The Role of Horror and Dread in Creating Heroes

If I did not warn it already, I apologise, but to my faithful reader[s] (ok so I'm being slightly optimistic there) this post regards some of my theoretical work that I have done over the last year or so. Not that it won't be interesting...I promise! I should also point out that a paper on this very idea was written in conjunction with my colleague and friend Theresa (from James Cook University) and we are still awaiting to see if it is published this year sometime.

It seems good timing then with the passing of another Anzac day to consider the role of horror and dread which is embedded in our hero worship in the west. In particular with reference to those who paid the 'ultimate' sacrifice for this country (or Empire in the case of WW1), the manner in which culture sacralises them is fascinating, but should not be approached with a cynical eye, thus deterring from its high value. While the hero (or in this case the Anzac) is narrated by themes of patriotism, nationalism, pride, mateship, courage, remembrance, pride and all those emotions that effectively bring tears in some cases to people's eyes when the 'last post' is played or the 'Ode' is recited, there is a darker side to this which is worth considering.

 Robert Hertz - Author 

In order to foreground this, we need to remember that sacrality at times has a dual dimension or pole. This early modernist writer Robert Hertz pictured above (part of Emile Durkheim's academy who sadly was killed himself on the 13th of April, 1915 in combat duty at Woevre with a pile of unfinished theoretical and anthropological contributions left unfinished - and a wife left behind most importantly) managed to expose quite well by examining anthropological texts from Indonesia - mainly. In his most impressing piece, The Pre-Eminence of the Right Hand, he contends that sacredness is bound by both reverance, awe, inspiration but also horror and dread. To comprehend this, consider the sacred nature of deity, especially in ancient Israel. On one hand, the Israelites were in awe and inspired by their God, but at the same time, they were in constant fear of his power and the ability he had to 'destroy' them for disobedience. Thus, keeping commandments followed after this dual  nature. I should point out now that this idea is not what I contend is exemplified in Anzac Day. But, the pilgrimage to Gallipoli and other places of 'secular' sacrality and more importantly the experience that is felt there, cannot be simply related as an awe inspired moment.

Gravesite in the Somme.

Rather, there is a certain element of dread and horror which can be viewed as complimentary to the entire Anzac experience. In particular, as books from Scates (2006) and others show, many report as they walk battlefields (or mass memorials - such as Australia's War Memorial) that they are exposed to emotions of horror when they are confronted aesthetically and imagine the conditions and the terrible plight of the soldiers involved in the war itself. There are even minor reports of feeling as if the 'ghosts' of the dead still rest uneasily in these areas. One painting that perhaps portrays this 'haunting' image is that of Will Longstaff's Menin Gate at Midnight, a personal favourite of mine (pictured below). Furthermore, the horrifying images and tales from soldiers and official photographers on the frontline further conjure images that deeply impact upon anyone's consciousness when they are viewed. However, the most common report of the terrifying realities of war comes when people visit war cemeteries such as that in found dotted across Gallipoli itself, or those dotted across the Somme or Passchendaele. It is here that the modern day pilgrim confronts the harsh reality of death, and the tragedy of those who had their lives cut short.

Menin Gate at Midnight - Will Longstaff: Note the eerie and ghostly view of the soldiers walking the fields.

Leaving the story here perhaps only tells half the story though. It was Theresa and I's belief that understanding the terrible circumstances more explicitly that befell these men and women, assists in the further heroicisation of them. For when we appreciate horrors more, we consider their courage more deeply. Thus we place their sacrifice, their lives and their mythical value in a place much higher than ordinary heroes. Similar appreciations I feel can be found in contemporary sites such as the Flight 93 crash site, or the World Trade Centre Memorial. In each of these areas, there are heroes who are afforded a high cultural status when one confronts the images and thoughts of the terrifying deaths or moments they endured.

The Flight 93 Memorials - Bottom is the 'memorial fence' which periodically as shown is the site of 'ritual' gift giving in a symbolic token of appreciation of the sacrifice of those who are narrated as dying for their country.

From this perspective, we can appreciate deeply that sacred places such as Gallipoli serve to remind us of two facts. One, that those who fell and those who lived on (including mothers and fathers, wives and siblings) paid a significant sacrifice (even if we consider WW1 to not be about Australia at all but about the British Empire) and subsequently deserve awe and respect and even honour. Second and perhaps overlooked at times, we are reminded of the horrific sphere of war, its terrible consequences and the need we have to establish social, political and cultural taboos to avoid it at all costs.

Twi-fail.....the end of the epic fail.

Before I begin, does the picture above make you cringe slightly?

Let me begin the post with a story. I was in a land far away forgotten by time, yes Tasmania. We were being visited by some friends when the subject of 'Twilight' emerged. I spoke about my 'Twilenge' as posted below and was immediately confronted with an array of questions and debates about the genuineness of this epic....er.....(insert your opinion on Twilight here).

It was about then that one of my esteemed and intellectually enhanced friends said to me, 'why would you waste your time?'. I thought about that. I thought some more. And some more.....and then a little more. A thousand reasons sprung to mind from literary criticism, to being able to have an opinion that is informed about the book that a dozen or so around me said was brilliant. But in the end as Marx once famously said, 'all that is solid melts in the air'. Or in other words, once the superfluous reasons for reading Twilight were pushed aside, I was at last confronted with the ultimate reality. Namely....

