Sunday, May 18, 2014
The Trickster
Jean Fisher, the writer of ‘Toward a Metaphysics of Shit’ discusses the possibilities of art in a globalised world. She talks about the concept of the ‘Trickster’, a mythological figure that takes on forms both animal and human, who plays ‘tricks’ and disregards normal types of behaviour. Often this trickster is seen to be laughing and outwitting authority through the manipulation of language in order to form a kind of openness. The trickster is an agent for varying cultures to expand and move away from the powerful systems that oppress and control the exchange of culture, ideas and information.
http://stephcriticalstudies.blogspot.nl/2009/08/jean-fisher-towards-metaphysics-of-shit.html
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yes.. somehow resonates with the role of the shaman and how shaman are thought to be generally mildly schizophrenic people who unlike in the west are not sent off into institutional spaces with all kinds of drugs but are rather transformed so to speak into a meaningful role in society as spirit-namers, so to speak, i.e. Shaman.. who can hear/see spirits in the situation.. at play... This resonates in a way, for me, with Deleuze and Guattaris' work in Anti-Oedipus/Thousand Plateaus.. where the object at any given time is not so much an opposite or perfect thing beyond the oppression, etc. of the present structure, but rather.. the creation of 'smooth spaces'.. that is spaces to work in, be free in, be creative in, which occur diagonally in a way across the complex grid of oppressions and structures at any given time. This 'smooth space' has to be in a way carved out, owned, activated and renewed. And from an 'outside' prospective it could possibly look weird....
ReplyDeleteIt is 'smooth' in that its involved in pragmatic realization of its desire-machine, of its motor. The ideas is for it to 'work', to have a creative desire machine, as they put it, at work, indeed. And that this space can find new connections, new links, sometimes strange indeed.
Also resonant with this idea of the Trickster is the role of what is called the "Hidden Transcript" in African-American history. The "hidden transcript" is a term to describe one of the things that occurred under slavery. Namely that people secretly educated and passed information and knowledge with each other, hidden away from the slave owners. Often in meetings where they would pretend to just be joking around, singing and dancing, but in a room or space away from the masters eyes they would carry on studies in learning to read, in communications with others about uprisings and new developments, etc. This was consistent and not just one-offs, but serial, we might say and networked. it worked like a hidden text in development. And was shared in a network way. This is why this activity is called the "hidden transcript". It was not just once in a while or purely symbolic micro actions, but consistent and towards knowledge building, etc. For their humanity.