"Working T h r o u g h Contradiction Interminably":
Towards a Mathesis Singularis?
ØYVIND VÅGNES
In Camera
with
an
Lucida,
object
R o l a n d Barthes describes the p a r a d o x o f infatuation
and
the
problems
of
simultaneously
addressing
it
"scientifically." H e is torn between l a n g u a g e s a n d describes a desperate
resistance to " a n y reductive s y s t e m " :
Then I decided that this disorder and this dilemma, revealed by my
desire to write on Photography, corresponded to a discomfort I had
always suffered from: the uneasiness of being a subject torn between
two languages, one expressive, the other critical; and at the heart o f
this critical language, between several discourses, those of sociology,
of semiology, and of psychoanalysis - but that, by ultimate
dissatisfaction with all of them, I was bearing witness to the only
sure thing that was in me (however naive it may be): a desperate
resistance to any reductive system. (Barthes 1 9 8 1 : 8)
Camera
Lucida is n o t o n l y a p e r s o n a l narrative o n m e m o r y a n d death, it is also a
p h i l o s o p h i c a l d i s c o u r s e o n central q u e s t i o n s o f representation, a n d , by
e x t e n s i o n , on theory a n d m e t h o d . Barthes raises the q u e s t i o n : h o w d o w e
l o o k at p h o t o g r a p h s ? H e arrives at w h a t he calls a " c u r i o u s n o t i o n " : " w h y
m i g h t n ' t there b e , s o m e h o w , a n e w science for each object? A mathesis
singularis ( a n d n o longer universalis) 7."
(Barthes 1 9 8 1 : 8 ) . '
T h i s conflict is c o n s t i t u t i v e to the b o o k ; it is reflected in its f o r m :
1
Barthes does not elaborate on his use of the two terms. The Routledge Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (http://www.rep.roudedge.com/philosophy; all the following quotations are
from the web site and can easily be searched there) refers to Ramon Llull who in the Spanish
middle ages "developed a complicated combinatory logic ... which offered an ingenious
foretaste of our current axiomated logics." According to the encyclopedia, his thought
"contains the seeds of the mathesis universalis, which served as the basis for European
Rationalism as developed later by Descartes and Leibniz." Descartes' rules of method "were
interpreted as recommendations to start with a few simple and acknowledged notions
(axioms) and thence to proceed to unkonwn ones (theorems). ... The supporters of such an
interpretation maintained that the axiomatic-deductive method should replace logic and be the
N O R D I C J O U R N A L O F E N G L I S H S T U D I E S V O L . 2 No.
2
325
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis''.
A mathesis universalis
implies a systemic approach to the object to be
analyzed, the establishment o f a theoretical apparatus. 2 S u c h an approach
values the insights that c o m e from
c o m p a r i n g a n d differentiating,
and
considers t h e m essential for the application o f the apparatus in analysis. T h u s ,
the construction o f for e x a m p l e a collective m e m o r y m a y seemingly invite a
parallel construction o f several versions o f a mathesis universalis,
o f "sciences"
o f collective m e m o r y within the humanities and/or the social sciences.
In m y o n g o i n g w o r k with a P h D dissertation, Kennedy Dying, I analyze
h o w certain narratives evoke a particular historical event, the assassination o f
J o h n F. K e n n e d y in 1 9 6 3 , a n d reflect u p o n h o w they are part o f the shaping
o f a collective m e m o r y o f the event. Such a m e m o r y is shaped culturally and,
to a tremendous degree, b y a transgressive narrativity that seems always to
s u s p e n d classification. M o d e r n storytelling affects our notions o f the past in
various a n d significant ways a n d encountering m o t i o n or still pictures, graphic
or textual novels, short stories, epic poetry or theatrical performances, to
m e n t i o n a few o f the forms I have c o m e across, I a m inevitably left with a
sense that the narratives simultaneously both invite a n d resist classification.
S u c h p a r a d o x can easily result in a theoretical impasse. T h e narratives shate
model for the right conduct of understanding." According to Cartesian logic, such
understanding would serve as a universal science of invention, a "universalis."
Gilbert of Poitiers (c. 1085-1154), theologian, philosopher, and logician, distinguished
between three branches of theoretical knowledge: physics, mathematics, and theology. At
the time Aristotle's Metaphysics was not known in the west. Gilbert differs between concrete
and abstract objects of knowledge, where theology is the science whose object is the nonconcrete. The concrete can be considered as it is ('natural consideration'), or, when we
attend only to forms (and not matter), in an abstract way (mathematical consideration).
For the last type of consideration, mathesis or disciplina is used; mathesis concerns "not
quantities but abstracted forms... Mathesis is special because it is a certain way of knowing,
consisting in conceptual analysis. Its inquiry concerns the meaning of concepts such as
corporeity or life. Thus concepts of forms are freed from the concrete state of affairs with
which they are connected. Mathesis concerns itself with the question of what other
concepts are implied by the range of meaning of a certain concept: with what other
concepts is a given concept compatible or incompatible? ... Gilbert emphasizes explicitly
that the categories are referred to more adequately by abstract than by concrete terms."
1
In "Unity of Science", an essay from The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy web site by
Jordi Cat, Isidore, the Bishop of Seville who compiled etymologies in the sixth century,
Hull (see endnote 1), and Petrus Ramus, who "introduced diagrams representing
dichotomies" all represent an "organization of knowledge" that reflects "the idea of a world
governed by the laws dictated by God, creator and legislator." This organization is systemic.
3
Petrus Ramus (see endnote 2) argues that "the starting point of all philosophy is the
classification of the arts and the sciences" (http://www.rep.roudedge.com/philosophy)
326
Øyvind Vågnes
fundamental features that need to be taken into consideration: they invent the
past as m u c h as they record or retell it, a n d even if the strategies vary, they all
relate to that s a m e event, a n d often in profoundly similar ways, across or
b e y o n d generic boundaries. T h e r e are essential intertextual relations between
all the narratives in question. A n d yet, each narrative resists
sweeping
statements: needless to say, as natrative, a graphic novel differs widely from a
m o v i e or a novel. E a c h narrative stages a n d re-enacts the event in its own way.
Significantly, the generic forms I have suggested ("novel," "epic poetry") often
fall short in "defining" the constitutive elements o f the narratives. 4 A s a result,
I indeed find myself wishing fot a mathesis singularis
for each new form. It is
this conflict I wish to address here. Particularly, I wish to contrast h o w the
wish for a mathesis
universalis
finds
expression in recent attempts to re-
articulate theories o f "nonfiction," a n d how, at the s a m e time, the practice o f
interdisciplinary
analysis
"conceptualizations"
rather
calls
than
for
theories
systemic
that
revolve
methodology,
reminiscent o f Barthes' "curious n o t i o n " o f a mathesis
an
around
approach
singularis.
