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with apologies for cross-posting - PLEASE RE-DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE - widely * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - 'mayday', an open celebration of the work done by Mass Observation is taking place on Thursday May 1st 1997. - Mass Observation was founded, sixty years ago, in 1937, by Tom Harrison, a self-trained anthropologist, Charles Madge, poet and journalist, and Humphrey Jennings, painter, poet, writer and film-maker. Mass Observation challenged the claim of the press to represent the views of ordinary people. Despite the male grouping that mobilised it Mass Observation archived an extraordinary and incomparably rich body of writing by women. - the Mass-Observation Day Survey of May 12th 1937 exploded simplistic notions of collective identity. It compiled reports, written on that day by hundreds of people in all 'walks of life'. The result stands as an interrogation of the construction of meta-narrative. To give this 'mayday' project some purpose Sound & Language intends: - to publish a book of the reports during the summer. The editorial work will be done by cris cheek. All contributors will receive a copy. No other plans exist at present. It might well be that other projects emerge. For now, Sound & Language simply wishes to encourage this project to happen, with the widest of briefs and with the widest diversity of participants. We are not setting out to control it. - The title of the book will be 'mayday'. You can take that as you will. You will have your own trajectories / associations. The day only happens to coincide with the British General Election. In that respect there is an ironic nod towards the 'sea-change' for the British people that the May 12th 1937 coronation of George VI was claimed to present. - 'Reports' can be of any length and breadth. They can be in any format. The compilation will appear with reports as numbered items, together with their approximate location. Names will be listed in alphabetical order at the back of the book w/o being referenced to specific reports. This brings, we hope, a necessary / useful anonymity to the observer. - There have been enquiries about whether this is a web-based project or not. The answer is not. Too many people would have been precluded from contributing. Therefore the idea of linked web sites has been abandoned. - Materials (written or photographic - b/w) can therefore be submitted on hard copy, or by disc, to: Sound & Language 85 London Road South. Lowestoft. Suffolk. NR33 OAS or by e-mail to the e-dress above. The work of Mass Observation was originally lampooned for being part of a Big Brother Is Watching You movement. - We would urge you to make reports of the everyday that move against, or at the least interrogate such audiant and voyant aspects of the everyday. - We would also encourage you to distribute news of this event taking place and open this invitation to anybody, lists, communities that might suggest themselves. It will be most successful if it gets out of control. all the best looking forward love and love cris cheek and Sianed Jones - don't hesitate to contact us with any suggestions or queries %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%