Wednesday, June 11, 2008

In which I again publish part of an email to my father regarding self-definition as a writer and fall into an obnoxious, modernist maelstrom

Self-definition: I'll quote Red Radio Stranger, 'impossible and unnecessary," I think. Isn't defintion a fundamentally social (by which I mean mutually informed by speaker and listener) process? In fact, the attempt at self-definition strikes me as a kind of utterance that suggests a meaning that may undermine the attempt at self definition. In other words, if a sci-fi guy protests too much, that means he's definitely a sci-fi guy. If I keep saying I'm working class or an intellectual or whatever, aren't I engaged in character development of a linguistic idea? I'm just brainstorming, here, but I put meaning and therefore definition in a shadowy place filled with static and electricity that bounces between throat and ear....

And Red Radio Stranger has posted two teaser demos on their Myspace page....

2 comments:

Next Flix said...

You and your father really have exchanges like this? I mean, me and my Dad talk about girls...

Kurd said...

I know you like posting emails to your father, and you are interested in politics, and you have a fascination with deconstructionist (and post-structuralist) literary theory. This article combines all of these: http://www.slate.com/id/2193755/. Also, I'm thinking about choosing a topic and bringing guest opinions to my site. Think you might be game? I'm sure it would be some sort of socio-economic discourse, which seems to be my meme of the moment. Let me know.