New Echo

Here is the displaced myth of Echo as she appears in the Marvel Universe. She has inherited her namesakes trait of having to copy the moves everyone else makes. She can preform any action that she see preformed first.

Echo and Narcissus

Echo and Narcissus is a Greek myth that Jacques Derrida discuses in an interview that is posted on youtube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya46wfeWqJk). I'll relate the myth to the best of my ability and then discuss why I think it brings up an interesting point.

Echo is the fairest of the nymphs. She was also a great story teller and anyone who heard her talk would stop and listen for a while. Zeus' wandering lust has settled on one of her female companions. When Hera came to discover which nymph she was immediately distracted by Echo's amusing stories, thus giving the other nymphs time to escape. Hera never being satisfied unless her rage was spent turned on poor Echo. Echo is cursed by the Hera to only be able to repeat the final syllables of other's and never again have the first word.

Narcissus is a young mortal man that is so beautiful to behold that all the young maidens instantly fell in love with him. Narcissus of course would have nothing to do with these maidens and scorned them one and all. He was wandering deep in the forest one day and becomes separated one day from his companions. Echo sees Narcissus and falls in love with him as do all, but has no ability to start a conversation. Her chance to speak comes when he calls out "Is anyone here?" She calls back "Here, here." using the same words but filling them with her rapture for the young man. She is hidden by the the trees from Narcissus' sight so he must continue to call out. "Come" called out Narcissus.. This was exactly the word that Echo needed. "Come" she replied and stepped out so Narcissus could see her. He rejected her as he did all of the women who would love him. "I will die before I give you power over me." All Echo could say in return was "I give you power over me." Narcissus continues on his way leaving the scorned Echo trailing in his wake. Eventually Narcissus stops to drink from a clear pool of water. He views his reflection in the water and immediately falls in love with himself unable to leave his own reflection. Echo can only sit and watch as her beloved pines away and dies beside the pool. She goes and hides herself away in a cave and that is where you can find her today still repeating the last words of the people that she comes into contact with.

Jacques Derrida uses this myth to help explain how the same words can be used to convey very different meanings. He states in the interview that "And what's extraordinary in this scene, which I've studied in my seminars, is the moment when Echo traps Narcissus in a certain way."

When Echo traps Narcissus.

Wait, where does this occur in the myth? Narcissus snares Echo with his beauty, his own reflection snares him, but Echo trapping Narcissus. I think that Echo traps Narcissus by using the same exact words but changing their meaning. When repeating Narcissus' word she owns them even though they are only a repetition. She puts her own meaning into the same words that Narcissus spoke first with a meaning that was his. I think that this is a very beautiful story at that point. For Echo hold Narcisuss by her tone and infection alone shows us the extreame power that the spoken word can have.

Introducing Cayden James Logan

Here is my 3 year old that has taught us so much this semester in English 300. Handsome lad eh??

Jacques Derrida

This is the famous leader of the deconstructive movement, Jacques Derrida (7-15-1930 to 08-08-2004). He proscribed to the thought that everything has a structure and that structure cannot be understood unless you understand the objects history as well. More to folllow.

DQ reading update 9-25

Well I was reading Don Quixote as instructed and I read two passages that I found interesting. The first was on pages 46 trough 52 concerning the burning of our brave knight errants library. I wonder why Cervantes dedicated all of this time to the criticism of his peers. The second part that I found interesting is the story of Don Quixote and the goat herders. The soliloquy that our knight preforms regarding all of the values of the Golden age and how they differ from the age in which he currently resides, the age of iron. From the middle of page 76 till the end of 77 Don Quixote explains how much better things were in the age of gold. How maidens could roam about the country side dressed in only vines and leaves for their entire lives and never have to fear being accosted by evil doers.

Myth of Creation Inspires Rock and Roll

Proof that Myth inspires many things in the modern world can found in the Rock music of AC/DC. Most people would claim that AC/DC is not the most thought provoking music out there but their song "Let there be Rock" is directly inspired by the creation myth out of the bible. The lyrics read:

In the beginning

Back in nineteen fifty-five

Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show

And all that jive

The white man had the smoltz

The black man had the blues

No one knew what they was gonna do

But Tchaikovsky had the news

He said -"let there be light", and there was light

"Let there be sound", and there was sound

"Let there be drums", and there was drums

"Let there be guitars", and there was guitars

"Let there be rock"

And it came to pass.

Wow, neat who would have thought. Also would like to say that the video for this song is a hoot if you are a fan of AC/DC and or Rock and Roll in general.
I'm trying to post the video in my blog but until I figure that trick out here is the link to the youtube site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98I85ceICRM

I think that cliches are a wonderful part of language. True there are many that are over used and those are the ones that we get sick and tired of hearing day in and day out. But think of all the phrases that many people are ready to discard as being unoriginal and therefore unworthy of use in communication. Every word that is used carries with a resonance of all the things that have been previously associated with that word. We were witness to this just recently with the phrase "lipstick on a pig." This is a cliche that used to mean nothing other than that changing somethings appearance or name doesn't change the object itself. An earlier rendition of this was "you can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear." The meaning of the words changed when we stared to relate them with the the GOP VP candidate's joke about hockey moms, pit bulls and lipstick. Hmmm I stray. Or do I? I think that cliches can give us a frame to view a culture by what they said most often. You use a cliche because you are counting on your listener to associate the same things with that phrase that you do. You can convey entire idea with very few words. As a culture changes so does it cliches but by looking back we can see where that phrase came from and why it was important at the time. When was the last time that you heard "Cash on the barrel head." This phrase summons to my mind places that are a rare find today and people interacting with commerce and each other in an equally rare or extinct manner. Another example is " down the rabbit hole" all of a sudden the entire story of Alice and wonderland is conjured to the listener's mind.
So yes I believe as many do that some cliches are over used. I also feel strongly that if we were to do away with every cliche that we would lose a valuable weapon in our communication arsenal. I encourage my class mates to find a phrase that doesn't carry with it any associations for this modern world and then learn what it used to mean to the people that turned it into a cliche.