Yes, folks, I have indeed joined forces with some of the "literati" here, and we are coming up with some ways to take our machinations public. It's nothing new, really- or at least I do know it's been done before. So all you critics of my pretention, just stop reading now, and check back next week for some easy-on-the stomach travel logging.
The purpose of this little group is tackle postmodernism (which those of you who know me are probably too familiar with my late-night whiskey-fueled monologues ranting and reeming its flaws) in a democratic way. A little *ah-hem* maturity and the rigor bestowed upon me by my philosophy studies demand that I take it far beyond my tendency to preside over barroom discussions, and open the floor for the supporters as well as the denouncers. One question I keep asking myself, especially as concerns literature, is, "How far is too far?" While the Shock Wave that seems to be quite prominent in literature these days doesn't exactly offend me, (I am, after all, just as desensitized as the rest of my generation), it does make me curious about the ultimate purpose and effectiveness of all that this traumatism suggests. I know many of my readers are much more qualified and competent at contributing to this, both formally and informally- so please be thinking on it. As I feel that I am better qualified to act as mediator of sorts, I welcome commentary here, but also be aware that a publication will hopefully ensue in the fall, in which I will be looking for submissions. After that, the goal is to host round-table symposium-esq events biannually, the first we are thinking will take place in London in December. Basically, we want to engage writers, philosophers, scholars, etc. in a conceptual version of TED.
While this is a very loose sketch of what's taking place here in Paris, be sure a concrete structure is on the horizon, so be ready for intervals from pictures of sailboats and pretty buildings...
we were pretty sure words had meaning. turns out they are signs pointing to more signs, and the semantic cargo we ferried across with our words is no longer unassailable. we were pretty sure we knew about history. turns out that stringing together documents and evidence is an act of narration no different than writing a detective novel. we thought we could write something new. turns out the only new things left are the old things invoked ironically. we thought science would save us, turns out we can't determine the position and momentum of a single electron. everywhere we turn we're faced with disillusionment, things have lost cohesiveness, and transcendent, universal meaning is out of the question. the shock wave is the middle finger of a disturbed teenager. it's the cheap woman that the middle aged man reaches out for in his crisis. it's the wrist slicing of a deeply depressed person. the solution is learning to fully validate freeplay and irreverence by seeing it as part of a process, as part of a self-correcting system that celebrates provisionality, but is not paralyzed because of uncertainty. the solution is ethics -- learning how to listen to each other without violence, yet remaining differentiated enough to engage in a dialectic. the solution is hope. large, heaping, "pressed down and overflowing" portions of hope.
ReplyDeletei couldn't agree more, bryan. i am sure someone will post something contradictory that i will also agree with, but as i think the main purpose behind this project is some kind of reconciliation (forgive the pervasiveness of that word in my vocabulary) i am going to put the big, red YES! stamp on the whole hope idea.
ReplyDeletecurrently, i am working on a short essay about how our technological capabilities have exceeded our ethical capabilities, which will be my contribution to the fall publication. do you think you could come up with one on "hope as a response" or something for the fall? i'd love to include it.
and dr. j, if you are reading, throw us some of your "weak humanism" stuff! i guess we over here need to make a decision on the blanket name for this thing, so if anyone has any suggestions for me to throw to the wolves, let me know that too...
This project sounds very good and perhaps valuable. Is literature the only field into which you are inquiring?
ReplyDeletere: your essay-in-progress: am reading a bio of Henry Ward Beecher, which is really more interesting as a look at American culture around the time of Civil War. author makes the case that the ethics of the time couldn't keep up with industrialization and the growth of cities. society was overwhelmed by itself. (opium didn't help :)
ReplyDeleteinteresting topic, regardless of the era in question, and certainly appropriate to "ours."
eralda: literature will be my field, but i think the idea could certainly be applied elsewhere. i welcome suggestions...
ReplyDeletekate: sounds like a great book! maybe a good reference point? i know it will be impossible to find in paris (there is a surprising shortage of books in english) so could you give me the ISBN? i'll have to order it...