Irlanda: a beleza bucólica e além…

Eu adoro esse tipo de natureza bruta que mais parece com uma obra de arte incompleta.

“At first
I was land

I lay on my back to be field

…
I did not see.
I was seen.”

Eavan Boland ‘Mother Ireland’ (Lost Land, 42-3)

— — Na poesia de Eavan Boland a pátria em si ganha linguagem e subjetividade. De fato, ela pode ser entendida como uma dona de casa deixando o lar, assim como todo e qualquer resquício de uma vida orquestrada por uma estrutura patriarcal antiquada para encontrar o seu verdadeiro eu.  — —

“Now I could tell my story.

It was different

from the story told about me.”

“The spurred and booted garrisons.

The men and women

they dispossessed.

What is a colony

if not the brutal truth

that when we speak

the graves open.

And the dead walk?” (‘Witness’)

“- a picture held us captive

and we could not get outside it

for it lay in our language in the uniform

of a force that no longer existed.

Peace was the target he was aiming at,

the point at which doubt becomes senseless,

the last thing that will find a home.”

(Tulsus Paradoxus’)

Medbh McGuckian Shelmalier

— — A autora vai além da visão platônica de Boland quanto à linguagem como retórica política, acrescentando

que ela opera no nível inconsciente da ideologia. O que ela chama de as “sombras” do poder (“shadows” of power) sugere a idéia de que poder pode ser exercido pelos heróis que perderam, assim como os que ganharam

as guerras do passado. — —

“At first something like an image was there:

he had for me a pre-love which leaves

everything as it is. We do not see everything

as something, everything that is brown,

we take for granted the incorruptible

colouredness of the colour. But a light

shines on them from behind, they do not

themselves glow. As a word has only

an aroma of meaning, as the really faithful

memory is the part of a wound

that goes quiet.”

“A flame burnt up the paper

On which my gold was written,

The wind like a soul

Seeking to be born

Carried off half

Of what I was able to say.”

Medbh McGuckian On her second birthday

“The more it changed

The more it changed me into itself,

Till I regarded it as more real

Than all else, more ardent

Than love. Higher than the air

Of a dream,

A field in which I ripened

From an unmoving, continually nascent

Light into pure light.”

***

As poesias foram extraídos de:

Campbell, M. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Contemporary Irish Poetry, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

***

Veja também:

No lado ensolarado dos Alpes / On the sunny side of the Alps / Na sončni strani Alp

mais um verão que se vem, quantos mais virão?

As artimanhas do amor

Religião e a condição humana

Há uma semana vi uma reportagem sobre crianças sendo treinadas para tornarem-se homens-bomba numa região montanhosa em algum lugar remoto no Paquistão. Esse post não se propõe a enumerar as diversas razões pelas quais essas crianças são atraídas pelas células terroristas. Porém, vale lembrar que os pais às vezes recebem uma ajuda de custo durante a estadia da criança na escola especializada em instruções militares e em outras atividades. Essas criancas não só lá, como em vários outros centros de instrução terrorista aprendem a ler o Alcorão em árabe, sendo que não possuem nenhum conhecimento da língua.

O que eu gostaria de ressaltar, levando em consideração o meu repúdio de tais atos, é o determinismo que leva o indivíduo a detonar o próprio corpo em um lugar público com o objetivo de tirar a vida de dezenas. Afinal, muitas vezes tratam-se de crianças acionando a bomba que lhes custará-las a vida.

A minha hipótese  é a de que dado as condições extremas de que essas crianças são confrontadas todos os dias, mais vale morrer como um herói do que viver como um miserável. Afinal, além de honrarem os ensinamentos de Alá nesse mundo, na vida após a morte serão recebidas com jarros de mel e leite, e 72 virgens. Insano? A inocência e a frugalidade dessas crianças é de cortar o coração.

Parece-me como uma meta de vida razoável. Uma forma de sair de um estado de total desespero, miséria, fome, desamparo, e agressão do meio em que vivem, sem nenhuma prospecção de futuro, para encontrar o subterfúgio num afterlife glorioso. Faz sentido.

