Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Eternal Fanon

"A national culture under colonial domination is a contested culture whose destruction is sought in systematic fashion."
Posted by at

25 comments:

  1. mollyMay 28, 2009 at 10:15 AM

    What's funny is that I originally started this site as a place to comment on As'ad's post but we hardly ever do.  Not a criticism, just an observation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 10:32 AM

    Which I think is something to celebrate, not to deplore Molly: the blog has outgrown, to a great extent, its incipient purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DJMay 28, 2009 at 12:30 PM

    Moy, was curious if you had a response to this.
     
    http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/28/eduardo
     
    Fresh Off Worldwide Attention for Joining Obama’s Book Collection, Uruguayan Author Eduardo Galeano Returns with “Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone”
     
    We spend the hour with one of Latin America’s most acclaimed writers, Eduardo Galeano. The Uruguayan novelist and journalist recently made headlines around the world when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a copy of Galeano’s classic work, The Open Veins of Latin America. Eduardo Galeano’s latest book is Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone. We speak to Galeano about his reaction to the Chavez-Obama book exchange, media and politics in Latin America, his assessment of Obama, and more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. vMay 28, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    Indeed, it is wonderful that the blog has grown - but, there is always room for As'ad...hehehe (to use the Jello jingle) I am sure As'ad can be posted from time to time, eh? We can all be angry Arabs together :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 2:15 PM

    Yes, I don't see why we should quit doing it? However, I posted one of his commentaries a few days ago which I thought was really good, but it elicited very few reactions. But count on me to keep on doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 2:22 PM

    I greatly admire Galeano, and I think this interview that you linked us to (thanks!) gives good testimony to the kind of progressive, courageos, talented and engaged intellectual he is. I met him personally a couple of times when I was just out of high school in Mexico. But I must confess that I didn't go to visit him, but to meet with his daughter, a very smart, beautiful and gentle young woman.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 2:24 PM

    I had just answered to you V, but my comment vanished. I simply said that I will continue to post some of As'ads commentaries.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 2:25 PM

    Ooops, my comment is back! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. MaracatuMay 28, 2009 at 2:39 PM

    Only the Caribbean could have produced a Fanon!

    ReplyDelete
  10. DJMay 28, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    Moy, check this guy out.
     
    http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/against-the-tortured-logic-of-obamas-placebo-presidency-a-call-for-the-audacity-of-hopelessness/#comment-12232
     
     

    ReplyDelete
  11. vMay 28, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    "For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity." Fanon
     
     

    ReplyDelete
  12. vMay 28, 2009 at 3:23 PM

    "The people came to realize that wealth is not the fruit of labor but the result of organized protected robbery." Fanon

    ReplyDelete
  13. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM

    Yes sir. Absolutelly right!

    ReplyDelete
  14. MoyhabinMay 28, 2009 at 3:52 PM

    Wow DJ! Thanks. That's one great blog. Check it out guys:
     
    "On a collective basis, we as a nation are living through such a time. At present, we are witnessing the descending spiral of Icarusian Capitalism; our sacred delusion of the perpetual ascendancy of a god-like market place lies broken in the dust. Malls and Mcmansions stand abandoned, desolate as the edifices of forgotten gods, as the come-ons of the salesmen of deregulated capitalism are churned to spittle amid a cacophony of collapsing market platitude."

    ReplyDelete
  15. DJMay 28, 2009 at 5:12 PM

    Great Fanon quotes V.
     
    Moy, Rockstroh's stuff is the best. He is back with a vengence after a long hiatus. Check out all his great, scathing rants at
     
    http://philrockstroh.com/
     

    ReplyDelete
  16. thankgodimatheistMay 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM

    What's funny is that I originally started this site as a place to comment on As'ad's post but we hardly ever do.  Not a criticism, just an observation.
    ----------
    Well I do post from As'ad's. Maybe not every day but often! Besides, As'ad nowadays posts a lot about Lebanese elections something which I don't want to hear about( or not as much to be accurate) .
    Also, is it bad that we provide for ourselves? I mean I spend so much time looking for interesting stuff. Many of the topics I try to introduce,  As'ad doesn't care much about. He's an atheist true but you can hardly see any efforts from his side to articulate his position. Additionally, many of our topics are science based, Assad couldn't care less!
     

    ReplyDelete
  17. vMay 28, 2009 at 5:59 PM

    TGIA you are just a science buff...lol No, I appreciate you science articles.  One of the faults of not being able to articulate a full world view is to having the mind tamed by facts, without it you are prey for fantasy and exploitation.

    ReplyDelete
  18. vMay 28, 2009 at 7:52 PM

    TGIA you are just a science buff...lol No, I appreciate you science articles.  One of the faults of not being able to articulate a full world view is not having the mind tamed by facts, without it you are prey for fantasy and exploitation.

