culture cult - spring 2016

8/17/2019 Culture Cult - Spring 2016

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M A G A Z I N E

SPRING 2016Vol.01, No. 04

A Magazine of the

ARTS, LITERATURE & CULTURE

SHORT STORIES

THE BAN CULTURE: CIRCUS

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

MAY 1968: THROUGH THE EYES

OF JACQUES LACAN

POETRY

FLASH FICTIONS

THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION


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PRESENTS


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COMING SOON


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04 Cul t u r e Cu l t Ma ga zi n e - Spr i n g 2016

A Magazine of the Arts, Literature and Culture

06 JAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI

FEATURES

42 HAL O’LEARY

50 Book: Fall Winter CollectionsJAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI

THE BAN CULTURE

84MAYURAKSHI SEN

THE SPIRIT PAGE

104AUROBINDO GHOSH

08ROUNAK CHATTERJEE

SPRING

34DIBYAJIT MUKHERJEE

66VONNIE WINSLOW CRIST

74 Book: Mrs. DallowayJACKIE CHOU

52 Cinema: Batman v SupermanJAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI


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CultureCult Magazine - Spring 2016 05

1 3

C LYD ELIF F EY

8 0

SID D HARTHPATHAK

Editor JAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI

PubishingCoordinator MADHURIMA BASU

Editorial Team SUNDAR RAGHAV ||ARIJITA DEY ||DIPAN

CHAKRABORTY

Layout Design JAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI

Illustrations SUHAS KRISHNA ||JAGANNATH CHAKRAVARTI

Promotion TRII-RA

© CULTURE CULT

Published by Jagannath Chakravarti from 11/ 1,Khanpur Road,Kolkata -

700047,West Bengal,India.All rights reserved.No part of this magazine

can be reprinted/ reused in its entire form or in part without the written per-

mission of the publisher.

TH NK YOU Basanti Chakravarti |Liton Bhakta |Durba Mukherjee

|Bipasha Chakraborty |Romit Bose |Pixabay |Wikipedia

2

LITERATURE

PW C OVINGTON

2 JAGANNATHC HAKRAVARTI

2 REXB UTTERS

2 ROB ERTB EVERID GE

3 0 C ARTERVANC E

2 STEVEKLEPETAR

3 3 SANJHEEGIANC HAND ANI

5

B IPASHAC HAKRAB ORTY

D IPANC HAKRAB ORTY

9 6

THOM AS ELSON

4 9 JOANM C NERNEY

CultureCult Magazine will have six issues each year,following the natural etiquette of the Indian cycle of seasons.

ThisSpringissue will be followed by Summer, before thetransitions of Monsoon, Fall Festive, Autumn and Winter.

7 1 JAM ES VALVIS

7 2 D ANIELD EC ULLA

4 0JASONC ARNEY

4 7

M ITC HELLGRAB OIS

6 2

M IRAND AN. PRATHER

6 5 C B D ROEGE


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EDITORIAL

Traged ad Trover

Mycityhassuffered thisspring.

Terabytesofsympathyhaspoured infrom allquarters,gigabytesmore

spentindissectingthecourseofevents. Taggingand retagging

‘exclusive’videosthatlosetheirsheenwith each view som ebullyingthosethatchoseto virtuallym arkKolkatans‘safe’despitethe

overwhelmingsenseofpalpabletragedyand insecurity.

Therearethosebravesofheartwhochoosetheir definingmomentswith

grace. Thosearethevolunteers,theonestoqueueupand donateblood,

theoneswhodesiretogettothebottom oftheincident-nottoindict

theperpetratorsbuttorescuethosetrapped under therubbleofthe

fallenflyover. WhenIcarusloseshiswings,theycatchfiretoburndown

Pom peiilikenature’sconspiracy

And yetanactofGod itwasnot. Or soI hear. Itisallhearsayatthis

point Theexactnum berof dead the‘officialfigure’cloudedbythe

informalguesses-threelastdigitsofthelotteryperhaps;adicethatwas

rolled byLadyFortuneherself.

And yetanactofFateitwasnot. Or soI hear.

I hear and I forget,tuningwiththefrequencyofoblivionthatisthe

radioofthemodernworld. I changechannelslikeaplayboychanges

lovers,asfrequentlyasababyneedsachangeofclothing. Itisthesuper-

power toforgetthatenablesustogetbusywiththeupcomingelectoral

processevenasweblamethesamefacesfor everyevilunder thehot

sun,eventhosethatoccur inthecoolshadow ofaflyover.

