DOCSLIB.ORG

Daughter Blind

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Daughter Blind 1 DAUGHTER ____________________ A Play in Two Acts 2 CAST OF CHARACTERS DAD: The Caregiver. Mid 40’s. DAUGHTER: The Wolf. 13. WOMAN: The Healer. Mid 40’s-50’s. SETTING A lone homestead. TIME 1978. NOTE A // in dialogue indicates an interruption mid-line A / in dialogue indicates an interruption at the end of a line A -- indicates a struggled thought OR a cut/jump in thought 3 ACT ONE SCENE ONE LIGHTS UP ON: A rotting Homestead. There are piles of shredded Styrofoam scattered about the floors of the homestead which represent “snow.” Behind the home, we see three Cross gravestones. They remain in sight for the entirety of the play. A young girl, DAUGHTER, and her father, DAD stand center. He adjusts a pair of jeans on her body. DAUGHTER They don’t fit. DAD Sure they do. DAUGHTER They don’t fit. DAD You’ll gain weight. DAUGHTER How? We don’t have enough food. 4 DAD We will get more food. DAUGHTER How? DAD There’s always a way. DAUGHTER (shrugging him off) I can make my old one’s last. DAD You’ll gain weight. DAUGHTER It hurts my teeth. DAD That doesn’t make sense. DAUGHTER Salt and blood. That’s all I taste. DAD You’ll need shirts too. DAUGHTER Dad? DAD Yes, daughter? DAUGHTER I’m hungry. DAD … 5 DAUGHTER You’ll let me get fat like you someday right? And you’ll let me hang my belly loose? Like a proud fat duck// DAD Daughter// DAUGHTER //And eat loads and loads and loads and stare out windows while my belly hangs loose? DAD Not now, Daughter. Arms up. Daughter lifts her arms up while dad fastens a few safety pins to hold the pants up. DAUGHTER When is toothpaste coming? DAD There’s baking soda. DAUGHTER My mouth gets too dry. DAD That’s what it’s meant to do, daughter. Absorb. DAUGHTER Like snow? DAD I guess so. Yes. DAUGHTER Like the clearings by the Mission? 6 DAD (holding her by the shoulders) You haven’t been going down there have you? DAUGHTER No. DAD Daughter? DAUGHTER I have not. DAD Good. It is not smart. And what are we? DAUGHTER Smart. DAD You will gain weight. And you will get your toothpaste. I promise. You hear? I promise. And what does that mean? DAUGHTER It means you love me. DAD That’s right. Her nose begins bleeding. DAD Shit! DAUGHTER What? DAD 7 You have a bloody nose again. DAUGHTER Oh. I do. DAD Come here. Come here. Tilt your head back. Daughter, tilt your head back will you? (She does.) There you go. That’s better. DAUGHTER Is it? DAD Tissues. DAUGHTER Not since June. DAD Paper towels. Hand me a paper towel. DAUGHTER Out of those too. DAD For Christ sake. A rag? Go and get me a rag. DAUGHTER They all have oil stains and rust on them. DAD They will have to do. You are getting blood all over. DAUGHTER I could go stand in my bloody nose spot. 8 DAD Let me help you, daughter. DAUGHTER Yes, dad. DAD You are not always so strong. Now, get a rag and soak it with some snow water. DAUGHTER ... She hesitates. DAD What are you--go, go! The shit’s getting everywhere! She runs to the clothingline strung across the back wall of the home. DAD kneels to take care of the few spots of blood that linger. DAD I thought we were over these. Daughter throws open the door to the outside. She soaks the rag in wet snow, closes the door, and holds the rag to her bleeding nose. DAUGHTER ...I don’t know how to stop them. The rag is wet. It drips. 9 DAD Yes you do! We have gone over this, and over this and over this--You have to THINK. Think hard, Daughter. Remember? He helps her. They ring out the rag together. He puts the rag to her nose. DAD Keep this round your nose and apply pressure for the next few hours. DAUGHTER Hours? DAD It is more than minutes, less than days. DAUGHTER Days. Days. Days. Days. Days. DAD You like that word? DAUGHTER I think I am in love with it. DAD You can not be in love with a word. That is silly. DAUGHTER Silly? DAD Crazy. 