What is a Postcard?

When we think of a postcard, most of us think of something like this:

Simple, right? It's a picture of an attraction with text identifying the place.

This was my interpretation of "postcard" when I first joined Postcrossing. It turns out that it isn't quite that simple. In the world of postcards, Sign, Signifier, and Signified may vary from culture to culture. For example, I do not consider a folded greeting card that is mailed in an envelope a postcard. In some languages, however, the same word is used for both postcards and greeting cards. Any card sent through the post is a postcard. Right away, a simple act is complicated by semiotics. Expectations are not met and an act meant to spread happiness instead brings disappointment. I don't mind the occasional greeting card, but for some Postcrossing participants this is a major issue. 

My own strange beginning

When I registered, I listed my birthday, which happens to be in January, on my profile. So, the first "postcard" I received was actually a greeting/birthday card from a nine year old girl in the Ukraine. 

As you can see, Sofia provided a translation of the card's text and added her own greeting and decorations. This card illustrates the navigational process of a non-native, non-fluent English speaker goes through in order to participate in Postcrossing and brings up some interesting rhetorical problems associated with the project:

1. The greeting card/postcard issue.
2. The use of a program like Google Translate that often gives results that, while understandable, have strange syntax.
3. The content of a message meant for a total stranger. 

These are a few of the issues I plan to examine over the course of the next several weeks. Additionally, I want to look at the ways in which a sender chooses to represent the self in such a fleeting correspondence. For example, Sofia chooses to explain why her translation may be odd (the use of a translator, her own fledgling knowledge of English), yet it is important to her that I understand the card's message. She includes minimal information about herself, and gives a small bit of her city's history. The many exclamation marks seem to indicate excitement (Sofia was also new to Postcrossing when she sent this card). The stickers add some color and a feeling of happiness to an otherwise sedate card. Finally, why was this particular card chosen? My guess is that the typewriter on the front had something to do with it since my profile mentions my love of literature. 

The reading of a postcard is an act of interpretation. The writing of a postcard is a rhetorical act. Writer and reader collaborate in order to create meaning. The next post will look further into what types of meanings and interpretations  surround the concept of "postcard." 

Before December 2012, my primary mode of correspondence with the outside world was, as is the case for most of us, via electronic means. That said, I admit that the bulk of my email is not personal. I get notifications from various blogs and sites I subscribe to, emails from professors, notifications of which of my bills are coming due (which I pay electronically), and so forth. As for regular, tangible mail, the only mailbox joy I got was a family newsletter written by my former father-in-law and a handful of birthday and Christmas cards.

In December 2012, I came across the Day Zero Project and quickly set about composing a list of 101 goals for myself, an endeavor that sounds much easier than it actually is. When I began browsing other people's lists for inspiration, I kept coming across goals that read: "Send X postcards through postcrossing.com." I added a goal to my list to send 10 postcards to random strangers. It's been a bit over a year now and, as of today, I have sent 218 postcards and received 201. In March, I joined the forum associated with the Postcrossing site and, through various swaps and trades (referred to as "tags" and "Round Robins") I have sent and received several hundred more postcards. These days, I get at least one postcard every day that the mail is delivered.

My Postcrossing Profile
My Flikr Postcards