Whatremains,notinnewsprintsor homepagesbutinmemory,arethe

communicationsthatfailtolapse. Thetragedytakesabackseattothe

poem itinspiresinthesensitivepsycheofanEnglishmajor studentI am

fortunateenough to ‘teach’ Thetragedym ustremain in thebackground

totellthetaleofthemiraculoussurvivalofthatfellow whogot

magicallywedged inthecomfortablegapbetweenarockand ahard

place. Thetragedymustbetranscended bythesheer turnover ofthose

wholined uptogivetheir blood,savingsoulstheymightnever meet,

unknowinglycommittingactsofGod for reasonsaplenty.

LetusnotgetdelusionalasVitalstatistix. Theskyisnotfalling,simply

becauseGod isnotupthere.

Thenwhodropsaflyover?[]

0 6 Cu l t u r e Cu l t M a g a z i n e - S p r i n g 2 0 1 6


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NEWAND IMPROVED

www.CultureCult.inFacebook.com/CultureCult.in


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Modern poetry informs us of April being thecruellest month. As temperatures throughoutIndia soar beyond every level of conceivabletolerance at the onset of spring, April remainsa not-so-distant nightmare that can only beapproached on successfully surviving the offen-sive spring –that which categorically promiseslove, celebration of being, oneness with nature–to ironically deliver the biting wrath of a de-

parting winter in times old & serve as a preludeto a scorching summer in these melting times.

Spring has historically been associated with aplethora of life-threatening diseases, outbreakof plagues that went on to wipe off entire popu-lations indiscriminately. The pockets they werefull of poises when the roses bloomed and thekids they all fell down post a series of lovable‘achoo’s sneezes

… breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

- T S Eliot ‘TheWasteL and’

The plight of the receding spring not only affects the physical

world around us but has profound implications for the

psychological self too. As the harmonious spirit of life tends to

elude the best of humanity, the onus is upon us to resuscitate

the spirit of bygone spring, by making a pledge to no longer be silent partners to its slow assassination.


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The eradicated bane of the small pox may be adistantriddleinachild’srhym eorasepiam em oryeven as spells of mumps, the occasional measles orthe common chicken pox manages to tie a walkingsoul to a bed for the good part of a month even tothis day. Any associates who dare confront the telltalesig nsof ‘basanta’( literally spring . I n Beng ali

the disease owes its very name to the season) with-out having received a certificate of immunity fromthe same affliction first is not spared either.

It may seem strange that a good part of the popula-tion in this part of the globe, especially those livingaway from the urbana, harbour a belief still thatthe pox is a sign of blessing –a divine gift of themother goddess Shitala –the one cryptically on theback of a donkey with a chalice of rice and a kulo (acontraption to separate the rice from the inedibleparticulates) for company.

Spring being the season during which nature/Godis evidently more benevolent: showering opulence

and reemphasizing the wonder of life via theblooming colours of the time, the season appears tobe the best time to attribute even a debilitating ail-ment to the divine grace of a God. It is that humanfervour to look at the bright side of all things thataids them to create transcendental meaning out ofevery little offending variable you put in their path

It is thus that spring becomes the season of resur-gence –a time of renewing lost hope in a fit ofcollective human passion. It is the time when the

subjugated can decide to form a pact –to join handand bloom together into a kingdom of perpetualspring. It is the time of year when Prague decides toboil over, when French students draw the meta-phorical line and strip the authority of its self-assumed authorship. It is when dissenting Arabsspring to the streets to throw off an autocraticregime.

Spring standing for every nuance that defines a re-suscitating survivor, a question that each one of us


Arab Spring (Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution 2011)


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… M aking TheRevenantw asaboutm ansrelationship to

theatralworldA worldthatwecollectivelfelti201 5asthehottestearirecordedhistor OrprodctioeededtomovetothesothertipofthisplaetjsttobeabletofidsowClimatechageisrealitishappeigrightowItisthemostrgetthreatfacigoretirespeciesadweeedtoworkcollectivel

togetheradstopprocrastiatigWeeedtospportleadersarodtheworldwhodootspeakforthebig polltersbtwhospeakforall ofhmaitfortheidigeospeopleoftheworldforthebilliosadbilliosofderprivilegedpeopleottherewhowoldbemostaffectedbthisForourchildren’schildren and forthosepeopleout

therewhosevoiceshavebeedrowedotbthepoliticsofgreedI thakoall forthisa mazigawardtoightetsottakethisplaetforgratedIdoottaketoightforgratedThakosovermch

mustaskourselvesiswhyweareindulgingin

actionsthatcontributetowardsshrinkingthe

alreadybriefseasonalburstofnew lifeeachyear.

