Back in the Saddle
I'm finally trying to re-acquaint myself with this project. School is back in session, and I'm trying to use that as an excuse to break out of the workless stupor that I've been in for the past few months. Well, "workless" on this front, anyway. I've kept plenty busy, but only with oh-so-plebian concerns like paying the rent, etc.
Regardless, I'm back. As I sit here reading over my prospectus once again, I realize that I'm actually much happier with what I managed to put together back in July than I thought I would be. It still requires a lot of tinkering and fine-tuning, but as I look at it from the distance that my "time off" has allowed me, I begin to see some of the connections that I was trying to make, the fluidity of one idea spawning and relating to the next. And that's the most important thing for me right now. I REALLY want this to be a book. To be a text that someone will not only publish, but also read. Really, I want this to be the narrative of an idea. I need there to be a clear, logical flow between and among my theories and evidence. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about wanting to pursue an academic career is realizing just how insular the academy can be. Outside of teaching, what do we do but write articles and books for a handful of other academics to (maybe) read. It can seem like one big circle jerk most of the time (a lovely image, I know...). So, I want to avoid that as much as possible. I want to actually write something intelligent and theoretically sound, but also accessible and interesting. A tall order? I guess we'll see.
In the meantime, I've actually got to figure out exactly what it is I want to say in such an engaging way. Just that. No biggie. This process is beginning with me not only reading over my draft prospectus, but sifting through the incredibly anal notes that I took leading up to the writing of that document. One of these sets of notes are several notebook pages divided into three columns: Major Topics, Subtopics, and Other Points. Under these headings are listed hundreds of phrases, quotations, and concepts related to landscape theory, humanist geography, Western history and literature, etc. So what I'm doing now is reading down through these columns trying to remind myself of what each of these cryptic notes means. And, yes, I find this fun. But that's the kind of wild and crazy guy that I am.
One of these concepts (under "Subtopics") that has intrigued me today is the following: "feedback loops: 1) landscape as inspiration; 2) importance because of end product." OK, that makes no literal sense, I realize. But what it encompasses is the function of landscape as inspiration and the process by which a landscape can then come to be defined by the product of said inspiration. For instance, "Steinbeck Country." First, a man named John Steinbeck lives a place, absorbs it and finds something in or about that local/e worth writing about, something that speaks to him and the emotional and intellectual and mythic urges that he wishes to capture and convey in his work. So he writes the place, or some form of it. Then, through time and popularity and changing needs, many people begin to associate the real, lived landscape of "the long valley" or of Cannery Row with the stomping grounds of Steinbeck's fictional world. Thus, the place that created Steinbeck and his work turns around and finds itself (or even markets itself) as created by him, as "Steinbeck Country." Curious, no?
So what does this mean? It demonstrates the central importance of a collective memory/perception--and the mutability of that memory--to the creation and definition of "place." Definitions and meanings of place can and do shift, serving the needs of different groups/individuals at different times. Once upon a time, the city of Salinas had a helluva time keeping a statue of Steinbeck in an upright position outside of the post office because of persistent vandalism. Now, thanks to changing times (and a whole lot of money being poured into a National Steinbeck Center in the area), the city bills itself as the heart of Steinbeck Country, the place of his stories.
Don't ask me how this fits into my "narrative flow of ideas." I just think it's damn interesting.
Regardless, I'm back. As I sit here reading over my prospectus once again, I realize that I'm actually much happier with what I managed to put together back in July than I thought I would be. It still requires a lot of tinkering and fine-tuning, but as I look at it from the distance that my "time off" has allowed me, I begin to see some of the connections that I was trying to make, the fluidity of one idea spawning and relating to the next. And that's the most important thing for me right now. I REALLY want this to be a book. To be a text that someone will not only publish, but also read. Really, I want this to be the narrative of an idea. I need there to be a clear, logical flow between and among my theories and evidence. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about wanting to pursue an academic career is realizing just how insular the academy can be. Outside of teaching, what do we do but write articles and books for a handful of other academics to (maybe) read. It can seem like one big circle jerk most of the time (a lovely image, I know...). So, I want to avoid that as much as possible. I want to actually write something intelligent and theoretically sound, but also accessible and interesting. A tall order? I guess we'll see.
In the meantime, I've actually got to figure out exactly what it is I want to say in such an engaging way. Just that. No biggie. This process is beginning with me not only reading over my draft prospectus, but sifting through the incredibly anal notes that I took leading up to the writing of that document. One of these sets of notes are several notebook pages divided into three columns: Major Topics, Subtopics, and Other Points. Under these headings are listed hundreds of phrases, quotations, and concepts related to landscape theory, humanist geography, Western history and literature, etc. So what I'm doing now is reading down through these columns trying to remind myself of what each of these cryptic notes means. And, yes, I find this fun. But that's the kind of wild and crazy guy that I am.
One of these concepts (under "Subtopics") that has intrigued me today is the following: "feedback loops: 1) landscape as inspiration; 2) importance because of end product." OK, that makes no literal sense, I realize. But what it encompasses is the function of landscape as inspiration and the process by which a landscape can then come to be defined by the product of said inspiration. For instance, "Steinbeck Country." First, a man named John Steinbeck lives a place, absorbs it and finds something in or about that local/e worth writing about, something that speaks to him and the emotional and intellectual and mythic urges that he wishes to capture and convey in his work. So he writes the place, or some form of it. Then, through time and popularity and changing needs, many people begin to associate the real, lived landscape of "the long valley" or of Cannery Row with the stomping grounds of Steinbeck's fictional world. Thus, the place that created Steinbeck and his work turns around and finds itself (or even markets itself) as created by him, as "Steinbeck Country." Curious, no?
So what does this mean? It demonstrates the central importance of a collective memory/perception--and the mutability of that memory--to the creation and definition of "place." Definitions and meanings of place can and do shift, serving the needs of different groups/individuals at different times. Once upon a time, the city of Salinas had a helluva time keeping a statue of Steinbeck in an upright position outside of the post office because of persistent vandalism. Now, thanks to changing times (and a whole lot of money being poured into a National Steinbeck Center in the area), the city bills itself as the heart of Steinbeck Country, the place of his stories.
Don't ask me how this fits into my "narrative flow of ideas." I just think it's damn interesting.
posted by TRM at 12:59 PM
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