David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


13 October 2012

Thing Theoria (lyrics)

   
Thing theory
extract from Wikipedia

Thing theory is a branch of critical theory that focuses on the role of things in literature and culture. It borrows from Heidegger's distinction between objects and things, whereby an object becomes a thing when it is somehow made to stand out against the backdrop of the world in which it exists. 

Thing theorists look at the role of things within literature - at the fixation on particular objects. The theory was largely created by Bill Brown, who edited a special issue of Critical Inquiry on it in 2001.
 
Thing theory looks at "the increasingly blurred boundaries between such “things” as object and subject, gift and commodity, art and artifact, alienability and inalienability, as well as at the disciplinary boundaries between ethnography, archaeology, art history, and literary studies."

&   

WORLD OF THINGS (WOT)
present


Thing Theoria (lyrics)
to the tune of Guantanamera
  
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

LOGOS/HA HA

chorus
Thing Theoria (Oh oh oh...)
Thing Theoria
Thing Thee-o-ree-ah!
Oh oh oh Thing Theoria
 
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

LOGOS/HA HA

chorus
Thing Theoria (Oh oh oh...)
Thing Theoria
Thing Thee-o-ree-ah!
Oh oh oh Thing Theoria

detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

LOGOS/HA HA

chorus
Thing Theoria (Oh oh oh...)
Thing Theoria
Thing Thee-o-ree-ah!
Oh oh oh Thing Theoria
 
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

LOGOS/HA HA

chorus
Thing Theoria (Oh oh oh...)
Thing Theoria
Thing Thee-o-ree-ah!
Oh oh oh Thing Theoria