ENG303.0000//James L'Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//Dr. A. Johnson//12 March 2020
12 March 2020
Dictionary of Critical Terms, #2
Free Association-- Drawing a close parallel to word association, the technique is used in psychoanalysis when shortcomings in hypnosis were discovered by Sigmund Freud. Initially, the psychoanalyst insisted to know what was on the patient’s mind but later realized;
“...insistence was unnecessary and that copious ideas almost always arose in the patient’s mind, but that they were held back from being communicated and even from becoming conscious by certain objections put by the patient in his own way.” (Parker, 183)
In a literary work, the actual analyst-patient interaction might be substituted, as in the case of Going After Cacciato for a soldier and his superior officer;
“Cacciato,” Doc repeated, “The kid’s left us, Split for parts unknown.”
The lieutenant did not sit up. With one hand he cupped his belly, with the other he guarded a red glow. There were no vital signs in the wrists or stomach.
Here the analyst is “Doc,” the corpsman for the unit and the patient is the Lieutenant stretched out comfortably on his rack;
“Paree?” The lieutenant said softly, “Gay Paree?” (O’Brien, 3)
Again, the lieutenant, who utters “Dreaming” when he is on The Railroad to Paris in Chapter 21, offers a long free association story from memory when Berlin informs him they are “Almost to Chittagong.” (134-35) The lieutenant then admits he’s been to “Benning and Polk and Seoul and Hong Kong, I seen it all..” but he doesn’t mention whether he’s ever been to Gay Paree. Nowhere in the novel is there an indication as to why the lieutenant harbored his narrow and rather bigoted attitude toward the French.
In her book Vietnam and Beyond, Tim O’Brien and the Power of Storytelling, Dr. Stefania Ciocia offers possible insight into the subconscious rationalization of the lieutenant’s word and free association;
"Paris also embodies a number of more general contradictions, as the city of the Enlightenment and of Terror; a symbol of sophistication and a den of debauchery; the most romantic place in the world, but also an aggressively sensual and sexual place, particularly in the Puritan American imaginary." (Ciocia, 79)
Not only do we observe the deconstructionist concept of contradiction in Ciocia’s interpretation, which she applies specifically to the lieutenant’s remark from above, but also Lacanian imaginary. By contradiction, the term “gay” has evolved in meaning from happy, cheerful in its earliest sense when such things as follies were synonymous with Parisian nightlife, to a completely different meaning in today’s culture. Lacan’s imaginary state might describe the lieutenant’s naive, home-schooled, Christian formative years that he would freely regress to if given the opportunity. The mission would grant Corson that very chance to return to a simpler imaginary stage of his life, away from the horrors and reality of his current predicament.
“My first impression of American colleges was good, the second was good, the third was good and I am sure all the rest will be too.” (The Shreveport Times, 1947)
A year later, Professor Sauvy addressed the United Nations on population with relation to the United States and the Soviet Union “for the prosecution of economic and military objectives.” (Wisconsin State Journal)
By September of that year, Sauvy had drawn a distinction of three separate groups in French culture: the primary producers (farmers, miners, fishermen), direct producers (factory and transport) and indirect (bankers, bureaucrats, professionals). (York Daily Record) It was becoming more clear how he derived the conclusion of the divisions of the various “worlds.”
We cannot comprehend the evolution of the term “Third World” without looking at the framework in which it was constructed, in other words new historical and cultural criticism. Sauvy’s worldview was one of an existential conflict between two polar forces, capitalism and communism. In that framework, a Geertzian thick description forces a detailed examination of, as Tyson explains;
“...birthing practices, ritual ceremonies, games, penal codes, works of art,” among other things. (Tyson, 274)
Sauvy was basing his observations of post-colonialism on Eurocentrism. It was clear that Sauvy intended to establish a new order of nations that fit into the needs of polar economic and military objectives. Those extended beyond the interests of the post-colonial emerging nations in a framework similar to the division of classes he observed in France. The result became the Third World nation, in effect, just a neo-global definition of colonialism. Outright ownership by the imperial enterprises became obfuscated when the borders were changed, but the conditions remained the same in the new nations. With independence came the rise of globalization, cheap labor in underdeveloped countries, saturated with world bank debt, corrupt infighting ethnic groups with armies and militias designed for 21st century combat.
