Taste Test Thursday - Memory's Daughters

Stabile, Susan M. (2004). Introduction: The Genealogy of Memory, Part One: Memory. Memory’s Daughters: The Material Culture of Remembrance in Eighteenth-Century America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1-125.

Rather than use words like culture or artifacts, Susan Stabile chooses terms like “topophilic” (love of place) and “materialized memory” (14). These are terms Stabile explores throughout the book especially in regards to the writings of 18^th century women such as Deborah Norris Logan, Elizabeth Fergusson, Hannah Griffits, Susanna Wright, and Annis Stockton. Drawing from their commonplace books, manuscripts and poems, Stabile reconstructs the material world these women preserved through their remembrances or memory.

As a result Stabile maps a remarkable symmetry between the interior homes of the women and their innermost minds – she “interpreted vernacular architecture as palaces of memory” (14) – a type of topophilic materialism. Since the writers experience the world through their senses and often remember through sensational triggers of smells, sights, sounds, touch and taste, their minds are recording their local history, the experiences of their time. This idea is promoted by the 18^th century philosophy of associationism, “Which postulated a direct, physical link connecting domestic architecture, material objects, and memory” (30). This parallel between material form of architecture and the immaterial form of ideas is unified together and communicated when written. The writing is the materialization of memory.  

Stabile states: “The commonplace book, then, is an archive in both senses of the word: as a physical object, it represents rhetorical topoi, or places for memory storage; as a text, it is the very stuff of memory making” (16). It is important to note that Stabile makes it clear that without memory or association, the objects would not be recorded and thus unarchived making them immaterial. Deborah Logan comments on this when discussing the lack of material evidence of her female ancestors. Stabile also addresses this with regards to Susanna Wright who was a Quaker and had a disregard for material possession. As a result, there is little material evidence for Wright. The point being that humans, or women in this case, project meaning onto object through their sentimental associations of memory and materialize their meaning through writing or deposition.

How does this apply to literature?

Stabile’s approach to view the literature and the space in which those writing were created exposes a dynamic of history that may not be usually considered when reading or writing history. I would think with reading or creating period writing one needs to consider how gender and class simultaneously reflect the physical place and the place of the mind/memory.

Word Count: 399

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Taste Test Thursday - The American Manufactory

Rigal, Laura (1998). Introduction: The Extended Republic in the Age of manufactures, Chapter 2: The Mechanic as Author of His Life. The American Manufactory: Art, Labor, and the World of Things in the Early Republic. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press: 3-20, 55-88.

Laura Rigal’s “culture of production” is a different perception Marx culture of labor. Whereas Marx presents the meaning of objects arises from the culture of labor and its divisions, Rigal believes it is within the production of objects which creates labor division – a kind of “chicken or the egg” discussion. To lay the foundation of her claim, she turns to St. John de Crevecoeur’s story of the botanist Mr. Bertram. Once a farmer, Mr. Bertram entered into the field of botany through the random observation of a daisy which prompted him to explore the lives of plants over his own rural livelihood. By hiring a farm worker to replace him in the field, Mr. Bertram was able to explore the intellectuals and the arts. Therefore, it was the intellectual production of work which led to the division of labor, from farmer to botanist, and the development of American culture in art and literature. This is all outlined in Laura Rigal’s introduction and exhibited throughout the following chapters to various successful degrees.

This approach is exhibited rather uniquely in Rigal’s second chapter with the consideration of cultural failure rather than success. This chapter tells the story of a steamboat inventor, John Fitch, and the various disappointments throughout his life. These successive failures are caused by a variety of cultural influences, such as: familial hierarchy, social class, politics, immigration, economics, geography, etc… When Fitch writes his life story, he incorporates a conglomeration of cultural influences into an asymmetrical assembly of “genres, styles, and discourses” which “testify to the innumerable representational structures that functioned in early industrial America…” (59). Interestingly, Rigal states that since Fitch is not able to “see culturally” he fails in his ventures. Though he may not “see culturally,” he is still able to record it. I would further argue that this largely uncontrived writing might offer a more objective view his of culture (despite his emotional rants).

How does this apply to literature?

In some ways Fitch’s writing exemplifies Latour’s ideas of developing a quasi-object focused writing since it lacks purification and translation. However, the writing style is difficult to read and understand which hinders its potential use for historical study or historical writing. I can’t quite wrap my head around it.

Word Count: 373

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Taste Test Thursday - We Have Never Been Modern

Latour, Bruno (1991).We have Never been Modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruno Latour’s We have Never Been Modern is examining objects from a very unique perch. I say “perch” because the lines of his theory are almost intangible, so much so one could slip into misunderstanding quite easily. Latour currently divides much of the world views and their respective disciplines as clearly delineated forms – what he calls the “Work of Purification.” However, some disciplines such as journalism and anthropologist view the world as a network of connections between art, science, technology, politics, geography, religion, etc… These are Latour’s hybrid “monsters” which he calls “Works of Translation.” Latour’s perch is to utilize the approaches of purification and translation simultaneously to seek a better understanding to the relationship of things (30). This requires a complete rethinking of approaching world view in which objects are not concrete separate forms nor are they the result of networked interpretations. Rather these objects are quasi-objects which occupy a broad spectrum (horizontally and laterally) between the two approaches. As Latour extends his perch further and further into his theory, his approach becomes more precarious because it lacks definition. This is actually his intent. He is attempting to remove us from the indoctrinated procedures and thoughts of purification or translations and free us to a more intimate understanding of object’s meaning and relationships beyond the locali of networks.

Because of Latour’s perch regarding objects it also affects his perception of history. He says, “Where do we get the idea of time that passes?” (68). This question quite eloquently makes his point. Time is continuous. It is a continual thread of networks being woven together from different locali and disciplines – sometimes doubling back on itself, sometimes breaking away to be reknitted in at a later or earlier point. There is not mythical Antropos who severs the thread and divides our understanding of history. The same is true for the objects of the world.

How does this apply to literature?

           

            I think Latour does a good job of reminding us to look beyond the writer’s perception because their world view (whether one of purification or translation) will affect their writing. 

Word Count: 349

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*Sorry it's late.

Borrowed Ingredients - Suggestions from Writers

These suggestions for writing history come from writers of Historical Fiction or, as some people like to say, Faction.

Author of City of Women ~ David Gillman has 5 suggestions for immersing the reader in a unique historical experience. 

Writer Elizabeth Crook expands her suggestions to 7 for writing about the 'unknown' of history. Wonder if she's superstitious?

Now here are some tips from a Historical Fiction Editor.