Asour activitiessteadilypoisontheenvironment

around us,wearepresented withabriefer spring

eachyear,cuttingshortthecatharticbenefitsof

steadilytransitioningfrom deepwinter torising

summer.

ThusMaharashtraexperiencesoneoftheworst

droughtsoftheyear,attheveryonsetoftheseason

thatwasonceknownasspring. Itisnow aseasonof

despair.

Themessagesthataregenerated tostir the

cauldronofrealizationwhenitcomestomatters

pertainingtothefateoftheplanet,areoften

received withgenuineinterest. Whether itisAl

Gore,theUS presidentialhopefulwhointroduced

Cu l t u r e Cu l t M a g a z i n e - S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 1

EXCERPTFROMDICAPRIO’SSPEECH


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theoverlooking m ediato the‘inconvenienttruth’

t o a L eoar do D i C apr i o hos e m om et of cr o

ing achievem entatthisyear’sAcadem y Aw ards

a s m a r k e d b t h e m o s t i m p o r t a t g r e e m e s s a g e

t h a t c o c e r s t h e f a t e o f e v e r s i g l e l i v i g b e i g

sth eo rldisgrad allrob bed ofgree th e

cet r al of t he s eve col or s i or vi s al s pec

t r m t h e o r l d b e c o m e s m o r e g r e e v e r d a

l o s i g t h e o t e r s h a d e s o e s t r o k e a t a t i m e e v e

a s e co s p i r e t o p ai t t h e o r l d i o r i m a g i a r

a d m a f a c t r e d ar t c o l o r s

Itist im et h ate becom eco scios oft he resp o

sibilit t opre serv eo rsor ceofim agiat io of

ar t of l i f e ad i t s i f i i t e var i at i os i t s el f – t h e

r e s p o s i b i l i t t o p r e s e r v e t h e s o r c e o f a c i e t o r i s h m e t t h e m i l k o f s r v i v a l t h a t h a s

sst aied st ot hisp recip iceofm ode r

c o t r o l l e d e x i s t e c e

T h e g r o d m s t b e t i l le d s o i t h e l p s s r i s e a d

afford usapeekinto w hat’snext– a k i t o t h e

b l o s so m i g b d s t h a t p i e r ce t h e g r o d a d r ai s e

t h e i r h m b l e h e ad s t o st a r e i t o a o r l d o f gr e e

a d r e d a d e l l o – ad bl e s ki es ad das of

sev e colors ith igh t soft h em oo adst ars

k e e p i g t h e m c e a s e l e s s c o m p a Itish ight im ee realiset h em ost f dam e talof

allourlessons thereisno ‘us’sans‘them ’ []



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“Do wehaveeverything? ” “Yes Icheckedanddouble-checked”

“L ikelasttim e?”

“Betterthan lasttim e Im adesureyour

shavingkitand toothbrushwerepacked or at

leastnotinthem edicinecabinet”

David started thecar.

“W hat’sthaton theradio? ”L enaasked “NPR itsoundslikethelivetelecastfrom

theM et”

“Iguesswe’llendureit”

“Ithoughtyou likedopera”

“Ilikethecostum esandthepageantry I

can’tfollow iton theradio ”

“W hat–you don’tspeaktheDeutsch? ”

L enaleanedbackin herseat “W akem eup

whenthefatladysings”Theystoppedatalight

“Thatsingerflubbedhisline”shesaid

“Ithoughtyoucouldn’t” “Ican hear can’tI? Now shush –somethinghappened”Theyheardacom m otion asdozens

offeetrushed aboutthestageand theaudience

rumbled. After aboutaminutetheannouncers

cameon.

