Foucault and Felines

It is hard to read your research notes when they are being used as a bed. I suppose such an act is the feline equivalent of a discursive event. Discursive events do not occur in isolation since they are dependent on the social relations they are connected to. In this way, a cat lying on the research notes of their human is representative of the relationship that exists between them. Tiny, sitting on my research notes—clearly wanting attention—recognizes in her own way that my research notes are of more importance than her in that moment. She does not comprehend that the research notes are a form of discourse, representative of relations of power and control, the “saids” and “unsaids” of my doctoral program. Nor does she recognize the ways educational discourses are explicitly linked to the broader discourses of the settler colonial nation-state, the focus of my dissertation. What she does understand, however, is if I cannot access my research notes, she will get some scratches under the chin. Accordingly, writing stops for a few minutes, her demands are met, and I am reminded once more of the abstract ways theory applies to real life.