T h e a t t e m p t to describe a type, to distinguish it, a n d to test its
occurrence a n d systemic function in relation to other types can b e identified in
literary theories o f the twentieth century, such as N o r t h r o p Frye's theory o f
archetypal structutes or structutalist theory. 5 M i e k e Bal presents a break with
such traditions in a second a n d revised edition o f her 1 9 8 5 b o o k
Narratology,
in 1 9 9 7 . In her introduction she explains h o w she grew uneasy with the first
edition when working with the second. S h e felt uncomfortable with the " t o n e
o f it," the references " t o being sure," and "all those remnants o f the positivistic
4
Although Steve McCabe's Wyatt Earp in Dallas, 1963 (1995) can be read as an epic
poem, it is a postmodern version of the epic, a genuine hybrid.
5
See Frye 1957 and any introduction to structuralism. Frye believes that literary criticism
should "acquire something of the methodological discipline and coherence of the sciences",
but several critics have found his approach "excessively schematic" (Lodge 1995: 421).
"There is a place for classification in criticism ... The strong emotional repugnance felt by
many critics toward any form of schematization in poetics is again the result of a failure to
distinguish criticism as a body of knowledge from the direct experience of literature, where
every act is unique, and classification has no place," Frye claims in his "Polemical
Introduction" to Anatomy of Criticism (1957: 29).
"Structuralism," as proposed by cultural anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, normally
refers to a form of analysis informed by Saussure's linguistic model. Structuralism considers
cultural phenomena as a signifying structure, "a combination of signs that have a set
significance for the members of a particular culture," and analysis explains how phenomena
achieve their "cultural significance, and what that significance is, by reference to an
underlying system" (Abrams 1993: 280).
327
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis''.
discourse o f m y training that inhere in structuralist t h o u g h t " (xiii). Bal found
that there was a discrepancy between her practice as an analyst a n d the
systemic approach to narrative, between her encounters with narrative as
"object-language" a n d her analysis as "meta-language." In the afterword o f her
n e w edition, she claims that there is " n o direct logical connection between
classifying a n d understanding texts":
Asking whether or not an object 'is' narrative is both obvious and
futile, just as the notion that an image 'is' visual hardly calls for visual
analysis to make that point. O n the other hand, if so much of culture
'is' narrative, or, if not, at least 'has an aspect o f narrative, doesn't any
invocation of narratology initiate a circular argument that begs the
question of specificity? This is why traditionally, narratology has been
used to differentiate 'types' of narrative, narrative situations, 'modes' of
story-telling ... But what's the point of thai>. ... Delimitation,
classification, typology, it is all very nice as a remedy to chaos-anxiety,
but what insights does it yield?... There is no direct logical connection
between classifying or understanding texts. (Bal 1997: 221)
B a l ' s c o n t e n t i o n is t h a t initial c l a s s i f i c a t i o n a n d t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f a
consistent
theoretical
apparatus
in
analysis
too
easily
promotes
d i c h o t o m y . W h e n a v a l u e s y s t e m is a p p r o p r i a t e d to t h e a p p a r a t u s , it
p o t e n t i a l l y d i s q u a l i f i e s a s p e c i f i c k i n d o f n a r r a t i v e t h a t is f o r m a t i v e for
c o l l e c t i v e m e m o r y in p a r t i c u l a r w a y s . A c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t h a t p r o m o t e s a
" f i c t i o n ' V ' n o n f i c t i o n " d i c h o t o m y can therefore potentially seclude the
historical
event
from
the
realm
of
"fiction,"
and
leave
d o c u m e n t a r i s t or t h e h i s t o r i a n to treat it in n a r r a t i v e . B a l
it t o
the
therefore
cautions against a confusion of understanding and axiology, against a
s e n s e o f " v a l u e i n h e r e n t in n a r r a t i v e . " T h e d a n g e r is t h a t n a r r a t i v e is
either
understood
as " t r u e ,
hence, g o o d "
or as " i n t r i n s i c a l l y
false,
f i c t i o n a l , m a n i p u l a t i v e , h e n c e , b a d " ( 2 2 3 ) . In either c a s e t h e e s s e n t i a l
t e n s i o n t h a t is i n t e g r a l to a s p e c i f i c v i s i o n o f h i s t o r y is n e g l e c t e d .
T h e reasons for cautioning against an axiology o f "fiction"/"nonfiction"
are, then, partly ideological. Bal's approach to "close reading" is definitely
anti-totalitarian.
S h e insists that n o a c a d e m i c discipline can
w i t h o u t a n o t i o n o f the c o n c e p t o f meaning
function
( 2 6 ) , a view that is r e m i n i s c e n t
o f for e x a m p l e B a k h t i n ' s textual/cultural a p p r o a c h , since B a k h t i n insisted
o n a n y text as s i m u l t a n e o u s l y " p o l y p h o n i c " a n d " l a d e n . " B a l d o e s not,
however, e m b r a c e " t h e d i s a b u s e d e n d o r s e m e n t o f u n d e c i d a b i l i t y " ( 9 1 - 2 ) .
M e a n i n g is n o t forever delayed, it is rather articulated a n d re-articulated in
interpretation, securing an o n g o i n g q u e s t i o n i n g o f textual authority.
328
Øyvind Vågnes
In the case o f t h e K e n n e d y assassination the narrativity in w h a t J o h n
H e l l m a n n refers to as an " u n b o u n d e d cultural s p a c e " is a battle o f cultural
authority ( H e l l m a n n
analyze
co-exist
"objective" and
1 9 9 7 : x ) . 6 O n this b a t t l e g r o u n d , the narratives I
with
an
abundance
of
narratives
that
claim
to
be
"scientific," a n d thereby present a closure in terms o f
m e a n i n g . T h e y " s t a g e " the historical event a n d m a y therefore b e said to
" p l a y with m e a n i n g . " T h e q u e s t i o n o f " t r u t h " is as c o n t e s t e d as ever w h e n
a story o f the p a s t is told, a n d this is particularly t h e case in the u n s o l v e d
murder
narratives
mystery
of
a
problematize
president. 7
the
very
Numerous
distinction
Kennedy
between
assassination
"fiction"
and
" n o n f i c t i o n " narrative b y not resolving this basic tension. N o v e l s s u c h as
D o n D e L i l l o ' s Libra
( 1 9 8 8 ) or m o v i e s s u c h as O l i v e r S t o n e ' s JFK
{\99\),
w h i c h are a b o u t events s u r r o u n d i n g the assassination, are routinely p l a c e d
in " f i c t i o n " shelves. R e a d e r s a n d spectators are familiar with the contrast
i m p l i e d , b u t the p r o c e s s o f reading
a n d watching
is m o r e c o m p l e x , a n d
invites a particular k i n d o f interactivity. O f c o u r s e , the reader/spectator
d o e s n o t interpret a m o v i e or a novel in the s a m e w a y as for e x a m p l e the
first official interpretation o f the event, the W a r r e n C o m m i s s i o n report in
1 9 6 4 . 8 W h e r e a s the d o c u m e n t a r y a p p r o a c h o f the C o m m i s s i o n a t t e m p t e d
a necessary b u t flawed conclusive interpretation, the artistic narratives
c a n n o t a n d will n o t achieve s u c h a truth-telling status, a n d their p o w e r is
rather o f a negative chatacter; they are free from burdens o f empiri, open for
artistry, a n d they raise questions a b o u t knowledge and the authority o f
knowledge. T h e i r o w n considerable authority is thus o f a different character.
