[...] />
insurgent becomes the ="trms">writer of (Manning's) impersonal event
touchstone of a rare immunity and a weapon
to evoke the ="trms">anxiety of the audience (-="frds scrmbld">Hoda='qstn'>?)
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“kill him” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> shortening of ="trms">language to mirror the contra="trms">diction of being ='lgc'>: most horrifying manifestation of formalized coldness. not just the license to kill, but the mechanistic invocation of the license
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the ‘what has always been’
eternal war
همیشه اینجوری بوده ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> pro="trms">position of the insurgent stoicism یاغی رواقى ='lgc'>[='lgc'>~ a self-without-other='lgc'>: has experienced firsthand the detriment of othering, ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Foad='lgc'>]
(the rant, the taunt متلک, the insult فحش, the battle cry)
axis of eternity, middle eastern recourse to an o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riginal circularity of things
a concept of time as pure circle (from medieval mysticism)
='lgc'>=/=
deconstruction's uncanny
psychoanalysis's trauma
='lgc'>[a ="trms">technique i use in my ="trms">lecture-performances, i work reverentially='lgc'> = reverie ='lgc'>+ reference='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> could be helpful for ="frds scrmbld">Eszter
='strcls'>*(colorfulness ='lgc'>==> entanglement)='strcls'>*
the ligature (خط پيوند)
the outliner
un="trms">imagined destiny
(little freedom called) curiosity ='lgc'>=/= alertness (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- freedom of nerves)
(my problem with the) discourse of the trace (='lgc'>=/= ="trms">heritage, tradition studies)
“let's leave a trace” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> you create your own kind of starting from yourself. you have no ="trms">ancestors and your roots are in your footsteps
(it is never my concern how to leave a trace. rather, ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading the fubar that is left by others for me to ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read)
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(contemporary colonialism is tentacular)
contemporary colonialism with its ='strcls'>*clash of civilizations ="trms">rhetoric='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>='lgc'>~=>='qstn'>? multiculturalism='lgc'>] ='lgc'>=/= ancient warlords and dynasties (='lgc'>--="ppl">="ppl">Foucault showing the ="trms">difference between a medieval monarch’s beheading of a subject and the self-regulating disciplinary ="trms">apparatus of the ="trms">modern state) ='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>-- they don't get it='lgc'>: Middle Eastern ="trms">response of Adonis, Darwish, ="ppl">Shamlu, Hedayat, and others. that is, to perceive ="trms">modernity as the mani="trms">fold extension of an eternal atrocity
the problem is those who have no patience for either concepts of “the ="trms">world” or “the ="trms">historical”
(eastern insurgent has been='lgc'>:)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">technically innovative
="lsts lst1">•="trms">epistemologically and ideologically distinctive
="lsts lst1">•existentially grounded in the waters of ‘what has always been’
="ppl">Mohaghegh making a link between Hassan Sabbah and Ahmad ="ppl">Shamlu='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•Sabbah='lgc'>: leader of the Ismaili assassins and keeper of their Nizari fortress at Alamut='lgc'>: that he was said to have never left his inner quarters ='lgc'>[the library, courtyard, or bedchamber='lgc'>] for thirty-five years except twice to stand on the rooftop and look out beyond the mountain ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this is the ="trms">worldview of the eterna="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list at work. He participated in ‘change,’ manipulated them toward fatally constructive ends even, but did not honor these developments as a journey of any substantial kind.
