Yeah, I agree with you, Bakhtin, and Mead, apparently,
about meanings made in the replies.
It's touchy, though, because in f-t-f and snail mail,
the absence of a message is (likely to be) a -- you know.
But that's not, usually, the case with e-mail.
Judy
At 09:33 AM 9/26/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Judy--
>
>Welcome back. I just recently re-gained my access to XMCA after changing
>my e-mail (and place to live, I'm on the East coast now, I'm your
>neighbor!).
>
>Is it right that the meaning of our messages obtains in reply of other
>xmca-ers? I think both Mead and Bakhtin would, probably, like that.
>Anyway, this is my welcome reply.
>
>Hear and, hopefully, see you soon,
>
>Eugene Matusov
>PS I also haven't received my MCA issue yet.
>
>At 08:13 PM 9/25/97 -0400, you wrote:
>>What a blast!
>>
>>Having made it - virtually anyway -- through my first academic
>>hurdle (the major one to come) [& thanks to my mentors,
>>with flying colors!!!] I can BE again an xmca-er; I can
>>PARTICIPATE in my favorite PLACE.
>>
>>I have not yet received my issue of MCA (why NY FIRST?) but
>>the discussion thread on the survival of settings netted me
>>right away, since I have in the last 2 years launched TWO, now,
>>virtual settings -- progeny of xmca -- two attempts to seed
>>new sorts of interactions, to create the infrastructure
>>for alternative spaces -- and questions about viability
>>and sustainability are foremost on my mind.
>>
>>In the inaugural message of this thread, Eva wrote:
>>
>>>And
>>>there, in the (virtual or real) vicinity of the hardware, is the x-family
>>>of Wiz assistants tending to the functions of connectedness. Maintaining
>>>the basics of the setting.
>>
>>The x-family is (in my view, not necessarily Eva's), all xmca-ers,
>>& the Wiz assistants all those who contribute to the list, who "tend
>>to the functions of connectedness. Maintaining the basics of the
>>setting." Yes, the hardware, the technology, the computers screens
>>all over the globe, but they are certainly not enough. With
>>respect to virtual spaces like the xmca phenomenon, though the
>>"durability of material artifacts is a factor" for sure, it's more a
>>question of how the "networks extending in space and time" (as Paul
>>wrote) get constituted/ constitute the space.
>>
>>And here is a key indice of sustainability, "the sense of
>>dissolution I get when x-messages get few and far between" (Eva).
>>
>>I am extremely interested in the initial exchange after the X-lists
>>were restructured (THANKS, Francoise). It's true that the question,
>>"Is anyone here?" prompts communication in the virtual space (insofar
>>as the space is a place for someones). But what's most interesting is
>>what makes the placeness of this space possible, such that,
>>on the tenth anniversary of the x-lists, after a long lull,
>>a rush of interactivity swells up in response to the
>>topic 'the survival of settings.'
>>
>>Here's my speculation on a semiotic condition that contributes
>>to the xmca durability, since all the relevant networks of practices
>>converge only by way of our participation on this list, and we can not
>>be said to share INTERESTS or even GOALS but perhaps (imagined from THIS
>>dot in the scheme of things) a commitment toward a social project,
>>a meta-vision, if you will, of the possibility / desireability of a social
>>project, a caring-about-there-being a possible beyond the expected and
>>a desireable that can be realized through processes/practices that we
>>participate in/affect. But this view underspecifies the role of one
>>crucial artifact - CHAT, which undergirds that view and all the other
>>versions of it from different dots in the xmca scheme of things.
>>
>>There are other discussion lists oriented to similar ideas, but that
>>don't similarly ENACT them. Maybe it's that CHAT locates the issue of
>>PARTICIPATION at its nub...
>>
>>In any case, of the two discussion lists I started, CHAT-like
>>issues of participation are thematized, especially in the
>>teacher-research project, but it takes a LOT of work to
>>make the infrastructure VISIBLE and inviting so that
>>subscribers make a place of it. Once conversation starts,
>>I can back out, but a lull can virtually wipe it out so
>>that I have to play the one and only lonely wiz.
>>
>>And this only works when the wiz has a bigger piece of the project
>>in sight than the lurking others. But there are lots of wiz'es here,
>>and in fact I've attributed Wizdom to everyone who contributes,
>>including newcomers....
>>
>>Well, more later, I hope after hearing from others...
>>
>>Judy
>>>
>>>But I should think that only a minority of x-list participants have ever
>>>laid eyes on the actual machine. Where we see the xmca setting is all over
>>>the globe, on some few hundreds of screens. And we are certainly not _in_
>>>the machine, even when our traces are. So, where's the setting? What holds
>>>it together? I often think that the xmca messages do not function as
>>>messages only, but also as the floor, ceiling and walls of a common space.
>>>Virtual, naturally. By this metaphor, I think, I am trying to account for
>>>the sense of dissolution I get when x-messages get few and far between. And
>>>the sense of a "solidity of presence" when my mailbox fills up...
>>>
>>>All in all, it seems an intriguing task to pry setting and practices apart
>>>in THIS activity system!
>>
>>Judith Diamondstone
>> * NOTE CHANGE OF AREA CODE * (732) 932-7496 Ext. 352
>>MAILING ADDRESS:
>>Graduate School of Education
>>Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
>>10 Seminary Place
>>New Brunswick, NJ 08903
>>
>-----------------------------------------------
>Eugene Matusov
>Willard Hall Educational Bldg., Room 206G
>Department of Educational Studies
>University of Delaware
>Newark, DE 19716-2920
>
>Phone: (302) 831-1266
>Fax: (302) 831-4445
>e-mail: ematusov who-is-at udel.edu
>http://www.ematusov.com
>------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
Judith Diamondstone
* NOTE CHANGE OF AREA CODE * (732) 932-7496 Ext. 352
MAILING ADDRESS:
Graduate School of Education
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
10 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08903