morrigirl: (TaraWillow)
morrigirl ([personal profile] morrigirl) wrote2003-12-16 06:05 pm

Cynicism Makes me Happy

I've found great comfort in theory these last few days, psychoanalytic theory to be exact, mainly because it's such bunk. It's a system designed to symbolically interpret which makes it more useful as a form of literary criticism than as a tool of psychological realization. (I say this because one's internal landscape is already highly symbolic, it makes no sense to simply apply a new set of symbols and interpretations to a landscape whose existing symbols have not yet been interpreted and that's exactly what psychoanalysis does. Each individual has his own set of symbols and definitions whether he is conscious of their meaning or not and itis those symbols that must be interpretted.)

But as a form of literary criticism it's just fabulous because you don't always have access to a character's internal landscape, so it gives you a pre-existing system with which to interpet their actions and motivations. So when you apply psychoanalysis to a work of literature it's simply a matter of using one set of ideas to examine another. It's fucking great!!! There's not a lick of substance between the two just smoke and mirrors, the interpreter trying to convince the reader there is something more substantial hidden underneath the author's words. But the interpreter's interpretation can't be absolutely confirmed or denied so it's all just ideas. Nothing but loads and loads, and tons upon tons of ideas. And we all know how much I love ideas. Ideas rock because they are not reality, which always sucks. So I've been losing myself in feminist interpretation of Freud for the last two days, and that has made me moderately happy.

Of course that's only during the day. Night time is another story. I haven't been able to fall asleep the last two nights, and both times I've had bizarre dreams. There were babies in my dream last night and I was trying to save them. One of them was Sarah Kopp's baby, and it was so small and cute, like a new born kitten, able to fit in the palm of your hand. And I wanted one. But I couldn't have any children of my own so I just saved other people's babies from various nefarious plots.

I'm trying to meditate more. Come to find out that I feel a lot better after meditating. That's a fairly new development. Meditating never did jack for me before. Actuall, what I'm doing isn't precisely meditation, it's more like energy work: I'm trying to repair my protection bubble and my aura on a daily basis both of which require the same sort of stillness and concentration as meditation only it's directed towards a specific task if that makes sense.

Still lonely. Still feel like I'm losing Mike. Still feeling desperate and depressed that I have no friends. And, as outlined above, I'm doing the only thing I know how, to deal with it: losing myself.

hold up

[identity profile] nocash.livejournal.com 2003-12-17 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Feminist interpretation of Frued?


EXPLAIN!

Freudian Feminism

[identity profile] morrigirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-17 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
And I'll bet you thought all feminists hated Freud lol. Nope, I'm reading Freudian Feminist Theory at present and rather than explain it, which I don't have the time to do since I'm at work, I'll simply refer you to the following books:

Psychoanalysis and Feminism by Juliet Mitchell

Bonds of LOve by Jessica Benjamin

Or you could just take Literary Theory with Natania Rosenfeld one of these terms and she'll explain all of it since she is a Freudian Feminist herself :-)

meds

[identity profile] magic4uwho.livejournal.com 2003-12-17 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Insomniac sharing the luv **hugZ** . . it seems to be addicting this week ;). Do you have any drugs you can take? 5 HTP & other such non-perscription drugs (I'm rather JiNky cuz I have "illegal" Ambien woOOOWhhOOOoooo).

I've been trying to meditate more lately cuz I've been feeling the same way-- rather off balance & it's making me crAcked. Yet I'm hyperactive so sitting in one position without thinking of anything is rather hard . . . May your Yule be bright =) Amy

(p.s. may not be a sane entry, not sleep last night . . why the heck didn't i take the Ambien *LoL*)

lol

[identity profile] morrigirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-17 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
silly Amy

[identity profile] starstealingirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-18 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Psychoanalytic theory can be used for good, but usually it is used for evil. I've been reading this book called Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy (yes, I am a nerd, thank you), and the authors of the last essay argued that the show has no academic value, and that we all watch it because we have an Oedipal fixation on Buffy. I'm not sure who that bothers more: my inner academic, my inner feminist, or my inner fangirl. =P

Nerds of a Feather

[identity profile] morrigirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-18 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Well honey, if you're a nerd than so am I cause I read that book back in October. And yes, the final essay disturbed me as well. While I think the idea is kind of interesting, as most ideas concerning psychoanalysis are, that's about ALL I can say for it.

[identity profile] starstealingirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-18 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Agreed. I have read some feminist psychoanalysis, but I can only support it to a point because I ultimately think that it is a)crap and b)disturbing from a political perspective, as one can use the supposed subconscious nature of it all to impose on another person. I loved (and by loved, I mean hated) the authors' assertion that Buffy is ultimately a show about Buffy's sex life, and we all watch it to watch schoolgirl sex.

[identity profile] morrigirl.livejournal.com 2003-12-19 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my god, I know!!!! I was like "Speak for yourself lady! I know why I watch Buffy and it had very little to do with sex." Of course any serious student of psychoanalysis would diagree with me on that point since they've been taught that EVERYTHING Is about sex, and the whole theory of the unconscious makes it impossible to falsify their claim. How convenient.