Brenda Danet

“Hmmm…Where'S That Smoke Coming from?”

Digital writing is strikingly playful. This playfulness flourishes particularly in synchronous chat modes on the Internet. This paper is a study of writing, play and performance on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). We analyze a “virtual party” on IRC, whose highlight was a typed simulation of smoking marihuana. Three interrelated, yet analytically distinct types of play are discussed: 1) play with identity; 2) play with frames of interaction; and 3) play with typographic symbols. We adopt a qualitative, textual, and micro-sociolinguistic approach, drawing on work in discourse analysis, the study of orality and literacy, and the anthropology of play and performance. In all play there is reduced accountability for action. In the material world, masks and costumes at carnival time liberate participants; here, the ephemeral, non-material medium, the typed text, and the use of nicknames provide the mask. Although the improvisation analyzed here is typed and occurs between geographically dispersed strangers, it has fascinating affinities with “live” interactional forms such as jazz, charades, and carnivals.

Toward a Method to Evaluate the Ombudsman Role

This paper calls attention to the need for an empirical method for the evaluation of the ombudsman role. The author suggests that data on complaints of the public constitute an important social indicator which can provide useful information on three main groups: (a) the public; (b) the system of public administration; and (c) the office of the ombudsman and his staff. The paper proposes a series of empirical measures to be developed using basic data on complaints, and proceeds to illustrate some of them, using such data in nine countries. The paper includes with a discussion of some of the limitations of the measures proposed and calls for increased cooperation between practicing ombudsmen and ombudsman researchers.

Masking the mask: An Israeli response to the threat of chemical warfare

This paper analyzes a form of visual euphemism which we call “masking the mask.” During the Gulf War, Iraq fired 40 missiles on Israel. Citizens were issued with gas mask kits and were ordered into sealed rooms in their homes during attacks. Thousands of Israelis of all ages decorated or covered their gas mask kits. Although no chemical warheads were fired on the country, Israelis were unusually fearful of gassing because of associations with the Holocaust. Masking the mask served important psychological and communicative functions. It provided a means to express ones fears, to attempt a modest form of mastery over a threatening environment, as well as to rebel against dehumanization and personalization, and to express solidarity with the group under threat, while reasserting ones individual identity.

Pixel Patchwork: “Quilting in Time” Online

Abstract “Text” and “textile” share the same Latin root—textus, or “woven.” In the 1960s and 1970s a digital form of amateur text-based art known as “ASCII (pronounced AS-kee) art” began to flourish—images created with letters and other typographic symbols on the computer keyboard. Since the advent of Windows 95, participants in certain “channels” (chatrooms) on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) have developed a brilliantly colored form of text-based art, an elaboration of ASCII art. This art contains much play with ornament, pattern, and symmetry, and may be either abstract or figurative. In a highly ritualized mode of playful communication, images are displayed on the screen in real time to greet other participants. Thus, images are both “art” and “communication.” Despite its intangibility, this art has many affinities with traditional weaving, embroidery and especially quilting. It is a form of “quilting in time” rather than space. Figurative images also partially resemble paper greeting cards. This article focuses on an IRC group called “rainbow,” that has communicated mainly via images since May 1997. The analysis draws on a database of some 5,000 images. Seven distinctive features of this art are discussed.