10 DAUGHTER No! Not crazy! I hate that word. I want to kill that word! DAD You can not kill words either, daughter. You can only speak them, or write them. DAUGHTER Well, I am going to marry Days and kill Crazy. Whether I can or can not. I will do it. DAD Go get washed up for dinner and next time when you feel the blood surfacing, what do we do? DAUGHTER Think. Think. Think. Think. DAD Think soft? DAUGHTER No. Think hard. DAD Correct. You are learning, Daughter. She rises and begins a pre-dinner ritual. All the while holding the rag to her nose. We hear a LOW-WIND HUM of a WOLF as-- LIGHTS SHIFT TO: 11 SCENE TWO A fire blazes inside the homestead. Dad and Daughter sit on wooden stools and eat stewed carrots from their bowls. Occasionally one of them will take a Vienna Sausage from the can and pass it to the other. DAUGHTER I think these have gone sour. DAD Can’t. DAUGHTER These are food. DAD These are canned food. DAUGHTER They do not sour like the carrots? DAD Too many sulfates. DAUGHTER They make me pass gas. DAD Please, daughter. 12 DAUGHTER In my sleep. They make me pass gas. And sometimes that gas wakes me up in the middle of the night. I do not like this food. I am still hungry even after we eat. I think there’s something dying in me. DAD Do not say that. DAUGHTER In my innards. I think something nested in there and is either trying to come out, or eat me alive. DAD I said, don’t say that! Unless you are joking. Now, are you joking? DAUGHTER What is joking? DAD Making light of--it is meant to make you laugh. DAUGHTER That did not make you laugh. So it must not have been joking. I want to kill joking. DAD Daughter, I keep telling you, you can not kill words. DAUGHTER rises from her stool and takes a “pretend knife” out of her pants and begins slicing the air as if she’s slashing the imaginary words. DAUGHTER Yes I can. You just wait. I will kill all the bad ones. I will slice them and dice them and chop em’ all up into minced pieces 13 of themselves and leave the rest, the good ones, to love and kiss and hold. DAD Eat your food. She sits. Silence. DAUGHTER farts. It’s silent. DAD notices. DAD Did you just/ DAUGHTER I couldn’t help it. DAD That is the worst kind of smell that has ever passed through my nostrils. DAUGHTER They smell sweet to me. DAD They smell like burnt stadium nachos. DAUGHTER I did not laugh. You did not make me laugh. Which means you are not joking. (she stands) I don’t want to eat carrots and sausage weenies with you by the fire anymore! 14 She takes her bowl to leave. DAD Sit. She does not. DAUGHTER You can try to say nice things. It will not hurt you. It will not hurt you to do that. You could be a nice dad and say nice things to me. Like--Like-- (She looks out the window) Tell me a story? DAD What kind of a story? DAUGHTER You know. DAD “There was once a Dad and a Mom.” DAUGHTER (adding to the rehearsed story) “They bought land to build a home. They built the home out of earth--dirt and mud and sand.” DAD “Their love was born from the earth/ DAUGHTER (interrupting) Who do the crosses belong to? On the hill? DAD Daughter. DAUGHTER 15 Who are they? Do I know them? DAD I thought you wanted to hear a story. DAUGHTER Tell me a new story. DAD Your questions are too dangerous, daughter. DAUGHTER Well. Maybe. Maybe I want to be dangerous. Yes. Maybe. Maybe I would like to dig them up myself and see for myself. What then? I bet you would not want to say mean things to me then, would you? DAD You would only find bones, daughter. Nothing more. DAUGHTER Then, I would put their bones back together again and make them my new family. And then I would not need you anymore. DAD Do not be proud, daughter. DAUGHTER Proud? DAD Promoting the self in high regard. Thinking only of oneself through righteous indignation. 16 DAUGHTER No. No, I do not feel this “proud” in my body. Instead, I feel my body growing inward--like a Tree Well, it sinks in at the ribs because I am hungry and nothing will satisfy this hunger. See? She lifts her shirt a little and sucks in her ribs to reveal a dramatic gauntness to her frame. DAD (Looking away) Put your shirt down. DAUGHTER I do not want this body. DAD You will gain weight. DAUGHTER I do not want this hunger! DAD You do not want to be thin like a deer? DAUGHTER No. I would like to be fat like a bear. DAD Fat like a bear? Are you calling your dear old Dad a bear? DAUGHTER A GRIZZLY! DAD If I am a grizzly then you are a scared little girl out in the stream who’s about to get/ 17 DAUGHTER No! Don’t!/ DAD EATEN!!!!! RAAAWWRRR!!!!! DAUGHTER No! NO! NO! NO! They wrestle each other.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fucking Crazy by Marcus Campbell
