Immersed in The Matrix...again.

Watching The Matrix again had me immersed in it in entirely new ways. I’m one who tends to be rather nitpicky with details in a movie—the one who catches inconsistencies or scenes (and lines) that contradict each other. I’m usually the viewer who catches editing mistakes like a cup appearing and disappearing throughout a scene or dry clothes on a person who just got wet. What got me immersed this time through the movie were the details I hadn’t noticed before. Well, I may have seen/heard them but never realized how each affect the movie until after knowing what happens in the plot. Another way I was immersed was by reading the movie as opposed to just watching it. I played the movie with captions running and found it to be a whole new experience altogether. I’m not sure what kind of immersion this would fall into—maybe textual immersion? Whatever it might be called, it kept me reading/watching even though I knew what was coming and practically what was going to be said. I wonder what it would be like if we all came with captions running over our heads or on our chests…?

Cyborg Presence...

For Aristotle rhetoric was the art of persuasion and for Burke, identification—at the core values of cyborg rhetoric is a connection to “presence.” The cyborg is here, no, wait, the cyborg is us. It has used rhetoric to become a part of us, exist within us, and make itself known through us. The cyborg in me is speaking now, trying to make sense of itself through a language never meant for it. The cyborg has figured us out and is now trying to reveal itself in any way possible. For the cyborg, rhetoric is a tool for coming into existence. The machine in us has adopted (and is evolving) the language of the human to establish a presence, become an entity in itself—not just a technological advancement, but an advancement as a “living” being. Just as we attempt to make language our own, so too is the cyborg making rhetoric its own, utilizing it to manifest its identity. We are the cyborg whose identity is unclear to even ourselves; therefore, our only hope is to make our presence known. Through cyborg rhetoric we have a voice, a means for our evolved selves to be noticed, heard, and wondered upon. The cyborg is post-gender, post-race, post-social class, and post-human and cyborg rhetoric, in its development, is how we were introduced and presently the only way we can talk about (or attempt to make any sense of) it. Cyborg rhetoric reveals that we are no longer where we were, but at the same time, not quite where we are headed. The cyborg has acquainted itself with us through rhetoric and as abstract and unclear much of this relationship is, one thing is absolutely clear—the cyborg is here and it is a part of us.

I'm smart, witty, and beautiful. I'm smart, witty, and beautiful. I'm smart, witty, and beautiful...

For some reason who we are in this world is never quite enough. We search for ourselves in books, movies, and relationships. The person in the mirror is not ourselves but a reflection of someone who needs to be better—more handsome, more beautiful, smarter. We create a new sense of self through social networks that offer us a reality that is not “real” but offers a satisfaction that effects us in virtually real ways. The term virtual used to represent presentations of real—things not quite real but “virtually” real. Today, with the emotion, attachment, and self-creation rooted within our virtual selves, virtuality has become reality.

I'm here, virtually

I am a graduate student because I think so and my university status tells me so, but I am virtually a writer because that is the direction my goals and desires are taking me. The mere act of writing itself may not be enough to establish myself a writer, but I am virtually every bit the writer that I can hope/strive to become. Virtual is to be and not quite be simultaneously. A thing can only be something when coupled with what it is not—not only the signifier and signified, but the unsignified as well. (Kind of like how this entry makes sense and doesn’t make sense). To be virtual is to be what your mind, imagination, and understanding will allow (or desire) you to be.

From cyborgs to the virtual that makes or breaks reality

Over the winter break I caught myself wondering what “Cyborg Rhetorics” was going to entail. Now that I’ve been in the class for a short period I find myself in a different kind of limbo. It turns out that even the scholars in the field are somewhat undecided in their positions within the realm of cyborg selves and virtual reality. From Harraway to Ryan—and the notable works of thinkers like Baudrillard and Levy—it turns out that this field of thought (and study) is full of questions and seemingly opposing views. Still, I would I would go as far to say that these views are not opposing each other at all, but actually working together to help explain something that may be too abstract to explain (for now). Without offering a concrete explanation, but rather two vastly differing ones, Ryan has made clear that the world of virtual reality is one that we are still trying to make sense of. This feeling is one that is familiar throughout Haraway’s text as well. From cyborgs to the virtual that makes or breaks reality, one cannot deny that this is part of who we are today. Whether one chooses to accept it or not, it’s here to stay, growing more a part of our lives with every day.

