Arsh K.S
Genre is not land
There is a marked tendency among publishing houses and journals to organize their narratives along spatial registers. There are indeed progressive tendencies in these movements - such as studies of nomadism, migrant labour, the so called new urban studies, which to me resemble the studies or urbanization of yesteryears, etc. however, there are also, marked feudal or should I say neo-feudal tendencies - often which are not merely agricultural.
On the authority of identitarian populism
There has been much attrition among the discourse of the social sciences and politics regarding how the question of identity politics, and the difficulties it may cause for the functioning and coordination of institutions, not to mention genres - can be adequately addressed.
Returning to Hegel
I have twice in my memory sought to put down, in writing what reading Hegel was like for me. The first was a blogpost on a website I had created named 'mutteringsofthealley'. There was something magical I was introduced to in the preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit:- that is, the possibility of considering a directionality to truth. This is what I sought to capture, and as part of a portfolio with my other writings - got me entry into the literary arts department in AUD for an MA. I later was to switch to sociology, yet an impetus remained with me.
Words, surface, marks
To find these lines in a snapshot on Instagram, or perhaps a small poetry book, as you may - attests to the possibilities that the written word is recognised to command - even if, as in the former case, it is presented in the form of a picture. And is this not Wittgenstein's perspective? Of an association between images, at its essence, a relation, that we call language? But a relation between what; here is where the authority of a master mediates between a poet and the surface which bears his marks. But is this to concede that the master exists? Folly for certain! None could believe such childish gibberish today! And yet, the child who screams in anger was perhaps as mature, as a soul as he ever will be.
18 Theses on the Reactionary
In times such as these, with the ascent of reactionary politics the world over our capacity to grasp what is progressive hinges on our ability to identify that which is not so. Ambiguity here, under the many blanket categories that it uses, such as ‘gas-lighting’, manipulation, or intimidation no longer cut it as while generically accurate they do not depict the situational intervention which characterizes the act of the reactionary. This is not a demonology for the writer identifies in himself, as he is sure, with all others, the utility of a circumspect distance which a subject may choose to withhold for themselves when encountering that which is new or strange. The terms used to apprehend this however are, as is characteristic, often inhibitions, expressions of mock-shock, outrage, and complacency afforded only by a position or station in one’s life that facilitates a relation with labour as a means of rent. For such is how capitalist relations in India, on the 6th of May, 2021, amidst a global Coronavirus pandemic yet remain. In these circumstances I believe it is important to identify the stance, mood, apprehensions, inclinations, and perhaps even the beliefs that characterize the reactionary in their grasp of a world which does not abide by their categories. And, to this end, I present the following theses.
The difference between sublation and subsumption
The Oxford English dictionary defines sublation as - 'assimilate (a smaller entity) into a larger one.' The example of its use in a sentence provided is "fragmented aspects of the self the subject is unable to sublate".Here, I think it is important to point out the common Anglo-Saxon conflation of sublation and subsumption.
On the difficulty of interpretation
It is not easy to posit a reason or cause when faced with misfortune, even if the degree is relatively minor. The term gaslighting has been used to describe what in college campuses are occasionally referred to as microaggressions. The way these are treated tend to range from outright dismissal, as is often the case when the perspective which deems it such may have confronted rather more direct or abusive forms of violence. Or they are incorporated into what is commonly understood as the culture of a campus or milieu.
'Pew' by Catherine Lacey
An unnamed protagonist, if this word is still suitable for the character in question, is found on the Pew of a church, asleep. The service awakens her, I presume the gender, and she is shown kindness by a family who takes her in.
