Howard,
Thank you SO much for bringing up Buber. I was hoping someone would,
since I can barely remember what I learned in an undergrad class years
ago. I'd love to hear more about this, but am not allowed to fully
participate now. Comps await.
Thank you, though. I want to read your post again and think about it.
Especially " Am I out to win or to
understand" and "history is more than my experience, and
culture is more than my practices. Our reverence for each other,
and our knowledge, begins with the acknowledgment that we are larger than
ourselves or as Bakhtin might say; we do not coincide with
ourselves." Wow.
And, since I'm on already, thank you, Don, for your earlier
posting and the words of encouragement.
Elizabeth
At 12:17 PM 2/1/2002 -0500, you wrote:
I have been fascinated with Buber, Bakhtin, and forms of Dialogism for years. Thank you Elizabeth for your light on that subject.
Distancing has been an important concept for me in dialogue and refers to a stance toward the "other" that must occur for true dialogue to take place. It means I must move myself away and resist apprehending you as someone I can control or even understand! It is from this point that I can begin to enter into dialogue or a place where the I becomes an I/Thou.
As Diane said on 1-29
"it has to be about the relationship of self/other, doesn't it? not just
taking over the other by assuming their place?"
Which would be a case of the I becoming an I/it.
The I/Thou is possible because we are more than objects in space, but are the repositories of a "God Force" (for want of a better term). It is found in our communities and history. Vygotsky has been helpful for me in understanding how community is more than the bodies around me, history is more than my experience, and culture is more than my practices. Our reverence for each other, and our knowledge, begins with the acknowledgment that we are larger than ourselves or as Bakhtin might say; we do not coincide with ourselves.
I'm not sure about this, but, its seems to me that various skills could be applied to this type of interaction. Skills such as "debate, argumentation, persuasion, etc." as well as "story telling, example, collaboration, practical action" (from Don's post on 1-31) are all valuable. How these skills appear, however, is one of stance. Am I out to win or to understand.
Though violence is easy to fall into and the I/Thou place is hard to find.
Howard
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