Reinventing who we are, again….and again. ISMLL 312-30

The most significant thing I’ve learned from my first quarter as a graduate student in English Composition has less to do with perspectives on library research and contemporary composition theory and everything to do with the fact that I really had no clue what I was getting into. I thought an M.A. in Composition was going to make be a “better” writer (whatever that means) and help me stake a claim in the professional world of journalism and/or noveling. I imagined myself eating at different restaurants throughout the world and reporting my critiques in a renowned food magazine of sorts. I imagined practice in composition was going to help me compose a book about my life worth selling on bookstore (and even supermarket) shelves. Who knew that composition practice comes with composition studies and that even composition itself often questions its own place, not only within the academy, but within society as well? For Bruce Robbins, in his epilogue to the third edition of Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures, the English scholar has a place in society—as he makes his position obvious with the title of his essay, “The Scholar in Society.” However, he touches on a variety of topics regarding this “place” in society that leaves much to question. For example, is it the job of the scholar to change the world or interpret it? Is the “crisis of the humanities” a temporary crisis or a “structural weakness” within the humanities itself? And, How much should a teacher’s job matter to her/himself and in what ways is (or isn’t) that job connected to culture and society? All in all, Robbins asserts that in all its correlation and contradiction, we must embrace our field of work and recognize our responsibility to society, while using this challenge to “reinvent [ourselves] for decades to come” (327).

I suppose reinventing ourselves is not only the best option, but quite possibly the only one that makes sense. Recent composition theory reveals that composition as an academic discipline is loosely grounded in the foundations of the academy. In fact, many universities around the nation are cutting budgets and victimizing composition departments for wrongs that can hardly be attributed to the departments themselves. Truth is, composition studies on a whole is in question and university administrators are freaking out. Sadly, if only such administrators took the time to look a little harder they may have come to the realization that:

Composition is an academic discipline in the making. Composition is always up for debate, topic for discussion, and keyword in controversial conversations. Composition is the study of language and meaning, but it is also that very language and meaning being studied. Composition is a field that is open to be defined and if we, as its practitioners, accept the numerous calls to action, it’s up to us to help define or even re-define it. Composition is best understood when its definition is peppered with uncertainties—that is the nature of the discipline and understanding this is the first step in harnessing its place for the future.

Whatever concentration within the English field you are a part of and whether or not you think your duty is to change or interpret the world, one certainty is that you have a significant place in society. But you didn’t need me or Robbins to tell you that did you? Because it’s you who’s reinventing that place each time you research, write, and teach. Let’s keep it going, because for starters, it motivates rookies like me to want to jump in the mix with you.

Connecting Dots, Crossing Boundaries, Reaching Out. ISMLL 225-44

Anne Donadey and Francoise Lionnet describe their essay, “Feminisms, Genders, Sexualities,” as “a still photograph of objects in motion, some of which may be outside the frame entirely” (226), to assure that their work is in no way a comprehensive representation of the evolution within the field. In fact, the conversations on feminism, genders, and sexualities are so vast and on the move that any attempt at encapsulating it would be feeble at best. Therefore, Donadey and Lionnet humbly offer a revealing survey of some of the most pertinent scholarship out there, unveiling the connection of feminist study to various other fields of interest including race, post-colonialism, globalization, and even disability studies (to name a few). They offer a brief overview of “queer theory” and how it has come to represent the collective goals of LGBTQ, while acknowledging the load the term “queer” has taken upon its back. Further, Donadey and Lionnet report that with all its connections and disconnections the different angles of feminist studies have found refuge within the writing of memoirs. They describe the memoir genre as “a genre [that] brings together the historical and the personal, history and autobiography” and since “Feminist criticism always focuse[s] on the importance of theorizing from experience” (237) maybe there is an important correlation being made here.

In my opinion the memoir is a wonderful and potentially effective tool to be used within the layers of feminist studies. Now when I say feminist studies, I mean feminist studies in its vast connections (as reported in the essay) to other fields and sub-fields throughout academia as well as society. In the last couple decades the memoir has made a place for itself within the publication industry and has dug its roots into the soil of academic scholarship as well. Feminist studies is definitely a collective unit, but I would venture to say that it’s the individual experience of those within its sphere that drive what it has become and will become in the near and far future. The memoir is a way for both scholars and the general public to raise awareness on topics that for many years have been deemed taboo in most circles. With the proper application, both academic scholarship and memoir can be coupled to take the conversations both in and outside the lines of feminist studies to new heights. Although the memoir itself may not be enough to keep things in a positive direction, joined with the research, study, and survey within the academic aspect, the already far-reaching field of feminist studies will be able to stretch its arms even further.