I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS!!!!!!

Plus...I have not got the mental and emotional power to maintain a 'semi-interest' in something that is less interesting and worse written than some of my son's 'Bob the Builder' books. So with my bookmark at page 182, I placed it to the side, and picked up where I left off reading other books which delights rather than infuriates. 

SO I FAILED!!!! Yes pick on me all you want, and yes I have no free lunch but at least I can say this, I tried. But to those of you loyal readers (I know there is about 5 of you out there) who are Stephanie Meyer lovers, I say in the words of Lisa Simpson 'Pick up Yurtle the Turtle, possible the greatest book on the subject of turtles there is'.....

SpruceMoose Out.

A Bit of Media Misrepresentation....

I have been experiencing some media attention over the last few weeks, which at times can be quite fun depending on who you talk to. QUT decided to release another piece about the Seachange work I have done and despite my questioning on its newsworthiness, it has garnered interest from mainly ABC radio and some pockets of regional press. I won't bore you with the details of the release. I should point out though that the original press release given by QUT is only a smidgeon (about half of a chapter) of my thesis. But publicity can sometimes be a good thing.

Unless of course if the journalist or press you are communicating with has some type of political agenda. Fortunately, this is not a problem I have had to face in the three years or so since my research become a media item. Until this week...

Meet the Cairns Post....

I received a call sometime this week asking if I wanted to talk to them. I reluctantly said yes. Often it is the case that newspapers will simply take the QUT release and plonk it into the paper itself, but sometimes they want to talk directly to you, in order to get some sort of unique take in relation to their community. I don't mind this too much, but there is a tendency at times for them to think you know everything about their own 'neck of the woods'. Which I clearly do not.

The Cairns Post journalist seemed nice enough, but it was clear throughout the interview that he had an agenda. He continually asked me about Kuranda, a small pocket community near Cairns which has in recent times attracted a number of urban escapees and dare I say 'Greenies'. He led me on a question journey which led to one query that stood out above the others 'what would happen if a community protested development?'

I answered frankly and honestly, but it was merely a throw away statement in relation to what happens for local councils when development is stopped.

"If a group protests to a point where they are stopping a development from coming, that's going to be a problem for the development of a local economy."

From here the journalist then decided to base an entire story about this idea that 'Greenies should go home'. His angle was that my research had somehow suggested or confirmed that Seachangers were ruining the future of Kuranda by stepping up and stopping development. This is not what my research suggests. In fact, in a conference paper I presented at Manchester last year, I used the people of Kuranda as a case study reference point to show how social movements can be maintained in the wake of capitalist development and commercialisation. Luckily for me, one of the concerned members of Cairns emailed asking for confirmation that I had been misread. From here I decided to draft the following letter to the editor;

Dear Sir\Madam,




I would like to respond to the story that was circulated after being interviewed about my research by Mr. ***** of the Cairns Post and published on the 26th of January, 2010. The title of the article "Greenies Go Home" was never a suggestion made by my research, any presentation I have given or by any comments I have made in the previous two weeks since a release was made by QUT. Mr ******  has clearly identified a political angle which he wishes to highlight in his story and has twisted comments I have made to suit.


My research into Seachange has never suggested that 'blocking future progress on green grounds' is loving their community to death. In fact, my comments made through the QUT release suggest only that development causes some Seachangers to reconsider their location and find other more 'authentic' communities. The comment I made in the article stating that if communities protest and halt development, then that poses a problem for the future of local economies, was made in response to the question, what impact does protest have on areas. My response was geared towards the delicate balancing act that local councils need to address as is highlighted by the next comment that councils need to be wary of culturally and aesthetically destroying an area.


My research has never made comments to suggest that Treechangers/Seachangers should neither leave nor allow development to flourish if they desire to keep their authentic setting. In fact in a conference presentation I gave at Manchester University in 2009, I used the Kuranda community (as well as the Maleny) to show how social movements can be saved from commercialisation.


After reading your article however, it would almost appear that I am arguing against Treechangers when in actuality, my research argues on similar grounds to the National Seachange Taskforce's findings (as well as international scholars on the subject), that councils have responsibility to ensure natural aesthetics are not sacrificed for the lure of significant development. Local economies can be hindered by this, but other measures can also be employed to obtain economic growth.

For the moment, I don't believe that the editor of the post has published my letter, but this example should be enough to show us readers of papers that we cannot always trust that which we read. It also shows, at the extreme end, that at times, media expresses a particular angle which they want people to consume and internalise. There is much more to this idea/theory, but in this small case study, we can see it in effect.....

Twilenge Update - 100 pages in....Urge to Kill Rising....Risssinnnggg.....

I have been quite busy over the last week so the blog and the Twilight novel sitting lazily on my desk have had to wait. But I have been able to scrounge off a few 100 pages and as the title of the post suggests, I feel sometimes like Homer sitting in the snow growling, 'urge to kill rising....' (for those of you who don't 'get' the Simpsons quotes I apologise immensely'. Ok, so I did say I would try to be open minded about this, so I have tried...I really have!

