Old Email Archive

digest 2005-09-28 #001.txt

litsci-l-digest     Wednesday, September 28 2005     Volume 01 : Number
121



In this issue:

     Mid-Level Digital Technologies Position 
     Zizek, Norman O. Brown & the Psychology of Culture

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Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:45:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michelle Kendrick 
Subject: Mid-Level Digital Technologies Position 

Notice of Vacancy
Washington State University Vancouver

Liberal Arts, Digital Technology & Culture

The Department invites applications for an upper-level Assistant or
Associate Professor of Digital Technology and Culture on the Vancouver
campus located in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, beginning
August 2006.  The successful candidate will be expected to direct the
interdisciplinary program in Digital Technology and Culture, teach
undergraduate and graduate classes with a 2-2 teaching load, pursue an
active research agenda, and engage in service activities/administrative
activities for the department, university, and community.  We seek
someone to teach in the interdisciplinary B.A. degree program in Digital
Technology and Culture, (currently administered by the Department of
English) a liberal arts-based curriculum exploring relationships between
technology and meaning-making both in historical and contemporary
contexts.  Terminal degree in appropriate field required.  Discipline
open, with special consideration given to candidates with proven
national research profile in digital technology as social practice and
teaching experience in higher education.  A focus on and concern for
diversity is highly desired.  Concentrations might include informatics,
media studies, digital diversity, artificial intelligence, among other
fields.  A demonstrated potential for excellence in both teaching and
research is required.  The appointment is at the upper-level Assistant
or Associate Professor rank.  The salary is competitive and commensurate
with qualifications and experience.  Deadline for submission of
applications will be December 15, 2005.

Candidates must provide TWO copies of each of the following:  letter of
application summarizing qualifications, current curriculum vitae, three
letters of reference, graduate transcripts, and teaching evaluations (if
available).  Send application materials to:

Linda Weidmann, Clerical Manager
Digital Technology and Culture Search       Committee
Washington State University Vancouver
14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, WA  98686-9600

WSU is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action educator and employer.

- -- 
_______________________________________________________________
Michelle R. Kendrick
Associate Professor
Director
Digital Technology and Culture
14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, Washington 98686
(360)546-9645
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kendrick/home.htm 

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which are to be made,
in
a narrow field.  Neils Bohr
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Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:53:20 -0400
From: "Orion Anderson" 
Subject: Zizek, Norman O. Brown & the Psychology of Culture

Just Published:

ZIZEK, NORMAN O. BROWN & THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CULTURE
by Richard Koenigsberg


According to Slavoj Zizek, the fundamental level of ideology is that of
=
an
"(unconscious) fantasy structuring our social reality." Ideology is not
=
a
"dreamlike illusion," rather is a "fantasy- construction which serves as
=
a
support for our 'reality' itself." Matthew Sharpe notes that just as an
individual subject's discursive universe will "only ever be unified =
through
recourse to a fantasy," so too the public ideological frame wherein
political subjects take their bearings can only function through the =
vehicle
of what Zizek calls "ideological fantasies."

Norman O. Brown's writings in Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical
Meaning of History allow us to expand upon Zizek's views. In =
contemporary
theory, concepts such as culture, ideology, discourse and narrative =
usually
are taken as "givens." These concepts are used to "explain" the mind, =
but
are not themselves considered to be subject to explanation. However, one
=
may
pose questions such as: Why do particular discourses become dominant =
within
a given society? Why do some narratives replicate whereas others do not?
=
How
may we account for the structure and shape of particular ideologies, and
=
the
passion with which they are embraced?

Whereas Lacanian theorists view the mind as a product of the symbolic =
order,
Norman O. Brown seeks to explain the nature of the symbolic order =
itself.
Brown states that culture represents a set of "projections of the =
repressed
unconscious." Symbolic objects in culture, according to Brown, exist to
=
the
extent that they perform psychological functions for the subject. =
Culture,
Brown declares, exists in order to allow human beings to "project the
infantile complexes into concrete reality, where they can be seen and
mastered."

  _____ 


The complete paper by Dr. Richard Koenigsberg is available as an on-line
publication.
To read: "Zizek, Norman O. Brown and the Psychology of Culture"

PLEASE CLICK HERE   or
visit:

 
http://ideologiesofwar.com/papers/rk_zizek.htm 


  _____ 



ZIZEK, NORMAN O. BROWN AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CULTURE


Brown states that culture--like the transference--is created by the
repetition compulsion and constantly produces "new editions of the =
infantile
conflicts." Culture thus may be viewed as "one vast arena in which the =
logic
of the transference works itself out." The fantasies that create the =
human
neurosis, Brown says, cannot be directly apprehended or mastered, "but =
their
derivatives in human culture can."

Culture, then, may be viewed as a symbolic medium that allows desires =
and
fantasies to become externalized and articulated as social reality. =
Culture
represents a screen for the projection of inner mental contents. =
Symbolic
objects in society constitute objectifications that permit us to =
"perceive"
our desires and fantasies. Culture therefore, according to Brown, "does
=
for
all mankind what the transference was supposed to do for the =
individual."

We need no longer be content, therefore, with tautological concepts such
=
as
"discourse" and "narrative." Brown's account of the relationship between
=
the
subject and culture suggests that it is possible to explain or account =
for a
culture's discourses and narratives. Ideologies exist within societies =
as
modus operandi allowing members of society to express and articulate =
their
shared fantasies. To explain a specific ideology, therefore, we seek to
identify the nature of the desires and fantasies that are its source.


E-mail:  
oanderson@ideologiesofwar.com 
Web:   http://ideologiesofwar.com/ 


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End of litsci-l-digest V1 #121
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Please see the following URL for the LITSCI-L archive, Web resource
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