Transcending the Hall of Mirrors: The Simultaneity of Discourse and Adopting Multiple Ways of Viewing the Construction of Human/Alien

Identities Part 1 - Primer: Models and Metaphor Natasha Acimovic, M.A., PGCE. Abstract: As new formations in the interaction of human and alien experiences continue to emerge, new perceptual frameworks should be utilised for the purpose of widening our understanding of the extra-terrestrial presence and for the implications of the transformation of human conscious. Furthermore, existing research can be re-examined to provide these new insights, and as a method for disrupting the process of existing structures and established preoccupations with particular themes, that possibly prevent or obscure the emergence of new perspectives. This paper will provide a rationale as to why new perceptual frameworks should be adopted. It will then outline two theories, the simultaneity of discourse and the Third Space, that can be combined, adapted and utilised to form a new perceptual framework that allows fresh insights to emerge in the experiencing of human and alien interaction. In particular, these models provide a constructive framework for profound and detailed readings to surface when employed to analyse the construction of human/alien identities. In the following paper, the application of these models will then be utilised in the readings of experiencers narratives. Exopolitics provides a space for new perceptual frameworks to emerge, not least because it is informed by diverse disciplines.

The proliferation of the alien abduction narrative within public consciousness is arguably characterised by a familiar discourse; themes of being forcibly taken onboard a craft by small beings with huge black eyes and undergoing various medical procedures are just several examples of these recognisable themes. The establishing of such commonalities by the pioneering work of early abduction researchers has provided invaluable insight into a complex, compelling phenomenon. Simultaneously the very attempts to map such unchartered territory what could be perceived as a conceptually liquid phenomenon reveal the implicit and contradictory deficits of the process. Within these persistent experiences of encounters with entities can be found reports of new forms of language deployed in these contacts with the Other, and a complex of related notions about language, consciousness, and reality.1

I See what you mean - New linguistic forms impact the identity of self and other

The drive to identify the reality of the experience has arguably led to a privileging of familiar themes, framing the method used to explicate the data, in the pursuit of validating what is authentic. As a result, the inscription of these themes into human and alien interaction narratives has shaped subsequent research. If the Newtonian/Cartesian world view still has currency as the dominant model within Western perceptual frameworks, such as mainstream psychology that exports sleep paralysis as a typical facet of the alien abduction phenomenon, then the authorising of authentic themes by abduction/contactee researchers runs the risk of structuring a sub-dominant order, whereby reflecting a mimetic practice of

the dominant structure.

It is what Homi K. Bhabha refers to as the structure of

symbolization2, or what Basil Bernstein articulates as modalities of practice3, that need to be continually read anew and recontextualised to avoid the politics of fixity 4 in an attempt to allow new insights to emerge. This is not to suggest that diverse accounts of human and extraterrestrial interaction are non-evident within current research or that the establishing of themes as an approach is problematic, but rather it is the privileging of particular themes, or methods of analyses, that has the potential to create what Fredric Jameson describes as strategies of containment within the area as a whole. 5 In dealing with such a complex domain, it is perhaps understandable that certain themes are more apparent due to their more visible or comprehensible nature, and not least because abductees narratives may be described, or read, as comprising of a beginning, a middle and an end. The inherent dilemma in the visibility of specific themes, the more fathomable, implies that the more complex or abstract ones are either overlooked or sometimes remain hidden from view. A strategy for disrupting this process is to find new and (or) multiple ways of viewing the phenomenon of human and alien interaction, drawing upon a wide range of diverse disciplines to inform new approaches, in an attempt to move further towards a deeper understanding of an enigmatic area. I would propose that the intention should be not to supplant current methods of inquiry or interpretations of the phenomenon with alternative models, but rather to adopt new perceptual frameworks that add to the existing approaches, not only for the purpose of examining new narratives but in an attempt to provide new perspectives into existing ones. One such perceptual framework that can be adopted in the analysis of experiencers narratives is the simultaneity of discourse; a model proposed by Mae Gwendolyn Henderson, a literary critic, in her essay Speaking in tongues: Dialogics, Dialectics and the

