EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

I have today sent off this Expression of Interest to Falmouth University as it was the penultimate day to do so.

Research Degree - Expression of Interest             

Research Proposal

(please provide a brief research proposal of no more than 500 words, this should include a proposed project area of research; the objectives of the research; a possible methodology relevant to the topic; identification of a possible research question; clarification of the research project importance)

To explore how identity is written. An examination of the presentation of identity through the use of text and any other medium which can be read, i.e. how writing performs identity.  The research is as much an examination of reading as it is of writing. Written identity must be perceived as such.

‘…it is the reader’s task to perceive the providential design which has arranged the events in the order in which the work presents them and with the results which it describes. Yet it is the design that justifies these events and results and gives them a meaning.’

From George Dumézil, The Destiny of a King, (1973) University of Chicago Press.

Notions of identity are seen in even the smallest number. The moment one steps out the front door one is confronted with signs and displays of identity. The number on the front door, the street name, the registration numbers on the vehicles parked in the street, the colours of windows, doors, bricks, railings, bill boards, etc., almost everything serves to identify.

The house number makes quite a few claims. One company selling door numbers provided a bit of social history and philosophy in its pitch. This is from Filante Products web site:

 “…Through a simple sign next to a road, on a building or on a billboard, you can convey an important message about who you are, where you are from and lots of other vital information,… Names are, in fact, all around us. They provide us with a way of signalling something to others without speaking… they can be important indicators as to who you are, where you live and even what you believe in.”

Can ‘what do you believe in’ be revealed through the simple choice of a house number? Do you even want to reveal who you are? There seems to be an inevitable reveal the moment any sign/writing is displayed. Certain European cultures are instantly identified by a simple house number, e.g.:

France

Spain

                                                  

Germany

This is merely the kernel of an idea for research. Written identities are found in all forms of media and communications – music, film, television advertising etc. – and are perceived in different ways in different cultures. In her lectures on Writing as Social Practice, Prof. Roz Ivanic states:

“…writing as a social practice can be understood as several layers embedded in each other: writing is multimodal text; writing is a cognitive and creative process; writing is a physical and material process; writing is situated, purposeful social interaction; and writing is culturally, politically and historically located […] writing is not done for writing's sake, writing is done to achieve something else, writing is purposeful, goal-directed and culturally shaped".

In short, writing performs. This is an examination of how the writing of identity performs, how that identity is perceived and what is its significance in European culture. This will involve some considerable travel and research in various European countries. The outcome will be a video record of the research into displays of identity, accompanied by a dissertation.

I am building an extensive bibliography at present. Also see blog entries from 15/01/2013 at:

http://fbuffnstuff.blogspot.co.uk/      

If accepted we will be off in the VW California to do the research. Tee hee.