The Gamut: a Journal of Ideas and Information, No. 13, Fall 1984
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Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU The Gamut Archives Publications Fall 1984 The Gamut: A Journal of Ideas and Information, No. 13, Fall 1984 Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/gamut_archives Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Cleveland State University, "The Gamut: A Journal of Ideas and Information, No. 13, Fall 1984" (1984). The Gamut Archives. 11. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/gamut_archives/11 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Gamut Archives by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A JOURNAL OF IDEAS. AND INFORMATION Number 13 Fall, 1984 ..,., ,, •• I o • · ---- Krazy Kat - p. 28. Special' Holiday Offer 2 forl Do yeu plan on bein$ overwhelmed with holiday shopping? WHY NOT G~ , THE GAMUT INSTE~D? 2 sbb!scrlptiOlls for the price of 1 Renew your own* and give a gift subscription both for $12 plus- Up to 2 more gift 'subscriptions at $6 each! "Pifrout th~': enc1osed card and mail today. *You are eligible even if your subscription has not expired. C 128 ;'J A JOURNAL OF IDEAS AND INFORMATION Number 13 Fall, 1984 Editor: Louis T. Mille Co-Editor: Leonard M. Trawick ...,. " . Managing Editor: Andrea P. Redhead .' .. c" . Intern Editor: Susan Daniels • ~ Circulation Manager: Mary Grimm . Production Manager: Lana Gerlach Advisory Board John A. Flower George Herriman's celebrated cartoon figure, Krazy Kat, undergoes analysis in Gary Engle's Robert Cheshier article (see p. 28). David Guralnik Julie Haug Herbert Kamm The Gamut: a Journal of Ideas and In/0171IJltion is published in Katherine Kinsey the fall, winter, and springofeach year by Oeveland State Diana Tittle University, Oeveland, Ohio. Subscription rate: one year (three issues), $12.00; two years, $20.00; three years, $25.00. Ubrary rate, $15.00 per year. Foreign subscrip Editorial Board tions $3.00 per year additional. Single copies, $5.00; back issues, $6.00. Claims for missing issues honored within Stephen R. Coleman six months of publication. George A. Coulman The Gamut invites commentaries for its "Back Matter" sec Fred E. Ekfelt tion and also the submission of new articles and creative works, especially by Ohio writers and artists, on topiCS of Gary Engle interest to readers of this region. Preliminary inquiries are welcome; detailed information for contributors on re John Gerlach quest. Submitted material will bereturned ifaccompanied Bernard Hamermesh by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address all corre spondence to: The Gamut, Room 1216 Rhodes Tower, William R. Martin Oeveland State University, Oeveland, OH 44115. Copyright c 1984 by Oeveland State University. All rights Photography: Louis T. Mille reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ISSN 0275-0589. CONTENTS OF ISSUE NO. 13, FALL 1984 3 Editorial: Our Fifth Year 4 Dick Feagler: The Two Conventions Noted cynic observes the follies of national politics 9 The Gamut Photography Contest Winners Brenda L. Lewison, Jim Boland, Janine Bentivegna, Eileen M. Delehanty, Genevieve Gauthier, Rhoda Grannum, Buena Johnson, Charles J. Mintz, Tom Ritter, Wayne Sot 20 Louis Giannetti: Italian Neorealist Cinema Political philosophies and political realities shaped the work of the great post-war Italian filmmakers 28 Gary Engle: Krazy Kat and the Spirit of Surrealism George Herriman's famous cartoon strip reflects early twentieth century artistic ideas The Gamut Prize in Short Fiction 40 Carol Felder: Colleagues 45 Jennifer Bass Gostin: Seeds 47 Elizabeth Searle: The Answer Man 50 John Greppin: The Gypsy Language Language is the link that holds together this people without a country: latest in the Languages of the World series 53 G. Whitney Azoy: Habib's Last Ride Traditional myth patterns give dispossessed Afghans a grasp on their crumbling world 59 David R. Mason: Alfred North Whitehead - A Civilized Philosopher The great British thinker moved to America and brought philosophy out of the clouds and into everyday life 68 Michael Cole: Through A Lens, Darkly Three Prose Poems inspired by photographs of Jerry Uelsmann 72 Carole Venaleck: The Invisible Power of Color You may not know what that red room is doing to you 76 Louise Boston and Edward J. McNeeley: Computer Memory The heart of the information revolution 80 karl kempton: Two Concrete Poems BACKMAITER 82 John Stark Bellamy II: In Praise of Gissing 84 Hester Lewellen: On a Murder Jury 3 Our Fifth Year With this issue, we enter our fifth year of publication. Such a number is not by itself impressive. Some literary journals have lasted for a century, some (such