What was does Dick (1965) himself theorise about the I Ching?
First of all, this is a very, very strange article. Phillip K. Dick was obviously a man with some very unique views, and in this article, he seems to align the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia, LSD, synchronity and the I Ching. In his written work he is obsessed with the idea of 'alternate realities', and you can certainly see that influence here. At one point, he states "The deadly appearance, at around niuneteen, of schizophrenia, is not a retreat from reality, but on the contrary: the breaking out of reality all around him; its presence, not its absence from his vicinity" (Dick, 1995).
His theory about the I Ching seems to relate to synchronity; which in turn relates to schizophrenia and LSD. He mentions once in the article that he used the I Ching to determine the outcome of a novel, referring to The Man in the High Castle (Dick, 1995). He recommends high usage of it if you are "totally schizophrenic", and as a way for the schizophrenics to deal with the problem of synchronity, which he therorizes schizophrenics have too much of (Dick, 1995). These theories may not make much sense, but they certainly shed light on Phillip K. Dick as a person, and a writer.
References
Dick, P.K.(1995) Schizophrenia and the I Ching. In Sutin, L. (Ed.), The Shifting Realities of Phillip K. Dick (pp. 175-182). New York: Vintage.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Week 6 Sara
What are the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke? How does it ‘defamiliarise’ its historical setting, according to Napier (2005)?
Princess Mononoke deals with the idea of the essential 'Other'; the values and preservation of the natural and spiritual worlds which is increasingly being encroached on by the steamroll of progress. It sets up a battle between these two vastly different worlds, and unlike traditional Disney fare, does not conclude with a message of homogenity of the two realms. Rather, a question that constantly prevails through the film is the complexity of differing worlds co-existing; and not neccessarily 'becoming one'.
Director Miyazaki sets up a film that defamiliarises its historical setting, according to Napier (2005). The film sets as its focus characters who are normally on the outskirts of history; powerful, independant woman, diseased and the sick. These characters lead the story, unlike the typical sumari or ruling classes who appear in historical features; characters who in this story struggle to control or solve the central problem. Instead, it is the 'underdogs' who lead this story. These characters are especially atypical of the historical period; a time thought highly of for the advent of 'high culture' in Japan, including the tea ceremony, and zen gardens.
References
Napier, S.(2005). Anime:from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
Princess Mononoke deals with the idea of the essential 'Other'; the values and preservation of the natural and spiritual worlds which is increasingly being encroached on by the steamroll of progress. It sets up a battle between these two vastly different worlds, and unlike traditional Disney fare, does not conclude with a message of homogenity of the two realms. Rather, a question that constantly prevails through the film is the complexity of differing worlds co-existing; and not neccessarily 'becoming one'.
Director Miyazaki sets up a film that defamiliarises its historical setting, according to Napier (2005). The film sets as its focus characters who are normally on the outskirts of history; powerful, independant woman, diseased and the sick. These characters lead the story, unlike the typical sumari or ruling classes who appear in historical features; characters who in this story struggle to control or solve the central problem. Instead, it is the 'underdogs' who lead this story. These characters are especially atypical of the historical period; a time thought highly of for the advent of 'high culture' in Japan, including the tea ceremony, and zen gardens.
References
Napier, S.(2005). Anime:from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Week 5 Sara
Is it a high or low cultural genre, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its subgenres?
The author of 'Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle' writes quite early in their chapter on why they choose to write about anime, about the concept of high and low art forms. Napier writes to convince us that anime is a significant high art form, worthy of study, and intellectual debate. Many scholarly articles have been written by Japanese scholars about the topic, which Napier (2005) considers to go further than their American contempories writing about American animation, simply because there is more depth to Japanese animation. Napier states that anime "clearly builds on previous high cultural traditions", and tackles contemporary issues in a way that traditional Hollywood fare does not; and it is this that attracts a increasing audience in the west. Napier calls anime "uncompromising" in its form, which shows in its dealing with the common subgenres of apocalyptic, the festival, and elgiac in anime.
Apocalyptic themes turn up frequently in anime; some of the most popular anime is apocalyptic fantasy. The most famous example of this is the movie Akira, which is the highest-grossing film in Japan. Another popular subgenre of anime is 'the festival', a literal translation of the japanese word "matsuri", although the word 'carnival' has also been applied. This refers to what Bakhtin (as cited in Napier, 2005) says is "the pathos of shifts and changes, of death and renewal", which is a particularly Japanese theme. Another anime subgenre, identified by Napier (2005), is the elegiac genre of anime, which deals with loss, grief and absence, often a mourning of a past time.