“W e’renotsurewhathappened”oneof

them said “SignorSarno appearsto havehad

troublebreathing. Heelided hispartofthereci-

tativethenseemed togaspand suddenlycol-

lapsed. Thestagehandscameoutfirst,thesing-

ersaretryingtogivehim space,ah,herecome

them edicalpersonnel They’rebringinga

gurney”

“ThisiswhytheM etkeepsadeep roster

of understudies”anotherannouncerbrokein “W hatkind of asininecom m entisthat? ”

Davidsaid “They’renottalkingaboutabackupshortstop Speakingof shortstops aren’tthe

M etson? ”

“Iwantto hearthis Thisisrealdram a”

L enathoughtforam om ent “That’sstrange

W agnerisn’ton fortwo weeks TheM et’sperform ingPuccinitoday”

Thelightchanged. Whentheygotonthe

highway,theyheardTurandot.

Newsof theaffiliate’sgaffeof course

spreadquickly SignoraSarno thetenor’s

mother,heard aboutitthateveningasshewas

puttingherdishesaway “FrauSarno ”sheheard

aknockingonher cottagedoor.

Her neighbor,whoshehardlyknew,was

breathless distraught “Com ein FrauPogner

Thisisasurprise. I wasjustcleaningup. Sit

down Can Igetyou aglassof wine? ”

“A tum blerof schnappswouldbebetter”

“Excusem e? I’m notagreatdrinker I

havealittleRieslingand ahalfbottleofPrimi-

tivo in thehouse”

Cldeiffe

SomeFlubs

FICTION



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“I’m sorry ” Frau Pog nersatin acornerof

t h e o l d c l o t h s o f a t o o k a h a d k e r c h i e f f r o m h e r purse and dabbed thecornersof hereyes “Call

m eEva I cam eto askaboutyourson ”

FraSaro ret r e dt ot h elivi groom

satinan arm chairnearthesof a “Eva pleasecall

m e M a d d a l e a W h a t d o o a t t o k o a b o t

Beppo?”

“W hereishe?”

“H e’sinSouth Am erica I t’sthef allthere

H e’splaying W altherorsom esuch role I can

e v e r k e e p t r a c k W h a r e o i t e r e s t e d i m

epp o?Ith ogh t o rda ght erjst got m ar

ried ”

Evasup pressed ashudder Shecouldn’t

i m a g i e h e r d a g h t e r m a r r i g a I t a li a r e d

headed orno “Shem arried lastm onth Sheand

herhusband justm oved to Berlin I w on’tseeher

a s m c h o b t o f co r s e ca r e e r s t a k e p r i o r it

w ith theyoung ”

“Yes it’sthesam ew ith m y Beppo ”

Evastood up “Haven’tyou heard?” she

nearly shouted “I t’sallovertheI nternet”

“I don’tkeep acom puterhere I havem y

knitting, som etim esthere’sag ood show on TV . I

don’tread asm uch asI should ”

“Beppo isg oing to collapseand m aybedie

in tw o w eeksin N ew York”

“W hat?”

“That’sw hy I cam ehere Frau Sarno to

seehow Beppo is”“I ’m conf used Doesn’ttheI nternetsay?”

Evasatd o ha dso k eescom pose d

herself . “Theoperacom pany in N ew Yorkbroad

cas t s per f or m aces of t hei r oper as l i ve M os t l –

a t l e a s t t h i s i s h o t h e e b e s s i t e s a d m

d a g h t e r h e I c a l l e d h e r e x p l a i e d i t – t h e

t a p e t h e l i v e s h o s a h e a d o f t i m e W i t h a l l t h e

d a t a t h e h a v e a bo t v o i c e s m e d i c al h i s t o r i e s

l i vi g habi t s ad s o o t he ca i f al l i bl pr edi ct

ever as pect of a per f or m ace T hi s s aves o l a

bor cos t s t he ca t ape t o s ho s o a eekdaw ithoutpaying overtim e”

“W hy do they talkaboutlaborcosts?”

