i admit my understanding of "object" is not quite definitive in terms of
"what" is it,
but more interested in the relationship that is happening,
that is,
the object is part of a significant relation, and most often one that
engages an activity of identification (as opposed to any sort of fictive
"identity") - to me the 'object' is
part of a process that is relational,
not static in the sense of locating a particular unit (of analysis) but
more interactive in the sense of understanding the responses
that take place in a particular object-relation.
this is similar to the idea of asking different questions about history
and culture, as well,
where as a relationship, the questions are not necessarily asking "what"
is happening/has happened
but more "what is this relationship doing?" as in what is the motive,
desire, what underlies the interaction, the undertows of social activity,
the histories that participate in any activity,
the relations that form a historical rhythm, or pace,
in interactions, - the repetitions, especially in object-relations, reveal
more about histories than any formal historical analysis might reveal.
one of the key ideas in understanding how narratives are socially symbolic
acts (per Jameson) is asking what the text/narrative is doing - not what
it means, but what is it doing in the contexts of its own eventfulness.
it would seem to me that activities of any sort involve similar questions,
what is happening being a question about desires and repetition,
and so in object-relations, desire and repetition form a particular
engagement of choice
and willfulness, - i think an important question about objects involves
seeking out the relationship, more than the "thing" or "unit" - even in
trying to isolate a category or theory, as someone asked here,
i think it helps to think about the relationship involved, that categories
are part of a desire, part of an interaction, a social relationship that
has a particular history;
just as theory is part of a desire, a relationship that has a particular
history,
one that can be traced to a particular culture -
it seems to me that the cultural-historical interactions of activity are
available in the idea of object-relations, more so than in unit-analysis,
or in the meta-activity of isolating particular objects -
...hm. just thinking aloud.
diane
**********************************************************************
:point where everything listens.
and i slow down, learning how to
enter - implicate and unspoken (still) heart-of-the-world.
(Daphne Marlatt, "Coming to you")
***********************************************************************
diane celia hodges
university of british columbia, centre for the study of curriculum and
instruction
==================== ==================== =======================
university of colorado, denver, school of education
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