    Fucking Crazy By Marcus Campbell Can’t I Put On Some Pants First? Sir, we can get your pants for you. What the hell… here I was… THE Marcus Campbell, a successful internet entreprenuer, in my own house and I can’t even get my own pants? Sir are there any guns in the house? Is this some kind of conspiracy… first I can’t get my own damn pants… now you think I’m gonna shoot people… what the hell kind of police are you… you are supposed to be on my side… I pay my taxes… over $168,000 in one year alone… that’s probably more than all you guys make combined! Place your hands behind your back… we are putting these on for your safety. My safety… HA if you let me do what I planned to I wouldn’t even be here. I remember the day as if it happened yesterday… Thoughts racing thru my mind as I effortlessly complied with everything asked of me by the police as I was cuffed and placed in the back of a police car in front of those peering eyes hidden between the openings of my neighbors window shades. These neighbors have all they need to make fun of me and call me whatever they want… great… what else can I do to make this day any worse. This was the day… I would be placed on an involuntary psyche hold… 5150 as they call it. Which basically means the state of California thinks I am too dangerous to myself to be allowed to have any normal human rights for 48 hours.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter One: Postwar Resentment and the Invention of Middle America 10
    MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Jeffrey Christopher Bickerstaff Doctor of Philosophy ________________________________________ Timothy Melley, Director ________________________________________ C. Barry Chabot, Reader ________________________________________ Whitney Womack Smith, Reader ________________________________________ Marguerite S. Shaffer, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT TALES FROM THE SILENT MAJORITY: CONSERVATIVE POPULISM AND THE INVENTION OF MIDDLE AMERICA by Jeffrey Christopher Bickerstaff In this dissertation I show how the conservative movement lured the white working class out of the Democratic New Deal Coalition and into the Republican Majority. I argue that this political transformation was accomplished in part by what I call the "invention" of Middle America. Using such cultural representations as mainstream print media, literature, and film, conservatives successfully exploited what came to be known as the Social Issue and constructed "Liberalism" as effeminate, impractical, and elitist. Chapter One charts the rise of conservative populism and Middle America against the backdrop of 1960s social upheaval. I stress the importance of backlash and resentment to Richard Nixon's ascendancy to the Presidency, describe strategies employed by the conservative movement to win majority status for the GOP, and explore the conflict between this goal and the will to ideological purity. In Chapter Two I read Rabbit Redux as John Updike's attempt to model the racial education of a conservative Middle American, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, in "teach-in" scenes that reflect the conflict between the social conservative and Eastern Liberal within the author's psyche. I conclude that this conflict undermines the project and, despite laudable intentions, Updike perpetuates caricatures of the Left and hastens Middle America's rejection of Liberalism.
