Metafiction, Myth and Language: A World in Words (and Pictures)

In putting together the narration for a 'work in progres' disscussion of the project for tomorrow, I realised this made a decent summary of the project to date, including some new thoughts and research. So here goes:    And here is the text of the presentation (with a few extra explanatory points): This project explores the relationship between word, image, object, and idea, and the representation of a non-existent place and time in a very specific space of bounded, physical place/time. Deconstruction has become the theme of this project, via growing reference to the ideas of Derrida and Foucault, as well as a breakdown of binary oppositions, upon which much structuralist theory is founded -  as well as certain social, cultural and political restrictions which persist today. Originally influenced by the mythological research of levi-Strauss, it was created as a fictional myth system – a body of knowledge concerning gods, their origins, and tales – and their representations – bo

 Additional: After posting the above designs, I decided to play around with inverting and multiplying them in Photoshop and investigating the abstract spaces which opened up between the repeated images: This led into a mini-exploration of the Japanese concept of Ma (negative, empty space or void - a concept which I had explored previously in my 2020 Honours degree work) and created a few abstract forms as a result:   Some of these are still recognisable from their original forms - some are rather Rorschach-like. I'm not quite sure what use these might be to the overall exhibition or the book design, although it seemed to chime faintly with Derrida's deconstruction of binary oppositions (black/white, say) and therefore seemed to be a physical and literal 'bit between' those boundaries and extremes (black outlines creating forms on white paper) amd therefore somewhat linked to the notion that characters, races and nations in the text are not 'black and white' -

In Chapter XLII and XLIII, Womba and her small band encounter a giant sea-snake on their voyage to the Ylflands in a Homer-esque encounter, a meeting of bold voyagers versus grisly denizens of the deep. With characteristic gusto, the Ulfish warrior Ffreow throws himself into the fight and Womba bravely backs him up - only to be overcome by the beast's lethal venomous breath. So ends Chapter XLII. As XLIII begins, Womba awakens on the shore, 3 days after the events with the sea snake, finding herself stretched out on sunny sand and friends gathered around her. "Who heals the healers?" asks Gifli, as Womba is herself a renowned healer, and it seems Gifli is too, having patched up a battered Gerthild as well. As Womba gets her head straight, her memories return: while out cold, she had a dream. Or perhaps something more:  "...her dreams of torment, twisted thoughts, and scenes of terror filled her mind: a broken path, of blood and bones, and jagged upthrust rocks beneat

  The latest addition to the library arrived earlier today. Even a cursory skim through this text reveals it to be like no other 'novel' I've ever encountered - if it can even truly fit that category, and I can see the connections to Borges straight away, as well as to what I'm trying to do with my own adventures in text and meta-textuality. What does a specific text say? What lies beyond the text - both directly alluded to, or indirectly (via the reader's own experiences and knowledge)? As few people in the West know much, if anything, of the Khazars, we are relying upon the author as an athority - although we can always choose to conduct our own research beyond the novel, in the 'real world'. My situation is different, in that I'm creating something pretty much from scratch (with only allusions to ideas, knowledge and events that exist outside these texts) and then presenting it - whether on a full platter, or only piece by piece, still remains to be