“M y daug hterputthatin She’sacom

pe sat io aalst a th eop eracom pa ies

a l s o m a k e m o e b s e l l i g t h e a d v a c e t a p e s t o

m edi a com pai es T he l ocal Zitgs r o t i e l

r e v i e S a t r d a c o c e r t s a d o t h e r s h o s i theirFriday Artssections I t’sdoneheretoo but

notasm uch asin Am erica”

“Thisisallvery confusing. M aybeI should

callBeppo ”

“Yes of course M addalena That’sw hy I

cam eover”

M addalenag otup “Thephone’sin the

kitchen ”

Evafo lloe dMaddale ashe at ed to

hug her shecouldn’tbring herself to do it

“Hisvoicem ailiscom ing on ” M addalena

said “I talked to him lastnig ht He’sprobably

st illperf orm i gth atm ati eeTh e hav et oleave

t h e i r p h o e s i t h t h e s e c r i t p e o p l e b e f o r e

they g o on stag e”

“Don’talarm him ” Evaadvised “Justask

him to callyou back”

“Callyourm other” M addalenasob bed

into thephone “I don’tw antyou to die”

epp oaadeq at ecrit icaflae dpe r

form er w aspuzzled by theaudience’senthusias

t i c appl as e ad t hi s bee hi s f i r s t appear ace

attheTeatro Solis he’d chalkitup to U rug uayan

pro vi cialit

Noe oft he oth erp erf orm erssp ok et o

h i m a s t h e h e a d e d t o a r d t h e i r d r e s s i g r o o m s

Beppo didn’tthinkitw asunusual they hardly

k e e a ch o t h e r o t s i d e o f r e h e a r s al s It o l d

h a v e b e e i c e h e t h o g h t t o go o t as a gr o p He’d hardly exp lored theCiudad V ieja w ould

h a v e l i k e d t o r e l a x i t h a t h i c k s t e a k a d s h a r e d

b o t t l e o f i e t o h e a r t a g o s t o d o h a t e v e r i t

i s t he l ocal s or t or i s t s do

isdres sigro om asst arke m pt

epp oslol start edt aki goff hism ake p

S o m e o e r ap p e d o h i s d o o r e p p o i g o r e d t h e

sound “I t’surg ent” Sachs hisdirector said

Beppo opened thedoor “W hatcould be

r g e t ?Do o e e d m e t o s b f o r a o t h e r

role?”Sachs l ooked at hi m aghas t

“I know thisaf ternoon w asn’tm y best

perf orm ancebut”

Sachsw alked in paused “You know how I

a l a s t e l l e v e r o e i t h e t r o p e t o g i v e t h e i r



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a l l i e v e r s h o o m a t t e r h o s m a l l t h e a d i

enceorhow insig nificantthetheatre?”“Yesand I do that BesidesI loveplaying

i Sot h m er i ca T her e ar e a l ot of I t al i as her e

I t’sanotherpocketof thediasporaf orm e”

“I ’m notsurehow to tellyou this”

“You’rereplacing m e? H ow could you?

Mact i gm a ot hav ebe e th ebest to dab t I

thinkm y singing w assatisfactory ” Beppo w ason

h i s k e e s t e a r s e l l e d i t h e c or e r s o f h i s e e s

hal f hi s m akep as as hed of f hi s s hi r t as

o p e a s t h o g h h e e r e p a r od i g a h a m ac t o r

“I t’sjustthatI ’vebeendistracted lately M y

m ot her m l i t t l e deer I cal l her t hat has a bad

heart Shew on’tseeadoctor I ’vebeen so w or

ried ”

“Stand up or better sitdow n ” Sachs

c o m m a d e d

“Yes M aestro ” Beppo w iped of f hisp ants

legs

“You saw how theotherperform ersig

nored you aftertheshow ?”

“They’redisassociating from m ebecause

I ’m fired?”

“N o no Firing you w ould beeasierthan

givi go th ise sYok oh ot h eope ra

c o m p a i e s r e l e a s e t a p e s o f t h e i r p e r f o r m a c e s

w eeks som etim esm onthsin advance?”

“Yes I readthetradem agazines That’s

been g oing on foryears”

“And you know thetechnolog y they use?”“They baseiton tendenciesfrom recent

pe rfor m ace sreh earsalsadot he rdat asome

of ittradesecrets”

“Correct I t’snothocus pocs T hi s af t er

o o o e o f t h e m e r i c a r a d io st a t i o s b r o ad

c a s t o r p c o m i g p e r f o r m a c e a t t h e M e t t o

day by m istake You collapsed inthefirstact”

“AsI said I ’vebeen underalotof stress

thatand thetravel I w asO K of course”

Sachslooked athim blankly “W edon’t

k o T h e s t a t i o r e a l i z e d i t s m i s t a k e a d st opp ed th et apeTh eUShaspriv aclas ot

sodif fe re t from Germ a adt h erest oft he

E U . M y God Sarno you’rew hiterthan your

m akeup Can I g etyou anything ?”

