Book Review: Nobrow by John Seabrook

Learning is, of course, a core theme of this blog, and amid the current hubbub about new literacies and the future of books, a good old hardcover read offers a great avenue to learning. After several months of occasionally dipping in (I’m an ADHD reader), I just finished John Seabrook’s Nobrow.

Highbrow – Lowbrow – Nobrow
In a small Arabian town, finding – let alone finishing – a meaty nonfiction hardcover is quite a feat, so please forgive me if my excitement seems unfounded. Yet the theme of Nobrow would have appealed to me anywhere. Subtitled The Culture of Marketing; The Marketing of Culture, Nobrow investigates the integration of what was once high and low culture into a seamless consumer brand. The phenomenon is analyzed in spheres ranging from music to film to fashion and food, in a trend that seems to be gaining momentum even a decade after the book’s publication.

The New Yorker Deal
Author John Seabrook seems perfectly placed to write this book, with his aspiring highbrow upbringing and visceral lowbrow instincts embroiled in a love-hate wrangle during a pivotal period writing for The New Yorker in the mid-90s. At this time, the distinguished magazine was confronted with the reality of market forces, and tried to gain advertising revenue by discreetly appeasing the appetites of the masses from the stance of taste. Seabrook had the serendipitous opportunity of covering “lowbrow” icons like the MTV empire, music mogul David Geffen and Star Wars mastermind George Lucas for the publication. Beyond his writing, life in fin-de-siècle New York City cements the argument underlying Nobrow.

A Decade On
Yes, the book is a decade old, but the passage of time seems to have proved the prophecy. At a time where artistic and cultural production are in the hands of anyone with a half-hour, a handheld and a hotspot, the debate about high, low and commercial culture is at a whole new level. The seemingly infinite variety of cultural produce available online may, in fact, lead to a question that is of far more importance than the status-based guffaws of high-low culture ever were. Today we are forced, by sheer volume, to ask: what has value and quality for ME? The first two letters in media are, indeed, the ones that matter.

Nobrow is a great read for anyone living in a small town with a low population of English books. It would also make an interesting read for anyone interested in culture, marketing or journalism, while The Empire Wins chapter will get the attention of Star Wars devotees. Yes, even a decade after publication, a book worth reading.

Seabrook, John. (2000). Nobrow: The culture of marketing; The marketing of culture. New York: Random House.

UnPluggEd! At Last!

Phew! The big day has finally arrived and dashed by. The Oman International ELT conference has been abuzz with enthusiastic faces, and it is wonderful to see colleagues old and new, ex-students and classmates from my MA studies.

My workshop drew a healthy mix of participants who shared some great ideas. Of course it is the participants who make a workshop, and they were simply great. Had I known how much they had to share, I would have planned to leave far more time for their input. But all is not lost: the UnPluggEd! site is always there for sharing ideas. A summary of participants' contributions is included here.

I am a quite critical of my own contribution, though. I do believe very firmly in the principles behind UnPluggEd!, but I don't know if I brought them across clearly. In retrospect I could have simplified the concepts more and left far more room for participation. That was my weakness: the workshop was ABOUT participation, yet I didn't walk the talk. Timing was partially to blame.

Conclusions: For workshops, I would do better to keep the presentation aspect and task very simple. The focus should rather be on how to foster more participation, and even get participants feeding back on each other's contributions. Based on plast experience, I was concerned that participation would be low. That is a possibility to provide for, but as a last resort!

Any event like this is always precious experience. The key is to learn from mistakes! I did make a few, but it was clear that some participants definitely grasped the concept and are ready to put it into use. And then there always is the website, which I hope will be a resource for those who are interested.
Dies diem docet!

UnPluggEd! Evolves

With just three days to go before my UnPluggEd! workshop at the Oman International ELT Conference, there has been a lot of excitement and perpetual motion surrounding the supporting materials. Although the idea has been stewing for a long time, there is nothing quite like a deadline to get things moving.

When making the original proposal, I outlined quite a rigorous plan for the workshop, but many little twists have evolved since then. I am thrilled to be able to support my workshop with a wealth of resources in different media hosted in a central location. The true key of a workshop, of course, is to walk the talk, and I have designed a few ways in which to embody the true power of e-learning (from a social constructivist stance) in the interactions.

Of course, just when you think you've got it all figured out, you have a Coke Light and the Muse strikes with full fury. The combination of digging up some of my old artwork, re-reading the work of Michael J. Gelb, a first aid workshop, long meeting at work today, and of course sleep deprivation culminated in a doodle (above) that re-ignited the whole UnPluggEd! concept.

And turned it all completely upside down.

Three days before showtime I am back at the drawing-board. But rather than just dutiflly plugging away at the project, I am intoxicated with the new perspective and obsessed with communicating it to my audience with every word, every image and every activity.

