[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Dystopic novel (fwd)



I just realized that my use of the word 'here' in my prior posting:

"Perhaps it's echoes of the 20th Century Literary Criticism class I took
my senior year of undergrad here,"

could be taken to mean here as in UNC. I meant here as in the
current thread on the mailing list. I went to Kent State in OH for
undergrad. 

Sorry for the confusion. I have no knowledge of the English dept's courses
at UNC.

Robyn Pretzloff
SILS Computer Lab Co-Manager
Graduate Assistant/Graduate Student
School of Information & Library Science
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
-----------------------------------------
Reality is the leading cause of stress
among those who are in touch with it.
--Jane Wagner
-----------------------------------------

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 22:42:40 -0500 (EST)
From: Robyn Pretzloff <pretr@ils.unc.edu>
To: Paul Jones <pjones@MetaLab.unc.edu>
Cc: Dan Green <greed@ruby.ils.unc.edu>, Rachel Fuller <fullr@ruby.ils.unc.edu>,
     peter_buch@hotmail.com, inls310-74@ruby.ils.unc.edu
Subject: Re: Dystopic novel

Perhaps it's echoes of the 20th Century Literary Criticism class I took
my senior year of undergrad here, but I meant that just b/c we do not read
about a character that finds the environment created by Orwell in 1984
utopic does not mean they do not exist. Kind of like when you look at a
painting or a photograph and wonder what was/is beyond the edges of the
frame. What was going on that the camera or the artist did not see or did
not choose to record? Does it mean that those unrecorded things are not
really there? I don't want to assume that. 

As for Bush, he discusses many things that certainly many people find to
be absolutely wonderful but these same strides in science and technology
can be also seen as horrifying to others. Bush discusses the improvements
in photography. Photographs, camera, video all bring the world closer to
us. And that's great, unless you're on the other side of the camera, the
one being recorded without your consent. Bush also mentions devices and
also the 'memex' desk where one types on keyboard as they work. This is the 
exact situation most office workers find themselves in. To some people,
being in a cubicle staring at a bluish screen for 40+ hours is pure
hell. 

I suppose if you asked my grandmother about the things in Bush's
article, she'd wonder why he did not mention anything more about
advances in health care and medicine (excepting that bit in the intro
about prolonging life). She has no use for most of the wonderful
innovations we deal with everyday. She's happily computer illiterate. She's
never worked outside the home in her life and never had any desire
to. Sure she's used a photocopier but not in a setting where it suddenly
made her life so terribly much easier that she'd ever notice it. At 78 she
claims that the antics of all the squirrels, birds, raccoons, and deer she
feeds like crazy that come into her large woodsy backyard are far better
entertainment than the TV. Although I agree her backyard menagerie is
entertaining I do not share her perspectives on such things. But hey,
everyone has their own perspective.

Robyn Pretzloff
SILS Computer Lab Co-Manager
Graduate Assistant/Graduate Student
School of Information & Library Science
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
-----------------------------------------
Reality is the leading cause of stress
among those who are in touch with it.
--Jane Wagner
-----------------------------------------

On Tue, 18 Jan 2000, Paul Jones wrote:

> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 20:55:03 -0500 (EST)
> From: Paul Jones <pjones@metalab.unc.edu>
> To: Robyn Pretzloff <pretr@ruby.ils.unc.edu>
> Cc: Dan Green <greed@ruby.ils.unc.edu>,
>      Rachel Fuller <fullr@ruby.ils.unc.edu>, peter_buch@hotmail.com,
>      inls310-74@ruby.ils.unc.edu
> Subject: Re: Dystopic novel
> 
> if, indeed, one person's dystopia is another's utopia, then who in 1984 is
> experiencing utopia? 
> and whilst we're linking here, who in bush's utopia is experiencing
> dystopia?
> 
> ==========================================================================
>                              Paul Jones
>    "We must protect our precious bodily fluids!" General Jack D Ripper
> http://MetaLab.unc.edu/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu
>   pjones@MetaLab.unc.edu   voice: (919) 962-7600     fax: (919) 962-8071 
> ===========================================================================
> 
>