='lgc'>[flash forward a thousand years...='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Shamlu='lgc'>: same attitude='lgc'>: when he was asked to comment on his country's most recent uprisings offered the following ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphor='lgc'>: he said to think of the event as when a man who is sleeping on one side of his body for most of the night begins to ache and so rolls over to his other side and continues sleeping ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the movement is not sufficient as to prove impressive
(="ppl">Mohaghegh stresses in post="trms">modern Middle Eastern thought='lgc'>:) the prominence, variability, and magnification of the willing subject
="prgrph">-="ppl">="ppl">Foucault's early out="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right support for the ="nms">Iranian Revolution of 1979
="prgrph">-="ppl">Baudrillard's theoretical flirtation with Islamic terrorism
="prgrph">-="ppl">Badiou and Zizek's dazzled looks toward the Arab Spring
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> they mistake fireworks for explosions, and ill-="trms">="trms">equipped for such far-off archaeological digs
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="trms">internal saboteur
="trms">heritage of deconstruction='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•parody
="lsts lst1">•parasitism
="lsts lst1">•mimicry
="ppl">Rumi points to those madmen who would wash their wounds in blood
... we are no longer ="trms">interested in the face of the other but only the other's defacement
the destruction that cleanses
the rabidness that is a precipice
(what i am learning from Shahrzad, i wish and ='mywrk'>my work has been always about the ways of learning='lgc'>: ='strcls'>****to buy my people time to think and breathe in other directions='strcls'>****)
an eastern step='lgc'>: to make ="trms">language peripatetic (salek سالک wandering from place to place on foot ='lgc'>[why not make it to the ="trms">Wonderland's ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Alice='qstn'>?='lgc'>]) ='lgc'>==> (a non-regimented) textuality within a body that charges ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*uncivil incarnation='strcls'>*
='strcls'>*killer's freedom='strcls'>*
freedom
="prgrph">-="ppl">Heidegger='lgc'>: (massive ="trms">difference between) a self-automating freedom that one attains via a borrowed sacred (handed-over, Frankenstein) and a hard-won-freedom attained through the rending-apart of a closed ="trms">world (through the ="trms">intractable سرپيچی)
="prgrph">-="ppl">Sartre='lgc'>: a self-conscious ="trms">authorship of the ="trms">world, condemned to a certain ="trms">responsibility before the event of one's own existence ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the problem occurs when someone made it their task, duty, or entertainment to compel the other to experience such freedom='lgc'>]
="prgrph">-="ppl">Nietzsche='lgc'>: ‘freedom='lgc'> = ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusive gift of the enemy’ ='lgc'>~ ‘respect-for-life='lgc'> = euphemism for death’ ='lgc'>[life (if it has worth) is meant to be disrespected, contested, and hounded='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ‘insurgent='lgc'> = warrior’(='lgc'><='lgc'>-- the substance remains the same)
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Adonis='lgc'>: “don't come closer, the wound is nearer than you / don't come closer, the wound is more beautiful than you” (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Hoda, ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Ali )
ancillary فرعى کمکى, تابع, مستخدم بومى ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> کلفت
avarice حرص
="trms">affective overreaction ='lgc'><='lgc'>~=='lgc'>-> radical coldness
='strcls'>**="trms">literal='strcls'>**
western inability to understand the turbulant reaction abroad ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> loss of the power of the ="trms">literal (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*democracy depends and works with the ="trms">literal='strcls'>*='lgc'>:)
="trms">literal has given way in the west to the ="trms">transference of image, ="trms">language, and thought to a purely re="trms">presentational or ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphoric domain (to talk about things, but not speak the event itself)
“one cannot grow ="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angered over a film, sculpture, treatise, or drawing (or a dance), then one also cannot experience captivation with a film, sculpture, treatise, or drawing” (="ppl">Mohaghegh)
='lgc'>[yet the ="trms">literal is sneaky in that is always decontextualizes, it vibrates and swings so conspicuously from its point of o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigin='lgc'>]
(old ="ppl">Marxist, anarchist, and post="trms">modern critique='lgc'>: ‘hyper-mediation ='lgc'>+ ="trms">technological diffusion ='lgc'>==> ob="trms">literation of the sharpness of the senses in ="trms">modernity’) ='lgc'>=/= loss of the radioactive potential of the ="trms">world of appearances ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*rabbit chaser='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[a mask that i am invested in,='lgc'>] a middle eastern existential cost at stake ='lgc'>: the myriad and t="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riggers that alone make possible the descent into ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Alice's ="trms">Wonderland='lgc'>--the ="trms">child chases the the white rabbit(='lgc'>~a partial flashing image) without real thought to its enigmatic reasons or destinations (“why and where is he going='qstn'>?”) ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Alice (like ="frds scrmbld">Janina) is only ="trms">consumed by his color, speed, movement, and nervous incantation افسون of lateness='strcls'>*** (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphorology of “depth” in east)
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="trms">code of urgency='lgc'>: “mean what you say and say what you mean”
a (monumental problem or) discord in the West between='lgc'>: saying (or showing in terms of images) and meaning () ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> problem for the propensity of acting, running, hungering, wanting, and living itself ='lgc'>--this-is-why='lgc'>='lgc'>--> most groundbreaking ideational products in the West often fail to penetrate enough to ex="trms">cite or instigate (the avant-garde can not longer shock ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> bankruptcy of the contemporary artists in europe='lgc'>]) ='lgc'>=/= in the East='lgc'>: 1400 year mythologies can still provoke hysteria and radical fever ='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>-- a scary ="trms">difference='strcls'>***!!