“The Lecturer then proceeded to define the boundaries of mechanical and chemical and of chemical philosophy; the difference between attraction generally and chemical attraction in particular; simple and compound chemical affinities, and the theory of definite proportions. It was a beautiful comment, he said on the text- ‘He weighs the hills in scales and the dust in the balance;’ this was no longer an orientalism, but a chemical truth.” (Bristol Daily)
Another reference to the definition can be found in an 1831 Nashville Banner newspaper article;
“What we seek is reason and argument; and we become impatient of this tone of magnificent inflation--this sort of western orientalism, which once prevailed throughout our country." (National Banner)
From the above uses of the term in the mid-1800s, it appears it meant either an embellishment, exaggeration. By late 1870, the meaning was gradually getting a new interpretation with regard to the Russo-Turkish conflict;
“I believe that he (Lord Beaconsfield) cannot, from the nature of his mind, regard the Eastern question from a purely English point of view. His judgement is warped by Orientalism.” (Northern Echo)
Here we first see the term used in a more Saidian fashion relating to attitude toward the East as viewed by a Western imperialist vision. The Harrisburg Telegraph reported in December of 1877 that “Orientalism appears again in the almost total seclusion of Russian middle-rank women within their own homes.”
The term is linked to male chauvinism and sexism. The Berkeley Gazette reported in 1898 that Professor Bernard Moses rejected “a return to Orientalism” for Japan but it could not compete with the industrial rivalry of England and America, 43 years before the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Hiding in plain sight were all of the components for Edward Said’s book.
A column by J. Butterfield in the Vancouver Province relating to a review of a Madame Butterfly performance was critical of the fact that a real Japanese prima donna was brought in for the starring role. He complained under the subheading “Orientalism” she was “Hollywoodized,” in voice and mannerism and her operatic training was “Westernized.” (Vancouver Province) It was clear that not only was the Oriental viewed upon as being responsible for deceitful language, had the ability to warp judgement of the Western politician but was considered inferior industrially, a sexist and finally, accused of Western mimicry in order to placate the opera circle. It was still forty years before the publication of Edward Said’s book.
Reflection:
On free association, the term immediately resonated to Lieutenant Corson’s reaction to Cacciato going over the hill, and later to his recollection of his travels that excluded Chittagong. The result was paging again through the entire novel searching for similar reactions and there were probably more. However, when the Stefania Ciocia work was discovered, it made sense that someone else had noticed this rather glaring dialogue early on in the O’Brien novel and its implications. Much more could have been said on the association, regression and other aspects of Freud but it would have required several pages instead of paragraphs.
The term Third World proved especially interesting and following its etymology led to the bias read into it by its author, Alfred Sauvy. Nowhere was the term considered anything more than the semi-official term that has been so often used without an understanding as to how Sauvy arrived at the term. It was never meant to be what it means today as with so many other terms where meaning changes as time passes. Sauvy may have launched his multi-world concept with good intentions, but hidden in the meaning there appears dark reference to exploitation economically and militarily of underdeveloped nations.
Orientalism was never a term that struck a negative tone. Murder on the Orient Express was a 1934 romantic murder mystery by Agatha Christie that created imagery of adventure, excitement and faraway exotic appeal. Hercule Poirot became the French antithesis to Sherlock Holmes, but with a more sophisticated appeal. If word association could be brought into the reflection, Christie’s novel would be the immediate response to the term. The lure of the Far East has never struck a negative chord even if the Middle East doesn’t do the same. The word Orient has a fascinating appeal no matter who says otherwise.
Sources,
Free Association-
Parker, Robert D., Critical Theory, Oxford, NY, 2012
O’Brien, T., Going After Cacciato, Broadway Books, NY, 1978
Ciocia, S., Vietnam and Beyond, Tim O’Brien and the Power of Storytelling, Liverpool U Press, Liverpool, 2012
Tyson, L., Critical Theory Today, Routledge, NY, 2015
Third World-
Alfred Sauvy, The Shreveport Times, (AP), 09 October 1947, Page 16.
French Expert, Wisconsin State Journal, 28 May 1948, Page 3.
France 3 Classes, York Daily Record, 15 Sept 1948, Page 3.
Tyson, L., New Historical and Cultural Criticism, Critical Theory Today, Routledge, NY, 2015
Orientalism--
Orientalism of expression, Belmont (Ohio) Chronicle, 21 Nov 1889, Page 1.