    ReplyDelete
  19. MoyhabinMay 29, 2009 at 9:57 AM

    Yep, I like it. Some here have suggested that I'm "anti-American" (wtf does that mean!) because of my constant rants against US imperialism and my personal dislike for the so-called "American way of life" (wtf does that mean, anyway!), but I pale in comparison to guys like Rockstroth, Joe Bageant, Clusterfuck Nation, etc. These guys are not just good writers, in the finest sense of the great American literary tradition, such as Faulkner, Dos Passos, Fast, Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, etc., but also radical social and cultural critics. I mean, just look at this paragraph I picked up from the link you provided DJ:
     
    <span>"Here in this crumbling empire once known as the American Republic, here in a nation that, at present, for all practical purposes, only produces Cheetos and killer drones, whose architecture is being winnowed down to thriving rural meth houses and foreclosed upon suburban mchouses, whose corrupt corporate culture has bequeathed upon our suffering planet dying oceans and the hyper-caffeinated tsunami of Red Bull Capitalism — the essential question confronts us — how does one retain (not retail) one’s humanity amid the catastrophic machinery and inane accoutrement of our age?"</span>
     
    Thanks DJ.

    ReplyDelete
  20. MoyhabinMay 29, 2009 at 10:02 AM

    It's interesting how many interests in common we have TGIA. I'm also a sucker for science, art and chess. When I was in my early teens, I used to study famous chess games for hours. I became enamored with Morphy's romantic style, and also with Capablanca's revolutionary approach. But my absolute favorite was Nimzowitch, whose Nimzo-Indian opening I came to master with great artistry.

    ReplyDelete
  21. MoyhabinMay 29, 2009 at 10:03 AM

    It's nice to discover how many interests in common we have, TGIA. I'm also a sucker for science, art and chess. When I was in my early teens, I used to study famous chess games for hours. I became enamored with Morphy's romantic style, and also with Capablanca's revolutionary approach. But my absolute favorite was Nimzowitch, whose Nimzo-Indian opening I came to master with great artistry.

    ReplyDelete
  22. DJMay 29, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    Most welcome Moy. I am always happy to turn people on to Rockstroh. Glad you liked his stuff. He is a real American original on fire!

    ReplyDelete
  23. thankgodimatheistMay 29, 2009 at 7:01 PM

    Yes Nimzovich is always remembered or mentioned for his variation on the Indian and rarely if ever for his all round contribution to opening theory. Morphy of course is my favorite too. Who wouldn't place this genius at the very top of the game. Fischer said Morphy is the greatest ever and Bobby knew what he was talking about being himself credited to be the greatest ever. As for Capablanca On my compute I often set him playing virtual games against many other masters and sit down and watch the purity and the musicality of his stule. Elegant in real life(I never dislike that!) and in his style his approach is similar to playing the violin. Grace, beauty and most of all simplicity. He was once asked by a Russian reporter how many moves he planned ahead and he replied :"Only one! The best!" I read too that he never bothered learning extensive openings. He argued that the ones he always played are good enough and if he was faced with an unexpected opening he'd work it out as he went.
    Otherwise yes we have many things in common and as the French Saying goes "Les grands esprits se retrouve" (Just joking!)

    ReplyDelete
  24. thankgodimatheistMay 29, 2009 at 7:02 PM

    Yes Nimzovich is always remembered or mentioned for his variation on the Indian and rarely if ever for his all round contribution to opening theory. Morphy of course is my favorite too. Who wouldn't place this genius at the very top of the game? Fischer said Morphy is the greatest ever and Bobby knew what he was talking about being himself credited to be the greatest ever. As for Capablanca On my compute I often set him playing virtual games against many other masters and sit down and watch the purity and the musicality of his stule. Elegant in real life(I never dislike that!) and in his style his approach is similar to playing the violin. Grace, beauty and most of all simplicity. He was once asked by a Russian reporter how many moves he planned ahead and he replied :"Only one! The best!" I read too that he never bothered learning extensive openings. He argued that the ones he always played are good enough and if he was faced with an unexpected opening he'd work it out as he went. 
    Otherwise yes we have many things in common and as the French Saying goes "Les grands esprits se retrouve" (Just joking!)

    ReplyDelete
  25. thankgodimatheistMay 29, 2009 at 7:03 PM

    Yes Nimzovich is always remembered or mentioned for his variation on the Indian and rarely if ever for his all round contribution to opening theory. Morphy of course is my favorite too. Who wouldn't place this genius at the very top of the game? Fischer said Morphy is the greatest ever and Bobby knew what he was talking about being himself credited to be the greatest ever. As for Capablanca On my compute I often set him playing virtual games against many other masters and sit down and watch the purity and the musicality of his stule. Elegant in real life(I never dislike that!) and in his style his approach is similar to playing the violin. Grace, beauty and most of all simplicity. He was once asked by a Russian reporter how many moves he planned ahead and he replied :"Only one! The best!" I read too that he never bothered learning extensive openings. He argued that the ones he always played are good enough and if he was faced with an unexpected opening he'd work it out as he went.   
    Otherwise yes we have many things in common and as the French Saying goes "Les grands esprits se retrouvent" (Just joking!)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)