Black Woman Writers Literary Tradition (1989).6 She examines what she argues is the
interlocutory character (conversational nature) within the structure of black womens writing. It is an approach that seeks to address the perceptions of race and gender and how they interrelate to account for a subject en-gendered in the experiencing of race as well as a subject racialized in the experiencing of gender, when communicating both to and from the position of the other(s). In adopting this perspective a relationship of difference and identification emerges.7 She elaborates upon this position by stating: As such, black women writers enter into testimonial discourse with black men as blacks, with white women as women, and with black women as black women. At the same time, [however] they enter into a competitive discourse with black men as women, with white

women as blacks, and with white men as black women...this dialogic of difference and dialectic of identity characterize both black womens subjectivity and black womens discourse (bold emphasis mine).8 Consequently, Henderson suggests that it is this unique social positioning that allows black women to speak with multiple voices, and it is the simultaneous engagement with the other(s), both internal and external, that mutually inform(s) and interrogate(s) one another. Inherent within this model is the discursive discourse of agreement and disagreement. In other words, black women may enter into a dialogue with those who constitute the Same and (or) the Other of themselves, while simultaneously entering into a dialogue with the Same and (or) Other within themselves. Crucially, it is Mikhail Bakhtins concept of dialogism and consciousness that she utilizes to draw attention to internal dialogue whereby the psyche resembles a type of inner speech. In turn, this inner speech (consciousness) is formed by the environment in a process that links the psyche, language, and social interaction, and conveys social identities.9 Henderson proposes that if Bakhtins model suggests conflict with the other(s), then it is Hans-Georg Gadamers concept of the I-Thou relationship that signifies the potential for agreement and presumes, as an objective, a language of consensus, communality and even identification, by which one seeks and claims to express the others claim.10 Therefore, Henderson adopts and extends both models, Bakhtins dialogic of difference and Gadamers dialectic of identity, to inform the simultaneity of discourse and the plurality of voices that form the matrix of black female subjectivity.11 It is within this matrix of engagement with the other(s) that black womens plural subjectivity becomes an expressive site for difference and identification. Henderson implies that neither position is necessarily privileged, but it is the Gadamerian model which provides a space for black women to establish the notion of tradition in an attempt to articulate a unity of understanding. Furthermore, Henderson maintains that the multiple discourse of black womens narratives speak as much to the notion of communality and universalism as it does to the sense of difference and diversity, and it is from this unique positioning that black women are able to speak from a vantage point of the insider/outsider by remaining on the borders of discourse.12 If Hendersons approach employs revisionary methods that resist the politics of fixity then, additionally, this is also implicated in Homi K. Bhabhas articulation that cultural knowledge is continuously revealed as [an] integrated, open, expanding code. It is here that his concept of the Third Space can be utilised to add to Hendersons model of the simultaneity

of black womens discourse, whereby interactions between the self and the other is never just a process of interpreting the communicated statement. Rather, it is the production of meaning that calls for the I and the You to be mobilized...through a Third Space. This space is representative of both the circumstances surrounding language and what is implied by the act of communication. Bhabha suggests that it is the structure of meaning and reference that is an ambivalent process which cannot in itself by conscious. This ambivalence resists fixity and destroys the mirror of untenable cultural assumptions, such as those that claim the originality or purity of particular cultures. Furthermore, it those who initiate the productive instability of revolutionary cultural change [that] are themselves the bearers of a hybrid identity.
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The multi-layered approach that Henderson adopts to account for the plurality of black womens subjectivity via the engagement with the multiple aspects of the self and others, presents us with a useful perceptual framework for examining moments of consciousness through interactions. The focus however is concerned primarily with the interrelationship of race and gender, so this model can be usefully expanded to incorporate other experiences. For instance, if black women enter into a competitive discourse, a dialogics of difference, with white men who represent the Other, both in terms of race and gender, then the inclusion of class can provide a possible site for identification or further contestation. I emphasise this point to highlight that once this model is adapted to incorporate other considerations then the visibility of groups who occupy unique ways of viewing is made manifest. Certainly, when we consider the extra-terrestrial presence, then it is those who experience interaction with alien entities that particularly speak from a unique vantage point, from the very remote borders of discourse to the dominant and sub-dominant orders, as types of modern day apostles or visionaries that subvert the known constructions of human consciousness. I use this description quite deliberately in my own attempt to Yet, a close redefine, by way of disruption, the social positioning of the contactee/ experiencer within the dominant order; a system that endeavours to read them as delusional. textual analysis of the language (and moments that disrupt language) expressed by experiencers to describe interactions demonstrates a similar process of negotiation as experienced by those of dual or multiple nationalities. Both Henderson and Bhabhas approach can be usefully adapted and utilised to analyse both the practice of the dominant order that seeks to inscribe experiencers into the dominant structure and its attempts to inscribe particular meanings. They can also be used as revisionary tools to provide new insight into the established practices and the thematic

