tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post872916784486870870..comments2024-03-18T16:55:31.971+00:00Comments on This Space: Anti-events: reviewing BadiouStephen Mitchelmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-81238202805649734002008-10-27T23:28:00.000+00:002008-10-27T23:28:00.000+00:00No, I don't mean they are *like* literature. They ...No, I don't mean they are *like* literature. They *are* literature. They have to be treated as literature. (By "expression" I do not mean they are automatically human expressions but expressions of literature).<BR/><BR/>For support, see Blanchot's essay "How is Literature Possible?".Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-3270810252778884532008-10-27T18:46:00.000+00:002008-10-27T18:46:00.000+00:00There's a general assumption, even among people wh...<I>There's a general assumption, even among people who love literature, that other systems of expression offer more direct access to the Real World. Hence the respect given to science and maths</I><BR/><BR/>What do you mean by systems of expression? Do you mean that math and science are expressions like art, and likewise literature? If so, I think this would be wrong since (most) math and science are tools used to understand natural and physical processes that exist in our world, and are not artistic, really. I'm not supporting one over the other, they're just different.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-74136327697958532862008-10-27T14:44:00.000+00:002008-10-27T14:44:00.000+00:00How: because they enable *literature* to replace r...How: because they enable *literature* to replace reality. The user can thus make use of its magical powers previously withheld by literature whose limits are recognised - or rather, the limits of human agency in regard of literature.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-86695055753239308532008-10-27T14:22:00.000+00:002008-10-27T14:22:00.000+00:00OK, now I'm really confused; how are mathematical ...OK, now I'm really confused; how are mathematical formula the apotheosis of the festishization of literature? Or the apex of the apotheosis of literature?Toasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15239283385268255066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-81650075645778994772008-10-27T14:13:00.000+00:002008-10-27T14:13:00.000+00:00Yes, it what I meant to say, although "apotheosis"...Yes, it what I meant to say, although "apotheosis" would have been a better choice.<BR/><BR/>There's a general assumption, even among people who love literature, that other systems of expression offer more direct access to the Real World. Hence the respect given to science and maths (an example is Jonathan Gottschall's recent call for literary critics to embrace scientific method). Religions have the same tendency to fetishise texts, although again it would be better to say they ignore the literariness of reality.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying Badiou is guilty of any of this, just that his use of maths warned me off reading him.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-11453015507677822022008-10-27T13:53:00.000+00:002008-10-27T13:53:00.000+00:00Sorry, can you explain what you mean when you say ...Sorry, can you explain what you mean when you say mathematical formulae are the apex of the fetishization of literature? Is that what you mean to say?Toasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15239283385268255066noreply@blogger.com