dirt is matter out of place I

All of this thinking about dirt makes me kind of numb! "matter out of place" here, "matter out of place" there! The problem is that I can't figure out what the real problem of this definition is: "dirt is matter out of place!" (Mary Douglas).

I guess the main problem I have with it, is that you cannot turn around the defintion: matter out of place is not necessarily dirt! E. g. a fork in a bed is certainly out of place, but is it therefore really dirt? I don't think so!

Too easy for the people, too dificult for the researcher

When S. first came to the CTCC I asked her, "what do you do with rubbish at Jeju Island?" (South Korea) This question actually came to my mind not only because tourist islands often have a waste problem due to limited space/infrastructure, but also because I miss heard "treisure island", which doesn't sound like a dirty place, does it? Anyway, she looked at me puzzled by my absurd question and answered with a grin: „into the waste bin, what else?“.

Well yes, in “real life”, waste is not a topic (at least as long as you can do what you always do). And as soon as people like my self start thinking about it, it gets highly complicated. No, waste is not just what you through away, it is much more: it has cultural significance, you get rid of something and define yourself through that, you perform this act, it shows your relation to the material world, etc. etc.

I wonder where this complication of things brings us to. And honestly I am a little afraid of going too far. E.g. I would argue that waste is a problem for the tourist gaze. On the other hand a few weeks ago I found this waste in Manchester (in a tourist spot), and I don’t care about it at all!

Manchester, 28th of October 2007