<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Lynn, <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thank you for the question! Something not yet mentioned… though an explicit focus on maintenance is slightly new for anthropologists, your question has reminded me that repetition is a fundamental concept for several sub-disciplines in anthropology - linguistics is one area that has explored it extensively (“Repetition” by Penelope Brown, Journal of Linguistics). And the study of ritual has also long relied on examination of repetition - but recently, “On the impossibility of invariant repetition: ritual, tradition and creativity among Sri Lankan ritual specialists” by Bob Simpson in History and Anthropology, or "Bringing Kierkegaard into Anthropology: Repetition, absurdity and curses in Fiji” by Matt Tomlinson in American Ethnology (both explore the productivity of the illusion of repetition). There’s also the role of repetition in performance (of identities, social roles, ritual, gender) like Judith Butler’s "Gender Trouble," or “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: an essay in phenomenology and feminist theory” in Theatre Journal. Even medical anthropologists have utilized it: “Persons, Places and Times: The Meanings of Repetition in an STD Clinic” by Lori Leonard, et al. Perhaps more interesting for folks interested in this and maintenance, however, is Felicity Aulino’s "Rituals of Care for the Elderly in northern Thailand: Merit, mortality, and the everyday of long-term care", in American Ethnologist.</div><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I’m sure some of these are leading off into the weeds for you, but there is much more and probably better anthropological work on this than I’ve suggested.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Best,</div><div class="">Juris<br class=""><div class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Juris Milestone, Ph.D.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Department of Anthropology</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Temple University</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><a href="mailto:juris@temple.edu" class="">juris@temple.edu</a></div>
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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Apr 21, 2019, at 3:37 PM, Lynn Berger <<a href="mailto:lynn@decorrespondent.nl" class="">lynn@decorrespondent.nl</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">Dear all,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Wow, thanks a lot for all these excellent examples and thoughts! There are even more sides to this topic of repetition than I thought :). </div><div class="">I'm sure I'll have fun exploring the various avenues (and might get back to some of you for more information). </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Happy Easter!</div><div class="">Lynn.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br clear="all" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class="">Lynn Berger</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class=""><a href="http://www.decorrespondent.nl/lynnberger" target="_blank" class="">De Correspondent</a></div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class="">Barentzplein 7BG </div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class="">1013 NJ Amsterdam</div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class=""><a href="https://twitter.com/LynnBerger1984" target="_blank" class="">@LynnBerger1984</a></div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small" class="">06 24102193</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div><br class=""></div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, 20 Apr 2019 at 16:05, Shu Changxue <<a href="mailto:shuchangxue@gmail.com" class="">shuchangxue@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="gmail_default"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">Hi Lynn,</font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">My recent work "Towards Modern Ceramics in China" might fit into your scenario. My starting point, more than ten years ago, was to maintain and raise awareness of very inconspicuous architecture built in bricks. As the investigation went on, it has revealed a very "innovative" history about modern ceramics in China: brick was actually the starting point and motive force of Chinese ceramics shifting to a novel paradigm.</font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">The story, in part, is synthesized in a forthcoming article titled "<b class="">Towards modern ceramics in China:<span lang="EN-GB" class=""> Engineering sources and the <i class="">Manufacture céramique de Shanghai</i>.” in: </span><i class="">Technology and Culture,</i>
v.61, n.2 (accepted on 5 Sep 2018, scheduled in April 2020)</b>
(<b class=""><span lang="EN-GB" class="">ISSN: 0040-165X</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" class="">, <b class="">E-ISSN:1097-3729</b>).</span> </font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">If you need more information please let me know!</font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" class="">Changxue</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br class=""></div></div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Apr 19, 2019 at 11:25 AM Lynn Berger <<a href="mailto:lynn@decorrespondent.nl" target="_blank" class="">lynn@decorrespondent.nl</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_-2509709539316879573gmail-m_-6417341145590657501gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Hello Maintainers!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Short version: I'm a journalist working on a story about the value of repetition and why we usually overlook it because we're more interested in novelty. I draw a parallel to how we tend to prefer innovation to maintenance and want to point out that this is silly, not least because maintenance is often a condition for innovation. And now I'm wondering: do the people on this list have some examples of when maintenance work led to new insights that led to innovation? </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Slightly longer version:</div><div class="">My name is Lynn Berger and I've been on this list for some time. I have a PhD in communications from Columbia University (I studied 19th century photography and the law) but for the last six years I've been working as a journalist at De Correspondent, an online journalism platform based in Amsterdam. I cover technology and culture there; a few years ago I wrote a piece about the rediscovery of maintenance, with pride of place for the maintainers. (Those who read Dutch can find it <a href="https://decorrespondent.nl/6816/he-innovators-gamechangers-en-disrupters-vergeten-jullie-het-onderhoud-niet/227102304-f476506a" target="_blank" class="">here</a>, and a short followup I wrote on repair, <a href="https://decorrespondent.nl/7414/waarom-het-recht-op-repareren-ons-allemaal-aangaat/247027066-a9e9bbdc" target="_blank" class="">here</a>.)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Currently I'm working on a story about the value of repetition and how we tend to overlook it because we're more interested in novelty. I draw a parallel to how we tend to prefer innovation to maintenance and want to point out that this is missing the point, not least because maintenance is often a condition for innovation. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">And now I'm wondering: do the people on this list have some examples of when maintenance work led to new insights that led to innovation? </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I'd be grateful for a few good and concrete examples. And for your time, of course!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thank you in advance and keep up the good work (!)</div><div class="">Lynn.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><div style="font-family:arial" class="">Lynn Berger</div><div style="font-family:arial" class=""><a href="http://www.decorrespondent.nl/lynnberger" target="_blank" class="">De Correspondent</a></div><div style="font-family:arial" class="">Barentzplein 7BG </div><div style="font-family:arial" class="">1013 NJ Amsterdam</div><div style="font-family:arial" class=""><a href="https://twitter.com/LynnBerger1984" target="_blank" class="">@LynnBerger1984</a></div><div style="font-family:arial" class="">06 24102193</div></div><br class="gmail-m_-2509709539316879573gmail-m_-6417341145590657501gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div>-- <br class=""><div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_-2509709539316879573gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div style="font-size:small" class=""><span style="font-family:arial" class=""><font class="">Dr. <b class="">SHU Changxue </b>舒畅雪</font></span></div><div class=""><div class=""><font size="1" color="#0b5394" class=""><span style="font-family:arial" class="">FWO </span><span style="font-family:arial" class="">Marie Sk</span>ł<span style="font-family:arial" class="">odowska-Curie Fellow (postdoctoral)</span></font></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><font size="1" color="#0b5394" class=""><font style="font-family:Arial" class="">University of Leuven</font><br style="font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">Facu</span><font style="font-family:Arial" class="">l</font><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">ty of Engineering Science: Department of Architecture </span><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">(</span><font class=""><a href="http://www.asro.kuleuven.be/" style="font-family:Arial" target="_blank" class="">http://www.asro.kuleuven.be</a><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">)</span></font></font></div><div class=""><font size="1" color="#0b5394" class=""><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" class="">(</span><a href="http://set.kuleuven.be/rlicc" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" target="_blank" class="">http://set.kuleuven.be/rlicc</a><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" class="">)</span></font></div><div class=""><font size="1" color="#0b5394" class=""><span style="font-family:Arial" class="">Kasteelpark Arenberg 1</span><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><span style="font-family:Arial" class=""><font size="1" class=""><font color="#0b5394" class="">B-3001 Heverlee (Leuven) - Belgium</font></font></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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