Retropost: Barthelme, intent...
jueves, 31 de marzo de 2016
Retropost #795 (5 de marzo de 2006): Barthelme, intent...
Me acabo de releer Sixty Stories, de Donald Barthelme. Al releerlo se aprecia mejor lo que tiene de extraño y también lo que tiene de convencional: da menos miedo, quizá. Bueno, miedo: una cabeza tan rara como la de Barthelme te da miedo precisamente por lo que reconoces de tu propia cabeza en la suya. Desde luego es de los que transforman la realidad sacando a la luz lo que teníamos delante de las narices y no habíamos visto: nos barthelmiza. Algo desagradable para muchos, porque es la suya una cabeza especializada en mirar las cosas con distancia, ironía, y nulo pero muy nulo contacto emocional con ellas. Es pura inteligencia sarcástica, cruel a la hora de exponer clichés. Más bien sugiere que estamos hechos de clichés y frases repetidas; sólo una combinación inesperada y absurda de lo repetido nos muestra la extrañeza de lo cotidiano, además de su rutinaria familiaridad. La metaficción de Barthelme, así, nos presenta extrañas historias para que veamos la extrañeza de lo real (su extrañeza en su modernidad y su vulgaridad). Deshace el relato convencional para que a través de sus ruinas veamos la caverna donde habitamos. Pero como digo sorprende al releerlo ver cómo Barthelme es capaz, desde su perspectiva cínica y desencantada, de escribir literatura comprometida y "clara", como un alegato político demoledor contra la guerra fría (en "Game") o contra la carrera armamentística y tecnológica (en "Report"), o contra el conservadurismo alienante de los Estados Unidos ("A City of Churches"). Y estos son sólo los casos más explícitos o militantes de una visión crítica que puede verse implícita en muchas partes de su obra.
Gus Negative dice que "It would be difficult for anyone not wearing critical blinders to ignore the melancholic, yet ultimately optimistic humanism lying at the core of all Barthelme’s stories". Bueno, pongamos que si están presentes ese optimismo y ese humanismo, es enteramente por exclusión, en negativo. Según otros, "even in his best stories, he was constantly in danger of being engulfed by the cultural dreck—second-hand language, second-hand beliefs, second-hand emotions—he took as his subject so that his work sometimes appeared to be a symptom of cultural malaise rather than a response to it." Como ejemplo de este lado de la obra de Barthelme, cojamos la canción que canta el gran cantante Moonbelly:
Moonbelly sang a new song called "The System Cannot Withstand Close Scrutiny."
The system cannot withstand close scrutiny The system cannot withstand close scrutiny The system cannot withstand close scrutiny The system cannot withstand close scrutiny Etc.
("City Life")
Lo mismo que le pasa al sistema le pasa al yo. Nos informa el narrador de "Daumier" que "The self cannot be escaped, but it can be, with ingenuity and hard work, distracted. There are always openings if you can find them, there is always something to do". El sarcasmo corrosivo y el absurdismo eran las maneras en que Barthelme se enfrentaba al problema: "Not self-slaughter in the crude sense. Rather the construction of surrogates. Think of it as a transplant". Así, muchos relatos de Barthelme son alegorías de la escritura, de su poder transformador, y también de sus miserias, truquillos, y de los refugios provisionales que ofrece. Y los trucos de la escritura son los de la vida, pues organizamos nuestra vida con estructuras narrativas: una ficción bien hecha es la más falsa...
El último cuento de Sixty Stories vuelve a la perspectiva cínica. Pero en el penúltimo, "Bishop", es extraño encontrarse con un autorretrato casi sentimental. Quizá la compasión por sí mismo era lo único que le podía tocar la fibra sensible a Barthelme, y así, casi al final de su obra, nos presenta, con distanciamiento irónico, eso sí, un momento de inocencia y nostalgia. Bishop es un alter ego de Barthelme: escritor famoso, divorciado múltiple, escéptico, enfrentado al absurdo vital. No ama a su amante, bebe demasiado. Envejece, ha perdido las ilusiones. Así termina el cuento:
With his scotch in bed, Bishop summons up an image of felicity: walking in the water, the shallow river, at the edge of the ranch, looking for minnows in the water under the overhanging trees, skipping rocks across the river, intent . . .
Para mí, acaba allí su obra, en esos puntos suspensivos. Intent... no distanciado de sí, o haciéndose autotransplantes, sino concentrado en un objeto de atención que le absorbe, totalmente fuera de sí, inocente de ironía y sin un asomo de autocontemplación. De niño podía hacerlo; ahora sólo puede escribir sobre ello, y sobre cómo ya no está allí, y querría estar en un lugar parecido.
