The OED ‘s definition of bastard includes: illegitimate, mongrel, hybrid, unauthorized, of mixed quality. Not a bad label for a methodology that seeks to transgress the logic of practice as dictated by particular disciplines. Bastard(ized) methodology.
The bastard is impure. As Mary Douglas points out in Purity and Danger, dirt arises as discarded residue when order is created. Dirt is matter out of place. When first discarded, dirt is not only out of place, but is dangerous to the order from which it was excluded. In this phase, dirt is powerful and harbors creative potential. Purity, in Douglas’s terms, is suspicious. Purity rejects difference and resists change. In fact, purity is hard to come by and usually implies a vision obstructed by blinders.
