Narrativity

Some readings and lecture yesterday on narativity, the connection between text and identity etc

So I came up with
Narrative Identitätsschaffung und -vermittlung
How would I translate that? Hm.
Narrative identity creation and transmission? Narrative creation and transmission of identity?
Then, how about the title:
Exhibitions of the soul: Narrative creation and transmission of national identity in the works of Murray Bail
?
For a working title, that sounds quite neat. :)

Quotes about Culture

Todorov definiert Kultur als Wechselwirkung; durch ständige Verwandlung bleibt eine Kultur lebendig,
schafft einen neuen Kanon, ohne auf den überlieferten zu verzichten.
("Jorge Luis Borges zur Einführung", Hanke-Schäfer: 1999, p39)

das griechische poetes beziehungsweise pointes, ursprünglich >Verfertiger, Erfinder, Schöpfer, Erschaffer<,
später auch >Gesetzgeber<>Dichter<, der durch Worte etwas erschafft, was zur Welt hinzukommt.
(in Hanke: 126)

Myth is a paradigmatic narrative which takes place in illo tempore and whose characters and actions are archetypal;
it is the essential story on which all others are based...
(in Hanke: 128)

(Yeah, I forgot about that - myth is an interesting thing as well...is there such a thing as cultural myths? Are there 'essential' stories we tell about ourselves?)

Simulacrum

All Western faith and good faith become engaged in this wager on representation: that a sign could refer to the depth of meaning, that a sign could be exchanged for meaning and that something could guarantee this exchange – God of course. But what if Go himself can be simulated, that is to say can be reduced to the signs that constitute faith? Then the whole system becomes weightless, it is no longer itself anything but a gigantic simulacrum – not unreal, but a simulacrum, that is to say never exchanged for the real, but exchanged for itself, in an uninterrupted circuit without reference or circumference.

(Jean Baudrillard)

I found this quote in one of my favourite books of the last couple of years, 'The end of Mr. Y'. It's fantastic, go read it!

Questions

Several weeks ago, I wrote down several questions I want to answer in the theoretical part of my thesis:

Was ist kulturelle Identität?

Was für Bestandteile hat sie?

Wie entsteht sie?

Was für Bestandteile/Prozesse sind notwendig, damit sie entsteht?

Wie drückt sie sich aus, in Alltag, kulturellen Werken etc?

Funktioniert die Psychologie-Allegorie?

Postkolonialer Raum und seine Besonderheiten...

Wie adaptiert man eine vorhandene kulturelle Identität an neue Gegebenheiten?

Wie geht man mit dem neuen Raum um?

Was bringt kulturelle Identität?

Wozu eigentlich das Ganze?

Warum ist sie wichtig?

Was ist kulturelle Identität, was Stereotypen?

Das eine innen, das andere von außen?

Gibt es Ähnlichkeiten?

Wie kreiert man die Identität eines literarischen Charakters?

Wie dann die kulturelle Identität so eines Charakters?

Haben Einzelpersonen eine KI oder nur die Nation selbst?

Vermutlich beides, aber mit was will ich mich beschäftigen?

Nationale Identität, ausgedrückt in kulturellen Artefakten?

In my theoretical part, I want to write about what cultural and national identity are, their differences and similarities, which one I am talking about (I think it is national identity, but we'll see). I want to write about how identity is constructed (in general - individually, then culturally, nationally - I think these are similar), how this is somewhat alike to what happens in museum exhibitions (many many little things creating a greater whole, my current hypothesis). I want to show how cultural artefacts, such as literature, fill an important place in creating, defining, describing that identity, reflecting it.
In my, hm, empirical part, I want to show how Murray Bail does that so brilliantly. How he characterises Australians, their relationships to each other, their reactions to other cultures, to their own country, their LAND. How he uses stories within stories to give his country its own story. A collection of stories that make up a sort of narrative about what Australianess IS.
In the end, it is not just like that in Australia, it is like that in any culture - the stories we experience together, the stories we tell about ourselves, are what make us US.
Does that sound sappy? I don't care. If, by incident, my thesis becomes a 200-page-ad for the power of storytelling, I do. Not. Mind. At. All.
;)

I've got a title!

I decided on a (at least working) title for my thesis - so now I can hand in some more paperwork, finally!

