Critical Theory is best understood when we can relate it to our experiences. Here is a section of my second paper, a thought piece called "Who is Speaking?" You can download the PDF (by clicking on the name of the paper), if you want to read more. I stuck to the word count, so it's not that long. Any comments are always welcome.
"While traveling in Afghanistan, I was wearing a traditional Mexican blouse that was skillfully embroidered. Upon walking into an embroidery shop in Kabul, an old man who owned the shop, excitedly stood up and approached me when I came in. He reached out to examine the blouse closely. He was so enthralled with the embroidery; he cast aside strict social norms and touched the embroidered blouse at my shoulder. I was not afraid; all he saw was the embroidery. I understood his behavior and recognized his passion.
It was not only the craftsmanship, but also the stylized symbols that cause his excitement. Embroidery and rug making motifs are shared among the nomadic tribes that cross borders between Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. The taboo of touching a woman in public was outweighed by this man’s astonishment and admiration for the folk art embroidery created by Mexican culture. Art speak across time and continents from one culture to another. Art does not have borders. Paradoxically, I was not important to either culture, yet without me, this meeting wouldn’t have happened. Thinking about this, I determined that there must be a ‘universal’ language of art. Why do primitive symbols look similar or in some cases the same regardless of time or place, worldwide?"
3 comments:
Kia ora from New Zealand Rebecca.
A challenging and thought-provoking blog!
I just found your blog through my Google Alerts for Critical Theory and Critical Pedagogy. Well done. I think that you may enjoy my own website – which you are free to use as a resource. It covers some of the same issues as well aa issues such as:
Critical Theory
Critical Theorists
Critical Practice (Praxis)
Critical Pedagogy
Critical Education Theory
Colonisation
Postcolonialism
Postmodernism
Indigenous Studies
Critical Psychology
Cultural Studies
Critical Aesthetics
Hegemony,
Academic Programme Development
Sustainable Design
Critical Design etc. etc.
The website at: http://www.TonyWardEdu.com contains more than 60 (absolutely free) downloadable and fully illustrated PDFs on all of these topics and more offered to students from the primer level, up to PhD. It also has a set of extensive bibliographies and related web links in all of these areas.
Have a look at it and perhaps bring it to the attention of your friends and colleagues for them to use as a resource.
There is no catch!
It’s just that I an retired and want to pass on the knowledge and experience acquired (after forty years of teaching at Universities "against the grain"). All that I ask in return, is that you and they let me know what you think about the website and cite me for any material that may be downloaded and/or used.
I would also appreciate a link to my site from your own so that others may come to know about it and use it.
Many thanks again for your post and best wishes
Dr. Tony Ward Dip.Arch. (Birm)
Academic Programme, Tertiary Education and Design Consultant
(Ph) (07) 307 2245
(m) 027 22 66 563
(e) tonyward.transform@xtra.co.nz
By the way, Rebecca, You might like to have a read of Carl Jung's book "Secret of the Golden Flower" He wriote it when he was working with Schizophrenics in his clinic in Berne, and discovered that they all had a penchant for drawing or painting mandalas - which, he concluded had great healing power. His book is a study of the healing power of the mandala (the name originating I believe in Tibetan Buddhism). It suggests not that that there are certain patterns that have a deterministic power, but that the power of exploring mandala-like geometries is a powerful form of meditation.
All the best
Tony Ward
Thank you, Tony for your comments. I did a series of digital mandalas in my first semester. They were large format digital prints called "Tribal Regions".
The are my impression of color and shapes of geological and cultural areas of the world. I plan to add to the series. I think mandala originates from a Hindu or Sanskrit word for "circle". Your right, it is used as a visual meditation.
I've been thinking about doing my thesis on the "circle", as it appears in most cultures. Might be a bit too broad. I am very interested geometry particularly the vesica pisces that is two overlapping circles.
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