='strcls'>*the visual, the auditory, the spiritual, the philosophical are still fulminating currencies of animation in the context (in the East ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>that is why most art theory and conceptions don't apply to everywhere at the same time. values of European contemporary art s="trms">cene don't fully dig ='thdf'>the notion of art in middle east)
="ppl">Mohaghegh asking='lgc'>: how can the sentence, picture, musical note, ="trms">poetic, stanza, ideological or theological concoction, genrate so much energy in certain atmospheres, unleashing irregular storms while reviving millennia-old ones='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">="ppl">Stewart's ="trms">affect theory and atmospheric attunement could be helpful='lgc'>]
a ="trms">fable of ="trms">difference (between W&E)='lgc'>:
a tension between an agoraphobic West (with its endless barricades, shelters, and ="trms">technocracies of dilution رقيق سازى raghigh-sazi) ='and'>& an overexhilarated East (with its endless throngs, zealotries, dogmatic caresses, and emergencies)
dys="trms">morphic labor
emetic estefraghi استفراغ اور
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]insurgent='lgc'> = revolutionary of the unreal (='lgc'>=/= ='lgc'>[="frds scrmbld">Nasser's kind of='lgc'>] the traditional freedom-fighter who picks up a weapon and takes to the mountains, singing anthems of liberation or reveling in the simple ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">narrative of some diorama شهر فرنگ of good and evil)
the insurgent does not fall victim to='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•collective mythologies of nation, ="trms">language, and culture
="lsts lst1">•elusive ="trms">rhetoric of ethics and justice ='lgc'>==> provide power with a convincing smokescreen
the third ="trms">world insurgents are anarchists of a higher order of ='strcls'>*aneurysmal consciousness and ="trms">affect='strcls'>*
(gaze of the aneurysmal='lgc'>:) an uncompromising gaze that sees what power tries so hard to mask='lgc'>--that there is nothing there to see
='strcls'>*practice of irregular warfare ='lgc'>==> irregular subject of war='strcls'>*
(weeds of) ="trms">modernity='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•as ideology ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> power
="lsts lst1">•as institutional mechanism ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">society
="lsts lst1">•as ="trms">phenomenology ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> perception
="lsts lst1">•as ="trms">ontology ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> being/death
="lsts lst1">•as cultural emergence ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">spectacle
="lsts lst1">•as temporal orchestration ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> time
="lsts lst1">•as con="trms">figuration ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> body/space
="lsts lst1">•as political economy ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> capital
="lsts lst1">•as ="trms">epistemological framework ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge
="lsts lst1">•as discursive ="trms">apparatus ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">language/meaning
="lsts lst1">•as epoch ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">history
immediacy ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? alienation
brutal ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? idea="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listic
retrograde ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? futuristic
esoteric ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? banal
="trms">technological ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? carnal
genesis ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? apocalypse
="trms">system ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? chaos
="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................
