Com 520 - Philosophy of Communication - Week 13

Week 13

I’m realizing we’re not reviewing theories in isolation, but as contributions to the on-going historical dialogue of Philosophy.  More importantly, I’m finding we are not picking and choosing theories, but we are populating our brain with diverse ideas that are developing and fusing with our unique perspectives.   

Gebser loosely defines five structures of consciousness that interact and meld with each other.  This reminds me of Freud’s the conscious and the unconscious, but it furthers his thoughts by adding dynamic interaction among the various spheres of thinking.  The most important dynamic, to me, is the idea that time and space are interpreted differently between the spheres.

 Gebser’s “between” approach, his thoughts on language, and his descriptions of poetry parallel Martin Heidegger’s thoughts from Being and Time (1977) and Language (1971).   Gebser articulates how we form meaning through the interaction and combination of words.  In addition, he speaks to how poetry takes us away from ordinary language.  Heidegger (1971) shared the same views.

Gebser improves upon Heidegger (1971) and better illustrates how language is removed from man.  Language is the mediator and the forge that transfers pre-linguistic notions into conscious awareness and reality.  The structure of language is something we use, not something we possess.

Heidegger (1971) and Gebser shared the view that poetry focuses on the content of communication more than the message.  Meaning is formed by the mind while it constructs relationships between the words rather than from pre-defined associations of the words.  It is the difference between interpretation and transmission. The removal of ordinary language forces the mind to make broader and more imaginative abstractions.  In addition, it engages the deeper modes of thought, and it is my opinion that the deeper modes enable us to more fully realize and understand the greater themes of life.  A breathtaking sunset that evokes spirituality is a great example of a communication that transcends language and conscious thought.   

Gebser refers to poetry as the best avenue for representing ideas because the imaginary and the fantastic can be playfully fused with the real.  This thought could be right out of Sir Sydney Philip’s (2010) Defense of Poesy.  He shared Gebser’s view that poetry’s potential lies with its ability to teach, to inspire, and to foster deeper understanding through exaggerated language.  However, Gebser furthers Sydney’s notions by identifying that transitions within the poetic narrative are more important than the ending.   It is in the transitions of stories that meaning forms and takes shape.  Transitions are “between” spots.  This notion parallel’s Aristotle’s (2010) view that Reversals and Recognitions are at the crux of plays.  He viewed recognitions as changes from ignorance to knowledge.  It is reasonable to say that Aristotle is talking about the formation of meaning through creative interpretation.  Gebser informs and enhances my view and understanding of Heidegger, Aristotle and Sydney.

Perhaps the most important idea was that the intensification of time/space, through poetry, transfigures aspects of humanity.  This is a direct parallel to Rollo May’s  (1975)thoughts that an artist needs to intensify encounters, to more fully realize them, and then to intensify the content to better represent the encounter.

These ideas are personally important to me; especially the separation of language from man.  From a photographical perspective, light, color, and form become aspects of interpretations that can transcend language.  They become poetic in the sense that they create scenarios where the viewer’s mind has to fill in the gaps and then use language to give it form.  I’ve given myself a new challenge.  I’ll consider my works successful if people have to reconsider and reshape language to speak to them.   That might the very nature of originality and authenticity.

It also occurred to me that narratives, or stories, are powerful because they serve as modes of discovery. We don’t want to be told what to think, we want to use our playful and creative imagination to experience and discover the world in our own unique way.  

In closing, I’d like to say; I read the other chapter as well.   

Mike

References

Aristotle (2010).  Poetics.  In V.B. Leitch (Ed). The Norton anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Heidegger, M. (1977). Being and Time: Introduction. In D.F. Krell (Ed). Basic Writings (pp. 37-88). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Heidegger, Martin. (2010). Language. In V.B. Leitch (Ed). Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (pp. 982-985). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

May, R. (175). The Coruage to Create. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Sydney, P. (2010). The Defence of Poesy. In V. B. Leitch (Ed). The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  New York: W.W. Norton & Company.