—oOo—
Michel Sardou Live (St Étienne) 2011
jueves, 31 de marzo de 2016
Michel Sardou Live (St Étienne) 2011
Origen chamánico del drama japonés
miércoles, 30 de marzo de 2016
Origen chamánico del drama japonés
La referencia más antigua al origen de un género dramático en la literatura japonesa que he encontrado está en una nota de W. G. Aston a su traducción del Nihongi, una crónica del año 720 escrita en chino—nota referida a las Sarume y las Miko. Las Sarume [literalmente, "ojo de mono"] eran una especie de sibilas, mujeres chamán o médiums cuya impersonación de los dioses puede considerarse uno de los orígenes rituales del drama, anclado en la religión como sucedería entre los griegos y luego en la Edad Media. Se observará tanto una conexión con "el animal divino" al que alude Gustavo Bueno (la cabra entre los griegos, y en este caso el mono) como con los ritos agrícolas y estacionales. Se reconoce también la capacidad de oír "voces" en la cabeza como uno de los atributos de los elegidos—quizá esas voces de los dioses a las que se refiere Julian Jaynes en su tesis sobre el origen de la consciencia moderna y el silencio de los oráculos. El texto del Nihongi narra cómo una mujer divina, Ame no Uzume, es elegida por su belleza y enviada a interrogar a un dios; lo reconoce, y le sorprende desnudando sus pechos. Se convertirá en la antepasada de las Sarume.
"Las Sarume", explica Aston, "eran en principio mujeres que representaban danzas cómicas (sarumahi o "danzas de mono") en honor a los dioses. Se las menciona junto con las Nakatomi e Imbe tomando parte en la fiesta de los primeros frutos y otras ceremonias sintoístas. Estas danzas fueron el origen de las representaciones de Kagura y de Nô. Otra función de las Sarume es la indicada en el papel que desempeña Uzume no Mikoto cuando los dioses tientan a la Diosa del Sol a salir de su cueva de rocas. Allí se dice que tuvo inspiración divina. Esta inspiración divina siempre ha sido común en Japón. La persona inspirada cae en un trance, o estado hipnótico, en el que habla asumiendo la persona de algún dios. Esas personas se conocen actualmente como Miko, definidas por Hepburn como "una mujer que, bailando en una Miya, pretende estar en comunicación con los dioses y los espíritus de los muertos", es decir una médium. También hay médiums ambulantes, como en Inglaterra, mujeres de baja categoría que supuestamente comunican mensajes de amigos o parientes muertos."
(Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. Trans. from the original Chinese and Japanese by W. G. Aston. (Transactions and Proceedings of The Japan Society, London, supplement 1). Vol. 1. London: Printed por Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, 1896. Online at Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/nihongichronicl00astogoog )
—oOo—
The Origin of the World and of Japan
miércoles, 30 de marzo de 2016
The Origin of the World and of Japan
The Japanese creation myths (Kuniumi) are told in the earliest Japanese Chronicles, the Kojiki and the Nihongi. The Kojiki (written by O no Yasumaro in 711-12) is the oldest of the historical texts. The first English translations of the Nihongi and the Kojiki can be found at the Internet Archive:
Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. Trans. from the original Chinese and Japanese by W. G. Aston. (Transactions and Proceedings of The Japan Society, London, supplement 1). Vol. 1. London: Printed por Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, 1896. Online at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/nihongichronicl00astogoog
2016
O no Yasumaro. "Kojiki." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kojiki
2016
_____. The Kojiki translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain. 199. Online at Sacred Texts.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm
2016
The Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), written in Chinese in 720 A.D. takes us through the early centuries of Japanese history, through a mixture of legend, pseudo-chronicle, and historical record, but it begins at the dawn of time, in myth—with a cosmogonic creation story which explains the origin of the Earth, of the gods, of Japan and of the humans. Here are some fragments coming from the Sacred Texts website.
THE NIHONGI - THE AGE OF THE GODS
Book I
Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs.
The purer and clearer part was thinly drawn out, and formed Heaven, while the heavier and grosser element settled down and became Earth.
The finer element easily became a united body, but the consolidation of the heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty.
Heaven was therefore formed first, and Earth was established subsequently.
Thereafter divine beings were produced between them.
Hence it is said that when the world began to be created, the soil of which lands were composed floated about in a manner which might be compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water.
At this time a certain thing was produced between Heaven and Earth. It was in form like a reed-shoot. Now this became transformed into a God, and was called Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto.
Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, and next Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, in all three deities
These were pure males spontaneously developed by the operation of the principle of Heaven.