="nms">iran='lgc'>: ="trms">transition from a semi-colonial to postcolonial space ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> anticolonial islamic front
the self-other construct
='strcls'>***islamic revolutionary thought borrows heavily from ="ppl">Marxist theory (at the same time equating them with colonial mastery)
='lgc'>}='lgc'>==> forge a ="trms">specific revolutionary mind-set out of its own ="trms">historical realities/myths (='lgc'>=/= “ill-trafficked remedies of an outsider ideology”, a ='strcls'>*second-hand personality='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- this is OK!='lgc'>])
cartographies of en="trms">trapment
Al Ahmad binary reasoning in his Westoxification
="prgrph">-the “eternal” struggle of east and west ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a ="trms">rhetoric of transcendental struggle
="prgrph">-to perceive the “west” as merely an ='strcls'>*="trms">epistemic fabrication='strcls'>* and not a civilizational reality ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- the enemy is authenticated
(-he makes a very bad move='lgc'>: relocate the structural site of resistance to somewhere outside the walls of the university)
='strcls'>*Al Ahmad's orchestration of degrees of cultural estrangement ='lgc'>--into='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a tone of nationa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list triumphalism ='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>***vanished pre="trms">modern subjectivity to be restored='strcls'>*** (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- i have to be careful with this)
="prgrph">-='lgc'>[that='lgc'>] the colonized intellectuals and political officials participate together in the eradication of third ="trms">world ="trms">heritage
="prgrph">-="trms">agents of foreign ministries='lgc'>: orienta="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">lists, ambassadors, advisors, who ="trms">write hideous scrolls when they have finished their assignments that say “yes, you have the head of a lion and the tail of an elephant” (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> is this also close to my account of ="ppl">Olearius='qstn'>?!) ='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>*devitalization='strcls'>* ='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>*damaged subjectivity='strcls'>* ='lgc'>+ an ='strcls'>*alternative ="trms">historic consciousness='strcls'>* ='lgc'>}='lgc'>==> hostile tenant of the before-this ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= i work on an alternative queer='lgc'>]
(cyclopean view) Al Ahmad's dismissal of media='lgc'>: he is unable to see it as anything but a promoter of in="trms">finite pacification ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> media ='lgc'>=/= local
(a civilizational dichotomy ='lgc'>==>) portray media as abusive of islamic tradition
='strcls'>**="trms">rhetoric of end="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angered cultural subjectivity='strcls'>**
disappearance or extinction of one's own ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rightful place within the ="trms">world (='lgc'><='lgc'>--='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>~ will to hegemonic mastery)
='strcls'>*(Al Ahmad deduces Chomsky on a global-imperial scale ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) the operation of the media can not be divorced from objective ="trms">systemic violence ='lgc'>: media='lgc'> = ="trms">instrument of bourgeois valuation
Shariati='lgc'>: existentialism ='lgc'>+ leftism ='lgc'>+ islamism
='lgc'>[islamic anticolonialism ='lgc'>+ neomarxist critical theory (of Frankfurt School)='lgc'>]
(presumed) deterioration of global consciousness ='lgc'>+ industrialization ="trms">onto the ="trms">stage of ="trms">world ="trms">history
="prgrph">-homogenized mass ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> emergence of automation ='lgc'>: an objectified and self-activating process wherein the subject becomes an ="trms">instrument
“impersonation of the machine” ='lgc'><='lgc'>--="ppl">Adorno='lgc'>--='lgc'>{totalitarian seizure of consciousness ='lgc'>+ devastating effects of ="trms">instrumental reason='lgc'>}
Shariati's ="trms">writing='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•the third ="trms">world subject embraces the false consciousness
="lsts lst1">•self-inflicted cultural betrayal
="lsts lst1">•predatory-parasitic operation of the colonized ="trms">imagination ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>-->
='strcls'>*defilement of the “what once was”
='strcls'>*the elevation of the indigenous as re="trms">presentative of an authentic return
='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>***="trms">past as antithesis to the ="trms">present='strcls'>*** ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- transcendental signified of a precolonial subjectivity ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- how not to do that while visiting ="trms">heritage sites such as ="nms">ajayeb='qstn'>?='lgc'>]
Shariati's defense of the non-western ="trms">world ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> manufacturing an exaggerated imagery of its ='strcls'>*now lost grandeur='strcls'>* ='lgc'>==> (its former) essential identity-status
='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{what would ="ppl">Lacan's mirror ="trms">stage say about this='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ‘sudden realization of a complete (specular) image of self ='lgc'>=/= infant's primordial sense of her fragmented body’ before it is objectified in the dialectic of identification with the other