T h e anti-totalitarian p o l y p h o n y o f the narratives d e p e n d s o n their
hybridity, o n a textual play that frustrates generic a n d formal classification.
T h e y o p e r a t e in a z o n e
fittingly
d e s c r i b e d by Bill N i c h o l s as " b e t w e e n
b o u n d a r i e s , " w h e r e " t h e w o r l d p u t before us lies b e t w e e n o n e n o t o u r o w n
a n d o n e that very well m i g h t b e " ( 1 9 9 4 , ix), h e n c e their t r o u b l e d m i m e t i c
character. T h e novel Libra
a n d the m o v i e JFK
address the assassination b y
w a y o f m o n t a g e o f d o c u m e n t a r y material a n d r e e n a c t m e n t , b y w a y o f
6
In Vågnes 2002 I discuss the implications of this kind of narrativity for the formation of
collective memory.
7
One result of this is that critics simultaneously classify narratives as "fiction" and
performs ethical criticism; a novel or a movie is first labelled as a work of the imagination,
then criticized severely for its representation of history.
8
See an extensive list of titles that present criticism of the Report in Parenti, 1999: 206.
In 1978, a House Select Committee concluded against the Warren Report that there was
more than one assassin involved in the Kennedy shooting.
329
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis?
c o m b i n i n g w h a t is i m a g i n e d with indexical d a t a , never settling in o n e
m o d e , always d i s r u p t i n g w h a t is s i m u l a t e d with w h a t is real, always telling
w h a t m a y have h a p p e n e d . T h e use S t o n e m a k e s o f the 8 m m film o f the
assassination s h o t b y A b r a h a m Z a p r u d e r is highly controversial, b e c a u s e he
" m i x e s Z a p r u d e r ' s real vérité with his o w n s i m u l a t e d v é r i t é " ( W i l l i a m s
1 9 9 9 : 3 1 1 ) . A c c o r d i n g to M a r i t a S t u r k e n it is this m o n t a g e that defines
the dialogical relationship between narrative a n d spectator, that allows the
viewer to raise f u n d a m e n t a l q u e s t i o n s o f m e a n i n g :
T h e meanings o f the Zapruder film continue to shift each time it is
reenacted ... T h e Zapruder film replaces personal memories of the
Kennedy assassination, becoming those memories, and JFK has the
capacity to replace the Zapruder film. All subsequent depictions of
the Zapruder film are irrevocably altered by its inscription in JFK.
(Sturken 1995: 35)
Sturken claims that it is "the reenacted image that carries the weight o f
historical narrative, that allows for a sense o f participation in history" ( 1 9 9 5 :
' On the hybridity of Libra:
"Libra preserves the historical texture of everyday life the [Warren Commission] Report
offers in its countless interviews and empirical facts and details ... DeLillo assembles and
organizesthe historical materials of The Warren Commission Report in conjunction with
several conspiracy theories of the assassination. Libra, however, does not vindicate either
narrative of the JFK assassination, but rather negates each plot by revealing its moment of
untruth, the blind spot that enables each narrative to restore meaning and/or stability to
social reality." (Willman 1999: 622-23)
"What [DeLillo] has done in Libra is given us one perfectly shaped, intention-driven
narrative while folding within it, every other chapter, a second narrative, his imagined
biography of Oswald ... With his double narrative DeLillo toys with conventional political
and novelistic expectations. ... Oswald is a contemporary production, a figure who is
doubled everywhere in Libra, even, most harrowingly, in strategic places, in the narrative
voice that DeLillo invented fot this book." (Lentricchia 1991 b), 201-3)
On the hybridity of JFK:
"Upon the film's release, the criticism continued along two fronts: Stone's decision to
base his narrative on the much-discredited Jim Garrison, former New Orleans district
attorney, and the film's visual strategy of intercutting archival footage with reenactments of
alleged events." (Simon 1996: 205)
"Everything is presented as if it were of the same ontologicai order, both real and imaginary realistically imaginary or imaginary real, with the result that the referential function of the images
of events is etiolated ... All of the events depicted in the film - whether attested by historical
evidence, based on conjecture, or simply made up in order to help the plot along or to lend
credence to Stone's paranoid fantasies - are presented as if diey were equally historical, which is to
say, equally real, or as if they had really happened." (White 1999: 68, 69)
330
Øyvind Vågnes
3 5 ) . ° T h e meanings "continue to shift," a n d o n g o i n g participation leaves
history open-ended. T h e kind o f spectatot participation that Sturken describes
thus depends fundamentally o n the essential tension that characterize this kind
o f narrative. T h i s interpretational activity resembles the o n e preferred b y Bal, a
G a d a m e r i a n approach: o n e should always allow tne object to "speak b a c k " a n d
allow a "suspension o f certainties" (Bal 2 0 0 2 : 4 5 ) . Theory, according to Bal, is
not an "instrument o f analysis" as m u c h as "a discourse that can b e brought to
bear o n the object at the s a m e time as the object can be brought to bear o n it"
( 6 5 ) . T h e p o i n t o f interpretation is, Bal claims towards the end of
Narratology,
to ever raise " G a d a m e r ' s perpetual questions" (Bal 1 9 9 7 : 2 2 4 ) .
T h i s dialogic relation between "object-language" a n d " m e t a - l a n g u a g e , "
where b o t h can be said to problematize a n d investigate
epistemological
authority, disqualifies readings that insist on a clear-cut distinction between
the two. Several o f the narratives " d o theory" in the sense that they both reflect
a n d invite reflection o n , say, "history as institution" or "the epistemological
claims o f historical representation."" T h e narratives can m a k e claims that are
theoretical.'" In Libra,
o n e o f DeLillo's characters is a retired senior analyst o f
the C I A , a n d as we follow h i m in his w o r k w e are b o u n d to share his
Oswald's
Tale ( 1 9 9 5 ) , a historical novel o f almost 8 0 0 pages, w e are b o u n d to read
t h r o u g h an i m m e n s e a m o u n t o f " d o c u m e n t a r y " material (interviews, records).
