Crime Scene Investigation

Ever watch CSI? I'm always amazed at the details those people uncover! The strand of hair, the microscopic fibers, the invisible traces of chemical compounds--that invariably provide the key to the case. I figured this close reading would require that kind of attention to detail, so I pulled out my magnifying glass and started dusting for prints....

From shoeprints to epithelials, the evidence all pointed in one direction: The author function had been here.

My quick take on the Mantissa case as a whole: While I can understand the "cleverness" of the concept for this story about stories, the way in which Fowles chose to make his point turned this reader off. Disregarding the gratuitous details, however, I'd like to focus this close reading on the following passage from part one of Mantissa, in which Nurse Cory brings the "newborn novel" to Miles: "It's a lovely little story. And you made it all by yourself."

In class Tuesday afternoon, we discussed the idea that Fowles is exploring the identity of the author and then related this to the concepts of writer's block and Lacan's mirror stage, in which an infant gains subjectivity through recognition by an "other." It seems curious to me that the regaining of Miles' subjectivity is equated in this first part of the book with overcoming writer's block. In other words, authorship and identity seem to be one and the same for Miles. Writing isn't something he does--it's who he is. It seems to me that in this way, Miles stands for the author in the sense of Foucault's author function.

In this first part of the book, we can see illustrated the four elements of Foucault's author function:

1. Connection to the legal system: Who has responsibility for the text (it's immediately handed over to Miles, the author).


2. The author function applies to Miles as a fiction writer, though it would not have applied in the same way if this had been a medical treatise instead.


3. This passage also raises obvious questions of attribution, since the story did not come about in isolation.


4. And finally, as we saw above, this author function doesn’t refer simply to a real individual, but refers in a sense to the "writing voice" of the author.

In saying that Miles has "made" the story all by himself--false, according to the story--the relationship of author to text is being called into question. This comment by Nurse Cory seems to be in line with the liberal humanist view of authorship, in which texts are products of authors, whose intention dictate meaning.

Another point made in class gives another insight into this passage, as well: At the same time that the liberal humanist point of view is being challenged, it also seems that the limits of critical theory are being tested. By implicitly questioning the role of the muse in the creation of this story, this passage also asks what place the creative imagination, inspiration, holds in the world of theory. Since the entire novel takes place within the mind of the author, however, we seem to be led back to the beginning. In the end, Miles never interacts with anything outside himself.

In Pursuit of the Hero

This is my proposal: To write a deconstructionist critique of 24’s Jack Bauer. I'm hoping to explore Bauer’s character in light of the role of the hero in American pop culture, paying particular attention to the characteristics that define Bauer as a hero and differentiate him from the story’s villains. He's a fascinating character to me, since he is compelling enough to cheer for, and at the same time takes action that is sometimes so illegal or violent that those around him (and possibly some of his audience) have questioned the nature of his heroism. I also hope to uncover some of the assumptions about the nature of heroism/villainy underlying his character.

The primary source for this paper will be, naturally, the television show, 24. (If you're not familiar with it, the basic premise of the show is that each season of 24 follows one day in the action-packed life of federal agent Jack Bauer, relating events in supposed real-time.) I plan to use Day 3 (the third season, which ran until spring of 2004) as the basis for the paper.

Now, given the ongoing motif of this blog, I suppose I ought to be giving a critique of some Dorothy Sayers mystery (and that would be fun!). But the truth is, I've had an ongoing interest in the subject of heroes and in particular, the enigmatic character of Jack Bauer. He is a compelling hero embodying a variety of contradictions. And since it first aired, 24 has received a lot of press precisely because of some of these contradictions. In Jack, we see a television hero inflicting violence on others in ways that would never have been allowed on primetime television until recent years.

I am especially interested in the factors that allow "us" (as a collective television audience) to make meaning out of Jack Bauer and see him as a heroic character. I recently discovered a book called The American Monomyth, which suggests that there is an established pattern for American heroes.... So, without writing my entire paper right here and now, I'll just say that this seems to me a good place to begin a deconstruction of one especially interesting American hero (a.k.a. Jack Bauer)--a hero whose actions sometimes toe a fine line between heroism and villainy. Seems to me that's a binary just waiting to be deconstructed!

In doing this, my hope is to learn how to uncover (personally) some of the cultural presuppositions that go into our definition of heroism, in order to learn to view/hear/read with a more critical (thinking) eye. For me, this is where theory and practice can meet.

I'd love to hear what you think about this. Does anyone see any connections I might want to make to other theories? Any fans out there have suggestions for particular episodes/events in the series that might be good to look at? And if you happen to check out the link above, let me know what you think about that article. I thought it raised some interesting questions....

Good luck on your essays!

Until next time,
H.