References
Napier,S.(2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle (pp. 3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.
The author of 'Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle' writes quite early in their chapter on why they choose to write about anime, about the concept of high and low art forms. Napier writes to convince us that anime is a significant high art form, worthy of study, and intellectual debate. Many scholarly articles have been written by Japanese scholars about the topic, which Napier (2005) considers to go further than their American contempories writing about American animation, simply because there is more depth to Japanese animation. Napier states that anime "clearly builds on previous high cultural traditions", and tackles contemporary issues in a way that traditional Hollywood fare does not; and it is this that attracts a increasing audience in the west. Napier calls anime "uncompromising" in its form, which shows in its dealing with the common subgenres of apocalyptic, the festival, and elgiac in anime.
Apocalyptic themes turn up frequently in anime; some of the most popular anime is apocalyptic fantasy. The most famous example of this is the movie Akira, which is the highest-grossing film in Japan. Another popular subgenre of anime is 'the festival', a literal translation of the japanese word "matsuri", although the word 'carnival' has also been applied. This refers to what Bakhtin (as cited in Napier, 2005) says is "the pathos of shifts and changes, of death and renewal", which is a particularly Japanese theme. Another anime subgenre, identified by Napier (2005), is the elegiac genre of anime, which deals with loss, grief and absence, often a mourning of a past time.
References
Napier,S.(2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle (pp. 3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Week 4 Sara
What parallels can you find between A Wizard of Earthsea and the Harry Potter franchise? What other influences does Burn (2005) suggest for Harry Potter?
I chose to answer the first question.
On one hand, to me, there doesn't seem to be much in common between A Wizard of Earthsea and Harry Potter, apart from the obvious mutual subject matter of magic, and a young boy becoming a man whilst studying its' craft. The central philosophies behind the nature of the magic appear to be different. While Harry Potter is a more straight-up-and-down good versus evil battle in its seven volumes, in the first title at least, A Wizard of Earthsea involves the central character 'becoming one' with darkness inside of him; his 'shadow', and thus becoming a man. Although the character of Harry Potter struggles with his connection to his nemesis Lord Voldemort, it is certainly a different climate to Earthsea, where the central focus of the wizards is to 'keep the balance' between good and evil, as they believe unbalance between the two causes disharmony. The central focus of the Harry Potter books is purely to defeat the evil which attempts to take over their world.
However, on closer inspection, there are some similarities, characters and situations in both which refer back to the archetypal theory. There are humble allies (Ron and Hermione; Fletch), arrogant, socially priviliged foe (Draco Malfoy; Jasper) and wise old male teachers (Dumbledore; Ogion the Silent). The central theme of each has to do with the struggle between good and evil, and finding one's own way to becoming an adult.
References
Le Guin, U.K, (1968). A Wizard of Earthsea. United States: Parnassus Press.
I chose to answer the first question.
On one hand, to me, there doesn't seem to be much in common between A Wizard of Earthsea and Harry Potter, apart from the obvious mutual subject matter of magic, and a young boy becoming a man whilst studying its' craft. The central philosophies behind the nature of the magic appear to be different. While Harry Potter is a more straight-up-and-down good versus evil battle in its seven volumes, in the first title at least, A Wizard of Earthsea involves the central character 'becoming one' with darkness inside of him; his 'shadow', and thus becoming a man. Although the character of Harry Potter struggles with his connection to his nemesis Lord Voldemort, it is certainly a different climate to Earthsea, where the central focus of the wizards is to 'keep the balance' between good and evil, as they believe unbalance between the two causes disharmony. The central focus of the Harry Potter books is purely to defeat the evil which attempts to take over their world.
However, on closer inspection, there are some similarities, characters and situations in both which refer back to the archetypal theory. There are humble allies (Ron and Hermione; Fletch), arrogant, socially priviliged foe (Draco Malfoy; Jasper) and wise old male teachers (Dumbledore; Ogion the Silent). The central theme of each has to do with the struggle between good and evil, and finding one's own way to becoming an adult.
References
Le Guin, U.K, (1968). A Wizard of Earthsea. United States: Parnassus Press.
Friday, September 2, 2011
WEEK 7 (Winny)
What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of
SF?