    [Show full text]
  • 37<? /V/ £ /D V3^5" the AGOLMIRTH CONSPIRACY DISSERTATION
    37<? /v/ £ /d V3^5" THE AGOLMIRTH CONSPIRACY DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By James Cary Elston, B.A., B.B.A., M.A. Denton, Texas December, 1996 37<? /v/ £ /d V3^5" THE AGOLMIRTH CONSPIRACY DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By James Cary Elston, B.A., B.B.A., M.A. Denton, Texas December, 1996 Elston, James C. The Agolmirth Conspiracy. Doctor of Philosophy (English), December, 1996, 506 pages. Written in the tradition of the classic spy novels of Ian Fleming and the detective novels of Raymond Chandler, The Agolmirth Conspiracy represents the return to the thriller of its traditional elements of romanticism, humanism, fast-moving action, and taut suspense, and a move away from its cynicism and dehumanization as currently practiced by authors such as John Le Carre' and Tom Clancy. Stanford Torrance, an ex-cop raised on "old-fashioned" notions of uncompromising good and naked evil and largely ignorant of computer systems and high-tech ordinance, finds himself lost in a "modern" world of shadowy operatives, hidden agendas, and numerous double-crosses. He is nevertheless able to triumph over that world when he puts his own honor, his own dignity, and his very life on the line, proving to himself and to his adversaries that such things can still make things easier to see amid today's swirling moral fog.
    [Show full text]
  • Rafting Colorado I
    Like Chocolate for Water 400 Miles Rafting the Colorado - Utah's Canyonlands and Arizona's Grand Canyon Left to Right: Somewhere - Grand Canyon, big wave in Gem Series/Grand Canyon, Allison rowing Colorado/Canyonlands Everyone should experience one solid week of rafting the Colorado. It IS an incomparably life-altering experience. To date, I have accrued 400 miles of rafting on the great river - albeit broken up by the damnable Lake Powell - via two legendary trips: the 2000 trip down Grand Canyon (with Jenn and company) and 2002 trip down Canyonlands (with Allison). Prelude - Colorado/Grand Canyon We, 16 passengers, arrived at Lees Ferry, below the Glen Canyon Dam(n) - in stupefied states: stupefied by the depths of oranges and red towering above (which we descended with a swiftness that defined the prior hours of speeding over parched flatlands), the silvery laze of the blue-green river (that we knew would change her character many times in the course of the next two weeks), and the blazing heat that seemed to be an active, living force (active in the sense that it wanted to suck us dry, wear us down), and stupefied by the expectations of what lay ahead (based both on years of planning and on the casually, grandly terrifying words of our hunky trip leader the night before in the comfort of the hotel lobby). And then this strange man who was employed by OARS approached me. He bore a weird gait, a face that was askew when he spoke, prominently bad teeth (one missing and two so crooked that he seemed to spit through the uneven spaces between them as he lispily spoke) protruding from his mouth, eyes that crossed and wandered all at once, and a dirty ivory leather cowboy hat wrinkled and chewed along the edges: "Hi there beautiful - I'm Matt.
    [Show full text]
  • AC/DC BONFIRE 01 Jailbreak 02 It's a Long Way to the Top 03 She's Got
