Try these:
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well
...
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so betwixt them both, you see
They licked the platter clean
...
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn
The sheep in the meadow, the cows in the corn.
Where's the little boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep.
I see an organization in the first two of
masculine vs. feminine-- with a central
(nihilistic?) conflict that is circular (a plate,
a pumpkin). And, a resolution which is linear-- an
action (to keep [her], to lick [the platter]).
In the last, there is also a dual split (sheep in
meadow, cows in corn... are sheep feminine, cows
masculine?). There is the central figure of
haystack (is that "circular"?). And, an "action"
maybe (to sleep).
What is the implied idea which is to be
transmitted in "Jack Sprat" (<medicine>)?* Is the
masculine/ feminine split a common element in most
nursery rhymes? Is there an evolution from
situation #1 (family) to sit. #2 ("technology")?
Does the evolution suggest that a family which has
an institutionalized way of doing something
thereby reaches a higher level of ordering? Does
this new level insure that "medicine" will be
replicated?
This is an example of how I envision this project.
Bill, do you see this line of inquiry as
productive? How would you analyze this (or
another) nursery rhyme for memetic content? Any
one else have suggestions?
* i have some basic "memes" I am comparing this to
to come up with this priority... my explanation,
the continuance of a family unit from "tribe"
(family) to "technology" (a way of doing something
which is institutionalized... in this case, how to
use the whole cow... how to eat fat and lean?), is
the compartmentalization of security vs. health
(matter/ body vs. mind/spirit) and thus "medicine"
B. Lane Robertson
Indiana, USA
http://www.window.to/mindrec
Bio: http://members.theglobe.com/bretthay
See who's chatting about this topic:
http://www.talkcity.com/chat.cgi?room=MindRec
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com