“Justsom ew aterand m y phone I should

c a l l m m o t h e r I t m s t b e a l m o s t m i d i g h t i

Bavaria” sifo cet he stagem aagersile t l

e t e r e d t h e r o o m a d h a d e d e p p o h i s b o x o f

v a l ab l e s e p p o t r e d o h i s p h o e s a t h e

l o b a t t e r s i g a l a d a t c h e d t h e p h o e t r

of f Sachs br oght hi m a em pt gl as s ad a ca

r af e of m i er al at er i ped hi s br o i t h a

handkerchief “N everm indthat” Sachssaid

“Pullyourself tog ether Therearereportersall

overbackstag e I ’llescortyou throug h abackw ay

to m y of f ice I ’llstay outsidew hileyou usethe

landlinethere”

ism ot h eras ere do th efo rt ee t h

ring . “Beppo ” shesaid “I couldn’tsleep w hen I

h e a r d t h e e s a d e t o o k e m e p C o m e

hom e Beppi ”

Beppo w inced “I can’t m am a”

“W hy not? Thattapew asjustaprojec

tion You don’thaveto f ollow theirscript I t’s

betterthatyou liveyourow n life”

“Butsinging ism y life”

“You can sing here Thelocaltroupeis

p t t i goae p rod ct io hDathofSait

Grgory . I ’d so loveto seeyou perform it”

“DidFrau Pog nertellyou if I ’llsurvive?”

“How did you know Evatold m e?”

“BecauseI know you don’thaveacom

p t erad Ik oFraPogerisabs bod Do

you callherEva now ?”

“Yes andshecallsm eM addalena She

w asso overcom eb y w orry aboutyou ”

“Thatjustprovesm y point I know som e

thingsand can predictbutI don’tknow every

thing . Theradio know sI ’vebeen understress

and thisisjustadding to it butthey don’tknow

everything . That’show I ’llbeatthisthing ”

“Beppo you’reso m uch sm arterthan m e

butam otherknow sthing s I f you w on’tcom e

I ’llfly to N ew York”

“Butyourheart m y littledeer”

“O h Giusepp e m y Bepp o ”“Justrest m other I ’llcallyou every day

I ’llresttoo to keep m y streng th up Sachstold

m ethey’llhaveto film thisperform ancelivebe

causeof theg affe I t’sbetterif you w atch itf rom

hom e M abe a t heat er i E r l age i l l s ho i t

Cul t u r e Cu l t Maga zi n e - Spr i n g 2016 1


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or per h aps o ca t ak e at r ai t o ar e t h Yo

know m y dream isto beahitin Bayreuth ” ft ert h ecallep poslo lsh oe red ad

c h a g e d i t o h i s s t r e e t c l o t h e s T h e p e r f o r m e r

h o as as s ig e d h i s d r e s s i g ro o m f o r t h e e v e

i g p e r f o r m a c e s e d a o t h e r e p p o o

der ed i f t hat as a i l l om e P eopl e er e al

r e a d e t e r i g t h e t h e a t e r f o r t h e e v e i g s h o

epp oasco sider ig h et h ert oex it viaaside

e t r a c e o r t o j s t a l k t h r o g h t h e c r o d h e

Sachs appr oached

“I know you need yourrest Beppo but

m a a g e m e t i s i s t s o a d d r e s s t h e p r e s s I t

c o l d j s t b e f o r f i v e m i t e s b t e e e d o t o

seethem if only to say you’vejustheard and

can’tcom m entyet”

epp osatat at ablefaci gfift or so

seat edre por t ersepo red him self aglassofice

a t e r f r o m t h e p i t c h e r i f r o t o f h i m d r a k

hal f t he gl as s i oe gl p I oder ho m pr os

tatew illhold up hethoug ht Afterall I don’t

usually drinkso m uch w ater I ’m nearing theag e

itw ouldn’tdo to w etm yself Heheard som escat

t e r e d t i t t e r i g a f e c o g h s Di d h e sa a t h i g

al od do peopl e go s ei l e i t hei r f or t i es ?

