I heard an awful (for me) segment on NPR about an American woman trying to find the duende in Jerez de la Frontera by dancing flamenco. I don't even know where to begin. It was a uniquely painful experience to listen to this, though I could hardly turn the radio off during a segment about the duende, could I?
This pain is also uniquely my own. I'm sure no other listener would feel the way I did, right? Nobody else wrote a book denouncing exactly this set of fallacies, and is now writing another book addressing some of the same issues one more time. Nobody else has a third book planned... So I can hardly blame NPR. I will have to blame only myself. . .
No, I'll blame NPR anyway.
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I feel your pain. On the other hand, there's a legitimate case to be made against such unimaginative recycled authenticity-mongering. People should hear it, and who better to make it than you, professor of the five bodily fallacies? If you can perform the subtle trick of dissociating your personal cringe from the larger issue, you should.
Right. I don't know if it's as bad as I think it is, or whether I'm just uniquely sensitive. That's what I have a hard time separating out. I agree that I should try.
Oh well, you know. Going over from NJ in this case, or down from DK to Italy or Spain as we used to do, romantic lands where you can feel feelings.
Just wait til you hear my piece on my trip to Todtnauberg in search of Dasein!
I can't wait. That's where some of the best Dasein is to be had, with German philosophers ripping off their shirts.
"I've been into existentialism for years. I love it. Existentialism's got depth. It makes me think I've got depth. Thinking is like heaving a sigh out of my anus, all concept and reason. I need it after the work I do every day. As a teacher at a business school, I deal with students stuck in desperate situations.
Existentialism recharges me. It's exotic, and fun, and I'm good at it. But no matter how long I've been thinking, I'm never as good as I want to be. Maybe because I'm not a philosopher, or maybe because I'm not German.
What I'm missing is Dasein — a magical moment of presence that's part of German lore. It makes men rip off their shirts and students bang their heads against walls...."
Here's a complete version. Thanks for the headsup.
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