The Spirit of Free Play

In his article on rhetoric, William A. Covino presents the same sentiments on "play" outlined by Jenkins in Convergence Culture. Covino's article was reminiscent of Jenkins recognition and appraisal of "collective intelligence." Citing modern critic Derrida, Covino quotes, "All play begins with 'the means at hand'...(and) all play cannot escape 'the culture of reference.'" Covino's point is to recognize the ever-evolving nature of rhetoric and the observation and understanding and analyzation of rhetoric. Gone are the days of structuralism and putting everything in a box to be understand in and only in that box, under certain contexts. The constant evolution of language, ideas, manners of discourse, and cause, effects, and situations that demand rhetoric should be centrally understood and taken advantage of as a mantra. Specifically, Covino is postulating "An emergent, interdisciplinary critical theory, fundamentally a theory of discourse that devalues certainty and closure while it celebrates the generative power of the imagination." In observing culture in rhetorical terms, every element should be considered, every bit of evidence, every possible argument and conclusion. Convergence Culture is a witness to Covino's idea that "The spirit of free play informs the ethnographic process." Ethnography, defined via Wikipedia, is "the genre of writing that presents varying degrees of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of human social phenomena, based on field work." Jenkins said himself in his conclusion that his personal experience as a user of media outlets informed and inspired his interest and research. How is it that such a notion as "play" can manifest into a project that produces such evidence, insight, and conclusion as Convergence Culture? Covino quotes Feyerabend: "'Anything goes'....even the most 'unreasonable, nonsensical, unmethodical' play will tend toward a resolution because each of us cannot tolerate a suspended conclusion for very long. Wondering does lead to a determination....'It is possible to retain what one might call the freedom of artistic creation and to use it to the full, not just as a road of escape, but as a necessary means for discovering and perhaps even changing the properties of the world we live in'." As a blogging, collective intelligence community, we fall under the auspices of this idea of considering fully, intelligently, and artistically all the avenues and means of exploring, questioning, observing and deciphering the ever-evolving spirit of free play that is digital rhetoric.

One last note, I resent the fact that Covino quotes Christopher Lasch and Arthur Levine's conclusions that college students today are completely narcissistic, only out to get what they want, and only seek creativity as a 'success formula.' I abhor this point of view as a generalization, even as a I recognize that the current trend of out culture is a fame-oriented one. But a critic must consider and question, just as Covino is postulating, the influence of the "texts of heritage," as Derrida put it wisely. We must consider the repetition of patterns of narcissism in the greater psyche of the history of culture. Seeking fame and fortune did not just come from nowhere! Out of the blue!?