Beginnings—Introduction

[a] "Graphic" beginnings [1]

The theme of this series is in keeping with Round and Square's commitment to study those things around us that seem almost too obvious to ponder. Almost. I like to think of them as the choice nuggets of life that fall between the cracks of major theorizing. My "test" for inclusion is simple—does it further our understanding of our world? I maintain that all of the various "departments" on Round and Square are worth chewing over, so to speak. They provide a window for thinking about society, culture, aesthetics, and politics from slightly different angles, like a weight lifter trying to "reach" tricky muscle groups not "buffed" by, say, a chest press (which might be likened, on a theoretical level, to something like structural functional analysis).

[b] Beginnings framed by nature and culture

[c] 1991

The series "Beginnings" explores the various ways that “stuff starts.” It takes the practical and aesthetic challenge of "starting the flow" and separates it—temporarily, and for analytical purposes—from the larger "housing" in which it is contained. It is hard not to think first of books (at least for me), and we will examine several forms of written communication, from novels and poems to repair manuals and billing statements. Writing is only part of it, though. Consider, for example, the way we watch the beginning of a major sporting event, often reading meaning into the opening pitches or possessions that cannot possibly be sustained in the larger flow of the game. Think of how fans look for clues and patterns in the beginning of any season, and that a 1-9 start for a baseball team is dreadful, but a 1-2 start will cause nervous water cooler conversation in NFL cities.

[d] More 1991

I distinctly remember the day in January 1991 when the Gulf War "began." Sitting in traffic on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, I listened to reports, and said to myself "everything is going to be different from here on." I was sure that I was living through a turning point. In retrospect, I gave a much more dramatic role to the beginning than I would have with just a bit of "later" information. From my perspective as a historian twenty years later, it wasn't even the most dramatic set of events in 1991. The events in the Soviet Union in August seem much weightier in retrospect. Who knew?

[e] Athens 2004

In short, beginnings are tricky, and we often don't have enough perspective to interpret them (from novels and movies to athletics and even wars) until they are well underway—or over. Yet if there is going to be a flow of events, it has to start somewhere. That is why we have preludes, Olympic Opening Ceremonies, the first pitch of the baseball season, and inaugurations. It is also why we have "that new car smell," kittens, shrink-wrap, and appetizers.

The Round and Square series "Beginnings" will explore these very themes.

[1] Photo taken by Ann Davies, August 1999.