[aloberhoulser]

Someone “nudged” me in the direction of French philosopher & sociologist Maurice Halbwachs –

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25480359?seq=1

Now I can’t “unsee” the idea of collective memory as a social contract.  Post modernists and especially deconstructivsts have made an impact on us today,  whether we like it or not.

 

Does mythology suffer at the unsteady hand of modern social constructs? I feel like we are bombarded with so much information in this digital age that many are unsure of what to believe in anymore. Part of that could be rooted in how we use the term “myth” to illustrate falsehoods.

 

Maybe I’m jumping off a cliff here somewhat, but how do we reconcile the power of myth with the modern notions of collective memory and the collective unconscious?

 

[aloberhoulser]

Thanks Stephen for the invite here – and everyone for the awesome responses.

Is it OK to anchor this to NOW? Is it too far of a stretch to relate these “outcasts” to the “essential workers” or COVID-19 survivors?

I don’t want to go too far down that path alone & detract from this excellent topic!

[aloberhoulser]

Somewhere from the ether, I started thinking about catharsis.
Cathartic writing ~ art as catharsis
So I went to the definition – “derives from Aristotle’s Poetics”
“Ah Ha!!”

Against Catharsis: Writing is Not Therapy

“Our brains recall memory and information with a different wiring than when we verbalize that information. Simply put, the recollection is operating on a different plane than The Story.”

So many things are wrong with our “public” story right now – the U.S. Went into a collective panic mode over the POSSIBILITY we might not have enough hospital beds and ventilators but we are now confident that we have enough jail cells to slam people into for protesting racism and inequality (and, hopefully a whole lot more!).

Offices and cubicles with desks sit empty and hospitals aren’t filled to capacity. Courts are bound to be overrun. Our “back to normal” Will be measured by the collective gallons of fuel we burn every month.

Welcome to the new machines!

Does a global pandemic like Covid 19 require a collective catharsis? Is that even possible in our modern society?

[aloberhoulser]

I had written a response of decent length, and it disappeared in cyberspace.

Simply paraphrased…

What does it mean “to reject the stereotype?”

And what does that have to do with “accepting the call?”

If I could put a label on an overarching theme in my life, at 50, – the poem would start with this dilemma.

 

Peace y’all – thank you!!

 

 

[aloberhoulser]

Bob Dylan – I Contain Multitudes

Did Bob Dylan encapsulate “Thou Art That” ?? I think so…

[Author]

Posts