So to start with here are some pros...the cover is pretty cool...just kidding (Spoiler al....ah bugger it, if you have not read it by now you are one of those types who is either a hater or dubious towards the whole thing)

Actually I think the whole story as it stands has a lot of potential. The mysterious nature of Edward and his family brings an air of optimism to my mind that perhaps I will graft some enjoyment out of this quasi-vampire tail. I say this with every ounce of restraint I can but, a better writer would have made this book well worth the $22.99 that my friend paid for it (thanks again S!). Certainly, the darkness of the novel has me intrigued being one who enjoys a bit of the evil side of the supernatural. The attraction of Bella to Edward also has my interest. Whose obsession with a pasty white 'perfect' male is beyond normal. In the back of my mind I'm hoping that in some twisted manner it has a relationship between Edward being a subliminal charmer and Bella being intwined in some type of eerie and wicked trance, but seeing the movie already has spoiled this somewhat. I also find that the setting is worth mentioning. The small town, the family of vampires, the hint of a killer prefaced (albeit very poorly) in the introduction, all calls attention to a gripping tale of horror, dread but also imperfect love and impossible choices.

UNfortunately! (And I meant the inflection here), there are so many errors so far that its making the reading of the book totally infuriating and slightly laughable. My wife who is currently reading Marly and Me (and enjoying it too I think...) is getting frustrated herself with my constant interruptions of 'oh for the love of...' or my favourite, 'PLEASE GIVE ME STRENGTH TO CONTINUE!!!!' (Remember a free lunch is on offer). To save time, space and brain capacity, here are some....SOME gripes that I have so far....

* The opening quote of Genesis Ch2 verse 17 - totally out of context and seems like its put in there to make the book appear somewhat sophisticated - Vampire love with humans and the tree of knowledge of good and evil? er....

* The adoption of a first person prose. Well, this wouldn't be such an issue really if Meyer knew and cared to develop her character Bella properly. For instance, she claims egocentrically to be an advanced reader of English Literature. To quote her own words, 'Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd read everything. That was comforting and boring' (p.14). I can handle this, a smart girl who obviously is deep enough to have delved into the belly of classical literature and come out feeling slightly intoxicated with her own sense of self belief. In other words, she poo poos the class because she's smarter and more advanced. And so if she had read Shakespeare for instance, she would reflect on beauty in this manner perhaps;

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

 

Instead this is what I get on page 16;

The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue....

Or on page 67...

Interesting...and brilliant...and mysterious...and perfect...and beautiful...and possible able to lift full sized vans with one hand.

 

Sigh. Throughout the next 100 pages though it gets significantly worse. I actually feel like Meyer has run out of words in the grammar section of her mind because consistently Bella turns to Edward and is lost in his 'perfect face'. This happens on at least 4-5 seperate occasions...which would be fine, if she had used better descriptors and signifiers.

* But perhaps the most annoying thing about the 'first person' prose is the manner in which Meyer assassinates the main character Bella. By the end of chapter two, I hated her with a passion. She is egocentric, nasty, rude and incompassionate towards her family, those trying to be her friends and well wishers and most importantly, the reader. For instance her response to Mike, a nice kid who wants to be her friend (seems later just like that something more) is more than enough to warrant my rage against the Bella;

I smiled at him before walking through the girl's locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.

What's more she consistently raves on about her clumsiness and instability on her feet to the point where I'm beginning to wonder (a) if she has some type of vertigo issue and (b) if she's taking drugs on the side but not telling me about it. I'm going to go with b, makes it more exciting!

* All this aside, let me pull up on my last point and one that clearly annoys me the most perhaps. It is obvious that this is a novice novel, a first go at writing. From my standpoint, I can picture Meyer sitting at her laptop excitedly punching away with a scene in mind that she wants to rush to because she does so little in both the character, setting and plot development, the first 100 pages are a blur (and she needs lessons in English sentence construction and paragraphs...for goodness sakes PARAGRAPHS...they are like 2 sentences long! And for heaven's sake use a Thesaurus! Or put it down when its obvious you don't know the meaning of words - eg. infinitesimally). At one stage after she is saved by Edward from the crushing truck (I did say I was not doing spoiler alerts right?), she and Edward are suddenly not talking after a confusing and infuriating discussion at the hospital, and after three short pages 6 weeks have passed. Again, wouldn't be such an issue but according to Bella, in those six weeks she has been having strange dreams of Edward and developing such an obsession that it makes me the reader feel unfulfilled. Such an important component of the building plot requires some insight, descriptiveness....something!

100 pages in...yes give it time. I'm hoping that Meyer gets her act together, but as a taster, the first 100 pages are not filling me with optimism. Yet the promise of a free lunch drags me on (Drag Me To Hell like Raimi's work? jokes). I leave the question open as to firstly why this is one of the best sellers of 2009 (the whole series that is) and on the top 20 list of must read books (as voted by Australians), and secondly whether this is a success of Meyer's....or the marketers behind it.

On this question I will return to later in my life.....if I've not been beaten to death by Twilight fans first.