In one writing it is said: ’"When Heaven and Earth began, a thing existed in the midst of the Void. Its shape may not be described. Within it a deity was spontaneously produced, whose name was Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto, also called Kuni-soko-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, also called Kuni no sa-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Toyo-kuni-nushi no Mikoto, also called Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, Toyo-ka-fushi-no no Mikoto, Uki-fu-no-toyo-kahi no Mikoto, Toyo-kuni-no no Mikoto, Toyo-kuhi-no no Mikoto, Ha-ko-kuni-no no Mikoto, or Mi-no no Mikoto."
In one writing it is said: "Of old, when the land was Young and the earth young, it floated about, as it were floating oil. At this time a thing was produced within the land, in shape like a reed-shoot when it sprouts forth. From this there was a deity developed, whose name was Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto, and next Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto."
In one writing it is said: " When Heaven and Earth were in a state of chaos, there was first of all a deity, whose name was Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni-soko-tachi no Mikoto."
In one writing it is said: "When Heaven and Earth began, there were deities produced together, whose names were, first, Kuni-no-toko-tachi no Mikoto, and next Kuni no satsuchi no Mikoto." It is further stated: "The names of the gods which were produced in the Plain of High Heaven were Ama no mi-naka-nushi no Mikoto, next Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto, next Kami-mi-musubi no Mikoto."
In one writing it is said: "Before Heaven and Earth were produced, there was something which might be compared to a cloud floating over the sea. It had no place of attachment for its root. In the midst of this a thing was generated which resembled a reed-shoot when it is first produced in the mud. This became straightway transformed into human shape and was called Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto."
(...)
A passage from Aston’s translation of Book 1. He notes the phallic inspiration of the following creation story:
Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto stood on the floating bridge of Heaven, and held counsel together, saying:
"Is there not a country beneath?"
Thereupon they thrust down the jewel-spear [penis] of Heaven, and groping about therewith found the ocean. The brine which dripped from the point of the spear coagulated and became an island which received the name of Ono-goro-jima.
Cf. the Kojiki’s version of this episode. In the following passage, which immediately follows the previous one, we can see a myth comparable to that of Adam and Eve as regards the supremacy of the male sex—with the female initiative being curtailed and male preeminence and activity being asserted in spite of the woman’s original readiness to become an agent. The English text also seems to suggest that it is the man who is moving in the "right" way, clockwise, whereas the woman moves to the right, counterclockwise, although this is admittedly ambiguous:
The two Deities thereupon descended and dwelt in this island. Accordingly they wished to become husband and wife together, and to produce countries.
So they made Ono-goro-jima the pillar of the centre of the land.
Now the male deity turning by the left, and the female deity by the right, they went round the pillar of the land separately. When they met together on one side, the female deity spoke first and said: —"How delightful! I have met with a lovely youth." The male deity was displeased, and said: —"I am a man, and by right should have spoken first. How is it that on the contrary thou, a woman, shouldst have been the first to speak? This was unlucky. Let us go round again." Upon this the two deities went back, and having met anew, this time the male deity spoke first, and said: —"How delightful! I have met a lovey maiden."
Then he inquired of the female deity, saying: —"In thy body is there aught formed?" She answered, and said: —"In my body there is a place which is the source of femineity." The male deity said:—"In my body again there is a place which is the source of masculinity. I wish to unite this source-place of my body to the source-place of thy body." Hereupon the male and female first became united as husband and wife.
Now when the time of birth arrived, first of all the island of Ahaji was reckoned as the placenta, and their minds took no pleasure in it. Therefore it received the name of Ahaji no Shima.
Next there was produced the island of Oho-yamato no Toyo-aki-tsu-shima. [Nippon]
Next they produced the island of Iyo no futa-na [Shikoku], and next the island of Tsukushi [Kiushiu]. Next the islands of Oki and Sado were born as twins. This is the prototype of the twin-births which sometimes take place among mankind.
Nest was born the island of Koshi, then the island of Ohoshima, then the island of Kibi no Ko.
Hence first arose the designation of the Oyo-ya-shima country.
Then the island of Tsushima and Iki, with the small islands in various parts, were produced by the coagulation of the foam of salt-water.
(...)
The early generations of deities will be engendered by these gods—although their earliest children, the leech and the island of Aha (Foam), are not considered legitimate or well-formed, and are abandoned by their parents. According to the Kojiki, these defective children resulted from the woman having spoken first.
—oOo—
Técnicas humanas y analogías cósmicas - Luis Carlos Martín Jiménez
miércoles, 30 de marzo de 2016
Técnicas humanas y analogías cósmicas - Luis Carlos Martín Jiménez
La crítica a la abundancia de "singularidades" y al uso del infinito en las ecuaciones cosmológicas me ha hecho pensar en Smolin y Unger.
Y la idea de que la escritura no proviene del habla, sino del trazo, naturalmente tiene un gran desarrollo en la gramatología de Derrida.
—oOo—
Out of Time (4)
