Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Review of "Audience" at M/C (forwarded)

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Friday, March 17, 2000, 2:39
Here's the "review" of the article, in an announcement of the
issue, that I tried to paste into my response to Matt.  What's
interesting to me is the perception that conlangers have been
historically "persecuted"--because, presumably, they are not
deferring to audience in an acceptable way?  General remarks
about audience at the beginning... scroll down to "HERE IT IS:"

[I hope my mailer doesn't attach the "uncut" version of this
forwarded post, like it did last time.   If it does, can someone
tell me how I adjust my Netscape Communicator so it won't
continue to do that?  I would like, eventually, to be able to
forward something and be able to cut out material from it.  How
embarrassing if it's put back in in an attachment.]

S.C.


> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 16 Mar. 2000 > > The Media and Cultural Studies Centre at the University of Queensland > is proud to present issue one in volume three of the award-winning > > M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture > http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/ > > 'audience' - Issue Editors: Paul Attallah & Keith Hampson, > with Catherine Howell
[Opening remarks about audience... kind of interesting, and an extension, perhaps, of Matt's remarks]
> An audience, as its name implies, is the act of listening. As such, it > requires at least two actors. One who says something -- a request, a > demand, a statement -- addressed to another who can lend or withhold > consent, attention or understanding. The desire of the first seeks out > the desire of the second, perhaps even provoking or enticing it. > > The speaker seduces, the listener resists, with great imperfection all > round. > > Modern audiences -- of movies, and television, and sporting events -- are > still in the business of lending or withhold assent. Audiences ask not > that statements be true or false; they ask only that they be persuasive, > that they carry with them the full illocutionary force that will create in > the here and now the conditions which permit the willing suspension of > disbelief. > > The means of seduction seem to have become infinitely more insistent with > their transfer into industries and institutions. Whereas the means of > resistance seem to have remained fairly individual and familial, with the > occasional boost from religion or education. > > Of course, an audience is not only an agonistic relationship. It is also > a repository of skills and knowledge. The more we listen to the auditions > of attention seekers, the cleverer we become. We start to recognise > strategies and stratagems. We begin to suspect a story's ending before it > is even told. We recognise characters, tropes, and situations. > > These happy images of audience activity frequently animate theories of > resistance as well as the current vogue in rhetoric studies, the bracing > knowledge that regulatory structures will be overrun by technology, and > the tired contempt for social reformers. > > Few phenomena pose the question of the relation between system and actor > quite so clearly as the audience. Who's speaking, who's listening, and > how do we account for it? > > Many views of the audience are considered by the contributions in this > issue of M/C, which is now available online. Here's what's included:
[Other reviews snipped...HERE IT IS:]
> "Audience, Uglossia, and CONLANG: Inventing Languages on the Internet" > We usually think of audiences as large and tumultuous. But what happens > when they are small, and deliberately so? This is precisely what happens > with CONLANGs or constructed languages, of which one of the better known is > Klingon. Sarah L. Higley looks at the world of languages with an audience > of one. Who would make such a thing and why? What does it tell us about our > usual, and therefore invisible, presuppositions about audiences, the proper > way to address them, the requisite level of clarity, and so on? Perhaps not > surprisingly, conlangers have historically been persecuted and despised. > The author provides some good links to hear what conlangs sound like and to > construct your own audience of one.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Issue one in volume three of M/C is now online: <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/>. > Previous issues of M/C on various topics are also still available online. > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > M/C Reviews is now available at <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/>. > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > All M/C contributors are available for media contacts: mc@mailbox.uq.edu.au > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > end > > Axel Bruns > > -- > M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture mc@mailbox.uq.edu.au > The University of Queensland http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/