User:Charlie/Paracosmos
General reader ☞☞☞ Ⓛⓘⓔⓢⓛⓔⓢⓒⓗⓣ.
Paracosmos
In my previous studies (Illustration BA) , Paracosmos was the title of my thesis and project (February 2024). Which broadly investigated the intersection between the concept of paracosms and art-making. A "paracosm", which can be translated to parallel cosmos/universe, is a specific term used to designed complex imaginary worlds, most often created by children as a form of escapism through fictional world-building. In my project, I appropriated the concept of paracosms to create a framework for artistic world-building and visual language development within an artistic practice. As references, I analyzed a set of contemporary artists whose artistic practice and aesthetics primarily revolve around personal childhood nostalgia and the distinct symbolism that emerged within their visual language. The project also partly looked at the reemergence of western medieval fantasy and folklore as a popular visual style and narrative carrier within pop culture and the visual arts, at the time.
In a second iteration of Paracosmos, I would like to revisit this concept, yet shift the focus by which I appropriate the concept of paracosms; From artistic world-building to a concept of personal para-reality through conspiratorial thinking, political fiction and myth-making. At the same time, I would like to further interrogate escapism through fantasy. Especially, look at the western fantasy-media and its potential to embody dominant socio-cultural norms and political ideologies. [..]
Reader
Section of personal reader focused on:
- Politics & Narratives
- Design, Art & Media
- Folklore & Myths
- Storytelling and Fiction-writing
Annotation Index
.. = Quote/Excerpt from source text
➪ = Link to source text
✎ = Term in Word Stew (Personal Glossary)
Politics and the English Language ➪
by George Orwell
Published: April, 1946
Format: Essay
On the author (quite long, but found it too interesting to be brief):
George Orwell is best known for his two fiction novels Animal Farm and Nineteen-Eighty-Four, but his writing also includes many other genre such as e.g: essays, journalism and poetry.
George Orwell (pen-name, born Eric Arthur Blair) was born in the British-colonial Burma, to a well-off family in 1903. After dropping out of Eton College at eighteen, he returned to Burma British India to join the Imperial Indian Police. His later accounts of this period seem to focus on his feelings of boredom and annoyance at the job. Periodically sprinkled with racist remarks and antagonizing impressions of the local natives he encountered. He resigned from the Imperial Police and returned to England in 1927, to pursue writing. A year later, he moved to Paris and contributed to two French political and left-wing journals. Before returning to England once-again.
What I found interesting in his Wikipedia article, was that Orwell seemed to have had a peculiar obsession with the lives of the poor in the early days of his career as a writer. Time and again, he would purposefully seek out environments within local lower-class populations and attempt to immerse himself in the life of the impoverished. Going as far as, dressing himself like a "tramp" (old term for a vagabond homeless person) and roaming around poor neighborhoods. Or engaging in disorderly behavior in hopes of being caught and put in jail during Christmas. A failed experiment. Dubious ventures for the sake of "experiencing life in poverty" and using these insights as reference points in his writing and journalistic articles. Like his 1946 essay "How The Poor die", about his experience of being treated for illness in a small local hospital.
In the late 30s, Orwell's writing mostly focused on documenting the precarity of the English lower working class, through methods of investigative journalism. Additionally, he grew more or less concerned with the activities of the national left-wing political parties, such as the Communist Party (CP) and Independent Labour Party (ILP). An interest which probably prompted him to include "a long essay on his upbringing and the development of his political conscience, which includes an argument for socialism"[1] in the latter part of his 1937 book The Road to Wigan Pier; A part of his book which was largely censored by the publisher.
The very summarized context in the following parts of the article offers some intriguing information on Orwell's ideas and "political conscience". From his actions and decisions, Orwell's political affiliations seemed to have been vaguely left-leaning. "Vaguely", as in non-denominational to any particular political party. Though he didn't shy away from using his party-connections as a gateway to source material for his writing. Orwell used his ties to the ILP to travel to Spain during its Civil War in 1936, after being rejected by the CP due to "lack of commitment to their cause". His first impression of the multi-faction political collaboration in the socialist revolutionary movement in Catalonia, is described as "kaleidoscopic". Party alliances which Orwell pejoratively describes as a clashing of ideologies and with misaligned political aims. In Spain, Orwell soon joins the POUM (the Spanish Workers' Party of Marxist Unification) which allows him to be sent to the front-lines. Despite Orwell's many proclamations on his own ideological clashes with the Communist movement. At the end of the Civil War, his shaky affiliation with the POUM and other active Communists lead him to both be stamped as a co-conspirator and secret fascist by accusations against the POUM. As well as, Orwell to be tried for treason against the state in England for aiding the socialist communist movement in Spain.
[..]
