Chronotopes and Bakhtin
I think I need a new blog. It’s getting crowded in here.
Trace (noun) = 1. a surviving mark, sign or evidence of the former existence, influence, or action of some agent or event; vestige 2. a barely discernible indication or evidence of some quantity, quality, characteristic, expression, etc. 5. the track left by the passage of a person, animal or object 8. Engram. a presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace 10. a lightly drawn line, as the record drawn be a self-registering instrument
Synonyms: evidence, bit, breath, footprint, fragment, hint, indication, mark, memento, nuance, proof, record, relic, remains, shadow, sign, smell, spoor, suggestion, survival, track, trail, tread, vestige, whisper
Ah, Bakhtin… writing on Dostoevsky…
Chronotope – spatio-temporal matrix which governs the base condition of all narratives and other linguistic acts… a chronotope is both a cognitive concept and a narrative feature of language
Keith Basso says, “geographic features… are chronotopes. [They are]… points in the geography of a community where time and space intersect and fuse. Time takes on flesh and becomes visible for human contemplation; likewise, space becomes charged and responsive to the movements of time and history and the enduring character of a people… Chronotopes stand as monuments to the community itself, as symbols of it, as forces operating to shape its’ members’ images of themselves.
I am torn between thinking that the history of the place is very important or not to this study of traces. Chris had talked about the area by the street that is made for performance and how he liked that people use it. It made me think about the history of Jackson Square, what it was used for previously and how it has transformed over time. It was the building block of New Orleans, built for use by royalty – roll out the rugs and watch the spectacle. At that time it was a big mud pit by the river, connected to the river. A few years later, they burned a female indian at the stake, beginning the site’s use as an area of punishment. Another hundred years and the levees were built, cutting off the connection between the square and the river. The Baroness built her apartments and redesigned the square for formal gardens and walkways… more spectacle, but not as public. Later they decided they needed that connection back and built the Moon Walk, but it really still is not connected. But that little performance area has moved from the head of Jackson Square, to the center, and to the road. Where will it move next? Is that a trace… a sign of what is to come? I think so… And isn’t the thought of “chronotope” about using these traces to discover some dialogue between the space and the people?
And that canon that sits there, reminding everyone that the place used to be called Place d’Arms and it was used for military drills. The canon points at the water… is that some sort of cry for a connection.
That little platform seems confused. It wants to be part of the square, but can’t because the road and the barred fence cut it off. But it can’t be part of the river either because the parking lot and railway push it away. Poor little confused platform…
Anyway, back to work.