T h i s should not surprise us. In his essay o n the relations o f science a n d art,
T h o m a s K u h n points o u t that there are "close a n d persistent parallels"
between science and art, the two enterprises he h a d been taught (as a former
physicist) to regard as " p o l a r . " ' O n e cannot, according to K u h n , apply "classic
historiographical reflections. Similarly, if w e read N o r m a n Mailer's
3
For elaborate discussions on how narrarives such as JFK can engender a new kind of
historical consciousness, see Nichols 1994, 1996.
1
' For an essay on how literary texts can "do poetics," and how interdisciplinariry problematizes
further distinctions between meta- and object-language, see Bal 2000. Bal's Quoting Caravaggio
(1999) examines how art works "theorize cultural history" (5) and "do history" (7).
12
W. J. T. Mitchell explains in an interview how he, when working with Picture Theory
(1994), wished to "silence the theoretical chatter" and "let pictures talk and to allow images
to attain some kind of theoretical status" (Mitchell 2000: 2). Instead of trying to "replace"
the object with commentary, Michell wishes to "let pictures 'do' theory and give theory a
physical, visible, figured body" (ibid): "the aim is to investigate the ways in which these
forms theorize themselves, not to apply theory imported from some academic discipline" (3).
13
In the humanities, the rise of a journal such as Rethinking History reflects a need for "a
new form of historical writing" (cfr. call for papers, http://hsozkult.geschichte.huberlin.de/termine/1998/cminial0.htm) that problematizes a polarity of "objectlanguage" and "meta-language." The editors of the journal invite contributions that are
331
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis''.
d i c h o t o m i e s " between "the world o f value a n d the world o f fact, the subjective
a n d the objective, or the intuitive a n d the inductive" a n d use these to
distinguish art from science ( K u h n 1 9 7 7 : 3 4 0 ) . K u h n finds "disquieting" that
" t h e distinction between artist a n d scientist or between their products seems to
evade u s " when w e ate "deploying our subdest analytic apparatus." However,
this is " d u e less to their intrinsic similarity than to the failure o f the tools we
use for close scrutiny." K u h n propagates a search for an "alternate set" o f tools,
a n d hopes to find "entry p o i n t s " in a reconsideration o f parallels between
science a n d art drawn by E. M .
H a f n e r from three areas,
"products,"
"activity," a n d " r e s p o n s e " ( 3 4 1 ) . Central to K u h n ' s argument is the difference
between the goals o f art a n d science. In the arts "the aesthetic is itself the goal
o f the w o r k , " whereas in the sciences it is "a tool" ( 3 4 2 ) . Sciences are to
" u n l o c k the puzzle." Whereas the artist "also has puzzles to solve, whether o f
perspective, coloration, brush technique, or framing e d g e " their s o l u d o n is not
" t h e a i m o f his w o r k but rather a m e a n s to his attainment" ( 3 4 7 ) .
Obviously,
Kuhn
e p i t o m e o f traditional
thought
described
refers in these passages to the painter-artist,
artistimages.
by K u h n
in a
However,
different
the conflicting
essay as
the
modes
"convergent"
of
and
"divergent," resulting in a "tension" which is "essential" to "the very best sort
o f scientific research" is a better characterization o f what is achieved in the
artistry o f s o m e o f the J F K assassination narratives ( 2 2 6 ) . T h e dynamics o f a
narrative that evokes the assassination o f a head o f state does not merely
d e p e n d on its aesthetic elements, a n d if it is to provoke reflection o n our
understanding o f the event, it d e m a n d s o f the artist s o m e t h i n g resembling
what K u h n finds in the "successful scientist": an ability to "simultaneously
display the characteristics o f the traditionalist a n d o f the iconoclast" ( 2 2 7 ) .
E v e n if few w o u l d think o f Libra or JFK
as scholarly or factual accounts, or
expect them to tell the truth a b o u t what h a p p e n e d , it w o u l d b e reductive to
think o f their primary goals as merely the development o f a specific aesthetic.
T h e y also s u s p e n d the unlocking o f the puzzle o f an historical event, to remain
with
Kuhnian
metaphor.
They
invite
"play,"
but serious
play,
in
the
G a d a m e r i a n sense o f the term. ( See G a d a m e r 2 0 0 2 : 101-133: "Play as the clue
to ontologicai explanation."). T h e y are not uninterested in questions o f truth.
"Miniatures," for which the only requirements are that the topic "be in some way historical
and the length no more than 1500 words... the subject matter of a Miniature need only be
limited by the imagination and inventiveness of the historian. Like all contributions to
Rethinking History, Miniatures will be refereed - by standards appropriate to the form."
Editors Robert A. Rosenstone and Alan Munslow suggest that contributors send them "vest
pocket biographies, poetic reflections, personal encounters, outrageous reinterpretations."
332
Øyvind Vågnes
D o e s a classification o f narrative as " f i c t i o n " or " n o n f i c t i o n " h a v e to
obscure
this
"essential
tension"?
Or
can
it
help
the
interpreter
to
u n d e r s t a n d each narrative better? T w o views that differ radically f r o m that
o f B a l are p r e s e n t e d in a recent d e b a t e between E r i c H e y n e a n d D a n i e l
L e h m a n . B o t h share a firm belief in d i s t i n g u i s h i n g in analytical practice
between
the " f i c t i o n a l "
and
the " n o n f i c t i o n a l . "
T h e y have,
however,
different views o n h o w this m a y b e d o n e . H e y n e believes in the a p p l i c a t i o n
o f a theoretical a p p a r a t u s that can help the interpreter define narratives as
" f i c t i o n " or " n o n f i c t i o n " narrative, whereas L e h m a n rests heavily o n the
m e t a p h o r i c a l in his c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f a specific version o f " n o n f i c t i o n . "
H e y n e o u t l i n e d his first vision o f a " t h e o r y o f literary n o n f i c t i o n " in
Modern Fiction Studies in 1 9 8 7 , w h e r e he stated his interest in finding a
w a y " t o d i s t i n g u i s h between fiction a n d n o n f i c t i o n " ( H e y n e 1 9 8 7 : 4 8 3 ) .
T h i r t e e n years later, in Narrative,
H e y n e rejects w h a t he refers to as his
"earlier binary m o d e l for t h e
fiction/nonfiction
d i s t i n c t i o n , " b u t has n o t
given u p h o p i n g that a m o r e c o m p l e x s y s t e m i c theory is p o s s i b l e : "
14
I have spent the last decade waiting for renewed critical attention to
focus on 'the theory of nonfiction reportage.' T h e practice of
various kinds of 'creative nonfiction has proliferated ... and surely
theory would follow practice. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened.
N o t only has there been little progress in our theoretical
understanding of ambitious nonfiction, but there is no more
"In order to evaluate a complex nonfiction narrative, it is essential to understand the
exact truth-claims being made and how they fit into the author's overall intentions. ... I
think it is important to frame our discussion of literary nonfiction in terms that recognize
its potential success as both a useful model of reality and an aesthetically pleasing verbal
pattern of human meanings" (488-9).
