HE SAID, MARIE, MARIE, HOLD ON TIGHT

And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

~ The Waste Land, "The Burial of The Dead", Eliot

Thursday, April 10, 2008
relieved
i'm playing with some ideas. i'm interested in the theoretical idea of forgiveness. the more i think of forgiveness, the more i think it's a terrible, terrible thing. forgiveness as a speech-act, upholding what, power, ultimately, the story of forgiveness also a teleological narrative. i understand genesis now, i understand the meaning of original sin, how it is inextricably intertwined with political functions, and language as a political function. this is why i can't become a christian, i finally realise. i'm so relieved i finally understand. this is not to mean that i don't believe in a god, but i don't believe in a christian god.

Comments:
you need to talk to me about this, and i mean it, srsly.

pak
What if forgiveness isn't theoretical? Somehow I think forgiveness cannot be confined to conceptualized thought or the simple act of speech - if not it would not be forgiveness, it would be rationalization.
i don't know.
are you suggesting a spiritual kind of forgivesness?
i wish i were stronger, but i find it difficult to believe that forgiveness is that which operates through god, and is a sign that god's grace is working through you.
i don't think forgiveness is just a thought/speech. it's a language that interferes with emotions and memories--it redefines time by dividing the past from the present, and thus presents us with a kind of illusion that the present is far removed from the past. that is dangerous.
it is the desire to rid yourself of a anger/hurt/disappointment , by the creation of the illusion of the passing of time--that which is structured by language. forgiveness suggests there was a "then" till one decided "i forgive", placing one in a "present". thus forgiveness is dangerous, insidious. this doesn't happen by rationalisation , it just happens, when we dont realise it.
im not sure if i am making sense.


[publishing] Publishers Weekly . Dystel & Goderich . New York Center for Independent Publishing . Association of American University Presses . Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

[people] clarisse . nurul . aunty zarina (ummi's bakery) . jeremy . pak . cyril . softblow . karen & kenny (booksactually) . eric . joel .

[other loves] digitaljournalist . ballet dictionary . poetshouse . urbanwordnyc

[me] dawn, singapore, new york city, ithaca.

[yesterday] mothers and brothers
clearing up
horses
very interesting
pneumonia
summer ambitions
this is messed up - happy april's fools:)
gold
how to sleep
missing me

[archives] January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?