Photo essays on Halloween (6): R.I. P

Here are some photographs from cases b and c as briefly stated in the last post.

 

Photo essays on Halloween (5): R. I. P

  Halloween is only a few hours away and, on the one hand people are shopping and preparing for the "trick or treat" game, while, on the other stores are rushing to remove all  Halloween paraphernalia and replace them with Christmas decoration.

 Within the framework of time, let me give some more aspects of decoration for this feast.  My guide, J. Santino  talks about representations of death and underworld. Walking around West Los Angeles avenues I have seen that this is the most famous topic of and for decoration.  Most front garden and front doors are decorated with such a wide range of objects that is not easy to represent in a few posts here. So I shall limit myself to some photographs which cover the following views: a1) cardboard whole skeletons (whether in stores or gardens or pavement trees)   a2) skeletons covered in cloth b) human skeleton parts scattered here and there or hanging from trees c)the most famous R.I.P ,which apparently stands for: rest in pieces. The R..I.P inscription is oftentimes replaced by some verses.

Any observations on the carnivalesque as analysed by M.Bakhtin and meaning the turning of world upside down are more than successfully applied in this feast....

 

Here are a few samples from cases a1 , a2 and b.



Photo essays on Halloween (4): Jack-o'- lantern -part 2.

Here are photographs from sections c and d as stated in the last post, namely material and uses: Jack-o'-lantern in material other than wood and more elaborate drawings  and the carved squash used for garden decoration.

                                                                                     

Photo essays on Halloween (3): jack o' lantern

Today's series of posts are dedicated to a central figure of Halloween: the carved as (or painted) jack- o' -lantern squash. Jack Santino, my main source of reference as is shown in these posts, considers the carved squash as: " personal statements made in a participatory group or community situation, using culturally valued and shared symbols, most of which are centuries old".(p.2)  In his paper, Santino refers to different interpretations of the pumpkin, from nostalgia about rural life to the story of Jack as is best known in Europe and hence extended meanings to cover life and death. Santino writes:  "The pumpkin is carved and given a face. This is especially obvious when the jack-o'-lantern is seen in the dark, lit by a candle within. It then takes on a much more eerie, ambivalent, and frightening demeanor. Other than by carving, the pumpkin is transformed by means of painting or by using other vegetables as appendages. Houses may feature cutouts and paper representations of the jack-o'-lantern, either homemade or store bought, and of other Halloween figures as well. In fact, the transformation of pumpkin into jack-o'-lantern also extends to the growing number of "harvest figures," which may or may not be built upon a vegetable or organic base" (pp 15-16).  He also stresses : "a cultural act is performed upon the vegetable: it is carved into a jack-o'-lantern, given an identity, and is thus connected to the other- world and the supernatural. The jack-o'-lantern, as we have seen, is one of a number of marginal creatures associated with death and the underworld[..]" (p. 16).

 

 Having received such information from European lore and anthropological interpretations, let us wander around stores and front garden decorations and record as wide a range as possible in which jack-o'-lantern appears. I have divided my own photographs to several  sections: a)postcards b) wood carved to jack-o'-lantern c) other material and elaborate forms d) public displays in gardens.

 

Here follow sections a and b

Photo essays on Halloween (2): bringing nature to culture

Jack Santino (1983: 15) writes on ideas that shape Halloween decorations, as I briefly stated in my last post. I am here taking the issue up and will illustrate one of his points. My material comes from West Los Angeles.

Santino touches on issues that have been concerning folklorists and anthropologists and on which they have been observing and publishing their works. One such issue refers to nature and culture. Santino talks about decorations picked from a natural environment and then carried to a built environment, such as pumkins, apples and vegetables. He talks about journeys that people make- or used to make- to the countryside in order to buy  fruits and vegetables and then display them:
 

"What has happened, then, is the following: people from a built en vironment travel into a relatively natural environment, return with a physical embodiment of that natural environment, and display it as part of their built environment. We can see here a dichotomy of rural and urban, natural and built, and, ultimately, of nature versus culture. Bringing the pumpkins and the corn back into the city represents a movement to bring nature into, and display it as part of, culture.The tasteful, aesthetic arranging and displaying of these fruits and vegetables is in itself a cultural act ."

 

Walking around West Los Angeles and observing Halloween decorations, I could not but notice an additional object of decoration which is not mentioned in Santino's text. Scarecrows are very rare and as such they can attract attention. I would here like to add another view of nature brought to culture within the context of Halloween seen as harvest time and perhaps question the clear dichotomies that Santino sees. Scarecrows are also symbols of and for a safe harvest, they are symbols of and for peoples' struggle against nature, they are peoples' emotional investments in their sustenance. Bringing such  man- made objects for display into an urban environment is also  a cultural act, one which includes negotiated relationships between nature and culture....

 

 

 

 

 



Photo essays on Halloween (1): Halloween as harvest...

 "Halloween in America: contemporary customs and performances" was written by Jack Santino and published  in Western Folklore journal in 1983.  Despite its age, the article is rich in information concerning Halloween, symbolisms, objects and peoples' participation in America. To non- Americans like myself, it serves as a very good introduction to this celebration and covers a variety of topics directly related to the feast.

I have been observing peoples' preparations since early September in Los Angeles. I have thus been taking photographs  in order to obtain as much a detailed image as possible. What I shall then unfold in this post as well as the forthcoming ones are images of  Halloween decorations as applying to ideas of Santino's article.

This post focuses on a key feature: pumpkins. Photographs were taken while shopping and date as early as mid- September and as late as last week.

  

Internal communications on public display

Internal communications is an exciting topic to lecture on to undergraduate students, especially if one holds a background other than communications itself. Excitement lies in the process of discovering a ground on which interdisciplinarity can best be practiced and keep within it.
I thus consider myself lucky to have lectured on this topic while coming from a social anthropology background. I am still intrigued by the nexus of relations which can be traced and studied within internal communications.
What, however, can be even more fascinating is the possibility of communicating employee relations-as is internal communications also known- to the public: crossing the dividing line between internal and external communications. I find it fascinating as I hold a poor experience in witnessing this crossing of lines.It is one thing studying such practices, analysing them, reproducing or criticising theories and another one seeing things in action. And there is always the question: to what extent do companies really practice internal communication?  to what extent are they really interested in their human capital and its advantage? Case studies come from all sides and point to remarkable differences in the ways internal communication works to employees' (and the companies') benefits.
Within this framework, I could not but stop in front of the wall which lies behing all checkouts of a big store. I felt captured by the note: employee of the month, under which came the photographs of employees and a few personal details. There was space left for additional photographs and the line was good at length. Lacking time, I could not ask for information about the company practices and the criteria on which they nominate the employee of the month. So, I can see these photographs as enclosing longer or shorter stories of selection, nomination,some kind of small celebration taking place or announcements to other members of staff, followed up by the idea of posting peoples' photographs on a particular board and for public display.
Photographs as epitomies of workplace relations can transmit many messages to employees and to customers alike so I shall not indulge in such a query. I am only eagerly expecting to see a new face taking its place on this board : one message after all is that there is space for everyone ....