Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Duality

That's the theme of Talking Fresh, for which I'll be one of the writers. It's not that interesting a word, but plenty generative enough in terms of thematic fibre (whereas "roadkill", the theme of last weekend's Writing North in Saskatoon, was lively as an idea but not that useful as a theme).











When my time comes to address this theme, I think I'll start by goofing around.






Dualities are everywhere, I will point out, often on either side of a slash--stroke, I will call it (after the English), as in clothing-stroke-objects.





We're either in or we're out. We can do it or we can't.







In one official language or the other.









This self-explantory plaque across from the Hotel Sask in Regina raises dualities of race, religion, power, centre-stroke-margin, life-stroke death.











In literary-theoretical circles over the last few decades, simple dualities, aka binaries, have been pooh-poohed because they deny difference or pluralities of voice, identity, etc. Here we see some ambiguity--the plus of one theoretical stream, the one of the other.

Saturday, 16 January 2016

One Afternoon in Wascana Park

It was cold and empty in the park yesterday.








Except for the warriors.







And the watchbird.