Joeslogic
02-11-2006, 05:40 PM
From : http://www.carlagirl.net/read/dickjane.html
Sligh's first completed print was entitled "Played with Jane." The text reads:
SPOT PLAYED. DICK PLAYED WITH SPOT.
"LOOK AT ME," SAID JANE. "I WANT TO
PLAY" DICK SAID, "GOOD, YOU MAY PLAY,
JANE. YOU MAY PLAY WITH ME." "LOOK
HERE. LOOK AT ME," SAID JANE. DICK
LOOKED AT JANE. DICK PLAYED WITH
JANE. JANE PLAYED WITH DICK.
It is difficult--if not impossible--these days to read a Dick and Jane primer with an innocent eye. In fact, Sligh's text is more innocuous than is some of what actually appeared in the books. Witness the following excerpts from the 1956 edition of The New We Come and Go, from the first story, "Come":
Come, Sally
Come, come.
Oh, Sally
Come, come.
Come, come, come.
and from the story "See Jane Go":
Oh, Sally
See Jane go down.
Down, down, down.
See Jane go down.
and from "See It Work":
Father said, "Look, Sally
See something big.
You can see it work.
Up, up it comes.
See it work."
Sally said, "See it work.
Work, work, work."14
The fact that any of these passages could be believable dialogue from some assembly-line porno movie begs the chicken-and-the-egg question. Is our contemporary sexual slang a parody of our Dick-and-Jane education, or was such role-playing built into the learning method? The dialogue, when taken literally, is so banal that it is almost impossible to conceive of it as a valuable reading lesson for anyone. Sligh's work takes full advantage of the ambiguity of the stilted language to confront the unexamined acceptance of the past as an entirely positive, innocent experience.
Also in 1988, Sligh made a group of Van Dyke prints entitled Refraining the Past . Once again, she juxtaposed family snapshots with hand written, Dick-and-Jane-style text. In one image, the text reads:
SPOT PLAYED. JANE PLAYED WITH SPOT
DICK SAID, "COME JANE. COME AND PLAY
WITH ME. SEE ME JANE." JANE SAID,
"STOP, DICK. GO, DICK." JANE SAW DICK
GO. "STOP DICK," SAID JANE. "STOP, STOP,
STOP."
Sligh's first completed print was entitled "Played with Jane." The text reads:
SPOT PLAYED. DICK PLAYED WITH SPOT.
"LOOK AT ME," SAID JANE. "I WANT TO
PLAY" DICK SAID, "GOOD, YOU MAY PLAY,
JANE. YOU MAY PLAY WITH ME." "LOOK
HERE. LOOK AT ME," SAID JANE. DICK
LOOKED AT JANE. DICK PLAYED WITH
JANE. JANE PLAYED WITH DICK.
It is difficult--if not impossible--these days to read a Dick and Jane primer with an innocent eye. In fact, Sligh's text is more innocuous than is some of what actually appeared in the books. Witness the following excerpts from the 1956 edition of The New We Come and Go, from the first story, "Come":
Come, Sally
Come, come.
Oh, Sally
Come, come.
Come, come, come.
and from the story "See Jane Go":
Oh, Sally
See Jane go down.
Down, down, down.
See Jane go down.
and from "See It Work":
Father said, "Look, Sally
See something big.
You can see it work.
Up, up it comes.
See it work."
Sally said, "See it work.
Work, work, work."14
The fact that any of these passages could be believable dialogue from some assembly-line porno movie begs the chicken-and-the-egg question. Is our contemporary sexual slang a parody of our Dick-and-Jane education, or was such role-playing built into the learning method? The dialogue, when taken literally, is so banal that it is almost impossible to conceive of it as a valuable reading lesson for anyone. Sligh's work takes full advantage of the ambiguity of the stilted language to confront the unexamined acceptance of the past as an entirely positive, innocent experience.
Also in 1988, Sligh made a group of Van Dyke prints entitled Refraining the Past . Once again, she juxtaposed family snapshots with hand written, Dick-and-Jane-style text. In one image, the text reads:
SPOT PLAYED. JANE PLAYED WITH SPOT
DICK SAID, "COME JANE. COME AND PLAY
WITH ME. SEE ME JANE." JANE SAID,
"STOP, DICK. GO, DICK." JANE SAW DICK
GO. "STOP DICK," SAID JANE. "STOP, STOP,
STOP."