Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 14:25:47 -0400
Subject: Re: MB: Literature and the Right to Death (clad t' be of swerve)
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>Blanchot group space nontheless somehow engenders it. by the way what
is
the relationship between Blanchot and Surrealism? zero? null? not even
cousins?
Yes, in a way, I think you're correct, following Blanchot's dictum of
""The speech relation in which the unknown articulates itself is a
relation of infinity." Those words could, indeed, have sprung from the
very mouth/mind and heart of Breton. Nonetheless, I was not referring
to the stylistic tendencies evinced, my reference was to the matter of
content. The above phrase illustrates Blanchot's love of the word (or
at least the act) and is quite positive, to it in simple terms, but such
a flavour, as it were, is not, in my experience at least, Blanchot's
general tendency. The surrealistic inclination with/towards words is
one of play - of humour, lightness, often filled with joy; Blanchot's
relation to the word and the written act often lays emphasis upon the
negative aspects of such - not that the act is 'bad' in itself per se,
but it is wrought with an insurmountable distance between the creator
(writer) and the creation itself. Then there is the thematic obsession,
I would say, in Blanchot's work with darkness, the darkness and void one
necessarily encounters via the act of creation and the attempt at
expression. The surrealist inclination towards darkness as a subject
is, shall we say, aesthetic, it is a matter of intrigue - again,
generally, filled with joy. Blanchot's inclination towards the
extremely prevalent theme of darkness (in his work) is not a celebration
it seems to me, it is one of, well, desperation we shall say (for lack
of a better word): it is filled with pain: the pain of truth, of
realization. Rarely will you find pain explored at it's true depths in
surrealism.
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Yes, in a way, I think you're correct, following Blanchot's dictum of ""The speech relation in which the unknown articulates itself is a relation of infinity." Those words could, indeed, have sprung from the very mouth/mind and heart of Breton. Nonetheless, I was not referring to the stylistic tendencies evinced, my reference was to the matter of content. The above phrase illustrates Blanchot's love of the word (or at least the act) and is quite positive, to it in simple terms, but such a flavour, as it were, is not, in my experience at least, Blanchot's general tendency. The surrealistic inclination with/towards words is one of play - of humour, lightness, often filled with joy; Blanchot's relation to the word and the written act often lays emphasis upon the negative aspects of such - not that the act is 'bad' in itself per se, but it is wrought with an insurmountable distance between the creator (writer) and the creation itself. Then there is the thematic obsession, I would say, in Blanchot's work with darkness, the darkness and void one necessarily encounters via the act of creation and the attempt at expression. The surrealist inclination towards darkness as a subject is, shall we say, aesthetic, it is a matter of intrigue - again, generally, filled with joy. Blanchot's inclination towards the extremely prevalent theme of darkness (in his work) is not a celebration it seems to me, it is one of, well, desperation we shall say (for lack of a better word): it is filled with pain: the pain of truth, of realization. Rarely will you find pain explored at it's true depths in surrealism.