system of langauge

Jason Ingram · 30 Mar 2002, 14:41 · from urth-v0203.mbox · original
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From: Jason Ingram <j_ingram at mac.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) system of langauge
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 06:41:37 -0800
Message-ID: <urth-v0203-519 at digest.urth.net>
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I agree that examining the force of language in the Short Sun series=20
would be extremely productive, but I would accentuate different=20
elements.  My predisposition is towards a rhetorical rather than a=20
semiotic analysis; I would emphasize a movement from the text outward to=20
readers.  Before outlining what I mean by this, I want to go through=20
parts of Marc's post to detail areas of agreement and disagreement.

> Let's assume for this case the minimal supernatural stuff has gone on:

I don't think this assumption is helpful, as it dismisses most of the=20
story.  Retaining the semiotic analysis along with much of the plot=20
seems more productive.  If we become too suspicious of the text, we=20
could end up reducing the whole narrative to a Freudian melodrama (he=20
isn't really Silk, he just identifies with Silk as a 'transitional=20
object'; he doesn't really encounter inhumi, he's just worried about his=20
ego boundaries; he doesn't actually ever leave Urth (or earth), he's=20
just dreaming about a messianic figure who defeats the evil tyrant=20
Typhon (or his father, who he wants to become--thus the identification=20
with patera silk)).

> He assumes that man's identity, and then seeks to create a meaningful=20
> assertion of his identity using prepackaged langauge that does not=20
> belong to him:

This is an interesting way to look at Silk's gradual emergence from=20
Horn's persona.  I've been meaning to chart the gradual shifts in=20
Silkhorn's conversational style as he becomes more and more like Silk. =20
This is difficult, since our initial view of Silk is mediated through=20
Horn's writing.  Interesting irony, though: in TBOLS, we think we're=20
reading Silk when we're really reading Horn's take on Silk; whereas in=20
TBOSS we're reading what we think is Horn, but turns out to be Silk=20
writing and speaking through Horn.

It seems like some sort of semiotic analysis is *necessary* to sort=20
through the various personae, and the frame of a "language that is not=20
one's own" would prove quite helpful to that end.

> the story of the search for Silk turns
> into a method and a process through which Silk can find himself again-=20
> by
> telling the story.  He attempts to defer death for Horn as long as he=20
> can (I
> am paralleling the drive for the end of plot with the Thanatos syndrome=20
> of
> Freud here).  The plot exists for as long as he can stave back an=20
> account of
> death from the text.  When Horn TRULY dies, he must face up to his own
> identity - and he needs the story as extended therapy.

I don't think Fraud's theory of the death drive helps much to sort this=20
out; it seems to be more of a struggle for recognition.   Silk/Horn=20
denies the recognition of others, continually maintaining his identity=20
as Horn despite 'clear' evidence to the contrary.  Horn dies--his=20
physical death in the lander is conceded in the text, I believe, long=20
before the narrator gives up on being Horn--and yet maintains that he is=20
Horn for some time.  Eventually, he recognizes himself and begins to=20
mourn in earnest.  This sequence does more to critique Freud than to=20
support him (at least, the Freud of "Mourning and Melancholia" and=20
perhaps even of _Civilization  and its Discontents_).

Still, viewing the narrative as a process of therapy sheds valuable=20
light on the story.  It also could provide an interesting twist on=20
theories involving the "death of the author"-- cf. Foucault (the 'Silk=20
function').

[tangent: the projection of memories and habits from one body to another=20
raises important questions about identity.  SF is a privileged site for=20
thinking about such issues, and the theme of possession woven throughout=20
the short sun and long sun series has long intrigued me.  For isntance:=20
why can't Pas or anyone else download their personality into more than=20
one vessel at a time?  If the 'soul/self' is singular in some way, then=20
how could these personalities have been uploaded without expunging the=20
soul/self from the original?]

> As a schema for how fantastic literature might apply to real life, I=20
> find this
> particular picture kind of interesting.  It admits that language can be=20
> stolen
> from its original context, abused, and misinterpreted; it also allows a
> construction of self-identity through an assumed plot for anyone=20
> involved in
> that theft.

Language is always adapted and altered; struggles over proper=20
representation and proper context create standards that, later, come to=20
seem natural (perhaps akin to Bloom's "anxiety of influence"). =20
Narratives certainly do help us to make sense of who we are, and shape=20
the use and development of technology.

I think individual therapy is less salient than other themes in TBOSS,=20
however:

the sense of wonder and mystery evoked by Wolfe's narrative form,
silk as role model (the content of his message, the form he uses to=20
convince people, and his dynamic balance of love, eloquence, and prowess=20
in battle),
the ethical relation to the Other evoked by the 'inhumi problem',
property relations and representations of ineffective components of=20
social orders,
imagination (still quite muddled for me), and, perhaps most important=20
(grin),

*hybridity*

These aspects of the books, I would argue, leave traces in attentive=20
readers

> Perhaps the Book of the Short Sun illustrates how a closed system of=20
> language
> can still have a universal application even after it is (indeed,=20
> especially
> after it is) stolen from its original context (in this case, from the=20
> mouth of
> the real Horn).

Quibbles: I'm not sure how language can be a 'closed system' or how any=20
context or origin can be pure (e.g. who or what is the "real" Horn, and=20
how can we tell without changing that representation of the real?).

(Well, perhaps a self-caused being could have a pure origin, but that=20
isn't sufficient to allow a pure context for interpretative access)

> In other words, the text presents a model for overcoming the particular
> constraints and limitations of a fantastic story in order to reapply it=20
> in a
> useful way for a reader/analyst.  Which might be a nice way to justify=20
> the
> study of fantastic literature in school.  Even though it's not real -=20
> it can
> still be real.

A good way of putting it, though I still favor the centrifugal approach=20
over the centripetal.  I balk at debunking Silk's eventual identity with=20
Horn, but agree that an approach combining therapeutic, hermeneutic, and=20
semiotic
moments has considerable value.

Thanks for these insights, Marc

Sepia

P.S. I agree that speculative fiction can be quite useful in the=20
classroom, but I also fear that assigning any book makes it far less=20
enjoyable, and subverts much that is valuable about reading the=20
fantastic ("What do we need to know about astral projection for the=20
midterm?"  "Will you grade us down if we argue in our paper that the=20
protagonist isn't a tree?")


--=20
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