I was going to write this post about Asterios Polyp’s confused approach when it comes to philosophy. He sometimes subscribes to a structuralist/deconstructionist approach (dualisms prevade, to understand one thing “in a better light, understand the opposite”). Other times he admits things are more complicated, and goes with the sliding scale of situations and ideas that tend to dominate postmodern philosophy. While trying to figure out where Asterios discusses these things (a difficult task given the lack of page numbers, which make notes general guidelines), I noticed something pretty cool–Mazzucchelli (who I will refer to as “Maz” from here on out) puts a lot of work into drawing philisophical ideas.
I came onto this as I was trying to find specific pages and noticed it was easier to look for the image tied to the idea that passages themselves. For example, in one example our dead narrator writes “This desire to view the world through a filter–to superimpose a rational system on to its seeming randomness–is revealed in his own favorite ideation.” The images then take up most of the page. First an image of Asterios then one of him split into a mirrored two with internal and external on one side and factual and fictional on the other. This is followed two pages later by a similar image of him talking to a woman friend. The image is split in two as he discusses male vs female, positive and negative currents, right and left hemispheres of the brain. On the next page Asterios admits “…/that things/ aren’t so black and white-/-that in actuality/ possibilities exist/ along a continuum/ between the extremes.” These images also highlight the idea of the philosophy. He begins lightly shaded and ends up darkly shaded, along a continuum, as he says each part of this sentence. Later when he dreams of it being more like a sphere, an image of a sphere appears.
In another instance Usrsala Major describes astrology, and some of the evidence she has to support it, and as John pointed out on the twitter, we have to turn the page, like reading the stars or a star chart.
Over and over, Maz uses images to actually illustrate philosophy. I know in some of the other books we could tie actions to the pictures that represent them, but this seems like something new. Maz’s constant attention to detail here helps bring us into the pages of the text by illustrating the complicated ideas people discuss. I’m no architecture student, but I’ve also noticed he tends to illustrate a lot of the architecture concepts, and I’m willing to bet the experience would be similar for someone better versed in architecture theory than critical and cultural studies theory.
Did anyone else notice places where the drawing of complex ideas takes place? Thoughts?