Dominican Scholar Literature and Languages | Faculty Literature & Languages | Faculty Scholarship Collections 2013 Remix Perspective: Transdisciplinary Insights for the Art of Writing Marianne Rogoff Department of Literature and Languages, Dominican University of California, [email protected] Survey: Let us know how this paper benefits you. Recommended Citation Rogoff, Marianne, "Remix Perspective: Transdisciplinary Insights for the Art of Writing" (2013). Literature and Languages | Faculty Scholarship. 2. https://scholar.dominican.edu/literature-languages-faculty-scholarship/2 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Literature & Languages | Faculty Collections at Dominican Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Literature and Languages | Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Dominican Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REMIX PERSPECTIVES: TRANSDISCIPLINARY INSIGHTS FOR THE ART OF WRITING by Marianne Rogoff A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Transformative Studies California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, CA 2013 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read REMIX PERSPECTIVES: TRANSDISCIPLINARY INSIGHTS FOR THE ART OF WRITING by Marianne Rogoff, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Cindy Shearer, DA English, Chair Department Chair, Writing & Consciousness and Creative Inquiry Daniel Deslauriers, PhD Psychology Professor of Transformative Studies Mary Beth Pringle, PhD English Wright State University © 2013 Marianne Rogoff Marianne Rogoff California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013 Cindy Shearer, DA, Committee Chair REMIX PERSPECTIVES: TRANSDISCIPLINARY INSIGHTS FOR THE ART OF WRITING ABSTRACT How do creative writers transform the complexity of life into literature? Remix Perspectives presents a bricolage synthesis of transdisciplinary insights for workshop leaders and creative writers, appropriated from selected artistic and literary voices from more or less the last hundred years. Seminal concepts from arts such as painting, poetry, dance, music, and photography are gathered here as they inform the arts of literary fiction and creative nonfiction. Thinkers from philosophy, psychology, literary theory, complexity, and metaphysics address the inner and outer realms where the work of the writer is generated and goes forth. iv DEDICATION To my hundreds of students, for being willing v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................. iv Dedication ............................................................................................................... v Inquiry Question / Thesis Statement ....................................................................... 1 Theoretical Framework for Methods: Appropriation / Bricolage / Cartography .... 3 REMIX: ON REMIX ......................................................................................... 8 Literature Review: Transdisciplinary Lens ........................................................... 19 How to Read REMIX .............................................................................................. 26 1. THE PRACTICE: HABITS OF MIND, BODY, SPIRIT ................................. 29 1A. Tapping the Surface: “Self-Forgetful” First-Person Point of View .. 30 REMIX 1A: THINKING ..................................................................... 31 1B. Constructing the Surface: “Organic Form” ...................................... 39 REMIX 1B: MAKING ........................................................................ 40 1C. Between the Lines: “Something Else at Work” ................................ 49 REMIX 1C: GAPS ............................................................................. 50 2. THE PARTS: COMPONENTS OF STORIES ................................................. 55 2A. Snapshots and Portraits: “The Glimpse” ........................................... 56 REMIX 2A: CHARACTER / POINT OF VIEW ........................................ 58 2B. Landscapes and Still Life: “No Ideas But in Things” ........................ 66 REMIX 2B: SETTING / OBJECTS ........................................................ 67 2C. Zoom Lens and Big Picture: “Punctum” ........................................... 81 REMIX 2C: ACTION / MEANING........................................................ 83 vi 3. THE PURPOSES: WHY WRITE? ................................................................... 90 3A. Therapeutic Value: “Exploring the Wreck”....................................... 91 REMIX 3A: CATHARSIS ................................................................... 94 3B. Documentary Stance: “Situated Knowledges” ................................ 111 REMIX 3B: WITNESS ..................................................................... 113 3C. Lyric Beauty: “Art’s Most Useful Purpose Is To Be” ..................... 127 REMIX 3C: USELESSNESS .............................................................. 129 4. THE PROCESS: EMBODYING EXPERIENCE ........................................... 139 4A. The Framing Eye: “Oneness of Waves and Water” ........................ 140 REMIX 4A: DRAFTS....................................................................... 141 4B. Cartography and Exactitude: “Reality Can Be Modeled” ............... 161 REMIX 4B: FORM AND STYLE ........................................................ 161 4C. Play of Imagination: “A Tune Beyond Us, Yet Ourselves” .............. 173 REMIX 4C: TRANSFORMATION ...................................................... 174 5. THE PEDAGOGY: CAN CREATIVE WRITING BE TAUGHT? ............... 185 5A. Opposing Forces: “Energy, Rebellion, and Desire” ....................... 186 REMIX 5A: WORKSHOP CULTURE ................................................. 187 5B. Complex Perspectives: “Tell It Slant” ............................................. 197 REMIX 5B: TRUTHS AND ETHICS ................................................... 199 5C. Value Judgments: “Things That Only Literature Can Give Us” ..... 212 REMIX 5C: CRITIQUE CRITERIA ..................................................... 215 vii 6. THE PANORAMA: CARTOGRAPHY OF THE ZEITGEISTS .................... 226 6A. Which Reality? “Pre > Modern > Post” ........................................ 227 REMIX 6A: WESTERN HISTORY OF REPRESENTATION .................... 228 6B. Who Is Visible? “Collective Unconscious ~ Writer as Migrant” ... 234 REMIX 6B: MULTICULTURAL WRITERS ON THE MIGRATORY MAP .. 234 6C. Interconnections: “Mutual Causality & Dialogic Imagination” ..... 238 REMIX 6C: WRITER AS RECIPROCAL ACTOR .................................... 239 In Conclusion: Aspirations ................................................................................ 244 Scope: What Is This Book? ................................................................................. 245 WHAT IS FOUND ........................................................................................ 245 HOW IT’S FOUND....................................................................................... 245 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................ 248 JUDGING ARTS-BASED METHODS .............................................................. 249 FUTURE RESEARCH .................................................................................. 251 POSSIBLE USES FOR THIS BOOK ................................................................. 252 WHAT WRITERS DO ................................................................................... 255 Works Cited ........................................................................................................ 257 Appendix A: Style Guide to REMIX, MLA, and UMI ......................................... 280 Appendix B: Assessment of Original Contribution ............................................ 284 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................... 286 About the Author ................................................................................................ 290 viii INQUIRY QUESTION / THESIS STATEMENT “How do creative writers transform the complexity of life into literature?” The rough, raw material of lived experience becomes smooth, textured writing through the imaginative, iterative processes of draft, craft, and critique (except when, every so often, a first draft is just brilliant). Remix Perspectives presents a bricolage synthesis of transdisciplinary insights for literary fiction and creative nonfiction writers who wish to transform the complexity of life into literature. Selected concepts that have served as lively interrogators in the dominant disciplinary discourse of world literature over more or less the last hundred years are juxtaposed with informative ideas from other arts and sciences, consciously chosen as they have inspired my own practice as a creative writer, scholar, and professor of writing and literature. They are gathered here to stimulate fresh approaches to the art of writing. The intended audiences for Remix Perspectives are writers, readers, students, and workshop