' 5 One such attempt can be found in Marie-Laure Ryan's "Postmodernism and the Doctrine
of Panfictionaliry" (1997). She considers "the crisis of the dichotomy [of fiction and
nonfiction] as a challenge to sharpen our definitions" (Ryan 1997: 165). Her alternative in the
essay is an expansion of the dichotomy "into a three-, and then four-term model for the
epistemological classification of genres" (166). Her model is problematic in a number of ways:
1) It develops a typology based on truth-telling status as parameter; 2) It reduces narratives to
homogenous and consitent structures; 3) Like Heyne, she envisions literary production as
isolated from other cultural production. The result is the conceptualization of a theoretical
appratus that is bound to operate as a reductive in the interpretation of recent narrative (and
significantly so in the case of Kennedy assassination narrative).
For further reading, see also The Distinction of Fiction, in which Dorrit Cohn addresses
the "uniqueness" of fiction, which according to her can be "precisely identified and
systematically examined" (Cohn 1999: vii).
333
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis?
widespread agreement about the nature of the fiction/nonfiction
distinction than there was twenty years ago. (Heyne 2001a: 322)
H e y n e s u b m i t s these views in a critical review o f L e h m a n ' s Matters
of Fact
( 1 9 9 7 ) , a b o o k w h o s e "single m o s t i m p o r t a n t theoretical c l a i m , " a c c o r d i n g
to H e y n e , is " t h a t the p r e s e n c e o f flesh-and-blood characters in a narrative
m a k e s t h e experience o f that narrative qualitatively different, creating a
'boundary'
or ' e d g e ' that m u s t b e crossed b y writers a n d readers
of
n o n f i c t i o n " ( 3 2 3 ) . It is n o t difficult to agree with H e y n e that L e h m a n ' s
reliance
on
a
single
"fiction'V'nonfiction"
complex
spatial
distinction
phenomenon
(326).
characterize
the
represents an o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n
metaphor
of a
Nevertheless,
to
Heyne's
alternative
is
p r o b l e m a t i c . A c c o r d i n g to H e y n e , there is need for a theory that can
address a " t h e h u m a n ability to process narrative in t e r m s o f categories like
fiction
a n d n o n f i c t i o n " ( 3 2 6 ) , an a p p r o a c h that "offers us s o m e help with
identifying the 'criteria o f validity' for n o n f i c t i o n s t a t u s " ( 3 2 9 ) .
Such
"criteria" h a v e to b e established rather than identified, a n d a theoretical
a p p a r a t u s m u s t b e c o n c e i v e d accordingly. Paradoxically, however, H e y n e
claims
that a " s o r t i n g
mechanism"
for
"fiction"
and
"nonfiction"
is
" s o m e t h i n g w e all e m p l o y r o u t i n e l y every d a y , " a n d that it " o p e r a t e s as a
c o m p l e x i n d i v i d u a l a l g o r i t h m for each p e r s o n , b a s e d o n that
person's
experience, belief, k n o w l e d g e , a n d d e s i r e " ( 3 3 1 ) . D o e s this m e a n that w e
mathesis singularis
in o u t individual interpretations o f these
narratives b u t that w e need to c o n s t r u c t a mathesis universalis in a practice
o f analysis? Is not a scientific a p p r o a c h that merely suggests a
s y s t e m a t i z a t i o n o f the intuitive trivial? L e h m a n (like Bal) p r o b l e m a t i z e s t h e
n o t i o n o f differentiation as significant for analysis. In his r e s p o n s e to
H e y n e , h e c l a i m s that he leaves to others " t h e task o f s o r t i n g stories into
p i l e s " ( L e h m a n 2 0 0 1 : 3 3 4 ) . Rather, he r e m a i n s with m e t a p h o t o f
m o v e m e n t a n d claims his interest in " t h e heft a n d s h a p e o f n o n f i c t i o n , its
ability to alter s p a c e a n d m a k e n o i s e " ( 3 3 5 ) .
apply a
H e y n e a n d L e h m a n disagree, then, o n h o w to a d d r e s s this ability to
d i s t i n g u i s h " f i c t i o n " f r o m " n o n f i c t i o n . " T h e i r d e b a t e m a y reflect a p e r i o d
o f crisis in the practice o f critical analysis, where classification, generic a n d
otherwise, is increasingly p r o b l e m a t i c because o f a g e n u i n e l y hybridized
cultural p r o d u c t i o n . O n e result o f this m a y b e that m u c h m o r e w o r k has
been d o n e in recent years o n for e x a m p l e narrative theory t h a n o n m o d e r n
g e n r e theory ( G o r m a n 2 0 0 1 ) . H e y n e considers g e n r e theory relevant for
analysis, whereas L e h m a n q u e s t i o n s its ability to p r o d u c e insights that can
p r o v e helpful in t h e challenging r e a d i n g o f a particular k i n d o f narrative.
334
Øyvind Vågnes
H e n c e the d e b a t e is n o t o n l y theoretical, b u t also institutional, there is also
a d i v e r g e n c e in their views o n critical practice. In yet a n o t h e r r e s p o n s e ,
H e y n e d e f e n d s classification b e c a u s e it is to h i m a joyful
activity.
There is some intrinsic joy for me in hearing the names of things,
in learning how to distinguish among the many different kinds of
things in this world. I feel the same joy when someone identifies for
me a new literary subgenre in such a way that I can see it more
clearly, understand it as not merely a unique instance but a type of
literary production that shares crucial features with others of its
type. I have the same sense of having learned something solid and
useful, a pattern that helps me make sense of this complex and
fascinating world. Some might argue that no learning is possible
without classification; without going that far, I have to say that
sorting things out makes me happy. (Heyne 2001 b, 343)
Is this an e x a m p l e o f w h a t B a l refers to as classification as " a r e m e d y to
c h a o s - a n x i e t y " (Bal 1 9 9 7 : 2 2 1 ) ? S u c h " c h a o s - a n x i e t y " i m p l i e s that textual
p r o d u c t i o n is c h a o t i c . A c c o r d i n g to Larry M c C a f f e r y , an u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f
w h a t is often referred to as " p o s t m o d e r n " narrative d e p e n d s o n an ability
t o a c c e p t a n d reorientate o n e s e l f within a " c u l t u r e o f m a s s m e d i a " that
" h a s c o n s p i r e d a g a i n s t the ways in w h i c h art w a s previously created a n d
received" ( M c C a f f e r y 1 9 9 5 : x i v ) . ' 6 O n e o f these ways is the g e n r e - b a s e d
interpretation o f narrative. R e c e n t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y suggests an awareness o f
a narrative's e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l c l a i m s b y i m p l y i n g that w e c o n s i d e r
how
narratives m a k e us t h i n k o f " k n o w l e d g e , " rather t h a n t h e " t t u t h - s t a t u s " o f
a given narrative. H a y d e n W h i t e , a central p r o p o n e n t o f this historiography,
has been m i s p l a c e d as a post-structuralist or has been a c c u s e d b y fellow
historians o f p r o p o s i n g a constructivist h i s t o r i o g r a p h y b e c a u s e o f his
o n g o i n g s t u d y o f the
figuration
o f historical narrative. 1 7 R i c h a r d T . V a n n
p o i n t s o u t , in " T h e R e c e p t i o n o f H a y d e n W h i t e , " h o w W h i t e has been
16
The reorientation McCaffery refers to implies a keen awareness of new and "innovative
strategies of narrative approaches modeled on more kinetic, dynamic, nonliterary forms of
art" (xxii), of which McCaffery lists quite a few (xxii-xxiii). What McCaffery describes is a
culture of extensive visual/textual transpermutation, the recognition of which any
interpretation of narratives such as JFK or Libra depends upon. Both Heyne and Lehman
are astonishingly devoted to a study of literary narrative that takes the technological reality
(an immense production of visual narrative) that surrounds literary production in to
account only to a limited degree in their readings.