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]subjectivity='lgc'>: spatial ="trms">relations (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> self-other construct)
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]the ="trms">imaginary='lgc'>: the space in which the ="trms">relation between the ego and its images is developed='lgc'>]
(="ppl">Mohaghegh='lgc'>:) ='lgc'>[eastern='lgc'>] undo the moment of assimilation into a repressive ='lgc'>[western='lgc'>] ‘="trms">symbolic order'='lgc'>[= the way the subject is organized ='and'>& how the psyche becomes accessible='lgc'>]
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]The Real='lgc'>: what cannot be ="trms">symbolized – what loses it's “reality” once it is ="trms">symbolized (made conscious) through ="trms">language ='lgc'>==> the real is traumatic (& ="trms">sublime='qstn'>?, ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? media,,) ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Hoda='lgc'>}
='strcls'>*cultural extinction='strcls'>*
urgency is (always='qstn'>?) ="trms">neurotic
(='qstn'>?who and when sends) ="trms">neurotic ="trms">demand for an unmediated cognitive intimation
(Khomeini's) omat امت diesenfranchised populace
عناصر گول خورده perceptual ="trms">perversion
="lsts lst1">•Khomeini ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="ppl">Marcuse (one-dimensional ="trms">society, that promote a false consciousness which is immune against its falsehood)
="lsts lst1">•Khomeini ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- Chomsky (how superficial happiness can function as a detraction from the adverse effects of an alienated condition) ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="ppl">Marxist tradition of the “="trms">serious” (='lgc'>=/= unreflective state) ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Foad, “let everybody be crazed about professional sports or sex scandals or the personalities and their problems ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">consumption becomes ritualized='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•Shariati ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- Jameson (theory of the “ever-new but always-the-same” within the theatrical operation of political economy)
="lsts lst1">•Al Ahmad ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="ppl">Adorno (skeptical prophecy)
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>==> principle of utopian potentiality
centers of corruption
pleasure-houses
makeup
games
alcoholic beverages
luxury goods
="ppl">Marxist tradition='lgc'>:
the underground ="trms">aesthetic is quickly transfigured into a mainstream ="trms">aesthetic ='lgc'>--always='lgc'>='lgc'>--> in the hands of an ="trms">authoritarian elite (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- in ="nms">apass with ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Leonardo">Leo we were talking about this)
جنبش mass ="trms">aesthetic fears becoming official سازمانی
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...based on exposing the damage of the global-becoming-local
Al Ahmad traces this “transnational hypnosis” to economic o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigin (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Ali )
(="ppl">Mohaghegh's judgment on ="nms">iranian anticolonial ideology='lgc'>:) its ineptitude Ungeeignetheit in realizing the myriad variances that render any medium riddled with paradoxes='lgc'>--derives itself from its concurrent inability to observe the possibility for ="trms">different subject-="trms">positions within the third ="trms">world
omni="trms">present deception of ="trms">modernity
(="trms">aesthetic radicalism ='lgc'>[ X ) political resistance='lgc'>]
“X” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> limited anticolonialism
(="ppl">Mohaghegh on)
="prgrph">-Mehrjui's The Cow, offers a moving allegorical journey into the psychic turbulence of a peasant confronted with the ob="trms">literation of his pre="trms">modern ="trms">world (and thus becomes his lost ="trms">animal)
="prgrph">-Naderi's Man with a Gun, depicts the ="trms">material avarice that has overtaken local con="trms">figurations in the wake of nascent capita="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list formations to such a drastic extent that it gives rise to a well-digger's being cheated of his life savings
="prgrph">-Kimiai's The Deers, ...
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> strong consonance with the anticolonial ideologues (examined thus far)
...caught up in your prose
on Sa'edi’ short ="trms">story “Dandil” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> grotesque cultural dis="trms">affection of the masses within Sa'edi's Dandil='lgc'>]
="prgrph">-depicting the ="trms">horrors of daily life within a semicolonized atmosphere of a red-light district of a northern ="nms">Iranian city
="prgrph">-there is an imagery of closure and suffocation
(Sa'edi revealing='lgc'>:) the ="trms">material despair of a colonial condition leading (in high speed) to the entropy of cultural-individual ethics
under the overwhelming weight of tangible misery
='lgc'>--cognize='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the immediate ="trms">material urgency of the third ="trms">world subject
