Saturday, 9 December 2017

Mi identidad en línea (my online identity)


My vinyl Instagram (pre-2000s hip-hop only)
As a kid in the 80s I used to dream about an online space where I could be and do, well...anything. I have been an avid gamer since I could comprehend the concept of gaming. I played board games whenever I could get my hands on one, and used to design my own with cardboard and magic markers. I soaked up every Choose Your Own Adventure, Lone Wolf, Fighting Fantasy, and Dungeons & Dragons text I could get my hands on (back when physical libraries were a thing). I was inducted into electronic gaming through early board games such as Operation and Battleship, but it was the Apple II and the Commodore 64 that expanded that world into a seemingly limitless set of options. While these machines were truly, truly sick for their time, the video arcade was still the church of gaming, and I burned every cent of my pocket money there whenever I could get to one. Some of you will be old enough to remember how funny it was to tap in the letters "ASS" in the three-letter-capacity high score leaderboard...if your score was high enough, that is. As I think about it now, I'm quite certain that ASS was my very first digital pseudonym, thus my first self-created online identity.
what's in a name? by Devilclone



It was through gaming that I connected with ICT, and the concept of a digital self (which would evolve into "online identity") all the way back when the Apple II was the hot machine. Playing Wizardry, I relished the opportunity to develop a party of characters, stacking each with parts of my persona and a name that I chose for them (see Slideshare). After reading Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin 1968) I developed an intense interest in onomastics: the study of names; specifically proper nouns. I wouldn't learn of or even hear the term "onomastics" until many years later, but I knew that names were important and that they contained palpable energy that might somehow be harnessed to one's benefit.

Our names are our brands. In market terms, brand names are "the semiotic fuel" that propel corporate identity (Danesi 2011, p. 177), and this same semiotic fuel is used to propel our own identities in everyday life. Branding originally entailed literally burning one’s name/symbol into one’s product/possessions. While the physical burning occurs less these days, the concept of burning our identities into peoples' minds is still the fundamental purpose of branding. De Chernatony, McDonald, and Wallace explain that branding is about a relationship between a product and a consumer, and that relationship “is personified either by the company’s name or the brand name on the product itself” (2011, p. 16). Just thinking or saying a known business name is instantly evocative. For example: Coca-Cola, Ford, Aldi, Heineken, Calvin Klein. At least one of those names is likely to have made you think about the associated products as you read it. Isn't that what so many of us want in life: to know that people are thinking about us?


My online identity: delving into the digital self from Samuel Byrnand

NOTE: Please excuse the image resolution on the Slideshare presentation. The app has completely dogged my rez. 

I use the name "Devilclone"  for many components of my overall online identity (see Slideshare), and am fiercely proud of the fact that I managed to secure a handle with syntactic meaning that does not require numbers or special characters to make it valid. Names like 733t_iz_ded, and raggedfunstick94, and even works of art such as -Xx_9nome876_xX- are fine and all, but I personally connect more quickly with an online identity that has a name that I have been inculcated to recognise as a name - bigbill, or MrMaxWebber, or Siobhan. I believe this to be the influence of the doxa inherent in semiotics.


Or maybe I'm just old fashioned.
Regardless, in the word "Devilclone" I have found an original name that I have been able to use across multiple platforms and software packages. I use the name socially and I use it professionally. It is easy to recall because it is a compound of two words that each carry strong connotations in the English speaking world. Names like "Godweapon" or "Lovedeath" would probably work just as well. In gaming forums or chats, people who don't know me usually address me as Devilclone, whereas friends will generally refer to me as Dev, Devil, or DC - like nicknames for my nickname. These abbreviated forms of Devilclone solidify this virtual identity into something more organic, and recognizable as having substance beyond a simple character string. Like how irl people will call me Sam instead of Samuel, it makes the discussion casual, comfortable, and less formal. When you're speaking with "Samuel" - unless you're my grandmother - you and I are likely in some kind of formal setting, bound by etiquette and stricture. But when you're chatting with "Sam", you're having a chill time with a chill guy, definitely not a robot or a script. 


