1,282 words
Part 4 of 4 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)
Translated by F. Roger Devlin
The history of modernity can be understood at least in part as a gigantic process of uniformization. Induced by philosophico-moral or political universalism and the diffusion of techniques for the modeling of behavior more effective than those of the most centralized dictatorships, it has expressed itself in the West by the gradual eradication of differentiated ways of life, (more…)
3,808 words
Translated by F. Roger Devlin
Communities, whether old or recent, whether ethno-cultural, linguistic, religious, sexual, or something else, are natural dimensions of belonging. No individual can exist without belonging, even if only to distance himself from it. (more…)
2,710 words
Do not believe the poster of this 1952 film. Do not. Wait ‘Till the Sun Shines, Nellie, isn’t the pleasant, bubbly, Technicolor singfest that is promised, although the song with all its nostalgic sentiment is there. Its appearances, however, evoke sadness and regret, much like old family photos tend to.
The action begins in the 1890s aboard a train chugging to Chicago, carrying Ben Harper (David Wayne) and Nellie (Jean Peters). (more…)
Kay Nielsen draft of a shipwreck, ca. 1940
6,074 words
It was a dark and soon-to-be stormy night on the Gulf Coast some years ago, when my other half and I sat on our porch chairs, gazing toward the sea. He held a cigarette — a bad (thankfully short-lived) habit he’d picked up during his year-long research sabbatical in Valladolid; paired with his fedora, I’m sure he knew that it lent him a (pretentious) air reminiscent of interwar Europe (more…)
Postcard by Edgar Orr, Dogwood Trees in Bloom, Atlanta, Georgia, ca. 1930-45.
1,912 words
Spring has finally come roaring into Georgia, blanketing vehicles with yellow pollen and causing a sudden eruption of three-foot dandelions all across my front and back yards. (more…)
1,892 words
In keeping with my annual Christmas season ritual, I am currently enjoying a much-needed vacation with extended family in Appalachia. Every year, my aging aunt graciously hosts my family: me, my children, and our dog. This year the experience has been all the more special because she bought a DVD copy of It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 Christmas classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, and last night we gathered around her flatscreen to watch it. (more…)
982 words
It is often said that we do not know ourselves until we are faced with a crisis. The present crisis wrapped up in the Chinese coronavirus has, unsurprisingly, even further laid bare the agenda of the egalitarian regime. (more…)
1,067 words
I have lived in this middle-class, predominantly white, aging metropolitan subdivision for nearly 15 years. Despite the palpable demographic changes in the local community, I feel safe and comfortable here. (more…)
1,422 words
Sleeping area of a PodShare co-living space.
Right-wing Twitter fumed earlier this week over the provocatively-titled essay “The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake.”
The Atlantic essay, written by New York Times columnist David Brooks, wasn’t necessarily an attack on traditional families. But that didn’t stop the deluge of anger that Brooks would dare slander the family. (more…)
Typical Feminist
1,057 words
So I’m sitting in my local suburban library doing my writing thing and at a table across the room some old ladies have gathered for “Senior Crafts Hour”. One of the younger librarians appears with a box of paper and glue and scissors. They are going to do collage, or maybe they’re just going to cut things out and glue them to other things. (more…)
4,814 words
“There were many whose hearts told them that they should begin to tell the secret runes.” Thus begins an ancient manuscript written in Old Saxon. It may surprise the reader to learn that these are, in fact, the opening lines of the Christian Gospel in the version known as the Heliand, produced for the Saxons in the early ninth century, after their conquest by Charlemagne. (more…)