Orientalism, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 29 Dec 1829, Page 3
Western Orientalism, Nashville Banner, 21 March 1831, Page 3
Warped by Orientalism, Northern Echo, Durham, England, 28 November 1877, page 3.
Madame Butterfly, Vancouver Province, 06 April 1935, Page 8
Christie, A., Murder on the Orient Express, (Multiple Publishers) 1934
Gay Paree Poster, https://picclick.com/GAY-PAREE-Broadway-Show-Sheet-Music-Sugar-Plum-382887042096.html
Third World Image, https://borgenproject.org/definition-of-a-third-world-country/
Orientalism Book Cover, http://www.edwardsaid.org/books/orientalism/
ENG303.0000//James L'Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//Dr. A. Johnson//12 March 2020
A column by J. Butterfield in the Vancouver Province relating to a review of a Madame Butterfly performance was critical of the fact that a real Japanese prima donna was brought in for the starring role. He complained under the subheading “Orientalism” she was “Hollywoodized,” in voice and mannerism and her operatic training was “Westernized.” (Vancouver Province) It was clear that not only was the Oriental viewed upon as being responsible for deceitful language, had the ability to warp judgement of the Western politician but was considered inferior industrially, a sexist and finally, accused of Western mimicry in order to placate the opera circle. It was still forty years before the publication of Edward Said’s book.
Reflection:
On free association, the term immediately resonated to Lieutenant Corson’s reaction to Cacciato going over the hill, and later to his recollection of his travels that excluded Chittagong. The result was paging again through the entire novel searching for similar reactions and there were probably more. However, when the Stefania Ciocia work was discovered, it made sense that someone else had noticed this rather glaring dialogue early on in the O’Brien novel and its implications. Much more could have been said on the association, regression and other aspects of Freud but it would have required several pages instead of paragraphs.
The term Third World proved especially interesting and following its etymology led to the bias read into it by its author, Alfred Sauvy. Nowhere was the term considered anything more than the semi-official term that has been so often used without an understanding as to how Sauvy arrived at the term. It was never meant to be what it means today as with so many other terms where meaning changes as time passes. Sauvy may have launched his multi-world concept with good intentions, but hidden in the meaning there appears dark reference to exploitation economically and militarily of underdeveloped nations.
Orientalism was never a term that struck a negative tone. Murder on the Orient Express was a 1934 romantic murder mystery by Agatha Christie that created imagery of adventure, excitement and faraway exotic appeal. Hercule Poirot became the French antithesis to Sherlock Holmes, but with a more sophisticated appeal. If word association could be brought into the reflection, Christie’s novel would be the immediate response to the term. The lure of the Far East has never struck a negative chord even if the Middle East doesn’t do the same. The word Orient has a fascinating appeal no matter who says otherwise.
Sources,
Free Association-
Parker, Robert D., Critical Theory, Oxford, NY, 2012
O’Brien, T., Going After Cacciato, Broadway Books, NY, 1978
Ciocia, S., Vietnam and Beyond, Tim O’Brien and the Power of Storytelling, Liverpool U Press, Liverpool, 2012
Tyson, L., Critical Theory Today, Routledge, NY, 2015
Third World-
Alfred Sauvy, The Shreveport Times, (AP), 09 October 1947, Page 16.
French Expert, Wisconsin State Journal, 28 May 1948, Page 3.
France 3 Classes, York Daily Record, 15 Sept 1948, Page 3.
Tyson, L., New Historical and Cultural Criticism, Critical Theory Today, Routledge, NY, 2015
Orientalism--
Orientalism of expression, Belmont (Ohio) Chronicle, 21 Nov 1889, Page 1.
Orientalism, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 29 Dec 1829, Page 3
Western Orientalism, Nashville Banner, 21 March 1831, Page 3
Warped by Orientalism, Northern Echo, Durham, England, 28 November 1877, page 3.
Madame Butterfly, Vancouver Province, 06 April 1935, Page 8
Christie, A., Murder on the Orient Express, (Multiple Publishers) 1934
Gay Paree Poster, https://picclick.com/GAY-PAREE-Broadway-Show-Sheet-Music-Sugar-Plum-382887042096.html
Third World Image, https://borgenproject.org/definition-of-a-third-world-country/
Orientalism Book Cover, http://www.edwardsaid.org/books/orientalism/
ENG303.0000//James L'Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//Dr. A. Johnson//12 March 2020