Natalie Sparrow's Notebook

The term unconscious refers to the subject’s origin in the Other, to the fact that the subject is born in relation to language and cultural norms. Psychoanalysis is founded on the idea of the unconscious. According to Lacan’s groundbreaking idea, Freud’s term unconscious was something entirely else than the notion used by thinkers that preceded Freud. Instead of understanding Freud’s unconscious as a psychological category, Lacan de-psychologises the unconscious. It does not merely relate to childhood memories and individual histories, but works between people. The unconscious refers to the discourse of the Other in oneself, to desires and fantasies that the ego is not conscious of and that are inherited from the parents, the social environment and cultural values. In Lacan’s thought the unconscious is understood as linguistic and historical. The unconscious is an organised system of letters, a formal system that enables certain relations and obstructs others. The subject is split into conscious ego and unconscious order that breaks the coherent meanings of the ego.

what up my sleep schedule is off the shits, I’ve had to workshop about 75 poems in the past few weeks, I’m losing my mind because I have many deadline and few brain, my poetry class is so goddamn time consuming when I have speeches to write, essays to finish, tests to study for, and chapters to not actually read because I haven’t actually done the reading for most of my classes in weeks because I have no goddamn time, AAAAAAAAAAA, anyway

I have really strong opinions!!! here is them

poets should be allowed only one (1) poem about spring throughout their entire lives so they know to use that shit wisely!!

every poem longer than a page is bad ur just smokescreening the fact that you can’t write a single hard hitting line. @ literally everything in the poetry collection I’m reading rn

actually I think every line of a poem past like the 8th line should have to be unlocked like equipment in a video game

no one is allowed to say “beautiful” or “beauty” in a poem again, ever

no one is allowed to say “dream” in a poem again, ever

for every poem you write about a toxic relationship you have to write one about tardigrades because I would really like to read about more fucking tardigrades instead of MORE FUCKING RELATIONSHIPS

no one can use even the most oblique biblical references until they have reached poet level 5 (attained after writing 400 poems, one of these must be about a tardigrade) (yes this includes references to heaven, sin, angels, and god of any kind). all such biblical references should be cited with a specific bible verse and you may NOT reuse verses. also you have to use the weird books of the Bible in the middle like the sex poem one that no one talks about, you have to earn your way up to genesis and exodus and the gospels and the shit everybody knows

every time you are tempted to say the word “something,” or “anything” substitute a specific species of endangered bird

every time you are tempted to say “someone” or “anyone” substitute either darth vader or george washington.

nothing is infinite. it’s either 3 and a half inches or it’s nothing

cut off the last 3 lines of your poem it doesn’t need them

no more poems about depression. come up with some new problems goddamn it. ghost termites. visions of sugarplums dancing in your head. expired cheese. miley cyrus flashing before your eyes when you open the cabinet above the sink. nondescript sludge. your dick is blue raspberry flavored and your new gf doesn’t like blue raspberry and says it’s not even a real type of raspberry anyway. please

poems about small towns HAVE to be a little depressing and weird NO exceptions

extended metaphors are illegal now, punishable by up to 20 years in prison

if you get the urge to write a rhyming poem, sit in your bathtub and eat paper towels off the roll until it goes away

if you want to mention any bodily fluids in your poem you have to donate a vial to science for every mention. oh, you want to compare your tears to something? get ready to cry bitch.

if you want to write a sonnet don’t

your love poems must be proportional in number to your poems about the other basic human emotions: road rage, sluttiness, confusion, bonk your sibling with cardboard tube, feral lust for shredded cheese at 3am, insatiable desire to correct strangers on the internet, and stupid

as a further common-sense regulation, you have to imagine all your love poems as being read to you by an amorous jar jar binks

you MAY write about birds but you MUST commit. if you write a poem about a type of bird you must write at least one poem about all other bird species.

you can reference only the weird obscure fairy tales that were too fucked up for Disney to do anything with. and jack and the beanstalk, that’s also valid.

how to incorporate current events and issues into your poem: dont. smear your body with mud and think about what you’ve done

how to write about your ex: don’t

how to write about any emotion ever: don’t

by Lavinia Greenlaw

Clockwise from top left: Roland Barthes, Hermes, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, L.L. Zamenhof.

The Validity of Asemic Writing as a Means of Evoking and Communicating Narrative

‘the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author’ (Barthes 148)

The way in which narrative is communicated has dramatically altered since the dawn of storytelling. As we now find ourselves in the digital age, the notion of narrative has become a comprehensive experience; originating from what was once a cave drawing. However, I wonder if there is a way in which a sequence of events can be expressed in a written form that not only transcends semantic meaning but surpasses language barriers as well; an abstract language understood by all. 

I would place this project in a relatively under researched area of study. In terms of literature review the main source of inspiration has come from Asemic: The Art of Writing by Peter Schwenger. This is the first critical study of the field, that not only discusses, but challenges ideas of the handwritten word. The handwritten word in itself has become a novel topic of discussion as its usage is in decline since the advent of the printed word.