Particularly "The Modernist Event" (1999), an essay in which White discusses
questions of representation and the Holocaust, has been controversial.
17
335
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis''.
referred to increasingly as a "literary critic" ( V a n n 1 9 9 8 : 1 4 8 ) . T h i s is
partly b e c a u s e W h i t e recognizes " t h e basic i m p u l s e to create narrative form
f r o m whatever reality p r e s e n t s " (Partner 1 9 9 8 : 1 6 7 ) . 1 8 It also, in effect,
suggests that m a n y o f his critics t h i n k o f his particular interest in narrative
structure as m o r e relevant for literary analysis - or the analysis o f " f i c t i o n "
rather than "nonfiction." According to White, the historical event, " b y which
o n e used to m e a n s o m e t h i n g like 'the assassination o f the thirty-fifth president
o f the U n i t e d States,' has been dissolved as an object o f a respectably scientific
k n o w l e d g e " (White 1 9 9 9 : 7 1 ) . ' 9
It is difficult not to see these developments in h o w att/history are created
and
received
as effects
o f the
rise o f a
culture
o f mass
media:
the
unprecedented mediation o f the event o f the assassination, which is still
considerable, is fundamentally intertextual, or, to use H e l l m a n n ' s
phrase
again, located in an " u n b o u n d e d cultural space." 2 " K e n n e d y famously b e c a m e
the first "tv president" (Watson 1 9 9 0 ) , a n d no K e n n e d y narrative does not
reflect this. Significandy, K e n n e d y assassination narrativity coincides with
w h a t W . J. T . Mitchell refers to as the "pictorial turn," or "the age o f
electronic reproduction," an age o f " n e w forms o f visual simulation a n d
illusionism" (Mitchell 1 9 9 4 : 15). B o t h Mitchell, McCaffery, a n d Bal envision
all textual production in such an age as " c o n t a m i n a n t , " a n d consequently
conceptualize analysis, unlike H e y n e or L e h m a n ,
Towards
the
end
of
Picture
Theory,
inter•disciplinarily.
Mitchell
speaks
for
a
"terminological economy":
F. R. Ankersmit claims that the traditional criticism of White by historians is
"misguided," and that historians "customarily distrust historical theory" (Vann 1998: 182).
One would suspect that Ankersmit places Perez Zagorin in such a category, since Zagorin
refers to a "postmodernist syndrome" that has been "largely inspired by Hayden White's
book Metahistory (1973)" (Zagorin 1999: 17), and a postmodernist philosophy that is
characterized by "its skeptical and politicized view of historical inquiry [which] is deeply
mistaken" (1). Vann, Partner, Ankersmit, and Zagorin are all quoted from editions of
History and Theory. For White's views on "post-structuralism" cfr. the essay on Foucault
and (particularly) the closing essay in Tropics of Discourse (1978), and essays on Foucault
and Jameson in The Content of the Form (1987).
" "Indeed, such singular events as the assassination of a head of state are worthy of study only
as a hypothetical presupposition necessary to the constitution of a documentary record whose
inconistencies, contradictions, gaps, and distortions of the event presumed to be their common
referent itself moves to the fore as the principal object of investigation." (White 1999:71)
20
336
See Scott, A Reference Guide to the Kennedy Assassination, 1999.
Øyvind Vågnes
,
A book called "picture theory" should, I suppose, end with a
picture of the whole argument, a visible architectonic that would
diagram the relation of all the parts and leave the reader with a grid
to be filled in with infinite detail. Unfortunately, I have no such
picture to offer. ... T h e list of new theoretical concepts and terms is
deliberately short and unoriginal. ... This terminological economy
is partly a result o f my conviction that we already have an
overabundance of metalanguages for representation and that no
'neutral' or 'scientific' vocabulary (semiotics, linguistics, discourse
analysis) can transcend or master the field of representation.
(Mitchell 1 9 9 4 : 4 1 7 )
M i t c h e l l resists the n o t i o n o f a mathesis
universalis,
a n d instead introduces
t w o c o n c e p t s , " i m a g e t e x t " a n d " m e t a p i c t u r e , " that have a p o w e r , he claims,
that "is largely negative" ( 4 1 7 - 1 8 ) . As concept, "imagetext" enables Mitchell to
analyze a narrativity that depends on the visual as well as the literary. T h e
negative power c o m e s in part from the distincdy interdisciplinary character o f
the concept, a n d especially the implications o f this particular conceptualization
for analysis. T o Mitchell such a conceptualization is inevitable since the
Saussurean sign is a " m i x e d m e d i u m " :
I prefer to think of [the imagetext] as the name of a recurrent gap
or structural relationship among symbolic practices, a trope that
signals a boundary or fold in the field o f representation. ... When I
take the theory of representation to sign theory, I point out that
Saussure's picture of the sign is not, as it first appears, based in a
simple binary opposition between the signifier and the signified. It
has, you will recall, a third element, the bar between them. ... Why
does it turn out that in order to show the structure of the sign,
Saussure needed to use three different kinds of signs - what Peirce
would have recognized as a symbol (the word), an icon (the image)
and an index (the bar)? It suggests that the internal structure o f the
sign is a mixed medium. (Mitchell 2 0 0 0 : 16)
T h e c o n s e q u e n c e o f this is that a master key to s e m i o s i s is i m p o s s i b l e , " a n
illusion p r o j e c t e d b y the h o p e for a master t h e o r y . " 2 ' R e p r e s e n t a t i o n always
involves a m i x e d m e d i u m . Mitchell is reluctant to define the g o a l s o f the
c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f " i m a g e t e x t . " H e rather c o n s i d e r s it p r o d u c t i v e for
w o r k i n g with theory dialogically a n d dialectically, " n o t in the H e g e l i a n
sense o f a c h i e v i n g a stable synthesis, b u t in B l a k e ' s a n d A d o r n o ' s sense o f
working
through
contradiction
interminably."