    AC/DC AEROSMITH BONFIRE PANDORA’S BOX DISC II 01 Toys in the Attic 01 Jailbreak 02 Round and Round 02 It’s a Long Way to the Top 03 Krawhitham 03 She’s Got the Jack 04 You See Me Crying 04 Live Wire 05 Sweet Emotion 05 T.N.T. 06 No More No More 07 Walk This Way 06 Let There Be Rock 08 I Wanna Know Why 07 Problem Child 09 Big 10” Record 08 Rocker 10 Rats in the Cellar 09 Whole Lotta Rosie 11 Last Child 10 What’s Next to the Moon? 12 All Your Love 13 Soul Saver 11 Highway to Hell 14 Nobody’s Fault 12 Girls Got Rhythm 15 Lick and a Promise 13 Walk All Over You 16 Adam’s Apple 14 Shot Down in Flames 17 Draw the Line 15 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 18 Critical Mass 16 Ride On AEROSMITH PANDORA’S BOX DISC III AC/DC 01 Kings and Queens BACK IN BLACK 02 Milk Cow Blues 01 Hells Bells 03 I Live in Connecticut 02 Shoot to Thrill 04 Three Mile Smile 05 Let It Slide 03 What Do You Do For Money Honey? 06 Cheesecake 04 Given the Dog a Bone 07 Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish) 05 Let Me Put My Love Into You 08 No Surprize 06 Back in Black 09 Come Together 07 You Shook Me All Night Long 10 Downtown Charlie 11 Sharpshooter 08 Have a Drink On Me 12 Shithouse Shuffle 09 Shake a Leg 13 South Station Blues 10 Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution 14 Riff and Roll 15 Jailbait AEROSMITH 16 Major Barbara 17 Chip Away the Stone PANDORA’S BOX DISC I 18 Helter Skelter 01 When I Needed You 19 Back in the Saddle 02 Make It 03 Movin’ Out AEROSMITH 04 One Way Street PANDORA’S BOX BONUS CD 05 On the Road Again 01 Woman of the World 06 Mama Kin 02 Lord of the Thighs 07 Same Old Song and Dance 03 Sick As a Dog 08 Train ‘Kept a Rollin’ 04 Big Ten Inch 09 Seasons of Wither 05 Kings and Queens 10 Write Me a Letter 06 Remember (Walking in the Sand) 11 Dream On 07 Lightning Strikes 12 Pandora’s Box 08 Let the Music Do the Talking 13 Rattlesnake Shake 09 My Face Your Face 14 Walkin’ the Dog 10 Sheila 15 Lord of the Thighs 11 St.
    [Show full text]
  • P&C Music Rsd 2017 – Stock Remaining at 8 April 2019
    P&C MUSIC RSD 2017 – STOCK REMAINING AT 8 APRIL 2019 ARTIST / TITLE PRODUCT INFO £ 1. 12 STONE TODDLER: Does it scare you? / Scheming 2 picture disc LPs in back-to-back packaging, first time on vinyl. 31.99 2. ALICE IN CHAINS: What the hell have I + 3 more Double gatefold containing 2 x 7” singles, containing four tracks. 500 copies for UK. 15.99 3. ALTERED IMAGES: Happy birthday 2LP on 180g vinyl, re-mastered ltd edn. Contains a bonus disc of seven extra tracks. 500 copies 31.99 worldwide. 4. ANDERSON, Brett: Live at Koko, 2011 LP, dark green vinyl. The inner sleeve features previously unpublished photos from the rehearsal 27.99 sessions. 5. ANIMALS, THE: Five animals don’t stop no show LP. Black heavy vinyl. Includes 5 prints. 21.99 6. AQUA: Aquarium LP, 180g light blue opaque vinyl. Aqua’s groundbreaking bubblegum-pop album Aquarium on vinyl for 24.99 the first time. 7. AUCTION FOR THE PROMISE CLUB: See through 7” clear vinyl. 7.99 8. BAND OF PAIN / NURSE WITH WOUND: Abbey Rd LP. 500 copies only. 21.99 9. BARDO POND: Curanderos LP. Gold vinyl – DL card. 1000 copies worldwide. 23.99 10. BATMOBILE: Batomaniacs 7” single, gold vinyl, 750 numbered copies. Alternative versions of studio recordings. 10.99 11. BEVIS FROND, The: The Auntie Winnie album 2LP. Purple vinyl + DL card, 1000 copies only 31.99 12. BIZU, Izzy: Talking to you SIGNED 7” single, not on physical album. 500 for UK. 5.99 13. MARC BOLAN AND T-REX: Live 1977 (The Dandy in 2LP, coloured vinyl, 2000 copies.