The medium IS the message.

Learning for Pleasure

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Paradoxically, my studies over the past two-odd years kept me away from a kind of learning that is very close to my heart: learning for pleasure. Not that I didn’t enjoy learning formally, but it did rob me of the verve to learn in what little free time remained. Learning for fun is a welcome luxury.

This weekend has been devoted to learning for pleasure with an eye to my upcoming trip to Europe. I have always been one of those travellers who feels compelled to do some homework on my destination: history, culture, and of course language. The relative accessibility and rich diversity of Europe makes it an undeniable research lovefest. And more than ever before, I am conducting this research not only through books, but also online and, very valuably, fellow expats here in Salalah who have lived in and travelled in Europe.

In addition to reading up on the usual, albeit fascinating, themes of history, culture, arts, food and the like, two additional themes for my trip have struck me. These pursuits are leading me down the rabbit-hole of their respective quests: one from the past, one from the future.

The quest from the past is to visit the places of origin of my ancestors. The ancestor who gives me my family name, Gabriel Le Roux, was from the area surrounding Blois in the Orleans region of France. Another prime suspect on the maternal side is Guillaume Nel, from Rouen, although I am not entirely sure of the lineage there. Then there is the De Jager line on my maternal grandmother’s side, who originated from Middleburg in the Netherlands, and the McHardy clan of Lanarkshire in Scotland, who inexplicably sent their daughter Emily off to Africa as a teacher. Knowing what I do off her offspring, it must have been the temperament! Although I strongly suspect a some spice in my genetic mix – occurring most likely with Southeast Asian slaves in a Cape Dutch household – most of my ancestry is clearly based in Europe. In a very real sense, this will not be a trip into a new world but a return to an ancient home. This quest gives the journey deep personal meaning as I contemplate the flight of each of my forefathers, wondering whether my place is to return to South Africa for good, or do as they did.

The quest from the future is to make environmental awareness and learning central to my trip through the WWOOF program. The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms organization connects volunteers with organic farms. In exchange for their labour, volunteers receive, board, lodging, an unrivalled authentic experience and a chance to learn about working with the earth. Past travel experience has shown me that the richest travel memories come from actually getting involved and doing something, connecting with the local people. What could be more thrilling than to leave behind an actual contribution in the places one visits? With a view to my future plans, this may also be an essential piece of the puzzle. Just as I was wondering which way next, this possibility came my way. Learning for pleasure - and for a cause.

Closure Revisited

After weeks of rushing towards the end of the term, things finally screeched to a halt this afternoon. It is a rare day that I have time to sit down at work, and rarer still to have time to actually blog from my office desk. Well well well.

The Challenge
The students I taught this semester have presented me with my biggest teaching challenge, possibly ever. Every single student in the group is absolutely adorable, and I have loved interacting with them. Academically, though, it was an uphill battle. The majority of the students have difficulty communicating in English. Yet they are placed in a level where the requirements are quite advanced. Delivering appropriate learning opportunities to each student was a daily challenge, especially since a small handful of them are extremely gifted, while many can barely get by in class.

Reflection
Considering the demands of this group, I am reasonably satisfied with the way the semester progressed. Reality tends to wreak havoc with the best-laid plans of mice and M, but a number of my grand schemes could be executed with some success. Here are a few of the lows and highs.

Weaknesses
Weak areas in my organization - and students' results - showed up in certain elements of essay writing practice and project design. Unfortunately students tend not to turn in homework, so anything not done in class is a lost opportunity. There was a great deal of essay writing activity, modeling and practice in class, but many students never turned in the end product for correction. Their lack of feedback resulted in lower integration of the essay principles than I envisaged. I was also disappointed in the results of the small, systematic spelling tests we had weekly, although I firmly believe I covered all possible bases in allowing students to shine in this area. In the cases of essays, projects and spelling, those who followed the strategies I suggested and implemented in class did perform well. What is disconcerting is that so many students did not even try. It is painful but vital to consider where I could do better in this respect, and it is something I am contemplating very deeply.

Strengths
What did go well was that integrating writing and project work was effective, allocating marks to each step of the project (sadly the only way to foster timely work) worked well, the classroom environment was a relative success and student rapport was perhaps the best I have ever had. The results of students who made use of the infrastructure I provided were truly stellar, and I hope that it will serve them well, and show their peers what can be done.

Afterthought
Of course there is always the small matter of whether students pass or fail. An attitude I encourage my students to develop is that in life, there is no pass or fail. However, we are accountable for reflecting on our own performance, and of course, we are always confronted with its results. For that reason, I believe I am entitled to a little navelgazing as I plot for the way forward.