“The Conscience of Words” by Susan Sontag
Sense
Sontag’s thoughts about on how most people think peace means victory resonates with a song I heard by Stromae called “Peace or Violence.” When I read this line,
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“If the idea takes hold that peace, while in principle to be desired, entails an unacceptable renunciation of legitimate claims, then the most plausible course will be the practice of war by less than total means. […] Peace becomes a space people no longer know how to inhabit.” |
it reminded me of how Stromae questions the obscurity of the hand gesture for “peace” since it simultaneously represents the “V” for violence. It makes sense that the various contradictions for “peace” has made the term quite ambiguous and that most people associate peace for victory.
Nonsense
All the contradictions in Sontag’s speech made it somewhat difficult to understand it completely. For instance, Sontag spoke about how the writer’s job is “not to have opinions but to tell the truth.” Then, she follows this statement a few moments later with, “And of course I have opinions, political opinions, some of them formed on the basis of reading and discussing, and reflecting.”Doesn’t an opinion give certain literature a singular voice? Or is it the opposite, and that “the wisdom of literature is quite antithetical to having opinions?” From reading both statements, it was difficult to grasp her explanation of what the real intention of writers is since she is, of course, a writer.
“Introduction: Rhizome” by Deleuze and Guattari
Sense
It made a lot of sense to reference the difference between short-term memory and long-term memory, and how it can be applied to rhizomes and multiplicities. Especially in this sentence:
| “The splendor of the short-term Idea: one writes using short-term memory, and thus short-term ideas, even if one reads or rereads using long-term memory of long-term concepts.” |
Short-term memories are often disconnected and recalled sporadically. It takes me back to Gertrude Stein’s “What are Masterpieces” since the creation of a masterpiece is often unconsciously created, never remembered.
Nonsense
Math is not my forte. By inserting math into the text hindered me from understanding the concept. I couldn’t figure out how “multiplicities of n dimensions” had to do with rhizomes, let alone using it to create rhizomes.
