My suggestion, Sam, would be to take a leaf out of the clinical medicine of the 19th century as epidomised by Charcots practice: basically, to establish a thematic concern historically you follow his method of looking for an 'uncomplicated case in point', that is, for an 'exemplary instance' or 'case in point' of what you want to look at which sees it expressed most fully and in an exemplary kind of way. I think that if you follow this method you will find that what it ultimately arrives at is 'illustrative historical precedents'. For example, Foucault, in Discipline and Punish, starts with the vague concern of survellience and ends his investigation at two nodal points: the first, is the experience of the plague, and the second, Benthems panopticon. A better example, which may make its merits more obvious, and which could be used in Pedagogy to help guide students entering into new fields of research, is to direct them towards the cannons which help
establish the discourse of those fields.
For another guidpost on following this method, see axioms XLVII - XLIX of Vico's 'New Science'. (Vico has the expression 'golden passage' which he uses when refering his readers to the kind of material which furnish the source of poetic knowledge.)
--- On Sat, 31/1/09, Sam Hall <saammm@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Sam Hall <saammm@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Foucault-L] e''Discourse' analysis of an industry
To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Received: Saturday, 31 January, 2009, 1:58 AM
Hello all.
I'm new here. I'm an undergrad planning my thesis. I had a number of ideas
on writing a thesis on publishing and hyperreality, imitation, aura,
authenticity, ideologies, and a number of over things. After a number of
weeks researching and a session with my supervisor we came down to the point
that I had looked at too much theoretical approaches without looking too
much at 'publishing'. I also deduced im more interested in the 'process'
side of the field.
Getting to the point.. he came to the fact i needed to look at discourses in
order to sort out my head, clear things up so i can develop some sort of
structure. Here's my issue; if i took each theoretical approach, baudrillard
for example, and applied it to the big issue of 'publishing', would this be
classed as a 'discourse', or would post-structuralism/modernism be the
'discourse'. Or, if i applied Baudrillard and simulations to publishing,
would the emerging ideas (ultimately post-structuralism/modernism) be the
'discourse'?
I've done quite a bit of reading but i'm still confused, and it doesnt help
because the prof is away for a while. I also noticed this 'framework'
Archaeology of Knowledge ,
1. Determine how and when the object (in this case youthwork and the youth
worker's identity) emerges as a discourse. Show how it is conceptualized
and
created as different from other descriptions of the same kind of
phenomenon,
Would this be how publishing emerged as a discourse, and perhaps the
publishers identity? And how does it differ from other industries?
But surely this could also be, how did post-modernism emerge? and does it
vary?
2. Describe how this body of knowledge and practice determine who can speak
and with what authority. Who gets to describe youthwork and how is this
recognized as a voice of authority within the society?
3. Describe how "grids of specification" are derived? How is publishing
divided? or how is post-modernism divided?
4. What are the historical conditions for the appearance of the object?
5. What relationships are established between institutions, economic and
social processes, behavioral patterns, systems of norms that allow for the
appearance of the object ?
I look forward to your thoughts and an interesting discussion.
Yours, Sam
_______________________________________________
Foucault-L mailing list
Make Yahoo!7 your homepage and win a trip to the Quiksilver Pro. Find out more
establish the discourse of those fields.
For another guidpost on following this method, see axioms XLVII - XLIX of Vico's 'New Science'. (Vico has the expression 'golden passage' which he uses when refering his readers to the kind of material which furnish the source of poetic knowledge.)
--- On Sat, 31/1/09, Sam Hall <saammm@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Sam Hall <saammm@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Foucault-L] e''Discourse' analysis of an industry
To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Received: Saturday, 31 January, 2009, 1:58 AM
Hello all.
I'm new here. I'm an undergrad planning my thesis. I had a number of ideas
on writing a thesis on publishing and hyperreality, imitation, aura,
authenticity, ideologies, and a number of over things. After a number of
weeks researching and a session with my supervisor we came down to the point
that I had looked at too much theoretical approaches without looking too
much at 'publishing'. I also deduced im more interested in the 'process'
side of the field.
Getting to the point.. he came to the fact i needed to look at discourses in
order to sort out my head, clear things up so i can develop some sort of
structure. Here's my issue; if i took each theoretical approach, baudrillard
for example, and applied it to the big issue of 'publishing', would this be
classed as a 'discourse', or would post-structuralism/modernism be the
'discourse'. Or, if i applied Baudrillard and simulations to publishing,
would the emerging ideas (ultimately post-structuralism/modernism) be the
'discourse'?
I've done quite a bit of reading but i'm still confused, and it doesnt help
because the prof is away for a while. I also noticed this 'framework'
Archaeology of Knowledge ,
1. Determine how and when the object (in this case youthwork and the youth
worker's identity) emerges as a discourse. Show how it is conceptualized
and
created as different from other descriptions of the same kind of
phenomenon,
Would this be how publishing emerged as a discourse, and perhaps the
publishers identity? And how does it differ from other industries?
But surely this could also be, how did post-modernism emerge? and does it
vary?
2. Describe how this body of knowledge and practice determine who can speak
and with what authority. Who gets to describe youthwork and how is this
recognized as a voice of authority within the society?
3. Describe how "grids of specification" are derived? How is publishing
divided? or how is post-modernism divided?
4. What are the historical conditions for the appearance of the object?
5. What relationships are established between institutions, economic and
social processes, behavioral patterns, systems of norms that allow for the
appearance of the object ?
I look forward to your thoughts and an interesting discussion.
Yours, Sam
_______________________________________________
Foucault-L mailing list
Make Yahoo!7 your homepage and win a trip to the Quiksilver Pro. Find out more