Re: <nettime> In Defence of Cultural Studies aka Debord and nostalgia

[t byfield <tbyfield@panix.com>]

mw35@nyu.edu (Sun 02/25/01 at 02:19 AM -0500):

> <...> Gee, messing up billboards. Not much to write home about.

as opposed to writing books, of course, which is something to 'write home
about,' right? write. right. write. right. &c. &c.

> <...> As for 'coherent views of history' -- look where those have 
> gotten us. They surely belong in the dustbin of history. <...>

i think you've misstated the problem; perhaps i can be of help.

if your descendants are as forgiving of you as you are of your
predecessors, where do you suppose your incoherent view of his- tory will
end up? n.b. that i haven't even disagreed with you-- at least i needn't
do so to ask that question. and how exactly is this historical dustbin of
yours constructed if theories of history are (or should be) incoherent?

> <...> As Croce asked, 'what is living and what is dead' in the 
> Hegelian legacy? Perhaps it is time for some accounting -- not 
> least for past failures. Who won the elections in France after 
> May 68? The Gaulists, by a landslide.

i think you've answered your own question: dialectics is dead-- at least
in your view.

cheers,
t
-

The public's attitude is that while mystification may be counterfeit
currency, it's better than having no money at all.  --Jean Dubuffet




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