tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post5818906297036888726..comments2024-03-28T22:51:28.222+05:30Comments on The Middle Stage: On Ilan Stavans's Love and LanguageChandrahashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-21589234656808887302007-11-10T18:12:00.000+05:302007-11-10T18:12:00.000+05:30C: Barthes may not have much to say re. your disco...C: Barthes may not have much to say re. your discomfort with the size of your nose; but I think Freud will help. And for my part, let me just reassure you that, after a little more experience, you will probably not only cease to feel uncomfortable about the immoderate size of your nose but also see that, in some situations, it might actually be of use.<BR/><BR/>In the mean time, here's another quote from the Barthes that I copied into my notebook, about the <I>loquela</I>-- the lover's ritual twiddling of his wound, making it more painful, actually preventing it from healing, as a way to prove to himself that he is a capable of love and passion, to affirm that his feelings aren't merely illusion:<BR/><BR/>[note-- my interest in this book is purely academic, a distant, cerebral interest in french frog theory, and has nothing at all to do with experience. In fact, I have never experienced the loquela. Never ever. Never ever ever.]:<BR/><BR/>"I take a role: I am <I>the one who is going to cry</I>: I am my own theatre. And seeing me cry in this way makes me cry all the more; and if the tears tend to decrease, I quickly repeat to myself the lacerating phrase that will set them flowing again. I have two speakers in myself, busy <I>raising the tone</I>, from one utterance to the next... there is a bliss in doubled, redoubled speech, taken to the final din (the clown scene).<BR/><BR/>"...Or again: the autistic child frequently watches his own fingers touching objects (but does not watch the objects themselves): this is <I>twiddling</I> (Bettelheim), which is not a form of play but a ritual manipulation, marked by stereotypical and compulsive features. As with the lover suffering from the <I>loquela</I>: he twiddles his wound."equivocalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00408199156528969347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-65411091251589342302007-11-09T14:17:00.000+05:302007-11-09T14:17:00.000+05:30Equivocal - You clearly have vast experience not j...Equivocal - You clearly have vast experience not just of books but also of life; you have crossed over to the other side. I'm still in the grip of many illusions and fancies that I would rather not have disturbed right away. <BR/><BR/>Right now, about the biggest thing that I "know but am not willing to accept" is that my nose is a bit bigger than I would like. Can Barthes be of any help with this? I'll negotiate the hazards of love by myself.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-82071071871898943302007-11-06T16:22:00.000+05:302007-11-06T16:22:00.000+05:30Chandrahas--The book in question is Barthes' 'A Lo...Chandrahas--<BR/><BR/>The book in question is Barthes' 'A Lover's Discourse'. Excerpts can be read here: http://www.koolpages.com/almalaika/Barthes.html<BR/><BR/>But WARNING: do not read this book to find assurance or comfort from your fevers and disquiet. All it will do is painfully and accurately elaborate on all the things you know but are not willing to accept.equivocalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00408199156528969347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-33230842426678237372007-11-06T13:50:00.000+05:302007-11-06T13:50:00.000+05:30Equivocal - I've managed to access the fevers and ...Equivocal - I've managed to access the fevers and disquiets <I>direct</I>, without having to go through books. But since natures as helpful as yours should never be rebuffed, what Barthes books would you recommend and why? I never knew that Barthes was a guru of love.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-43025655559274308522007-11-06T13:03:00.000+05:302007-11-06T13:03:00.000+05:30If fevers and disquiet is what you seek, then you ...If fevers and disquiet is what you seek, then you can of course do no better than Roland Barthes on the same subject...equivocalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00408199156528969347noreply@blogger.com