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By dividing the definition of the outsider into the true outsider and the extended outsider, I have summarised several forms of outsider critique and explored their value as a reference and their feasibility as a methodology for the future. In doing so, I have also completed a piece of written work and proposed a new guideline for action, which is the outsider as critique.
The true outsider refers to extraterrestrial intelligence such as Cthulhu, alien species, ghosts, darkness and nightmares. Much mythology and science fiction has invented these unrecognisable cosmic creatures. In The Weird and the Eerie, Mark Fisher (2016) mentions that 'Lovecraft's stories are obsessively fixated on the question of the outside: an outside that breaks through in encounters with anomalous entities from the deep past, in altered states of consciousness, in bizarre twists in the structure of time'. Such stories are often based on the same premise that ordinary human laws are invalid or meaningless throughout the universe. Outsiders are always seen as non-human life forms or paranormal phenomena because they do not obey the laws of Earth and are generally excluded by centralised power. A variety of conditions are transformed into a fertile ground to create the quality of a real externality, giving outsiders a pass to criticise reality. This status allows them to freely exercise their birthright to expose the evils of contemporary society. They can easily muster the power of shock to bring hope and deterrence inside. So the outsider is critical. "The encounter with the outside often ends in collapse and psychosis". Lovecraft's stories, for example, often involve a catastrophic integration between alien entities (outside) and living things (inside). It follows that the violent revolution initiated by the true outsider is thoroughgoing. But this does not apply to contemporary society.
And the extended outsider is derived from social history. Post-punk officially arrived in China as an exotic import in the late 90s and early 2000s, and had a profound impact on popular music under cultural despotism. Chinese countercultural youth use post-punk music as a medium to practice resistance to dictatorship. But they have no political ambition to overthrow the social system. What they lack is subversive criticism, and they cannot sweep away ignorance and decadence as quickly and easily as a true outsider. As their popularity grew, the band took the initiative to weaken their radical content, and the spirit of resistance was absorbed by capital and became one of the commercial selling points, no longer challenging the ideology. No longer dissidents, no longer alternatives, they have become part of the inside, with an exterior appearance that in retrospect turns out to be a deceptive shell, a sham.
Also using music as a practice of resistance, Sun Ra's musical creation in the 1930s transformed him into an outsider, somewhere between a true outsider and Chinese post-punk. He proclaimed that he had been chosen by aliens to travel in space because of his perfect discipline, his ability to learn new knowledge and to go beyond the limits of human imagination. He believes that the trauma of history has made life on Earth unsustainable. Mankind must leave it behind and head for a technological paradise light years away. His music blends traditional swing with far-out harmonies, rhythms and sounds, bringing new energy to the story through technology. As a result, the fictional narrative becomes reality and he finds the initiative in the unfamiliar, presenting people with a future where crisis and possibility coexist.
By comparing and interpreting these forms of outsiders, I illustrate how the outsider plays a critical role, and I think Sun Ra's style is the most valuable for today.
Reference:
Fisher, Mark. "The Weird and the Eerie". London : Repeater Books, 2016.
Video screenshot of Heavy with feet off the ground, pursuing but failing to separate spirit from flesh (2021), performance, 2'44''.