(Dandilian gathering around to watch the taking of the picture ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) the third ="trms">world subject has assumed the ="trms">schizophrenic role of a voyeur himself, ="trms">spectating his own ="trms">literal-="trms">symbolic rape but not fully understanding it as such, while the real ="trms">agent of power remains camouflaged in semi-invisibility
(="ppl">Mohaghegh='lgc'>:) the ideological content of Dandil stands ='thdf'>the notion that the ="trms">technological advancement of the western ="trms">world has turned the peripheral individual into its unknowing accomplice همدست, a vital participant in the abuse and mutilation of his own locality
(a Dandilian policemen remarking='lgc'>:) “They ='lgc'>[westerns='lgc'>] are not beggers like us. they all have private cars. their whores spend four or five hours a day just playing around in the beauty shops.” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> for Sa'edi that is the pathological fantasy endemic to the inner workings of a colonized mind. the third ="trms">world subject perceiving itself as the negational instantiation of occidental greatness ='lgc'>==> swallowing down the civilizational hierarchies of its oppressor's self-projecting image
(preparing for the coming of rapist colonizer) the Dandilians rush to make the Madame's house clean and tidy='lgc'>: “='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]the curtains had been drawn aside. Pots of geranium had been placed on the wall and beside the steps='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]” ='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>-> ="ppl">Baudrillard's theory of simulation ='lgc'>: the Dandilian ="trms">presenting to the colonizer a Disneyland, ='strcls'>*a play of illusions and phantasms='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>->='qstn'>? Dubai='lgc'>: self-affirmation via the domination of the constructed other='lgc'>]
="large lg6" stl="font-size:117%">
(the american officer leaves the next morning with a mocking ="trms">laughter and he refuses to play and the Dandilians can't do anything)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the civilizational dichotomy remains intact in spite of the horrifying events that have transpired, with the trafficked deflowered ="trms">child serving as a ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphor for the cultural-political mistreatment of the third ="trms">world under colonial rule
="large lg10" stl="font-size:130%">
on Akhavan's “Adamak” (“Stick-Figure”) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">historical treachery committed within Akhavan's nostalgic Stick-Figure='lgc'>]
demonization of the television's arrival
="prgrph">-television as a “magical box” an artificial ="trms">phenomenon that “entrances” its audience
again ='thdf'>the idea of authenticity is largely emphasized here, as the television is perceived as a “foreign” entity and therefore an enemy to the millennial ="trms">history of the province
new medium ='lgc'>=/= indigenous modes of ="trms">communication/expression (of which the roving ="trms">storyteller is the ultimate instantiation)
(poignancy of the) ="trms">poet's ="trms">anthropo="trms">morphic profile of the new ="trms">technologically oriented media
="prgrph">-Akhavan's re="trms">presentation ="trms">symbolizes the ="trms">storyteller himself, lamenting his own erasure from the moment of the now (or it is his prophecy for the imminent destruction of the new media in the coming islamic regime='qstn'>?)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">aesthetic testament to the possibility for a third ="trms">world revolutionary ="trms">imagination to emerge from the ruins of the colonial era ='lgc'>[, ='strcls'>*from the ruins of the empire='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> re="trms">presenting the third ="trms">world as in a state of complete existential-cultural atrophy (tahlil تحليل رفتن) ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Hoda
='strcls'>**anticolonial ="trms">literature reaffirms the all-encompassing grasp of ="trms">modernity over peripheral subjectivity ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> marginal leader (Mamitua Saber's Marginal Leadership in a Culture Contact ="trms">Situation)='lgc'>]
(="ppl">Mohaghegh > Huyssen on ="ppl">Baudrillard='lgc'>:)
="ppl">Baudrillard's notion of the ='strcls'>*silent mass='strcls'>* of the ="trms">spectators disables any analysis of ='strcls'>*heterogeneous subject ="trms">position in the act of reception='strcls'>* ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Laura
any economic or institutional analysis of ="trms">apparatuses of image production is rendered obsolete by ="ppl">Baudrillard's notion of an almost self-generating and monolithic machinary of image production ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>] (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="frds scrmbld">Laura should be very aware of this)
="ppl">Baudrillard's ="trms">society of simulation does not allow for such distinctions ... simulation, after all, may simply be the latest version of the ideology of the end of ideology
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> part of the theoretical ="trms">apparatus of ='strcls'>*anticolonial ideology='strcls'>*
