Round Two

So then.

After urging from a former professor (and friend) Dr. Darcie Rives-East of Augustana College the purpose of this blog entry will be focused on the idea of 'performativity' (from last blog) and discourse (given life by Michael Foucault and others.)

Here is a quick run down of the 'discourse' --as stated by Michael Foucault--that they are 'practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak.' The discourses work in three ways: they constitute, constrain and enable. More often than not language is a good example of what is being said here. Language enables me to speak, constrains what I say, and ultimately defines or constitutes myself as a subject. Generally, people of the same discourse are the ones who use language effectively within that discourse (i.e. I am not in the hunter discourse so I wouldn't be able to effectively articulate within that discourse.)

And to put it in simpler terms, 'discourses' is the multiplicity of life. As in within ourselves multiple discourses are at work. I may be enabling a different style of language while at work then I would at home. And vice versa.

So then, how does this relate back to performativity and the self?

If we say that being Republican is a definitive discourse and we establish a binary between republican and awfully 'republican' things, well what if we deconstructed it? That is to say if a candidate for the Republican party in his private self felt more aligned with more 'centrist' or liberal ideals, could he win that nomination, or in his performative self would he have to subscribe to the Republican discourse.

Fig 1.1

Public Private Performative DISCOURSE

Senator Catholic Republican (Conservative) Low taxes, strong military (etc)

And of course there is a simple way out of this and that is 'well, a REPUBLICAN couldn't hold those ideals and be a REPUBLICAN.' Well, why not? This relates back to the idea of a sign and signifier relationship.

Fig 1.2

Republican (signifier) Low Taxes, Strong Military, etc etc etc (signified)

That is to say that the word itself, doesn't have any 'republican' attributes. It isn't cigar chomping, big business, ballyhoo, those signifiers are placed by some factual events, but mostly by our perceptions. We could have just as easily adopted this party as the Little Owl Party. To further the binary, let's completely switch the qualities of each party.

Fig 1.3

Republican (liberal)

Democrat (conservative)

And I suppose this is where we are given the idea that there are 'conservative Democrats' and 'liberal Republicans.' And the idea that someone who steps outside the discourse of the two distinguished parties is considered to be xenogeneic***.

Now for my next trick is bring all this back together. If we agree that 'republican' is a discourse than the way it enables, constrains and constitutes.

A Republican discourse enables the man or woman to hold power over a certain voting population (positive or negative), constrains them to a prescribed way of speech and ideas, and constitutes them by the 'republican' moniker. (Please note that I only picked 'republican' for this blog because they tend to hold more negative words attached to them as a signifier.)

And here is where I'll attempt to get away from the political slant. And use none other than Lady Gaga.

Fig 1.4

Public Self Private Self Performative Discourse

Performer Stefani Lady Gaga Artist, Catholic, etc.

Lady Gaga in her performative self is the 'freak', 'outcast', etc that has been thrust upon her and she has gladly (more often than not) accepted. Her private self she is Stefani a daughter, a co-worker, a whatever with hopes, dreams, fears and consequences. And of course her public self is as a performer. And the discourse Lady Gaga is a part of as such can be broken into several issues.

Fig 1.5

Economic- How her record sales propel the music industry.

Social- How her 'Born This Way', you're all beautiful, messages affect young people.

Religious- Being a Catholic and being able to procure her artistic identity.

Academic- Study of her music, study of dance, etc.

However, the issue of enable, constitute and constrain the discourse of Lady Gaga remains.

So then, this reverts back to the idea of 'truth' within our society. The zeitgeist of the nation as it were. We hold these truths to be self-evident that binaries are uphold and a Republican is a Republican and a Democrat is a Democrat. But what if they weren't. Ultimately discourse leads to knowledge and as School House Rock said, knowledge is power (some other philosophers said it as well, but for now, we'll study from the SHR Canon.) And perhaps this Three Self model and discourse work something like this:

Public Self

Private Self Performative Self

You.

Discourses

Each of the three and the discourses pull you and you pull on the societal discourse. I suppose of there wasn't a continuum between it all we'd be nearing solipsism. But that's a topic for another day.

More later.

~Jon

***The parents of course being the founding fathers. ***