complete, and utter bull fucking shit. the dear diaries. the fucking pictures of dogs and children and cats. that shit. it's a daunting task to find some truly, innovative, and dynamic voices.
Agreed. But those voices are out there. And 100 years ago (even 50 years ago) they wouldn't have had a forum. Or been accessible. And even the shit has some interesting ramifications. I could see someone doing some interesting stuff related to how many single women out there are fascinated by unicorns. And have multiple cats. What does that say about society as a whole? It would make for at least a good bullshit master's thesis perhaps.
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