    [Show full text]
  • Erin Brockovich a True Story by SUSANNAH GRANT
    erin brockovich a true story by SUSANNAH GRANT Revisions by RICHARD LAGRAVENESE Revised Draft 03/22/99 NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS SOFT COPY. INT. DR. JAFFE'S OFFICE - DAY A successful-looking doctor sits behind a desk in a well- appointed office. He's looking at someone off-camera. DR. JAFFE Uh, but you have no actual medical training? ERIN (off) No. I have kids. Learned a lot right there. I've seen nurses give my son a throat culture. I mean what is it - you stick a giant Q-tip down their throat and Script provided for educational purposes. More scripts can be found here: http://www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/library wait. Or a urine analysis, with that dipstick that tells you whether or not the white count is high... DR. JAFFE Yes, I understand. ERIN (off) And, I mean, I'm great with people. Of course, you'd have to observe me to know for sure, but trust me on that one. I'm extremely fast learner. I mean, you show me what to do in a lab once, and I've got it down. He nods. Now we see who he is talking to: ERIN BROCKOVICH. How to describe her? A beauty queen would come to mind - which, in fact, she was. Tall in a mini skirt, legs crossed, tight top, beautiful - but clearly from a social class and geographic orientation whose standards for displaying beauty are not based on subtlety. ERIN (CONT'D) ...for instance, at one point I wanted to be an engineer, so I was working at Fleuer Engineers and Constructors in Irvine.
    [Show full text]
  • From Otherkin to Transethnicity: Your Field Guide to the Weird World of Tumblr Identity Politics
    From Otherkin to Transethnicity: Your Field Guide to the Weird... https://gawker.com/5940947/from-otherkin-to-transethnicity-your... From Otherkin to Transethnicity: Your Field Guide to the Weird World of Tumblr Identity Politics Max Read � 180.55K 09/06/12 03:25PM Filed to: THE INTERNET Like a lot of teenagers and 20-somethings, "Eric Draven" used to keep a Tumblr. The microblogging platform has a strong community aspect, and it's easy to find people who like the same things — or are undergoing the same 1 of 12 8/19/19, 11:46 AM From Otherkin to Transethnicity: Your Field Guide to the Weird... https://gawker.com/5940947/from-otherkin-to-transethnicity-your... struggles — as you. There aren't many people undergoing the exact same struggles as Draven (a pseudonym taken from goth classic The Crow), though: unlike most teenagers and 20-somethings, Draven isn't, he claims, human. He might present as human, yes, but really he's a "fictive and otherkin who, in previous lives, has been a Deku Scrub and a dark elf." He's also "transethnic(Japanese) and andrognous [sic]." What does this mean? An otherkin is a being born into the wrong body. Not just with the wrong parts, but as the wrong species: people who identify as otherkin believe that they are a wolves, or elves, or really any kind of being, born into a human body. (Furries, who focus on anthropomorphic animals and are known for dressing up, aren't the same thing as otherkin, many of whom don't dress up or change their appearances at all.) A fictive is like an otherkin where the true, internal identity is a fictional character — deku scrubs are tiny creatures from The Legend of Zelda series of video games.
    [Show full text]
  • Disclaimer: SM Owns Twilight, but This Plot Is Mine
    Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, but this plot is mine Written by CaraNo Beta’d by HollettLA 1. I listen to Alice; I really do. "…and then he started talking about how much he had invested in our relationship. I was the one who brought good things into…" But it's easy to tune out. She makes it so incredibly hard for herself. "…I got so mad, ya know? 'Cause he made me feel so fucking cheap…" I sip my Bella. Vodka, Sprite, pear juice, and lime. Oh, yes. I have my own drink here at Click. It's our bar. Well, it's Demetri's bar, but it's our hangout. Rose, Alice, and I meet up here a few times a week just to talk, talk, talk. "…I mean, I'm a fucking catch, right? And then…" I tilt my head a little, bringing back a few words… Hmm. The writer in me doesn't know when we're off the clock. "…all about my assets. He's just not worth it…" It's funny. I write about relationships for a living, but I refuse to be in one myself. "…because I'm valuable…" Instead, I often use Alice and Rose. They inspire me. I'm fascinated. They're both so unlike me. Maybe it's because I grew up without a female role model. "…so, now I'm back on the market." There it is again. Those words. She's talking about what's supposed to be love. But all I hear is "investing", "cheap", "assets", "worth", "market".