Synopsis
In his essay Politics and the English language, Orwell discusses and criticizes the ways in which political texts of the time (1940's) were often written in an overly pompous and jargon-heavy manner. Using repetitive phrases and in-concrete metaphors for the sake of sounding intellectual and/or convincing, whilst obscuring the 'true' message of the text, and/or the lack thereof. A writing practice which Orwell describes as 'bad English' and as a contributing factor to the decline of literary culture and good (English) prose. Yet, also an insidious method used by political writers to conceal propagandist messages within their texts.
Research context
This text fits my current research (April 2025), because it acts as a template to critically analyze political texts, as well as, a guide to analyzing my own writing style. Especially when it come to metaphors. Orwell believes that metaphors (and analogies) should be creative and concise, a literary illustration to ones writing, to paint a mental picture. And that one should avoid "dead metaphors", metaphors whose original meaning has been lost to time or over-use.
Particularly the topic of metaphors in relation to political messaging is of interest in my research. Metaphors (and analogies) may often stem from or reference folklore and mythology; Narrative themes which historically, many political movements have employed to speak to, position themselves and lend credibility within a socio-political context.
Well-Played ➪
by Vicky Osterweil
Published: October, 2018
Format: Column
Vicky Osterweil...
Synopsis
In her column, Osterweil ponders how, over the past two to four decades, video games have become a crucial part of mainstream American media consumption. Emblematic of the “digital age” , she aims to analyze the ways in which video games fit into the current economic model. By asking: "What has the medium's (video games) material role been under capitalism?"Opening a discussion on how video games may embody and therefore reinforce cultural and societal norms, political practices and ideology.
With Fortnite as the main example, Osterweil argues that most popular video games often reproduce aspects of a Capitalist society ("socially, politically, economically")In other words, game-mechanics often simply simulate and gamify the mechanisms of everyday life within Capitalism. For example: engaging in continuous monotonous labor ("grinding") as a way to advance and engage in consumption within the game.
Making video games a reproductive medium to capitalist ideology: "To perpetuate their own existence, mass media must succeed at representing the violent coercion of capitalist systems as natural laws: Of course you have to pay rent to live inside; of course you have to buy food to eat; of course you have to work if you want to survive." (based on the Social reproduction theory.)
Research context
In the broader context of my research, Well-Played offers insights into the ways contemporary media (especially, interactive media such as video games) manages to propagate and implant capitalist notions through escapist fantasy.
Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Format: Book
Published: 1998
Synopsis
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Research Context
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Myth in politics, an instrument of authority
by Éric Cobast
Format: Article
Published: 2025
Original language: French (translated and paraphrased by me)
The article (original title: "Le mythe en politique, un instrument d'autorité") was published in the French magazine Le Monde/La Vie 2025 special edition L'histoire des mythes ("the history of myths"), written by Éric Cobast. Cobast largely works as a teacher on general culture, and as a frequent specialist adviser in media production on that same subject. He has written and contributed to many French educational publications on the subject of general culture, with a focus on history, mythology and politics.
Synopsis
The article introduces the reader to mythology and myths as a political tool. It mostly focuses on a selection of examples from history in which political authorities of various cultures have employed mythological legends and narratives for political gain and legitimization.
Extracts
The author states that myths provide an archaic attribute to political speech. Archaic in its dual meaning, from its Greek etymology ("archein"): "To commence/to begin" as well as, "to command". As such, they always constitute both a story of origin and a call-to-action.
To political agendas, myths act as an abundant source for ready-made fiction; A direct link to the collective imagination and the sanctified narratives that constitute and bind the collective consciousness of a culture. Therefore, whoever wields power over the narratives of a culture, wields power over that culture. Myths embody political authority.
The myth as a narrative tool operates in the realms of imagination and emotion, and always contains space for double-meanings open to interpretation. "Il sacrilise, légitime, fédère, mobilise, préfigure, prophétise, justifie l'action politique.": The myth sanctifies, legitimizes, unites, mobilizes, prefigures, prophesies and justifies political action. As such, it comes as no surprise, that political agents continuously employ myths and the same mythological legends as a means to consolidate their power, all-throughout history.
Research Context
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The Politics of Design
by Ruben Pater
Format: Book
Published: 2016
Synopsis
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Research Context
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Sources
- ORWELL, George. "Politics and the English Language." Horizon, April 1946, London, UK. The Orwell Foundation, www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/, (last accessed: April 2025).
- OSTERWEIL, Vicky. "Well-Played". Real Life Magazine, October 22, 2018. Real Life, reallifemag.com/well-played/, (last accessed: April 2025).
- LE GUIN, Ursula K. "Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story." First Mariner Books edition 2015, Harper Collins Publishers, 1998, United States of America. (ISBN: 978-0-544-61161-0)
- COBAST, Éric. "Le mythe en politique, un instrument d'autorité." La Vie/Le Monde, special edition 2025, Monde SA, France. (ISBN: 978 2 36804 172 7)
- PATER, Ruben. "The politics of Design." 9th edition 2023, BIS Publishers, 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (ISBN: 978-90-636-9422-7)