Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 13:52:22 +1100
From: hbone <hbone-AT-optonline.net>
Subject: Re: Attack of the Lyotard Clones


Eric/all

I think your last paragraphs exemplify the doctrines of "deconstruction"
which at best
is are extremely useful tool, and at worst an exercise in
self-vicitimization. Don't worry,
only death destroys the self, and even then something remains.

I'm re-reading and hopefully gaining a better understanding of Le
Differend, and will continue to share that experience.

Thanks, more later..
Hugh

~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric wrote:

> Hugh,
>
> I did not mean to imply that one must read "all of the books". Certainly,
> that is a hopeless task at best. All I meant is that in order to discuss
> Lyotard you also need to read him and was giving you a gentle nudge in
that
> direction.
>
> I for one would certainly be open to doing a slow read of The Differend.
> However, I also know from past experience that such projects have been
> attempted here in the past, only to fail because of the low level of
active
> participation at this site. Still, I would be willing to attempt this. Are
> others interested?
>
> For what it is worth, I also think some part of Lyotard's thought may
> indeed echo your own insistence. The relentless effort of Lyotard to
> explore the sublime, the intractable, the enfance and other concepts is,
in
> my opinion, part of an ongoing attempt to articulate that part of us that
> resists development,acculturalation and being humanized and to which we
> must continue to bear witness.
>
> At its best, your call for us to express our opinions, what we really
think
> and feel as opposed to what we merely read, is related to Lyotard's own
> philosophical passion in a vital way. What I also think, however, is this.
> In my own case, over time, I have gradually become aware of how much my
> opinions merely tend to reflect my place and time, my country, my
religious
> upbringing, my class and ethnic perspective.  I am not sure to what extent
> I would have escaped these things without the process of reading books
that
> challenged my received outlook. Even with all the reading I have done in
my
> lifetime, however, I am still not sure to what extent the books changed my
> perceptions or my change in perceptions governed the choice of the books I
> chose to read. Hence a paradox always remains.
>
> I continue to think the attempt to understand books matters, however, and
> feel this can only be adequately done through the process of re-reading,
> discussion, writing and reflection. Hence, for me, reading and writing are
> not merely individual acts, but in some mysterious ways acts of community.
> In discussing my response to a given book, I believe I am also expressing
> an opinion and a thought and sharing it with others. I certainly hope I am
> not merely name-dropping or being pretentious about it.
>
> I remain suspicious of the anti-intellectual position often proclaimed in
> America that argues people just need to express their own opinions. Often,
> after you hear the person loudly rant in such a way, you begin to realize
> he is only repeating things he heard (and it is usually a man) on a recent
> Rush Limbaugh show or the O'Reilly Factor.
>
> So, yes, I believe there is something inside/outside myself that remains
> unnameable. I believe I spend my lifetime bearing witness to it, and yes,
I
> realize that this is also something I once heard on the J.F. Lyotard show.
> However, my hope is that over time through writing, discussion, thought
and
> reflection I will finally reach a juncture where I do not always bear
false
> witness, but speak again, write again of this nameless thing in a way that
> renders it naked and alive. Isn't this what art also attempts?
>
> Such a task is not easy and never complete. I sometimes have this feeling
I
> will always be on a road and that my journey will never end, but as I read
> Lyotard I am also reminded from time to time that this journey is
> important. I carry my destination inside myself like a home to which I
> never shall return. The uncanny child is mother to a melancholy man who
> shall remain nameless but dreams of home while he travels through the
world
> with a house on his back and a dog nipping at his heels.
>
> There is  a remainder which still needs to be articulated after the books
> are closed and the words lapse into silence.
>
> eric
>
>
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: hbone <hbone-AT-optonline.net>
> > To: <lyotard-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
> > Date: 5/17/02 8:37:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: Attack of the Lyotard Clones
> >
> > Eric wrote:
> >
> > "Here is what I am proposing - that we read the differend with fresh
eyes
> > with the later Lyotard in mind and not simply through a veil of prior
> texts
> > (even though, Hugh, I still maintain it is necessary to actually read
the
> > books to understand these matters.)"
> >
> > No one can read all the books.  For a person to understand the entire
> > life of an Other  would require reading and understanding all its
> > experience - a parallel life-time.
> >
> > As an alternative, the Other (Eric, Rod, Steve..or any List-member)
reads,
> > understands, communicates:
> >
> > 1) theme and arguments of the book's author
> > 2) a personal evaluation of (1)
> >
> > IMHO, that would be the modus operandi for helping each other understand
> the
> > text of "Le Differend",
> >
> > Call it the "First Round".
> >
> > If other books and other authors are to be discussed, defer that
> discussion
> > until the "Second Round".
> >
> > cheers,
> > Hugh
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --- Mary Murphy & Eric Salstrand
> --- ericandmary-AT-earthlink.net
>
>
>