    [Show full text]
  • Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Singing at Death’s Door: Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology by Tiffany Naiman 2017 © Copyright by Tiffany Naiman 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Singing at Death’s Door: Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music by Tiffany Naiman Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 Professor Robert W. Fink, Co-Chair Professor Raymond L. Knapp, Co-Chair This dissertation investigates musical expressions of temporal alterities in works created by popular music artists, identifying their aesthetic responses as their bodies become ill, disabled, and they become more aware of mortality. I propose a critical, hermeneutic, and theoretical method drawn from Edward Said’s appropriation of Adorno’s expression “late style” that I have designated ill style, a form of creativity within a temporality of illness. Late style is discernable in works produced, paradigmatically, at the end of one’s career in “old age,” but late style may also be understood as an influence on artistic output at any stage of life if the subject is experiencing untimeliness and a disruption in access to the communal understanding of futurity and time, a possible consequence of factors other than age. I contend that late style, accelerated by illness, disrupts Western cultural attempts at ignoring precarious and finite nature of existence; the resulting expressions of lateness ask audiences to do the same. I offer a way in which to think more critically about what scholars consider late style, how it functions in popular ii music studies and society, and how it intersects with the fields of disability, gender, queer, and critical race studies, and the social sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Complexities of Life in the South Bronx
    THE BX CHRONICLES: EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITIES OF LIFE IN THE SOUTH BRONX Jason Cory Mendez A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Education in the School of Education. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by Professor George Noblit Professor Jim Trier Professor Cheryl Mason Bolick Professor James E. Osler II Professor Allison Anders © 2008 Jason Cory Mendez ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT JASON CORY MENDEZ: THE BX CHRONICLES: EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITIES OF LIFE IN THE SOUTH BRONX (Under the direction of George W. Noblit) This nontraditional dissertation, which I prefer to label as a manuscript, is a qualitative study that explores the complexities of life in the South Bronx. This manuscript represents my multifaceted journey as a young Puerto Rican man making meaning of life in the South Bronx as well as making meaning of my lived experiences navigating through academia. This journey implicitly employs a theoretical framework of détournement, critical race theory, lived experience, and representation in order to construct a counterstory that critiques popular and distorted (stereotypical) representations of life in the South Bronx. Additionally, this manuscript examines the complexities in the representations of Hiphop. Along this journey I explored the life of world renowned Hiphop pioneer, Phase 2. Phase 2’s experiences and knowledge concerning interpretations of the origins, shifts, and objectifying of Hiphop speak to its [Hiphop’s] social origins, evolution, and position in reality. The lived experiences of Phase 2 are mirrored against my own lived experiences in order to create a dialogue that speaks to Hiphop as culturally lived experiences rather than a set of elements (rapping, break dancing, aerosol art, and dee jaying) to which Hiphop is often reduced.
    [Show full text]
  • The Demolished Man
    The Demolished Man By Alfred Bester "Be grateful that you only see the outward man. Be grateful that you never see the passions, the hatreds, the jealousies, the malice, the sicknesses... Be grateful you rarely see the frightening truth in people." -Contents- Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 1 Explosion! Concussion! The vault doors burst open. And deep inside, the money is racked ready for pillage, rapine, loot. Who's that? Who's inside the vault? Oh God! The Man With No Face! Looking. Looming. Silent. Horrible. Run… Run… Run, or I'll miss the Paris Pneumatique and that exquisite girl with her flower face and figure of passion. There's time if I run. But that isn't the Guard before the gate. Oh Christ! The Man With No Face. Looking. Looming. Silent. Don't scream. Stop screaming… But I'm not screaming. I'm singing on a stage of sparkling marble while the music soars and the lights burn. But there's no one out there in the amphitheater. A great shadowed pit… empty except for one spectator. Silent. Staring. Looming. The Man With No Face. And this time his scream had sound. Ben Reich awoke. He lay quietly in the hydropatlhic bed while his heart shuddered and his eyes focused at random on in the room, simulating a calm he could not feel. The walls of green jade, the nightlight in the porcelain mandarin whose head nodded interminably if you touched him, the multi-clock that radiated the time of three planets and six satellites, the bed itself, a crystal pool flowing with carbonated glycerine at ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit.
    [Show full text]