Monday, September 12, 2011

Another thought on the tripartite theory

Last night I began to orient the different textually environments temporally (an authoritative preterite, a parodic present, and an undisclosed future involving lots of nonhumans).  As I near the end of Graham Harman's The Quadruple Object, I am also beginning to think these spheres could be re-arranged spatially, kind of overlapping like venn diagrams.




Each sphere necessarily overlaps: the preformed interpretation of chivalric romances, the parodic recycling by Quijote as well as the product: the overwritting of the mountainous landscape with garbled visions of grandeur.  This spatial arrangement might also allow some visual examinations of hierarchy and determinations.  For example, what I previously called the "authoritative preterite" might be a circle encapsulating Quijote's present moment as well as the overwritten future (yes there is a sense of future perfect here).  What is fascinating about Cervantes, of course, is his ability to poke holes in this hierarchical sphere of chivalry, pastoral ambience and even the picaresque (to only name a few).  This suggests that these spheres are constantly decentered or displaced through an overflow of literary inventiveness.  

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