Postmodernity....

Amy Elias's titled her article "Postmodern Southern Vacation," which begs the question: what do "postmodern" and "postmodernity" mean?

Postmodernism is a notoriously slippery concept. If we turn to ye olde Wikipedia, we find that:

"These terms are used by philosophers, social scientists, and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary culture, economics and society that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century life. These features include the fragmentation of authority, and the commoditization of knowledge (see "Modernity"). Postmodernity is a condition, or a state of being, or is concerned with changes to institutions and conditions (as in Giddens, 1990) - whereas postmodernism is an aesthetic, literary, political or social philosophy. In other words, postmodernism is the 'cultural and intellectual phenomenon,' especially since the 1920s' new movements in the arts, while postmodernity focuses on social and political outworkings and innovations globally, especially since the 1960s in the West."

Postmodern art is often characterized by a sense of play and an awareness that narratives, images, and signs (which belong to the category of signifiers) have become detached from their original referent (the signified). For example, I've included an image of the late Nashville legend, Porter Wagoner, who was as famous for his garish suits as he was for his duets with Dolly Parton.

In the next image, you'll see a more contemporary face--Meg & Jack White, a.k.a. The White Stripes...the greatest rock and roll two-piece out there. Now, think about the different ways in which Wagoner and White wear these similar outfits (Wagoner is wearing a Nudie suit, which is named for its tailor, Nudie Cohn). What is signified by each outfit?

For a more thorough explanation of postmodernism & postmodernity, I refer you to the Po-Mo Page.

Awesome thing that I found online and by which I am confused and convexed

When you have an opportunity, take a look at this: Prof. David Kolb's Sprawling Places web text. It is, in some ways, very similar in form to the web text you'll work on together. Prof. Kolb is a philosopher of no little renown, and the text is an outgrowth of years of scholarly research and writing. And so, his site is far richer than what you might turn out in a semester.

Try to make sense of its unique and challenging organization (click on "Conceptual Diagrams" to see what I mean). If Prof. Kolb had an entry on Metro Atlanta or a particular community in our area, what might he discuss? What are the keywords or key terms that he might use?

Definitely worth thinking about (on your own, of course)....

Blogs, generally, and Blog Assignment for Oct. 10, specifically

You good people have spoken, and I will continue to offer regular topics for your postings. The focus will shift a bit: from now on, I want you to think about writing about places and for the map. Your postings ought to help us flesh out our understanding of the region.

Another slight change: if you have something of interest to contribute beyond the assigned topic, do so. Your contribution will be reflected in your participation grade. I will also offer credit to those of you who respond to the work of your colleagues, either by commenting on their blog OR (preferably) by writing about and linking to their work.

Few of you addressed the question of assessment: would you prefer a holistic, overall assessment at the semester's end, or would you rather that I grade each post individually? Post below.

This week's topic: in the essay "Living Southern in Southern Living," Diane Roberts writes about the magazine as part of a "performance" of southernness (93). This week, I would like you to write about an IMAGE that is part of a similar performance of a cultural or subcultural identity. The parameters:

1. this must be an image that you have recently encountered and that you can locate on our course map.
   
2. while the image does not have to offer a claim about the South or southern identity, specifically, but it should be part of a performance of a group that can be located in the metro Atlanta area. This group doesn't have to be exclusive to our area.
3. If you can, include the image in your blog.
   

Your entry should introduce the image, identify where you found it, identify the claim and the audience, explicate its message, and address the elements of design. Again, my expectations are increasing as the semester progresses. The entry should be concise, well-organized, specific, proofread, and about 200-300 words.

A Scientific Explanation for Conspiracy Theories

Interesting piece on NPR's "All Things Considered Today": the journal Science recently published a study by a behavioral economist at UT-Austin's McCombs School of Business. Her recent work examines how, why, and when people see patterns when none exist. She asserts that, when we feel least in control of our circumstances, we find patterns that might explain why things are happening to us; that is to say, when we have no idea what's going on or what to do, we tend to attribute control of our situation to some other force. We imagine a connivining coworker has sabotaged our promotion, a global conspiracy has oppressed us, or even our failure to follow a certain pregame ritual has lead to us failing on the field.

Take a listen, and think about our friend Walt in Confederates in the Attic.

For Monday & Wednesday

Monday: Read Ch 14 in EA and Diane Roberts' essay "Living Southern in Southern Living" (posted as a .pdf under "Resources" on T-Square).

Wednesday: Read 4.2 in the E Book & Amy Elias' essay "Postmodern Southern Vacation" (also on T-Square).

New Links for the Final Project

Down below the blog links, you'll find a set of links, all of which will be useful for your final project. I'll update them as I think of new things to add.

The Future of Our Course Blog

Hello everyone....

I've been reading and thinking today, and I'm not particularly pleased with the way I've been using your blogs and our course maps. We've veered to far from my original idea....which was:

a) for you, individually, to write about the South as you experience it.
b) for you, collectively, to create a deep map, which would place your experiences alongside one another.

So, we're going to take a break this week and regroup. I'd like you each to offer suggestions about how we might change course on this project (Post them as replies below).

I'd also like you to take a look at this blog, TheWhereProject. Its owner is Tim Lindgren, an instructor and PhD student at Boston College, and he hopes that the blog will "deepen my sense of place." I know that may sound touchy-feely, but that's what I want this do: to provide each of you with a chance to think critically and analytically about the PLACE and the CULTURE in which you know live. Ideally, I'd like you to connect your experiences in this place to our readings, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Among the options I'm considering: I might end the regular pattern of issuing a prompt, expecting you to respond by Friday, and then assigning the 0-2 score. Instead, you would be free to write about your experiences and interests as you see fit. At the term's end, I would assess as a total portfolio of multimodal composition and communication. Of course, if I did this, I would provide a rubric explaining my expectations and criteria. The benefit to you: you could work on your own pace and write about what interests you. The downside: you'd be on your own.

Anyway, these are up for discussion. Let me know what you think.