"Museums of the heart/soul: Murray Bail and the exhibition of Australian identity"

I like it. :)

Requirements

Here's the requirements I need to fulfill:

I can choose my subjects from the following:

Alte Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Deutsche Philologie (Germanistik), Geschichte, Klassische Philologie, Klassische Archäologie, Kunstgeschichte, Musikwissenschaft, Pädagogik, Philosophie, Romanistik, Slawistik, Sportwissenschaft, Sprachwissenschaft, Übersetzen und Dolmetschen und Volkskunde.

The most interesting for me are Anglistik (English Studies), Philosophie (Philosophy) and Volkskunde (Anthropology or Cultural Studies, I suppose).

Now, I need to do a certain number of courses, divided among compulsory and elective courses.
My compulsory stuff will come from English Studies, since that's what my thesis is mainly about (literary studies). Here I need to do 8 hours worth:

Das Pflichtfach (Dissertationsfach) ist jenes Gebiet/Teilgebiet eines Faches, dem das Thema der Dissertation zuzuordnen ist. Aus dem Pflichtfach sind Lehrveranstaltungen für Dissertantinnen/Dissertanten im Ausmaß von mindestens 8 Semesterstunden zu absolvieren, davon:
1) Seminare für Dissertantinnen und Dissertanten (SE) im Ausmaß von 4 Semesterstunden
2) Spezialvorlesungen bzw. methodenkritische oder wissenschaftstheoretische Lehrveranstaltungen zu dem Dissertationsfach (VO) im Ausmaß von 4 Semesterstunden.

Elective courses...I'm not sure yet whether I will use Cultural Studies or Philosophy. Probably the first. Anyway, I need 4 hours here:

Das Wahlfach ist jenes Gebiet/Teilgebiet eines Faches, das unter Beachtung des thematischen Zusammenhanges mit der Dissertation zu wählen ist. Die Lehrveranstaltungen des Wahlfaches sind daher einem mit dem Dissertationsfach nahe verwandten Gebiet/Teilgebiet zu entnehmen.
Aus dem Wahlfach sind Lehrveranstaltungen im Ausmaß von mindestens vier Semesterstunden zu absolvieren:
1) Seminare für Dissertantinnen und Dissertanten (SE) im Ausmaß von 2 Semesterstunden
2) Spezialvorlesungen bzw. methodenkritische, wissenschaftstheoretische oder wissenschaftsphilosophische Lehrveranstaltungen (VO) im Ausmaß von 2 Semesterstunden

All together this is 12 hours, which means only 6 courses, basically. Not too bad!
My goal is to finish getting these during the winter semester.

Now about the thesis itself. I thought there would be some formal requirements concerning length etc, but I can find nothing in the information they have online. I guess it should be more extensive than the diploma thesis (which should be around 80 pages, mine was 110). Then again, if I can say breakthrough stuff on 100 pages flat, I guess noone is going to keep me from claiming my prize. ;)
Fun aside, this is something I need to ask my supervisor.

I already have a couple of hours collected, just need to check whether these are appropriate.

Begin, or What this is about

When I finished university in the autumn of 2008, I somehow wasn't quite satisfied with my level of knowledge, of expertise. I wanted something more, something better. So I signed up to do a PhD last winter.
Since then, I read a little, I thought a little, but not much has come of it so far. I decided I needed more focus, more structure.
This blog is now my little helper in these things.
A place to collect ideas, to order thoughts, to show progress.
Also, admittedly, to put some pressure on myself to make progress.

I'm giving myself roughly two years from now on. One year to lay the theoretical basis, one year to dig through literary texts. So much for my current schedule.

My literary focus is Murray Bail, the Australian author. My idea of structure is how idenity is constructed in general, how national identity is constructed (maybe in an analogous way), how the necessary process of collection and memory works in actuality (museums, literature?), and how all of this happens in the works of my literary focus.

I want to mix psychology, philosophy, cultural studies and literary studies.

I want to stay sane throughout, as well.

I'll collect ideas about what life needs to make PhD work easier, tips and tricks on doing the actual work, progress reports, whatever.

For me this PhD is not only about academic study, but also about creating a life that works, that has structure, that makes it possible to achieve things.