Additionally, I have been inspired by Roland Barthes’ ideas of ownership of the written word. He explains in The Death of the Author how the ownership of the intention of the written word dies with the author and is reborn within the reader (Barthes, 148). Therefore Barthes’ ideology would suggest that once the artist has written their asemic narrative it is no longer their own interpretation, allowing for the reader to create new meaning. With this in mind I intend to investigate how a body of hand rendered marks can be understood universally if the viewer’s role as co-author dictates that the their interpretation would be different to what the artist had intended.

Exploring the notion of a language that can unify all readers leads us to ponder the divisive attributes of language. The Greek messenger God, Hermes is often associated with gifting the human race with language, and is affiliated with speech, communication and interpretation (Levine Gera, 115). I am curious as to why he divided humanity with multiple languages, rather than unite us under one singular language (Hyginus, 143). In contrast to this, Polish ophthalmologist L.L.Zamenhof created the language, Esperanto, which was made to be a universal second language to foster world peace and international understanding. I propose an interview with both Hermes and Zamenhof to discuss view of the unification of language and literature. The concept of bringing communities together seemingly challenges what Hermes initially established so I would be interested to know their thoughts on the potential for a universally understood asemic narrative. Regarding Barthes’ aforementioned theory, I am also intrigued to understand whether Hermes’ interpretation of language ended with him, and was reborn with the human race. Did we interpret language in individual ways, and that is why there are many spoken and written languages? I feel that the answer to this would be important in discerning the attainability of a universal understanding of an asemic text.

Finally, I intend to address existing asemic works by way of a case study and discussing their capacity as a narrative construct; the most notable of which is the Voynich Manuscript. This mysterious book has had many meanings attributed to it, as ciphers have attempted to define a narrative within its pages. I would like to visit the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library where it is housed and study the book for myself. I am intrigued to discuss whether or not the interpretations of the book have been concluded because of the accompanying illustrations, and if so would the removal of these allow for the same interpretation? Perhaps not having a meaning is meaning in itself. Do we construct our own narratives for the Voynich Manuscript when we apply Barthes’ theory of textual ownership?

“Navajo Nation — in the “Four Corners” area, with land that borders part of Northeastern Arizona, Southeastern Utah, and Northwestern New Mexico — has been hit hard by COVID-19. So far there are 354 confirmed cases with 15 confirmed deaths. As with much of the nation, the testing picture is incomplete. Navajo Schools stayed open two days longer than non-reservation schools, but the Navajo Nation has taken up strong distancing precautions since then. The Diné have now issued stay-at-home orders and instituted a strict curfew. They’ve also declared a state of emergency.

The seriousness of this response isn’t without precedent. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920 was devastating for the Navajo Nation. According to historical records, 12 percent of the population perished, or 3,377 people. So far, COVID-19 has mortality rates anywhere from less than one percent to ten percent or more, depending on a long list of factors. But preparedness seems to be a major determiner and Navajo Nation is woefully ill-equipped to fight off a virus like this. It’s certainly worth noting that 2009’s Swine Flu was four times more deadly in Indian Country than the rest of the U.S.

Diné attorney and leader Ethel Branch has set up the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund on GoFundMe (she also set up a Relief Fund for the Havasupai). This is the fastest and most direct way you can help people right now.

So far the Relief Fund has 2,000 families seeking assistance. The money is going to packages that are being dispatched throughout Navajo Nation. The Guardian reports that each package is filled with “flour, beans, rice, canned soups, dried meat, fever and cough medicine, as well as fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat when available.” These are crucial lifelines for many Diné.

So far, the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund is at about 50 percent of its goal. You can donate directly right here.”

Imagine that. Somebody who’s making 12 bucks an hour, now like the rest of us, faces an unprecedented economic crisis, with the 600 bucks on top of their normal- their regular unemployment check- might be making a few bucks more for four months. Oh my WORD! Will the universe survive? 

How absurd and wrong is that? What kind of value system is that? Meanwhile, these very same folks had no problem, a couple years ago, voting for a trillion dollars in tax breaks for billionaires and large profitable corporations! Not a problem! 

But when it comes to low-income workers in the midst of a terrible crisis, maybe some of them earning or having more money than they previously made- [tongue clicks] oh my word we gotta strip that out. Gotta- we gotta tell those poor people that no matter what- 

By the way when this bill, when the McConnell bill first came up, unbelievably, and I know many Republicans objected to this, they were saying that well we wanna give a, whatever it was, a thousand or twelve hundred bucks, but poor people should get less. 

You see, because poor people are down here, they don’t deserve- they don’t eat. They don’t pay rent. They don’t go to the doctor; they’re somehow inferior, because they’re poor we’re gonna give them less. 

Well that was addressed. Now everybody is gonna get the 1200 dollars. But some of our Republican friends still have not given up of the need to punish the poor and working people. 

You haven’t raised the minimum wage in ten years! Minimum wage should be at least fifteen bucks an hour, you haven’t done that!