Beginning the unit on Text(uality), I was skeptical that theorists spanning such long ranges of time could all be connected to the idea of “the sublime” when they were all so radically different. However, in one week’s time I have been able to create a more nuanced, personal definition of what “the sublime” can mean and how challenging genre can really connect writers from all areas and experiences.
At the start of the week I was presented with Longinus' On the Sublime, William S. Burroughs' The Future of the Novel, and still was recalling back to my visit to the exhibit Decolonizing Refinement by Edouard Duval-Carrié. My brain was swimming with questions and contradictions that now highlight just how narrowly I was thinking. One hesitation I had was that while postmodernism seems as confusing as it is engaging with the intention to frustrate the reader, I thought Burroughs and Longinus could not be farther apart from one another. Or at least postmodernism attempted to communicate a different message than sublimity does with nature pointing to a transcended more orderly ideal. Moreover, I understood the exhibit was taking a new look at colonialism but I was not sure if that meant it was “sublime”?
At first glance, according to traditional understanding of genres certain works seem to be exclusive. It was not until On the Sublime that this started to slowly break down to see that one genre is not superior to another but it is more productive to look at the individual works themselves and how they are trying to accomplish their goal. Therefore, with a better understanding of what Longinus was really getting at and an empowering definition of genre provided by Anis S. Bawarshi in Genre and the Invention of the Writer, all of these texts can be put into conversation based on the quote, “Rather, genres function in relation to other genres as typified sites of action that position their uses within situated motives for action, language practices, and social relations and activities” (Bawarshi 37). That conversation hinging on works motivating people through the depth of the elements of the past, present, and hopes for the future they seek to incorporate
Using the following idea to frame a lens for viewing the exhibit as a case study, “And when writers begin to write in different genres, they participate within these different sets of relations, relations that motivate them, consciously or unconsciously, the invent both their texts and themselves” (Bawarshi 17) Duval-Carrié was not necessarily writing but he was creating to communicate ideas and relations. These different sets of relations and motivations could be the literal and metaphorical "gaps" between Miami and Tallahassee and how the different cultures of each city would react to an exhibit on colonialism. Another question the Duval-Carrié exhibit presents for expanding the idea of "sublime" is sublime for whom? The artwork reflects a response to the idea of "the sublime" because typically colonizers would be considered the most sublime for their "excellence" and "success". Yet, the colonizers would have literally none of their excellence or refined wealth if it was not for the work of the enslaved peoples who actually did the refining and work. With this in mind the exhibit focuses more on peoples of Haitian and African decent, allowing the topics at the museum to reach a "privileged status--a text worth of our study, say, rather than 'simply' to be 'used'" (Bawarshi 21) and this Bawarshi highlights again is regulated by author function.
Another way to look at the exhibit is through its "cultural status and value" (Bawarshi 20) through genre function where Duval's name is associated with the work he created. This connects to the idea of sublime being "transcendental" because in the traditional understanding of colonialism at it's worst is a patronizing reflection and at best takes a serious looking back but only at the subjugation and servitude of people of color. However through Michel Foucault's author-function and Bawarshi's point of recognizing the cultural status and value of the subject of the work, the exhibit moved past old ways of viewing colonialism and celebrated the refinement and vibrancy/vibrant cultures of those who were wrongly enslaved, maintained their own dignity/traditions, and today can still trace their heritage to a time before. The exhibit transcends because it forces us to remember the roots of those who were colonized and their story did not begin or end with colonization.
A main tenet of the genre function being the material articulation (Bawarshi 22) is really important to this exhibit. Looking closely at the works of art containing multiple pictures and different multimedia layers there are definitely elements that wouldn't be considered "refined" such as the plastic toys and the dollar store lizards. Although, according to the ideas of genre function the individual materials do not matter as much as the whole does and the whole communicates a new idea in itself.
Yet, I feel Duval really is that ingenious because not only does he make use of genre function with common products but the incorporation of those materials could also be a commentary on capitalism and consumerism which was supported by the foundation colonialism left and even if we try to look at the bigger picture and celebrate people those topics are still there and need to be addressed. All in all, whether it is Burroughs was trying to create a transcended narrative with space age influences, Longinus reaching the sublime with transcendental composition techniques, or Duval-Carrié's material focus there is undoubtedly a common thread linking their pursuits of breaking convention and the emphasis on the creative process rather than style.
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