"For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE (in Latin, CIVITAS), which is but an artificial man, though of greater stature and strength than the natural, for whose protection and defence it was intended . . . ." (Hobbes, Leviathan)
"And there were assigned for him seventeen thousand nine hundred and thirteen cows from Pontille and Brehemont to give him his ordinary milk. For it was impossible to find an adequate wet nurse in the whole countryside, considering the great quantity of milk required to feed him . . . ." (Rabelais, The Very Horrific Life of the Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel)
"No one can remember when he was not here in our city positioned like a sleeper in troubled sleep, the whole great expanse of him running form the Avenue Pommard to the Boulvard Grist. Overall length, 3,200 cubits." (Barthelme, The Dead Father)
So the huge, hungry, dead expanse of the state/father needs an adequate wet nurse and proper mortician. Where in the state, where in the city may this person or persons be found? Oedipus, Bat Man where are you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
In these times, it is easier to see who will not save our colossus.
"Certain things about the new President are not clear. I can't make out what he is thinking. When he has finished speaking I can never remember what he has said. There remains only the impression of strangeness, darkness . . . On the television, his face clouds when his name is mentioned. It is as if hearing his name frightens him. Then he stares directly in to the camera (an actor's preempting gaze) and begins to speak. One hears only cadences. Newspaper accounts of his speeches always say only that he touched on a number of matters in the realm of . . . ' When he has finished speaking he appears nervous and unhappy. The camera credits fade in over an image of the President standing stiffly, with his arms rigid at his sides, looking to the right and to the left, as if waiting for instructions. On the other hand, the handsome meliorist who ran against him, all zest and programs, was defeated by a fantastic margin.
People are fainting."
(Barthelme, "The President")
Post a Comment