Using Fractals to Undermine Familiarity

Implementing Writing Pedagogy through the Operations of Shape and Chance

Authors

  • Ravi Shankar Central Connecticut State University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.297

Keywords:

fractals, creativity, chance, pedagogy

Abstract

More than mere mathematical form, the fractal and other processes of chance can be used to help spur creative writing in new directions. From the inception of the I Ching, some form of constraint and the use of chance operations have been employed for centuries to free the creative impulse from overdetermination. This essay explores how one writer uses the flux of chaos both in the classroom and in his own writing, from collaborations to specifically designed writing exercises that help free the unconscious mind while still providing a sturdy architecture for perception.

Author Biography

  • Ravi Shankar, Central Connecticut State University

    Ravi Shankar is Associate Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University, founding editor and Executive Director of Drunken Boat, the international online journal of the arts, and Chairman of the Connecticut Young Writers Trust. He has published or edited seven books or chapbooks of poetry, including the 2010 National Poetry Review Prize winner, Deepening Groove (National Poetry Review). Along with Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal, he edited Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond (W.W Norton & Co.), called “a beautiful achievement for world literature” by Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer. He has won a Pushcart Prize, been featured in The New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education, appeared on the BBC and NPR, and has performed his work around the world. He is currently on the faculty of the first international MFA Program at City University of Hong Kong.

References

Dawkins, R. (2000) Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Jung, C. (1971) The I Ching or Book of Changes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Mandelbrot, B. B. (1982) The Fractal Geometry of Nature. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.

Shankar, R. (2011) On why I hate bananas. The Southern Review 47(4): 672–673.

Shklovsky, V. (1965/1917) Art as technique. In L. T. Lemon and M. J. Reiss (eds.) Russian Formalist Criticism: Four Essays 3–24. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Welford, T. M. (2011) The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems. Los Angeles: Red Hen Press.

Downloads

Published

2012-12-28

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Reflections on Practice

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Shankar, R. (2012). Using Fractals to Undermine Familiarity: Implementing Writing Pedagogy through the Operations of Shape and Chance. Writing and Pedagogy, 4(2), 297-303. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.297

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>