Entry tags:
Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading (Masterlist)
Or: You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Post Is about You
About the original essay, and the point of all this
I came across the idea of reparative reading on Tumblr and was immediately taken with it. As described in this article:
Unfortunately all the discussion I could find was either unhelpfully vague, or in the form of (very positive) reactions to the writings of the creator of the term, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Specifically, to her 2003 essay collection Touching Feeling and the essay "Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Essay Is about You".
Just as I was deciding if I really wanted to pay $25 US for a book I probably wouldn't be able to understand, I came across the original version of the essay, created in 1997 as the introduction to a book of queer readings, and offered online for free by the publisher: Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction Is about You.
I found a online version of the 2003 version of the essay, from a brief skim it's basically identical, minus the parts about the book of essays it used to be an introduction to.
Anyway! I started reading and it was interesting but I started getting overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar terms and concepts, and so I'm going to try summarise it as I go like I did with confusing academic papers during my Phd. Which may or may or not end up helpful for anyone else but will hopefully at least help me!
I was going to do this as one post but then looked at how long it had gotten for just the first 7 pages of 35 and went AH. OK THEN. TIME FOR A MASTERLIST.
My understanding of the meanings of various terms
accretive: produced by or growing by a series of additions of identical or similar things
affect (noun): The emotional aspect of what causes us to take an action
affective: relating to emotion
aporia: an intellectual puzzle, or contradiction
contingency: something that might or might not happen, depending on circumstances
deontological: Judging things as right or wrong by a set of rules instead of their consequences.
enjoin: to be forced to do something
epistemology: a philosophy concerned with knowledge
fantasmatic: Phantasmal, incorporeal
genius loci: the spirit of a place, or the 'vibe'.
hermeneutic: a way of understanding the world, along with forms of interpretation and communication
hermeneutic of suspicion: a style of literary interpretation in which texts are read with skepticism in order to expose their repressed or hidden meanings.
inchoate: in an early or imperfect stage of development
jouissance: Joy, but in a kinda sexy way
le vouloir-être-intelligent: French for "I want to be smart". A quote from Barthes.
morcelé: French for "divided", comes up in Lacan's theory of the fragmented body (corps morcelé) which I'm not even going to try and understand.
mimetic: representing or imitating something
nonce: relating to the current moment
obiter dicta: an aside separate to the main argument being made
père de famille: 'Father of the family', a famous French play.
phenomenological: to do with the philosophy of experience and consciousness
problematic (noun): a thing that creates questions?
reflexive: multiple meanings, mostly involving an object acting on itself or being about itself etc.
reification: to conceptualise something abstract or variable as concrete and immutable.
rubric: classification, or set of rules
strong (affect) theory: a broad, compelling way of viewing and interacting with the world which relies upon and encourages a specific affect/emotion.
tautological: vacuously true by definition.
tropism: to turn towards or away from something, as a plant turns towards light.
weak (affect) theory: a way of viewing and interacting with the world which only describes/offers guidance on a small range of things, and has little overall effect on decision making and worldview.
Posts:
The section divisions are my own, and page numbers those in the PDF I linked.
I am sure to have misunderstood and/or poorly described things, and I am very open to differing perspectives, especially from people who actually understand this stuff properly. Like if someone can tell me what 'a problematic' actually is...
(the masterlist thing is something I do on![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alias_sqbr for reaction posts, but I can see it working for this, too)
About the original essay, and the point of all this
I came across the idea of reparative reading on Tumblr and was immediately taken with it. As described in this article:
A reparative reading seeks out what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art, even if the work is flawed. Importantly, a reparative reading also tends to consider what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art for someone who isn’t the reader.
Unfortunately all the discussion I could find was either unhelpfully vague, or in the form of (very positive) reactions to the writings of the creator of the term, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Specifically, to her 2003 essay collection Touching Feeling and the essay "Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Essay Is about You".
Just as I was deciding if I really wanted to pay $25 US for a book I probably wouldn't be able to understand, I came across the original version of the essay, created in 1997 as the introduction to a book of queer readings, and offered online for free by the publisher: Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction Is about You.
I found a online version of the 2003 version of the essay, from a brief skim it's basically identical, minus the parts about the book of essays it used to be an introduction to.
Anyway! I started reading and it was interesting but I started getting overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar terms and concepts, and so I'm going to try summarise it as I go like I did with confusing academic papers during my Phd. Which may or may or not end up helpful for anyone else but will hopefully at least help me!
I was going to do this as one post but then looked at how long it had gotten for just the first 7 pages of 35 and went AH. OK THEN. TIME FOR A MASTERLIST.
My understanding of the meanings of various terms
accretive: produced by or growing by a series of additions of identical or similar things
affect (noun): The emotional aspect of what causes us to take an action
affective: relating to emotion
aporia: an intellectual puzzle, or contradiction
contingency: something that might or might not happen, depending on circumstances
deontological: Judging things as right or wrong by a set of rules instead of their consequences.
enjoin: to be forced to do something
epistemology: a philosophy concerned with knowledge
fantasmatic: Phantasmal, incorporeal
genius loci: the spirit of a place, or the 'vibe'.
hermeneutic: a way of understanding the world, along with forms of interpretation and communication
hermeneutic of suspicion: a style of literary interpretation in which texts are read with skepticism in order to expose their repressed or hidden meanings.
inchoate: in an early or imperfect stage of development
jouissance: Joy, but in a kinda sexy way
le vouloir-être-intelligent: French for "I want to be smart". A quote from Barthes.
morcelé: French for "divided", comes up in Lacan's theory of the fragmented body (corps morcelé) which I'm not even going to try and understand.
mimetic: representing or imitating something
nonce: relating to the current moment
obiter dicta: an aside separate to the main argument being made
père de famille: 'Father of the family', a famous French play.
phenomenological: to do with the philosophy of experience and consciousness
problematic (noun): a thing that creates questions?
reflexive: multiple meanings, mostly involving an object acting on itself or being about itself etc.
reification: to conceptualise something abstract or variable as concrete and immutable.
rubric: classification, or set of rules
strong (affect) theory: a broad, compelling way of viewing and interacting with the world which relies upon and encourages a specific affect/emotion.
tautological: vacuously true by definition.
tropism: to turn towards or away from something, as a plant turns towards light.
weak (affect) theory: a way of viewing and interacting with the world which only describes/offers guidance on a small range of things, and has little overall effect on decision making and worldview.
Posts:
The section divisions are my own, and page numbers those in the PDF I linked.
- Pages 1-7: Introduction, An inspiring conversation, The hermeneutic of suspicion, Paranoia and it's relation to queerness
- Pages 7-21: Some thoughts now I'm partway through, Alternatives to the hermeneutic of suspicion, The nature of paranoia
- Pages 21-35: The problem with paranoia, Beyond paranoia, Where to for queer readings?, Description of the individual essays, Conclusion (Sedgwick), Conclusion (me)
I am sure to have misunderstood and/or poorly described things, and I am very open to differing perspectives, especially from people who actually understand this stuff properly. Like if someone can tell me what 'a problematic' actually is...
(the masterlist thing is something I do on
alias_sqbr for reaction posts, but I can see it working for this, too)