T h e p b l i c r e l at i o s d i r e c t o r o f t h e T e at r o

spoke “SeñorSarno w eallrealizeyou’vebeen

d e r a lo t o f s t r e s s a d t h e p r e s s i ll d e r

stand if you don’ttakequestionstoday N onethe

lessw e’d allappreciateafew rem arksf rom you

even if allyou haveto say isthatyou’lltake

questionssom eothertim e tom orrow say ”

epp ohe ardo e oft h isshort om a

i a d ar k s k i r t a d a li g h t b l o s e h ad e t e r e d t h e

r o o m t a k e a s e a t a t t h e b a c k e x t r a c t e d h e r

o t e b o o k a d t r e d o a r e c o r d i g d e v i c e

“SeñorSarno?”

“I’m sorry I didn’thearaw ord you said

Thoug h I ’m used to sing ing in f rontof crow dsof

thousandsI ’m notused to speaking and of course

l i s t ei g i s a har der s ki l l I hope o al l appr eci

a t e t h e s d d e s h o c k t h i s i s t o m e I t h i k t h e pr esso ld get bet t eri for m atio ifIspok et o

oe per s o ol per haps s om eoe as el l I

w on’tsay frazzled and I w on’tsay distraug ht but

som eo e der pre ssr eacomp adreif possibl e

som eonenam ed SeñoritaCrosettiperhaps”

“Theseñoritaw illconsideryourof fer”

t h e o m a i t h t h e h i t e b l o s e s a i d “SeñorSarno w illyou g o to N ew York?”

t h e m a f r o m LaRpblica as ked

“O f course I ’m asing er”

T h e e x t m o r i g e p p o s at a lo e a t ca f é

earlaveidaGralGaribaldirsighissecod

cp of cof f ee T hi s he col d t el l as ot oe of

t h os e char m i g caf és i h i ch he col d l i ger al l

d a K o i g h e h a d l i t t l e m o e i h i s p o c k e t

a d s r e o f t h e b s r o t e b a c k t o h i s h o t e l h i s

fi gerst appe dagaist th eh ad leofh iscp

a i t e r a t t e m p t e d t o p a s s b e t e e e p p o a d t h e

tablebehindhim , nudg ed Beppo’sshoulder the

c o f f e e c p o v e r t r e d s p i l l i g i t s c o t e t s o v e r

t h e t o p l a c e s e t t i g s T h e a i t e r o t o t i c i g

t h e m i s h a p p r o c e e d e d t o t h e k i t c h e e p p o

b l s h i g l l e a e d o v e r t h e t a b l e a t t e m p t e d t o

c l e a p t h e s p i l l i t h t h e t o o r t h r e e o a b

sorbe t apk i s t och edb th ecoff eeeas st illim m erse di th istask h e aom ae ar

i g h i t e p a t s a d ar k t o p a d r ap a r o d s

glassese t ere dt he caféThe fe peo ple at ch

i g e p p o s t r g g l e i t h h i s c l e a p t r e d h e

she e t ere dt h e saep poagai h e she sat

at hi s t abl e cl ear of t he s pi l t cof f ee

“I thoug htyou w ouldn’tcom e” Beppo

saidassh eset t ledi he rseat

“I tw asn’teasy finding thisplace”

“I didn’tw antto berecog nized Sachstold

m eI ’d besafehere”“You m aintain anonym ity by creating a

scene?”

“Thew aiterb um ped m e I ’vebeen nerv

o s a d j m p s i c e e s t e r d a a f t e r o o a d

then w orried aboutyou notcom ing ”

MaríaTeresaCrose t t iope edh erov ersiz e

handbag . “ShallI turn on m y taperecorder?”

“I ’d ratheryou didn’t You cantakenotes

o r j s t r e m e m b e r o r e v e m a k e p t h e c o t e t s

of ourconversation I t’sallthesam eto m e”

“I sthatw hy you w anted aprivateinter

view ?”

“I’m notsurew hy I asked M aybeI just

w anted to seeyou ” H ereached forherhand on

t he t abl e s he i t hdr e i t cal l ed a ai t er t o t hei r

t abl e



19/110

T he i s i de of t he caf é as f l l ai t er

o t t h e o e h o b m p e d e p p o o f f e r e d t o s e a t them outside “That’sO K ” M aría said “this

r eckage i s char m i g P l eas e br i g s t o cps

of coff eeand am enu ”