Não são esses mesmos sentimentos que levam milhares de pessoas no Brasil a frequentarem igrejas de fundo de quintal que já aceitam dízimo pago com cartão de crédito? Ou qualquer outra instituição religiosa que promova a segurança, comforto e a expectativa de uma vida melhor, nesse ou no outro mundo que pretenda conforta-nos quanto as desigualdades e a nossa condição humana?

É interessante que por de trás de toda instituição que clama divulgar a “verdade”, existe o indíviduo pobre de espírito à procura de respostas e de uma lógica holística para o entendimento do mundo e o sentido da vida.

Eu não vejo diferença entre um conto de 72 virgens ou um céu com anjos alados. Essas e outras crenças aliviam as maselas do dia a dia e apresentam a racionalidade irrefutável de um deus onipresente que reina soberano e desconhece a expressão “prestação de contas”. Nós somos movidos por aquilo que acreditamos e é natural do ser humano procurar o sentido das coisas. Parece-me que além da aparente harmonia que a religião nos promote há tambem a introdução de certos princípios, que nos submetem a uma vida regrada. Afinal, alguns ao notarem a sua condição de livre arbítro optam por uma vida de desordem, à procura do intenso prazer e nada mais, como o personagem de Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray.

Talvez essa seja uma característica muito apelativa que faz tantos aderirem a uma determinada religião. Eu acredito que, viver numa comunidade na qual a maioria das pessoas segue ou pelo menos, está ciente das várias formas de conduta que não são impostas (ao contrário das leis), mas articulam um discurso de “verdade”, traga um pouco mais de coesão social na vida em sociedade. Não que isso seja a resposta definitiva. Pelo contrário; é muitas vezes a razão de discórdia.

A discussão contemporânea a esse respeito basea-se no que fazer quando dois discursos opostos colidem.  Por exemplo, a adoção ou não da burca em escolas no oeste europeu. Os valores ocidentais devem ser reinforcados ou devem-se deixar novos hábitos e costumes permearem os tão consagrados valores ocidentais? Será que é possível articular um entendimento comum entre os povos em relação à direitos humanos, relações econômicas e sociais? Certamente.

Para isso, a meu ver, seria preciso um maior entendimento da condição humana acarretando inevitavelmente a instinção de toda e qualquer instituição que vise apropriar-se do sofrimento humano para submeter a humanidade numa relação de escravo e mestre. Um novo Iluminismo é necessário. Nas palavras de Mikhail Bakunin:

“I mean that freedom of the individual which, far from stopping as if before a boundary in the face of the freedom of others, on the contrary finds in that freedom its own confirmation and extension to infinity; the unlimited freedom of each in the freedom of all, freedom in solidarity, freedom in equality; triumphant freedom, victorious over brute force and the principle of authority which was never anything but the idealised expression of brute force; freedom which, after overthrowing all the heavenly and earthly idols, will establish and organise

a new world, that of humanity in solidarity, built on the ruin of all Churches and all States.”

(Bakunin, in Dolgoff 1973)

***

Dolgoff, S. (ed.) Bakunin on Anarchy, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973.

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Leia também:

A ciência nada mais é que o senso comum refinado (G. Myrdal)

A fascinating history of politics & power in modern Russia part1

The process of transition to democracy began in 1990 when the Supreme Soviet revoked the Article 6 of the Constitution classifying the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) as “the leading and guiding force in the Soviet society and the core of its political system. This gesture announced that the starting point of the new political scene in Russia would be the breakdown of a single party system. Between 1986 and 1988 the society was organized in debate clubs generating the initial discussions that would make viable the creation of a multi-party system.

In early 1989 the CPSU had to face internal disputes between those members who supported the perestroika and an extension of liberal policies, and conservative ones who were hesitant to completely eliminate the mechanisms of socialism. Thus, in the early 90’s political system is established by followers of democrats versus CPSU, and any factions within it. This was the political forces’ setup under Yeltsin rule. The government was formed by democrats and faced opposition from nationalists that did not accept the dissolution of the USSR and communists who rejected the end of the country that created socialism.

