Post no. 10
What exactly is Binary Opposition?
Dictionary.com defines binary opposition as:
"a relation between the members of a pair of linguistic items, as a pair of distinctive features, such that one is the absence of the other, as voicelessness and voice, or that one is at the opposite pole from the other, as stridency and mellowness."
Binary opposition first ties itself with Structuralism. These are some of the key points I picked up from the slides which I think are relevant.
- The key is that we are all shaped by our cultural
background - therefore our way of seeing and understanding the world is
culturally determined.
- We can only define what something is by knowing what isn't.
Binary opposition: Divides the world into categories.
Who started binary opposition?
It has always been a mystery to me. If I would pick a guess, I'd guess religion. In Christianity, in the first chapter of the Bible he separated heaven and earth, angels and demons and categorized the land and sky. He did state the difference between the darkness and the light. The creation of the earth is FILLED with binary oppositions. Ying and Yang also take pride in their Yin and Yang theory. The difference between dark and light, women and male.
When and Where did I first experience binary opposition?
That would definitely be in my schooling years, at school. Males and Females would be instructed to form two straight lines in front of class, the short ones in front of the line while the tall ones always get away by lining up at the back of the class. The geeks would sit up front while the playful ones would sit outback in class. This was the place binary opposition revealed itself to me.
Why do binary oppositions occur?
Does having categories always keep things in order? Is it good or is it bad? Should girls and boys just line up in just one line to maximize space or is it better to separate them to avoid trouble? Which brings me to the first point that I have picked up from the slide. (highlighted in yellow)
I have to agree about how binary opposites form from a culture. It is just human nature for everyone to follow..everyone!
Which brings me to my next point, this generation 'dadaists'. These are the people who desperately or are of nature, not following the norm and culture that is set for them. They breach between the two said categories and create something so unusual and entropical that creates the wanted or unwanted attention they desire.
Examples would be, merging cars and robots to become Transformers or fishes and humans to create mermaids. These breaches create something new, unique and something that the public won't see everyday. Male and Female breaches would be the LGBT association. However, this community is not well received in certain countries due to religious beliefs and moral statures. Which leads back to binary opposition. In some countries being gay is something evil or dishonoring where as being straight could mean something good.
But did they not think about all the straight rapists and the fabulous gay designers that..are not raping people?
Binary opposition is definitely an interesting topic to ponder on. Till next time.
-Charissa Ong
I got the same thought as you.I guess this is just a part of the culture,hipters like to go against mainstream by listening to indie music and dressing like a homeless guy in order to look not normal in the society. I think everything has a binary opposition in order to keep the world balance just like yin and yang, because even good things will become bad if its too many.
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