Monica- In the well.

After the first few readings, I feel like I have fallen into a well, similar to baby Jessica, and need some EMT to rescue me pronto. De Saussure, Barthes, and Macherey's writings were all really hard to process. I struggled. I found myself reading one sentence five times. I don't know if this discourse/ way of thinking is way above me, or if it just takes time to learn how to digest it all. I keep repeating what Dr. Casey said about it "one day just clicking" and this has helped me to continue. I hope that this day comes soon. Here is my best shot anyway...

Saussure's section on lingiustics helped me to remember the magic involved in the transactions between thoughts and the role of language, and the difficulties involved in connecting the two. I had these realizations quit frequently when I lived in Switzerland. Daily, I would witness how French words got lost in it's own language, or as Saussure put it " all words used to express realted ideas limit each other reciprocally, and yes, "the value of any term is accordingly determined by its environment". I was trying to grasp this language while over there, and it seems that every time I attempted to express the correct word, my brain would never correspond the right word by its reations with other terms. Needless to say, I never really grasped the French language.

I also enjoyed Jencks' spotlighting postmodernist art and architecture, and the constant "disharmonious harmony" in the works. I love the list of the formal terms associted with this: "assymetrical symmetry, unfinshed whole, and fragmented purity". I have to say that Jencks' examples are observant and honest, when it comes to these works. This section was pretty interesting.
I hope that next weeks critical approaches seem to prove for an easier read. Until then...