tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213979190640858720.post1885235937342600888..comments2023-07-29T04:36:35.274-07:00Comments on Literary and Cultural Criticism at Wabash (2011): A Poststructuralist Reading of the "W"Agata Brewerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16276419816240130630noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213979190640858720.post-68893551863363506632011-03-14T20:53:37.819-07:002011-03-14T20:53:37.819-07:00I agree with the conception of the "W" a...I agree with the conception of the "W" as being a signifier with an unstable signified. I wonder if we could also push this further by examining the power system underlying the tradition. Freshman are educated about the traditions and encouraged to carry them onward--part of the rationale for avoiding trodding on the W is "respect" for the college. If avoiding the W is supposed to signify respect for the college, then it seems that the college subtly preys on the fear freshmen have of social ostracization to inculcate a respect for the college. Rather than earning respect from the students, the college uses its power to raise the freshmen's opinion of the college through fear--this ensures that the freshmen both respect and fear not only the college, but everything new students might associate with "college," that is, that they also fear/respect the alumni, professors, and upperclassmen. The poststructuralist would say that the student, then, who chooses to disregard the tradition defies the power system and grants the college only the respect he thinks it deserves--a genuine, spontaneous feeling of respect and gratitude rather than a fearful display of submission and indoctrinated deference.Wyatt Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05349168671270396119noreply@blogger.com