In p l a c e o f a
mathesis
' Marie-Laure Ryan attempts a systemic theory very much in this spirit (1997).
337
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis
universalis,
Singularis?
t h e n , M i t c h e l l p r o p o s e s an o n g o i n g e x a m i n a t i o n o f i m a g e a n d
narrative that is o p e n for rearticulation a n d reorientation, an e x a m i n a t i o n
o f "cultural f o r m a t i o n s as c o n t e s t e d , conflicted f o r m s o f m e d i a t i o n " ( 1 7 ) .
W h e n McCaffery submits that a culture o f mass m e d i a conspires against
previous ideas o f artistic creativity, he refers, then, to this
fundamental
contamination o f narrativity that in the "pictorial a g e " is unprecedented, and
that characterizes K e n n e d y assassination narrativity. B o r n o u t o f such a culture
is a narrative that McCaffery loosely calls " A v a n t P o p , " a phenomenological
rather
than
a
generic
description;
a
flexible
"concept"
open
for
reconceptualization. 2 2 A v a n t P o p narrative is characterized b y an originality
that McCaffery recognizes in its rich texture, in its particular "spirit o f
subversion a n d emphasis on radical formal innovation" (McCaffery xviii). T h e
intertextual play o f A v a n t P o p narrative resists a logocentric approach:
Avant-Pop shares with Pop Art the crucial recognition that popular
culture, rather than the traditional sources of high culture - the
Bible; myth; the revered classics o f art, painting, music, and
literature - is now what supplies the citizens of postindustrial
nations with the key images, character and narrative archetypes,
metaphors, and points o f reference and allusion that help us
establish our sense of who we are, what we want and fear, and how
we see ourselves and the world. (McCaffery 1995: xviii)
McCaffery
describes a " p o p u l a r "
culture defined b y its hybridity,
by
textual t r a n s p e r m u t a t i o n o f all k i n d s . I m a g e s o f K e n n e d y o c c u r in poetry,
c r i m e novels, television series s u c h as X Files, Red Dwarf, a n d Seinfeld,
and
in m u s i c videos f r o m artists s u c h as M a r i l y n M a n s o n .
Interestingly,
if w e
turn
to
one
approach to narrative, White's Metahistory
systemic a n d
well-conceptualized
( 1 9 7 3 ) in which he a d o p t s the
tropology o f N o r t h r o p Frye to the analysis o f historical narrative, W h i t e
expresses reservations a b o u t the systemic approach in a footnote:
Frye's
m e t h o d o f analysis works well e n o u g h o n "second-order literary genres, such
as the fairy tale or the detective story," b u t "it is too rigid a n d abstract to d o
justice to such richly textured a n d multileveled works as King
Lear, The
Rememberance
of Things Past, or even Paradise Lost" (White 1 9 7 3 : 8 n ) .
T e x t u a l complexity m a y not be a contemporary (or " p o s t m o d e r n " )
p h e n o m e n o n , b u t this does not m e a n that the textuality o f recent narrative
McCaffery uses the term for literary narrative; however, he opens up for a wider use of
the term.
338
Øyvind Vågnes
m a y not diffet from that o f earlier times. I w o u l d argue that the textual play
M c C a f f e r y refers to resists the systemic approach that H e y n e proposes. It also
resists o t an u p d a t e d version o f the systemic theory Frye proposed, like W h i t e
seems to suggest. Bal claims she " w o u l d prefer first to explore messiness" rathet
than b e delimited b y the order o f White's "system that neatly coordinates
figures, literary genres, a n d historical periods" (Bal 1 9 9 9 : 4 5 ) .
W h a t characterizes Mitchell's o w n approach? In an interview he s u b m i t s
that his a t t e m p t (in Picture
Theory) at a synthesis o f contemporary thinking
a b o u t representation a n d art theory d i d not issue "in any system or m e t h o d , "
a n d that it instead tended to b e " s o m e w h a t anarchistic a n d eclectic, working
b y essayistic forays into concrete problems rather than an
architectonic
elaboration" (Mitchell 2 0 0 0 : 5). "Imagetext" as envisioned by Mitchell is what
Bal calls a "travelling concept" (Bal 2 0 0 2 : 5 6 - 9 5 ) , a n d Mitchell claims that he
believes
"in
'travelling light' when
it comes
to technical
terminology"
(Mitchell 2 0 0 0 : 5 ) . H e is m o r e comfortable working with " m u t a b l e c o n c e p t s "
(6). Bal proposes a use o f " c o n c e p t s " as tools for analysis, not in order " t o
label" but because concepts can "offer miniature theories" (Bal 2 0 0 2 : 2 2 ) .
Bal's contention o f "theory" differs distinctly from "theoretical a p p a r a t u s " in
ways similar to that o f Mitchell. " C o n c e p t " is to b e understood not as "cleatcut methodological legislation," b u t rather as "territory to be travelled" ( 2 3 ) .
A c c o r d i n g to Bal, interdisciplinary analysis benefits from the projection o f
" w o r k i n g c o n c e p t s " ( 9 9 ) , concepts that have a history from m o r e than o n e
a c a d e m i c discipline. T h e m o v e m e n t back a n d forth between disciplines she
envisions
metaphorically,
hence
"travelling
concepts."23
A
trajectory
is
p r o p o s e d for the reader/spectator instead o f definitions or truth-claims ( 6 0 ) .
T e x t u a l hybridity invites an analysis that draws on different disciplines, an
analysis that is to lead the analyst to resist "sweeping statements
partisanship
as well
as
reductive
classification
for
the
sake o f
and
alleged
objectivity" ( 4 4 ) . Bal even conceptualizes "messiness" in cultural analysis, b y
deliberately " m e s s i n g " (as she puts it) with concepts. (Bal 2 0 0 2 , 1 7 8 - 8 2 ) .
A systemic theory that relocalizes boundaries o f "ficrion'V'nonfiction"
c a n n o t address messiness: Bal's a r g u m e n t is that the intertextuality o f the w o r k
motivates
an
interdisciplinary
analysis
that
constandy
invites
reconceptualization. "Messiness" is thus as serious a concept as "play." In her
critical practice, Bal addresses the uniqueness o f the work's aesthetic effort,
Bal points out that the destinations are bound to be uncertain, as you find that "after
returning from your travels, the object constructed [for analysis] turns out to no longer be
the 'thing' that so fascinated you when you chose it" (4).