My kitty-cat Instagram

Names in the online sphere are academically interesting. They form a source of metadata that can be mined for all sorts of research possibilities. Papers such as Designing for the commercial exploitation of online identity (Emmanouil 2017), What's in a name? Ages and names predict the valence of social interactions in a massive online game (Kokkinakis, Lin, Pavlas & Wade 2016), and Social movements and email: expressions of online identity in the globalization protests (Wall 2007) comprise little more than a drop in the bucket of total academic interest in the topic. 

Considering names are so often simply taken for granted, we sure do spend a lot of time ruminating about, researching, arguing over, and developing proper nouns. I recall watching John Oliver make fun of the fact that US President Donald Trump's family name was originally "Drumpf" and was caught up in the humor of it all. Upon later reflection I realised that I was chuckling at a name that is common enough in Germany, and certainly not deserving of derision simply for the sound it forms on the tongue as perceived by English ears. Years earlier, on Letterman (yes, I love American TV), Dave had been tipped off about a person living in Canada with the name Dick Assman. They called Mr Assman - a service station attendant at the time - live on the show and he managed to garner some celebrity out of the encounter, which became known internationally as "Assmania" (this is not made up...some of you will remember this, the rest can easily Google it). Assman's full name was Richard Arthur Assman, and his last name is pronounced "oss-man" in the original German. He died in 2016, but it is doubtful a person with that name will ever be forgotten. 


My Canberra region street art Instagram
One last recollection that involves a German name: Fanny Chmaler. I cannot possibly convey in writing the awkward hilarity of this incredibly insensitive game show host losing his mind over the name Fanny Chmelar...so click here to see for yourself.

It is obvious that names are vital components of our individual identities, and living and operating in this globalised communications data ocean we call the internet (well, the "world wide web", to be specific...the internet is a related but different thing) has given us the opportunity to brand ourselves and become whomever we choose to be at the stroke of a few keys. 

I have chosen Devilclone.



References

Danesi, M 2011, What's in a Brand Name? A Note on the Onomastics of Brand Naming, Names, vol. 59, no. 3, 175-185.

De Chernatony, L, McDonald, M, and Wallace, E 2011, Creating Powerful Brands,
Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK.

Emmanouil, D 2017, Designing for the commercial exploitation of online identity. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. 

Kokkinakis A, Lin J, Pavlas D, Wade A 2016, What's in a name? Ages and names predict the valence of social interactions in a massive online game, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 55, no. PB, 605-613.

Le Guin, U 1968, A Wizard of Earthsea, Parnassus, USA.

Wall, M 2007, Social movements and email: expressions of online identity in the globalization protests, Sage Journals, vol. 9, no. 7, 258-277.

Images

All images property of author: ©Samuel Byrnand 2017

 


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Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Australian poetry: you’re almost a grown up now…time to start acting like it


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by

Samuel Byrnand (217604105)


Thursday, September 21, 2017: the final night of the  3rd annual Poetry on the Move (POTM) festival, held at the University of Canberra. Steven Oliver of Black Comedy fame is MC’ing and presenting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Poetry Prize. His small physical stature is exaggerated to behemoth proportions as he storms across the auditorium stage, spitting an a capella filled with rage and passion and hope into his mic. The crowd may not be used to this kind of poetry – this blazing, visceral rap that (god forbid) rhymes – but Oliver’s presence fills the room, his sharp staccato vocals shake dusty expectations to the floor, and his message bores into every person politely seated in their finery, battering old-fashioned sensibilities, and enlivening the young and young at heart.



Oliver’s hip-hop bent comes as a surprise to some; an unexpected dose of wake-the-heck-up at what otherwise promised to be a more solemn and sombre event. To others, however, it comes as the breath of fresh air that Australian performance poetry might desperately need.

Australian poetry – steeped in a foundation of pastoral romanticism – might require some of these new flavours; these screams, stamps, shouts, expletives exploding from shameless mouths, cries of anguish at the state of one’s people, at the state of one’s nation, at the state of the world in all its pointless and agonizing trials. And if this is the case then surely the POTM festival, with its rapidly expanding international profile, and all the connotations inherent in its very name, is the place to test the new sound.