one immediate d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">anger of this approach is that it recklessly dismisses anything as="trms">sociated with the other side of the binary (of West/East, self/other, first-="trms">world/third-="trms">world, ="trms">modern/pre="trms">modern, etc.) ='lgc'>==> overlook the subversive utility and democratic accessibility of certain ="trms">technological innovation ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> evident in Shariati's ultra-atavistic endorsement for an ="trms">aesthetic tradition='lgc'>: “intrusion of the machine into the humna-half may go so far as to paralyze man; it destroys creativity. ="trms">imagine a type-="trms">written page that can be imposed upon millions of people, while before the advent of the type="trms">writer everyone was free to use his creativity to the utmost in calligraphy” ='lgc'>--="ppl">Mohaghegh='lgc'>='lgc'>--> it is not reflecting on the ="trms">historical reality that the exercise of calligraphy was always linked to a feuda="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list class structure, and often ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusively to the confines of the palace court, whereas the printed word open to a more widesp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read audience independent of ="trms">material status
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> anticolonial ideology ='lgc'>==>
="lsts lst1">•carries out the pre="trms">supposed will of ="trms">modernity by homogenizing its very own constituency, diminishing any possibility for individual initiative or insubordination
="lsts lst1">•pre="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">cludes the advent of outsider radicalism independent of some ="trms">religio-civilizational confrontation with ="trms">modernity
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “there can be only one diagnosis ='lgc'>==> only one elixir” ='lgc'>==> produce an antidote that is equally colossal in scope, shape, and execution
='lgc'>}='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>***the local is no longer accepted by anticolonial ideology as a worthwhile site of contestation='strcls'>***
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (Sa'edi ='lgc'>+ Akhavan ='lgc'>+ ...) ='lgc'>='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> ='strcls'>*messianic defender='strcls'>* of the national ="trms">history ='lgc'>: the sole harbinger جلودار of a ='strcls'>*return to the real='strcls'>* ☠ ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= cheerleader='lgc'>]
_,-='lgc'>+-._
.-’ ‘’-._
/ \
‘ ='lgc'>~. \
/ ='lgc'>~`’ ) .=” , )
| I ( ='lgc'>~ (
\ ‘"” `=' ='lgc'>+
`.,_ `”;:L0Ve’ ='strcls'>*’
`='lgc'>~'='lgc'>~.’ )_Y_0_U!\
='strcls'>*disease becomes temporary cure='strcls'>* (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> practiced by Al Ahmad, Shariati, artists ='lgc'>[as irony and with the always problematic conception of the “masses” توده مردم mardom='lgc'>]='lgc'>:)
“='lgc'>[let's='lgc'>] re-employ the same reactionary elements in order to stir the masses, to restore awareness, and to fight superstition”
='lgc'>[still very common within critically-minded humanist ="trms">social ="trms">science schollar artists is the tendency to use critical theory (as diverse as it is) ='strcls'>*to ="trms">interrogate reality='strcls'>*
for us (='lgc'>[left in="trms">heritance='lgc'>] as postcolonia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list, feminist, or biopolitician) the modus operandi of critical theory is to derealize, is to say='lgc'>: “this is an expression of paar.” “this is discursive formation.” “this is ="trms">material assembly of objects.” ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= (an attempt to say) “this isn't real.” ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- this has been essentially a really powerful force and set of political strategies of the left ='at'>@="nms">apass; this modus operandi is a killer blow for climate change from a leftist perspective (because the climate change is very real) (='lgc'>=/= speculative realism)='lgc'>]
Khomeini's cassette-tape revolution (radio medium infused with anticolonial propaganda) de="trms">monstrates the insufficiency of ="ppl">Benjamin's stance that “mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art...”
the ="trms">symbolic fury of Khomeini's voice is only magnified in its cult-value through its trans="trms">mission over the air waves, testifying more to MacLuhan's ="trms">interpretation of the persuasive impact of radio
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">technological media in ="nms">iranian anticolonialism does not elicit the democratizing effect anticipated by ="ppl">Benjamin
from='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical awe ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> banalized ="trms">horror
each year the islamic republic itself reenacts the arrival of the Khomeini in ="nms">tehran airport through a procession of myriad cardboard ="trms">interact and converse with these mock-images of the imam in a kind of makeshift, state-run passion play
post 1979 ="nms">iranian cinematic renaissance
="lsts lst1">•medium of film achieved in the decolonized space
="lsts lst1">•hooked into the contemporaneity of the localized apocalyptic (in="trms">finitesimal becomings)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">present as close an ="trms">interpretation of the unthinkable strangeness of reality as possible
="lsts lst1">•on an ongoing desertion of the real
="ppl">Adorno='lgc'>: “works that make ="trms">socially univocal discursive judgments thereby negate art as well as themselves” ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Laura's j[...]