concerns of the subdominant order that seeks to establish the authenticity of contactee/ abductee accounts. Perhaps however, of primary concern, is the use of these models to reveal the more hidden or neglected aspects of experiencers narratives. In the follow up to this paper, I aim to adapt and apply aspects of Hendersons approach and Bhabhas concept of the third space in an attempt to develop a new perceptual framework that can be utilised in an attempt to move towards a greater understanding of the construction of multiple human/alien identities and, as a result, to identify some possible indicators as to how human consciousness is transformed by the intervention/interaction of the aliens presence. To do this, I will employ the use of the simultaneity of discourse, the dialogics of difference and the dialectics of identity, to identify points of identification and difference that are negotiated and appropriated as the experiencers consciousness evolves. Also, I will extend the concept of the Third Space to present a method of reading that reveals fractures within experiencers encounters, moments of being that disrupt interactions and expose a more integrated [and] or new levels of consciousness. For example, some abductees/contactees experience moments of occupying a merged/hybridised consciousness, one that is neither human nor alien but, rather, simultaneously both. To do this, I will examine the narratives of experiencers as demonstrated in spoken and written communication, and artistic art forms. Additionally, I will draw attention to domains that have the potential to provide disruption to the dominant discourse as new formations. In Blowing the Western Mind, John E. Mack states that contemporary studies have shown us that what we have previously accepted as reality is but one of virtually infinite number of ways of constructing or experiencing existences.14 To conclude this part of the paper therefore, I contend that it is imperative that we continue to adopt new approaches to find multiple ways of viewing the extra-terrestrial presence and the implications for human evolution.

Editors note: The follow up to this primer will examine the theories outlined above in more detail and using the context of a wide variety of human/alien contact scenarios. It will be published in the next issue of the Exopolitics Journal at the end of 2010.

About the Author: Natasha Acimovic is an Associate Lecturer in Further

Education and currently teaches Adult Literacy and Academic Study Skills at a British college. She has also devised and delivered in-house training events to colleagues, and is currently developing new approaches to how creative forms of thinking can develop both formal and non-linear pedagogical advances. An interest in various theories, language and constructions of identity led her to complete a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature, an MA by Research in English Studies and a PGCE in Adult Literacy. A sighting of a UFO in childhood made a dramatic impact on her and she has continued to research the less well known elements of the field since - including the alien and hybrid identity, comparative literature of contact and abduction, the impact of the alien Other on language and symbolic communication forms. She also contributes to the Uk Exopolitics Initiative and can be contacted at Natasha@exopoliticsunitedkingdom.org

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Endnotes
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http://www.realitysandwich.com/xenolinguistics_i_aspects_alien_art See Homi K. Bhabhas essay, Cultural Diversity and Cultural Differences, available in: Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds., The Post-Colonial Studies Reader (USA, Canada.: Routledge, 1995), 207. 3 Basil Bernstein, Pedagogy, Symbolic Control, and Identity: Theory Research and Critique (London.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000), 3. 4 Carole Boyce Davies, Black Women, Writing and Identity: Migrations of the Subject (USA, Canada.: Routledge, 2002), 154. 5 See Mae Gwendolyn Hendersons essay, Speaking in Tongues: Dialogics, Dialectics, and the Black Woman Writers Literary Tradition, available in: Cheryl A. Wall, eds., Changing Our Own Words: Essays on Criticism, Theory, and Writing by Black Women (Great Britain.: Routledge, 1990), 17. 6 Henderson, 16. 7 Henderson, 18-19. 8 Henderson, 20-21. 9 Henderson, 18. 10 Henderson, 19. 11 Henderson, 18. 12 Henderson, 36-37. 13 Bhabha, 208. 14 http://johnemackinstitute.org/passport/blowingmind.html.
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