"Having enthusiastic young people on board is good for any creative community."


recent work press catalogue
The 2017 Recent Work Press catalogue, published by Shane Strange
Shane Strange is the founder and editor of Recent Work Press – a local Canberra publishing house that specialises in poetry from local, national and international artists. Shane is also closely involved in the operations behind POTM. He believes that the exclusion of forms that employ rhyme (such as hip-hop, limerick, and Australian bush poetry) is due to the fact that there is no market for rhyming verse in what is known to some as ‘high culture’ poetry.

"There's definitely a disconnect between the rhyming forms and this high culture poetry."


“There’s a space for hip-hop and there’s a space for high culture poetry, and while there might be some overlap on occasion, you’re really talking about two different things.” Shane explains that the rhyming forms tend to be geared towards performance to a live audience, and that these forms do not necessarily translate well onto the page. “That said, I don’t think there was a single person in the house who wasn’t moved by Steven Oliver’s rap. There is real power in that style.”

Dr Paul Collis is a Barkandji man and poet who teaches creative writing at the University of Canberra. Dr Collis indicates that there might some active classism within certain literary circles regarding hip-hop style: “Rhyming poetry is seen as being too easy, too simplistic…perhaps naïve by nature. Hip-hop is still considered to be kiddy stuff by some people, you know? There’s definitely a disconnect between the rhyming forms and this high culture poetry they talk about.” 

Dr Paul Collis(L) and Shane Strange(R) at POTM 2017
Dr Collis continues to explain that while this exclusivity clearly exists in poetic circles, it is overall a very inclusive community that openly welcomes poets from every known nation and cultural and linguistic background. “As an Aboriginal man, I haven’t always felt safe or welcome in certain communities in this country, but the poetry mob here are generally a wonderful bunch of interesting folks who hail from just about every country on the planet. It really is a multicultural success story – unfortunately, one that is not always mirrored in the broader Australian society.”

Poetry is largely agreed to be a place where cultural heritage is celebrated by all involved. It is, however, an unfortunate fact that this fellowship of cultures still acts to reinforce wide-reaching traditional patriarchal standards, maintaining systems of inequality in gender and sexual identity. 

"Poetry can still be quite accepting of male sexual violence towards women and this is something that must change."


Katie Hayne is an administrator at the University of Canberra who is deeply involved in the administrative operations of POTM. Katie observes that while the poetry community works hard to provide a safe and welcoming space for women and queer people, this is not always the case.

Katie Hayne(L) with POTM 2017 symposium keynote, Glyn Maxwell(R)
“It still seems to be largely a male space, and this is never more evident than when men choose to recite sexually explicit material to rooms full, or half full, of women.” Katie explains that sexually explicit material is still popular, though mostly among older male poets. Katie’s concerns speak to deeper issues within the poetry community: the sanctity of the form, and the dominance of the patriarchal paradigm that still pervades.

Katie continues, “I think inclusion of a broader set of forms, and especially fresher forms like hip-hop, would be good for things. Obviously, having enthusiastic young people on board is good for any creative community – helps shake out the cobwebs.”

Lydia Chan at the 2017 University of Canberra Poetry Prizes ceremony
Katie’s concerns are mirrored by Lydia Chan, an emerging poet visiting Canberra from Singapore. “I would say I am a fan of hip-hop, but we have to be honest and admit that lots of it is quite derogatory toward women. Poetry does not escape judgment in this regard. It  can still be quite accepting of male sexual violence towards women and this is something that must change.”

Australian poetry is young, a teenager at most, and seems to be undergoing the painful hormonal changes that adolescent entities suffer through. This is a time of confusion and torn emotions for poetry in this country. Perhaps now is the time for Australia to consider appointing a Poet Laureate; some kind of steady experienced hand designated to provide a standard. That’s not to say that Australian poetry should solidify into a specific, unchanging form. Try demanding that of any poet, anywhere, and see how far it gets you! The suggestion here is that the agreement of a standard provides a base point from which to measure and calculate innovation and development of form and style.

The bottom line is that the world is changing at an increasing speed. Australian poetry might need to pick up the pace a little to remain relevant in a current context.
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