as computer magazines) fold their leaves and die within a year. For us, however, our full four years represent an accomplishment. Our major difficulty, in this age of pseudo-specialization, has been finding an audience for a periodical of general inter est. In principle, "general interest" includes everyone; but in practice the audience for articles of general interest is a specialized one, made up of courageous, educated readers with a taste for diversity. That we have been able to find almost a thousand such subscribers is part of our accomplishment. Four years also means twelve issues, one hundred and seventy pieces (articles, stories, poems, art and photography portfolios, letters etc.), one thousand two hundred and eight pages, and more than 800,000 words, every single one of which we read at least ten times before publication. "We" is two editors (half-time) and a staff filling three half-time positions (see our masthead), plus an occasional intern editor (a graduate student). For most of us, "half-time" is a technical term which is quite inadequate to describe the actual hours devoted during holidays, week-ends, evenings, as well as those subtracted from family activities at home. The five of us (the Editorial Committee) meet to decide what each next issue should consist of. Some pieces are sent to us by known or unknown contributors ("over the transom"). Others, on specific subjects, we ask writers we know to write for us. All articles must then be reviewed for accuracy and for style. For certain types of material, we sometimes call on readers who are experts in the field. After surviving this scrutiny, the articles must be edited and sent to authors for final ap proval. At last they enter the typographic pipeline and are entered on our word processor, and, since we are now in the post-modem era, are transmitted by phone line to the typesetter's computer. We receive galleys, cut them into pages, design the layout with illustrations (which we must often secure ourselves because the authors can't) and send these pages, called "dummies," back to the typesetter who produces camera-ready boards that finally go to the printer. There is still another stage of proofreading (blue prints) to be gone through before we finally receive bound cop ies. And start all over again. In addition to the foregoing, we send out mailings to secure subscriptions, de vise print and radio ads, keep subscription records, send out copies to subscribers, correspond with authors and subscribers, run contests (art, fiction, concrete poetry and photography, so far). And every now and then we produce an index and an ed itorial. The latest index displays the enormously varied range of material we offer our readers. It is our belief that there exist even more readers who are, like us, inter ested in everything going on in the world. If any of them are your friends and rela tives, give them a subscription (see special holiday rate for subscribers, inside front cover). And if you have any comment about our articles or our policy, we would be glad to hear from you. In the meantime, thank you for your support. Ifwe don't wear out, we'll con tinue to give you variety, interest, and readable writing. -Louis T. Millc 4 COMMENTARY Dick Feagler The Two Conventions There is a round room in Washington called the Oval Office and in that office is a desk. In a chair behind that desk sits a man none of us know. The man has a title - President of the United States. He got his job through an election. But we didn't vote for the man. We voted for his aura. On a shelf near our bathrooms, we all have cakes of soap. Why did we choose the brand of soap we bought? Because of its name, perhaps. Or its perfume. Or an advertisement we saw extolling its virtue. Or maybe because it seemed like a bar gain. We did not buy it because we thought it would make our hands cleaner than any other soap. We picked it for reasons far removed from the main reason for its existence. And so, too, do we pick our Presidents. We play no part in the manufacturing process of soap. We play no part in the manufacturing process of Presidential candidates either. Small groups of men decide what Presidential merchandise to put on the shelves. We get to pick only after they have picked. This truth, however, is unpalatable in our democracy. So, in order to make it appear that we have something to do with the selection process, political parties hold national conventions every four years. These conventions are styled and produced purely as national television shows. They are game shows, really. Each party, having decided on a candidate before the convention starts, has to deal with the fact that that candidate has certain set assets and liabilities.