A Penny For Your Books

I adore everything about my Master’s program. I decided to take it slow this semester with my choice in classes, as jumping into the program itself was my allocated terrifying leap of faith. I wanted to set myself up for success by experiencing class and campus before experiencing critiques of my virgin, blossoming writing. Little did I realize that Theory was going to be its own antithesis to my previously curated “cognitive science way-of-thinking” (™). At least, the way I’ve interpreted it (cognitively, independently, and consciously). 

In my animal behavior research, we put a special emphasis on the cognitive abilities of individuals and differences between individuals within a population. This isn’t always the case with Theory. With Althusser, individual realities matter naught compared to the reality of a shared, lived, class society. As a brilliant thinker in my class put it (paraphrased): it’s not that we each experience driving to school differently, it’s that we all experience the asphalt and the rules of the road in the (for all intents and purposes) same way. This, for me, is a difficult transition in thinking.

So far we’ve read Wimsatt and Beardsley, TS Eliot, Moretti, Marx and Engels, and now Althusser. Perhaps not everyone is focused on the same thing, but that’s another complicated brain shift: science builds on ideas that are accepted and deemed as truth insofar as we can prove; Theory is a collection of independent ideas, none of which are necessarily correct or the most valid. Wimsatt and Beardsley may argue that an author’s biography and intent are irrelevant to the reader, but to me that point is reckless. If the information and original intent is available to be explained, then how can it be ignored? They argued that the form of the literature is what matters–the reader should not need any external information. While this may be true, is Van Gogh’s work not all the more tragic through the understanding of his life?

Perhaps I’m still looking at it the wrong way. That’s certainly possible. With this, what I struggle with the most is speaking up during class. This professor is excellent in that he encourages you to elaborate on your points and find evidence to build the conversation. While this is a wonderful tactic, it makes me particularly nervous to contribute. Even when I prepare speaking points ahead of time, the conversation doesn’t always allow them to come up, or someone else says the same thing. I know the reading well enough to contribute naturally, but the conversation often flows away from what a non-English/Philosophy major would know. Other names and information from previously-read undergraduate works are commonly referenced. It tends to make me feel behind or not knowledgeable about the class. While it is upper level, I wish it was a bit more inclusive to those who follow the text but don’t have the history or other known literature. Perhaps in my free time I should be catching up on all the great thinkers that everyone else knows. Maybe I’m digging my own grave instead of fixing my problem. 

We just read and discussed Althusser, a Marxist philosopher, who goes into the ideas of subjectivity, interpellation, repressive state apparatuses, and ideological state apparatuses, among others. He wrote about the interconnectedness of these ideas and how they create and recreate the ideologies that keep people obedient in a capitalist society. The RSA’s use primarily repressive tactics, which use violence or promise of punishment. Examples include the police, courts, military, etc. ISA’s are groups largely accepted and determined by the ruling class, such as church and school. If the state power (private) fails, ISA’s help with the maintenance and reproduction of ruling class (public) values. A person subjugates themselves by accepting their place within the artificial rules of the ruling class; i.e. accepting their position as a rule-following driver by stopping at a red light.

This, at least, was my takeaway. Marxism and its branches are certainly interesting so far, though I think they’d be even more so with some additional history of philosophy/theory. I’ll have to find some time to do some further reading.

I look forward to the rest of the semester! Every day I get better about talking in class and finding ways to feel more prepared. I enjoy the mix of academic reading and reading for enjoyment/work. More than anything, I love that I’m getting more and more comfortable with my own writing and ideas. 

Thanks for reading. And, as always: screw Trump, screw ICE, screw fascists, screw genocide, free Palestine, free Congo, support local businesses and libraries, support marginalized groups, support all gender identities and queer folk, protect the dolls, and no one is illegal on stolen land, to say a few.