Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

Emily

Possible Exam questions answered!  (kind of)   quick notes. . .stream of thought

What are some things I think about as I look over these questions?

- By claiming identity,  your identity is claiming you

The form (example forms given in class. . .we got the census form)  what were the questions asked in 1970?  Marital status, # children, occupation . . .talk about claiming what claims you!

Scott Turner Schofield. . .asked him what the point of creating more “updated” vocabulary does to the idea, and if it’s necessary. He agreed, and referenced the fact that terminology does in fact make us what we are or what we consider ourselves to be.

Visibility of the social discourses within the work?  Scott brought to light social aspects revolving around transgender issues . . .how people reacted to him, what he was feeling based on what happened around him. . . .Pauline Pantsdown made fun of and highlighted Pauline Hanson’s political policy of nationalism, and in turn relied heavily on blatant and offensive humor. 

-  Disciplinary effects of power on the body.  Beau Travail and Metropolis:

“The body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body and a subjected body.” 

Within Beau Travail: as the disembodied spirit.  The more rigorous and disciplined the body is, the closer it comes to transcendentalism.  Work involves monotonous, menial yet necessary tasks. Mental processes, labor almost more a question of honor than just straight profit, more of  a grey area between owner/ruler and worker/ subjected body.

Within Metropolis: as a subterranean worker ant.  More machinist, more cyborg-ish. Very subjected body without the good of the workers involved. Interesting that workers world is below ground, a direct parallel to workers ants?

One main difference is the relationship between workers and owners.  Galoup maintains a more personal relationship with his troop, if not simply because of the number he is controlling, whereas the inventors and owners are so far removed from the labor in Metropolis.  The labor in metropolis is for direct production and profit; where as the labor in Beau Travail is more for the sake of the whole small group.

- The prostheses - a device, either external or implanted, that substitutes for or supplements a missing or defective part of the body.

Substitution and supplements are key terms in this case, especially for roles played in theatre.

Good Person of Schezwan – obvious prostheses in the case of how the character Shiu-Ta supplements Shen-The.  The bodily function of Shui-Ta? To masculinize Shen-Ten, create a bigger space for her feelings and needs. Limitations?  Biological – when shen-teh becomes pregnant, the prostheses of Shui-Ta is no longer legitimate or believable. 

In the Balcony, the examples are so very numerous because the characters are often fluid and changing, and many times just unclear as to who is what.

– Tomorrow’s Eve Theatre/ Movie production . . . what would we use to implement Brechtian techniques?

Music in minor key, kinda unnerving music, not easy to hum along to, not a catchy ballad

Perhaps Hadaly could speak with a human voice, possibly a male’s voice with a “woman’s” cyborg body.

Style of film would have to be black and white, especially since we’re so used to color TV/Movies, that it allows us to be swept away more easily into the plot . . .black and white might alienate us?

Unnatural stage lighting/ scene lighting 

What’s so great about alienation – reminds the viewer the production is exactly that – a representation of reality, not the reality itself.  His satire on technology is so that people reflect on the current state of society at the time . . .but the message almost seems to transcend time in that its message is still applicable now.  

5) – what sticks out to me in this picture:

-fake mustache

- earring

- tear tattoo

- shaved head

- Why are these things possible more important than the fact they he an Asian male?  Construction of identity. . .I think it is way more interesting that the signifiers are made to look really obvious and phony.  But even still, his face would look completely different without these add-ons. The “citation” or the mention and suggestion of another identity is apparent in this picture, one that is easily achieved and removable (save the tattoo).

6) - Cyborg: a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device; a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.

a)

b) the telephone – at this point has completely changed the way we handle our bodies.  Even when it was first invented, people did not utilize it to the degree in which we do now.  We use it as a locator (When we’re lost, or when we want to find out where someone is), as a social pastime, as an extension of what we can access.  Pizza delivery?