Due to the deepening economic crisis in 1992, Yeltsin began to lose its base of support and confrontation with the opposition was becoming more unsustainable leading the president to implement a special administrative scheme in the country. It was a centralizing measure, a sort of state of emergency in order to strengthen the executive powers whereas the legislative body remained strong since the USSR era.

Thus, successive measures were taken, including the gradual constitutional reform proposal which featured a strong presidentialism, where the president could now appoint the Prime and dissolve the Duma (lower house) in case of impasses. Such measures would reshape the whole russian political system in the next years.

It is important to note that the economic crisis of the 90s and therefore the lack of effective social policies, made the left a possible alternative, and the new Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), had a significant increase in popular support. Yeltsin, noting the climate of uncertainty among the population and doubt about the government’s capability to restore the order, decides to appoint prime ministers with military or defence bodies’ background to convey a sense of order in the house.

On 9 August 1999 when Vladimir Putin who enjoyed a good rapport among the new political elite since he was a former head of the Federal Security (FSB), a successor agency to the KGB, who had operated in East Germany during the Cold War and began his political rise at the office for foreign affairs in the city of St. Petersburg, was named prime minister. He was the right man at just the right time. Putin took office and was instructed to fight the terrorists Islamists. It was a clear attempt to draw away attention from domestic politics.

***

part2 coming soon

***

Leia também:

A breve democracia bielorrussa

Emotion as a driving force from policy making to the headlines

This post is a sort of book review of a book which I’ve read a few months ago. It actually gives you a chance to analyze politics from a brand new perspective, which is a really interesting approach, indeed.

The title is Geopolitics of Emotion and the author, Dominique Moisi. He is one of the founders of the Institute of International Affairs, situated in Paris & Brussels. One of the Europe’s leading geostrategic thinkers.

The author argue that there is a clash of emotions (in reference to the clash of civilizations theory by Samuel P. Huntington) reshaping the political scenario nowadays and he finds a predominant feeling in different geographical areas. The back ground where this clash of emotions take place is the current phase of globalization reflecting the coming age of the Asian continent, resulting in the relay of economic power from American-dominated West towards China & India, mostly.

He illustrates it by dividing geopolitical zones in three distinct cultures: The Culture of Hope, Fear and Humiliation.

It’s a secular meaning of hope strictly associated with economic development, trust in one’s identity, in one’s ability to interact positively with the world. The creation of one’s identity is connected with economic development and that’s what European Union (EU) is all about. But the culture of hope is symbolized by China & India. I’d add Brazil as well.

Since China is this  “geopolitical zone of Hope” just like the USA time ago ( the two World Wars, intervention on international conflicts, American way of life, whatsoever) China also brings this idea when dealing with authoritarian regimes in Africa for instance. The message as the author puts it:

“our authoritarian approach can actually represent a viable path to modernity. Unlike America and Europe, we are not a former colonial power giving hypocritical lessons about democracy and human rights. Nor are we a new imperial power from the East. We are dealing with you in a matter-of-fact way. We need your natural resources to keep growing and you need our money to start growing. Let’s work together for mutual benefit.”

The culture of Fear  is mainly represented by US & Europe. The declining of an empire, the fear of loosing one’s identity (in the clash of civilizations), the barbarians at the gates, EU enlargement and so on.

Humiliation as you are convinced that the Other has intruded in the private realm of your own life and made you completely dependent. It’s a feeling of dispossession, a future in sharp contrast to an idealized past, where your economic, political, social and cultural conditions are bound o be dictated by the Other. This was the predominant feeling in Germany after the 1st World War but in the contemporary world this predominant feeling can be seen in the Arab countries. The state of fear can be give rise to the sense of humiliation and this is a dangerous prospect for the US & Europe. The causes of humiliation in the Arab countries is traced back to the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century.

As I have put it before the book gives this broader understanding of the multifaceted interactions among these international communities which present their very own conception of international society, heavily based on the predominant feelings behind one’s identity.

***

This post makes explicit references to the book Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation and Hope are Reshaping the world by Dominique Moisi.