Masters of Disguise

Dressing up is a lot of fun.

Every country in the world should take an active part in fancy dress occasions like Hallowe'en. Our capital city is a glorious menagerie of bizarre, sublime, ridiculous and sometimes wrong costumes. At the same time the reputation of Hallowe'en has taken a severe downturn in this and countless other countries. In the eyes of many, the event has become an excuse for people to wear as little clothes as possible and engage in anonymous sexual activity under the cover of masquerade.

This masquerade warrants further discussion as it is surely not as simple as donning unusual attire as a protective mechanism. We all engage in disguise on various levels. The idea of self deception and creating alternative personalities and narratives for ourselves has been discussed more than enough and stands as an example of our need to pretend and project. The bottom line however, is that while we are disguised we feel more free to explore our natures. This can range from a simple flailing of the arms on a dance floor, to an arguably dangerous encounter with a stranger.

It is very easy to deride such events as an excuse for debauchery. It becomes a focal point for a certain fear. The fear that we all have about our own naturally created 'disguises'. Underneath these masquerades perhaps we are just the animals that we ethically and spiritually hold ourselves above.

...or perhaps it's just a lot of fun to dress up and pretend to be a super hero!

-The English Student

In Defence of the Vuvuzela

This year's World Cup seems to be bringing a record number of headaches to spectators.

The Vuvuzela, a traditional South African horn, has been wreaking havoc with the broadcasting of the soccer World Cup. Broadcasters like BBC and other national stations have been inundated with complaints about the constant droning of the horns. While I am not personally a fan of the sport, many of my friends have brought up the issue, with some being unable to watch a match in its entirety due to the noise.

For myself, I find the sport of soccer monotonous enough and as such avoid watching it whenever the choice is my own. This of course puts me on the outside of conversations and discussions quite frequently as the sport is obviously hugely popular. Yet for me that is not such a major issue as popularity is not a convincing indicator of quality. Indeed, there are countless examples of where the exact opposite is true.

I do not care how people feel about my indifference to soccer and the fans in South Africa do not care how the rest of the world feels about their Vuvuzelas. It is their own instrument, their own method of celebration. The South African supporters have stamped their own identity on the World Cup and this legacy will not be broken for the people that cannot understand the underlying basis for the Vuvuzela.

If people find the unique horn so offensive they should just go ahead and force the sport further towards homogeneity.

-The English Student

The Grand Tour

Places and personalities can become synonymous.

The idea of The Grand Tour is one that persisted for many centuries, especially in the United Kingdom. On paper the idea seems simple. A rich young noble takes a trip around continental Europe and beyond for an extended amount of time. This gives the 'tourist' an opportunity to sample different cultures, thereby completing their education and acceptance as an adult in the upper class. Of course, in practice, this largely equated to destructive young men roaring through countries experimenting with drugs and sexuality.

I do think that there is some worthwhile merit in this Grand Tour. At the same time I do not condone the subjugation of cultures by rich and reckless children - there is a very good reason that social constructions prevent us from engaging in all of our primal desires. So removing the lascivious elements of the Grand Tour leaves us with an extended trip abroad. Yet I still believe that the Tour has more worth than a simple holiday.

British lords considered the Grand Tour as a completion to sexual education, yet I believe a different type of education is at the core. Living in one country or place for many years gives many obvious benefits like relationship networks, income and security. Yet too much time spent in one place inevitably leads to an over-reliance on the area. A home town becomes a part of a personality and enforces behavioural patterns. These patterns are cemented into a person and become a part of them. In effect, the environment becomes a defining aspect of personality. Perhaps the Grand Tour still has worth as an idea because it forces us to break outside of this environment. We can become closer to understanding the person that we truly are if we remove one external factor.

If we sacrifice the outdated practical use of the Grand Tour a valuable seed remains: fulfilment of our personal education.

-The English Student

Narrative Over-Stimulation

We are a culture that thrives on narrative.

When you look at all forms of art, literature and music some kind of narrative is evident. It could be a narrative within the piece that allows us to follow, like the plot of a novel. Of course, some narratives can be obscure and so the overall process of an author or artist becomes the narrative that we cling to. Even post-modern and contemporary work that attempts to defy this tendency ultimately results in us delving further into our imaginations to create a narrative.

Beyond cultural work, this pattern of creating narratives is constantly in effect. Our relationships with friends, co-workers and family are formed with narrative structures. You may meet someone, begin to like them, become friends, have a fight and repair your friendship or any number of possibilities. We even create plots for ourselves. When starting a new job, it is like a new chapter or section of your narrative, another small segment that makes up the narrative of your life. Projecting these narratives is never a straight forward affair as we often show an ideal narrative of ourselves, rather than one based on fact.

It is very easy to become completely engulfed in these 'fictional' narratives. People constantly idealise their own narratives or spend their entire lives engulfed in other narratives. This creation is a major part of our humanity and seems to be a unique process for our species. It follows that our species is unique in that it constantly reinvents itself beyond the truth in order to feel more comfortable with itself.

It all amounts to a narrative over-stimulation.

The English Student