According to Brown (2001), Dick wrote about big ideas in his fiction, but never lost sight of the fact that science fiction is about the effect of events on individuals. As with all great literature, The Man in the High Castle grants us an insight into the minds of real, fully-developed characters moulded by circumstance, like all great SF, it gives us a what if glimpse of another world, a reality we are invited to compare with our won.
I do agree with what Brown has stated, that it is important to allow audiences to feel how the reality of science fiction story. In my own point of view, science fiction is different to fantasy. Fantasy can be very imaginative, can be exaggerated a lot, but science fiction always have to be careful not to be too unrealistic. It is a genre related to scientific issues, which means every event happened should be reasonable, able to find out facts. However, it seems real but it also is kind of overcome a lot steps to the future.
Reference
SF?
According to Brown (2001), Dick wrote about big ideas in his fiction, but never lost sight of the fact that science fiction is about the effect of events on individuals. As with all great literature, The Man in the High Castle grants us an insight into the minds of real, fully-developed characters moulded by circumstance, like all great SF, it gives us a what if glimpse of another world, a reality we are invited to compare with our won.
I do agree with what Brown has stated, that it is important to allow audiences to feel how the reality of science fiction story. In my own point of view, science fiction is different to fantasy. Fantasy can be very imaginative, can be exaggerated a lot, but science fiction always have to be careful not to be too unrealistic. It is a genre related to scientific issues, which means every event happened should be reasonable, able to find out facts. However, it seems real but it also is kind of overcome a lot steps to the future.
Reference
Week 3 Sara
How is science fiction different to fantasy, according to Le Guinn?
According to Le Guinn, science fiction is a form of realism. Realism involves using realistic people, places and settings to create plausibility in storytelling. Of course, Le Guinn notes, "Fiction didn't happen". All fiction is a pretense, a suspension of reality that the reader happily partakes in. However, most fiction does not contradict fact; how people normally think, speak and interact is characteristic of the novel tradition. Both science fiction and fantasy commonly apply this characteristic to their works, however, according to Le Guinn, fantasy applies a different attitude about the suspension of reality. There is no pretense that what appears in fantasy works is anything other than pure imagination or 'could' happen in the 'real' world. The plausibility comes from the coherence to its man-made world, the world created by its author. Le Guinn concludes by stating "fantasy is an exercise of what may be our most divine and certainly is our most human capacity, the imagination."
References
Le Guin, U.K. (2005). Plausibility Revisited; Wha Hoppen and What Didn't. Retrieved from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html
According to Le Guinn, science fiction is a form of realism. Realism involves using realistic people, places and settings to create plausibility in storytelling. Of course, Le Guinn notes, "Fiction didn't happen". All fiction is a pretense, a suspension of reality that the reader happily partakes in. However, most fiction does not contradict fact; how people normally think, speak and interact is characteristic of the novel tradition. Both science fiction and fantasy commonly apply this characteristic to their works, however, according to Le Guinn, fantasy applies a different attitude about the suspension of reality. There is no pretense that what appears in fantasy works is anything other than pure imagination or 'could' happen in the 'real' world. The plausibility comes from the coherence to its man-made world, the world created by its author. Le Guinn concludes by stating "fantasy is an exercise of what may be our most divine and certainly is our most human capacity, the imagination."
References
Le Guin, U.K. (2005). Plausibility Revisited; Wha Hoppen and What Didn't. Retrieved from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
KT's Week 7
According to Mountifort (2006), what role does the I-Ching have as an organisational device in the structure of High Castle?
The I Ching is an ancient Chinese oracle-text that Dick used to plot the development of his novel, The Man in the High Castle. Dick endorsed both the narratological and oracular functions of the I Ching, and he considered the I Ching itself as having in a sense written High Castle. The oracle-readings that Dick inserted at the critical junctures in the novel showed the ‘physical’ seams of the construction of Dick’s novel, constitute its central organisational device, and function as the meta-narrative, the text as oracle.
Actually I think the book of ‘The Man in the High Castle’ might have a simple structure, yet the story was so complicated. The characters in the novel have not met each other, but they were in the story of ‘The Grasshopper Lies Heavy’. It made me confused reality.
However at the end of the story, Juliana Frink asked some questions-Dick might not know how to finish his novel- and the I Ching explained the truth that life in The Man in the High Castle was a false reality.
In conclusion, SF is too difficult to understand for me.
Reference
Dick, P.K. (2001; 1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.
Mountfort, P. (2006).Oracle-text/Cybertext in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Conference paper, Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.
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