339
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis?
and,
significantly,
recognizes
"messiness"
as
a
helpful
concept
when
confronting the danger o f ethical criticism in any theory o f art that depends
heavily on notions o f generic purity or strict classification. Ethical criticism
advocates a form o f narrative that is "fictional" b u t that also addresses history
a n d therefore needs to be "truthful." I w o u l d argue that an analysis that
addresses the performativity o f the narratives in terms o f historical accuracy is
reductive. T h e i r performativity is defined b y their "messiness." 2 4 A n analysis
that presents "concepts as miniature theories" in ways similar to what Mitchell
a n d Bal suggest is m o r e appropriate for an interdisciplinary approach.
Nevertheless, the considerable challenge o f such a contention o f theory
cannot be underestimated. Mitchell warns against interdisciplinarity as "buzz
w o r d , " against the absorption o f "everything into this undifferentiated s o u p "
(Mitchell 2 0 0 0 : 10). Bal presents similar warnings in her introduction to
Travelling
Concepts.
In spite o f this, Mitchell a n d Bal insist on a m o r e
pragmatic kind o f "labour o f reading" (Bal 2 0 0 2 : 2 6 ) , which, if successful,
m i g h t (but only might) result in what Richard Rorty refers to as an "inspired"
kind o f " u n m e t h o d o l o g i c a l criticism":
Reading texts is a matter of reading them in the light of other texts,
people, obsessions, bits of information, or what have you, and then
seeing what happens. ... [W]hat excites and convinces is a function
o f the needs and purposes of those who are being excited and
convinced. (Rorty 1992: 105)
A r e a d i n g is o n l y o n e o u t o f m a n y , a n d c a n n o t " e x p l a i n " or systemically
" p l a c e " a narrative. S u c h a p r a g m a t i c c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n
o f analysis is
b o u n d to b o t h frustrate a n d inspire the analyst. A n o t h e r pitfall is that a
n o t i o n o f narrative as value-neutral can result in analysis that is value-less,
a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y p r o p a g a t e a nihilistic interpretational activity that is
radically unethical. S u c h criticism m a y c a n o n i z e narratives that are o p e n e n d e d in a w a y that u n d e r m i n e s the significance o f a particular historical
A number of the fiercest critics of Libra and JFK blamed the narratives for their
"messiness," and argued that it defined their manipulative character. One of JFKs fiercest
critics, Janet Maslin in the New York Times, commented that "[ijmages fly by breathlessly
and without identification ... Real material and simulated scenes are intercut in a
deliberately bewildering fashion" (quoted from Kagan, 204). An astonishing amount of the
criticism of the movie focused on irs montage and whether it was "manipulative," that is,
false and "bad." In a similar manner, as different voices as George Will and Jonathan
Yardley both condemned DeLillo's novelistic treatment of the assassination story in Libra
for its textual play. In his syndicated column, Will blamed the novelist for his "bad
influence." See Frank Lentricchia, "The American Writer as Bad Citizen" (1991 a)).
340
Øyvind Vågnes
event. Several critics have r e c o g n i z e d s u c h a t e n d e n c y in the interpretation
o f H o l o c a u s t narrative. 2 5 Recently, the television series Live
from
Baghdad,
w h i c h aired o n H B O in the fall o f 2 0 0 2 , was a c c u s e d o f d e p i c t i n g the
C N N coverage o f the b o m b i n g o f B a g h d a d as an act o f h e r o i s m o n the
p a r t o f reporter Peter Arnett. F A I R (Fairness & A c c u r a c y in R e p o r t i n g )
criticized t h e series for repeating m a n u f a c t u r e d a n d untruthful news stories
f r o m 1 9 9 1 . 2 6 T h e p r o d u c e r s o f the series claimed a truth-telling status (unlike
S t o n e or DeLillo) that invited protest. Merely to write off the series as
"untruthful" does not, however, prevent its historical vision from having a
formative effect on the collective m e m o r y o f the event. T h e task o f the analyst
o f s u c h a narrative is, hence, to initiate a theoretical approach that d e p e n d s o n
the viewer as participant
rather than passive "receiver." W h e n historical reality
is, in the words o f Bill N i c h o l s , " u n d e r siege" (Nichols 1 9 9 4 : 2 ) , the analyst
m u s t sctutinize each narrative that depicts an historical event with attention to
how it addresses knowledge a n d truth. S o m e o f the K e n n e d y assassination
narratives can thus perhaps, by " d o i n g theory," engender a new kind o f
historical consciousness, very m u c h in the way that N i c h o l s or Bal envisions:
[R]e-visions of baroque art neither collapse past and present, as in an
ill-conceived presentism, nor objectify the past and bring it within our
grasp, as in a problematic positivist historicism. They do, however,
demonstrate a possible way of dealing with 'the past today.' This
reversal, which puts what came chronologically first ('pre-') as an
aftereffect behind ('post') its later recycling, is what I would like to call
a preposterous history. In other words, it is a way of 'doing history' that
carries productive uncertainties and illuminating highlights - a vision of
how to re-vision the Baroque. (Bal 1999: 6-7).
It is the ceaseless dialectic of past, present, and future that sustains
historical consciousness for the historical actor as well as the historical
spectator ... Collage ... retains the paradox while simultaneously aiming
it in the direction of a will to transform. Realism alone clearly will not
suffice ... A crisis of representation ensues from the failure of classic
realist narrative models to convince us of their commensurability with
the reality we experience beyond them. Different models arise and
contend ... Questions arise that cannot be answered by traditional
storytelling techniques. (Nichols 1996: 56-58)
See Zachary Braiterman, "Against Holocaust-Sublime" (2000) for a thought-provoking
discussion.
26
Lismoen 2003.
341
"Working Through Contradiction Interminably": Towards a Mathesis Singularis?
S u c h a c o n s c i o u s n e s s d e p e n d s o n w h a t S t u r k e n refers to as " p a r t i c i p a t i o n , "
a n d serves as w h a t Mitchell refers to as " t h e dialectic between illusion a n d
reality,"
in w h i c h illusion can o n l y " b e in s o m e k i n d o f dialectical
relationship with the real" (Mitchell 2 0 0 0 : 2 0 - 1 ) .
O n l y by w a y o f close readings can o n e h o p e to investigate h o w such
consciousness can be activated in different instances o f narrativity. T h i s m a y
b e a difficult task, but is not difficulty a n d resistance what interpretation is all
about? Mitchell refers to the disillusion o f the analyst as a "positive s y m p t o m
o f the fact that s o m e h o w w e d o keep o n learning as w e think our t h o u g t h s "
(3). Even if the tide o f this paper m a y s o u n d s o m e w h a t sisyphean, it m a y also
serve as a m o t t o for a particular conceptualization o f theory a n d analysis. I
leave it o p e n whether o n e must, as C a m u s proclaimed, " i m a g i n e Sisyphus
h a p p y " at the foot o f the m o u n t a i n .
University
of Bergen
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