W hen hew asg oneBeppo said “SinceI

m a o l h a v e t o e e k s t o l iv e I f e e l a r e s p o s i

bility to tellm y story I don’tthinkI cantellitto

t he pr es s I ca ho ever s peak t o a beat i f l

w om an”

gaiMaríaith dre f rom him

“I’m sorry I ’veneverbeen very g ood w ith

o m e e v e r b e e m c h o f a s i g e r e v e r b e e

m c h o f a t h i g I j s t t h o g h t I t a li a i Ur

g uay to I talian from Arg entina thatw e’d havea

bond ”

“I don’tinterjectm yself into m y stories

t h e ims doesn’tallow it N onethelessif you

t h i k I h a v e a s p e c i a l s m p a t h f o r o r s t o r

pleasetellitto m e no holdsbarred ”

“Do you know thehistory of notthisbut

theN ew Yorkproduction?”

“I ’m aculturalcritic and I did m y re

search butpleasetellm e”

“Thedirectorw anted anew truerinter

pretation of W agner’stale To achievethathe

fe lt he e ede daWalth er ho asot apro fe s

sionalsing er O f courseanonprof essionalcan’t

si goper asoheso ght t he e x t best th i ga

failed prof essio alsiger dsoaft ert e t

e arsofsi gigop erapr ofe ssio allm callo e s s o t m c o m p e t e c e o m e m f i r s t m a j o r

roleinam ajorproduction af eatI ’m notlikely to

repeat”

“That’snothing to beasham ed of ” M aría

said “You’vem adealiving pursuing yourart

You w on’treach thepinnaclebutyou tried how

honestly I don’tknow ”

“You speakof m einthepasttense Does

thatm ean I ’m g oing to diein N ew York?”

“I don’tknow . V ery few people m aybeno

one know s Even if I knew , I couldn’ttellyou

Yo s ai do at ed t o t el l o r s t or T el l m e

how you becam easing er”

“M y f atherw asn’tpresentw hen I w as

bor i a s br b of N apol i e as a j or em a

l ab o r e r I t h i k h e as i S al z b r g at t h e t i m e

butpleasedon’tref erto M ozart w hen w asI

ever i l i f e or i ar t D o G i ovai ? t l egt h too long said m y m other’srelativesforshecon

sider edt aki glove rshe fo d ste ad ork i

avariaese t for sth e The ee k afte r

m ot her ad I ar r i ved he di ed i a i ds t r i al ac

c i d e t T h e a t h o r i t i e s l e t s s t a

“M othertookup thestudy of Germ an f or

t h e s t a t e g r a t e d h e r a s m a l l p e s i o a d s h e

didn’tw antto g o backand seethescraw ny

boardershe’d taken in backhom eto help m ake

e d s m e e t T h e b r o k e G e r m a s h e t a g h t m e a t

h o m e a d t h e l i t t l e I p i c k e d p f r o m T V i l l

pre pared m efor ki der garte Ofco rsem

classm atesm adef un of m e ‘I ’llm issyou Beppo ’

m m o t h e r c r i e d a s s h e l e f t m e a t t h e d o o r o f t h e

sch oolm f irst daTh ek idsim m ediat el start ed

cal l i g m e eppi or s om et i m es eps i di m i

t i ves of a di m i t i ve N ot ol as I s m al l f or m

ag e” Beppo stood up knuckleson thetable he

w aslessthan ’ ” and paunchy besides “I w as”

est opp edMaríaTeresalook ed bored beh id

her s gl as s es

“I ’m sorry ” hesaid “it’snotm anly to

w hine”

“Go on ” shereplied “I t’sm anly to be

truthful”

T h i s o l c o v i c e d h i m t o d i s s i m l a t e

“W eof courselived in apoorsection of thecity’s

o t s k i r t s O r s ch o o l e v e r t o o k s o f i e l d t r i p s

t o a o f t h e m e r o s b e a t i f l p a r t s o f a v a r i a I gr e p t hi ki g t hat avar i a as at bes t

o d e s c r i p t T h i s o t h a t I t h i k o f i t m a

h a v e s p a r k e d a i t e r e s t i t r a v e l t h o g h t h e

ol f ar of f pl ace I t hoght of t he as N apol i

N oticeI say N apolibutnotBayern I trustyou’ll

im poseconsistency ”

“I ’m aprof essionaland theims has pr o

fessionaleditors”

“I ’veneverfeltcom fortableexp ressing

m yself. Athom eI didn’tthinkI learned prop er

Italiaad ot side Ispo k eLoGerm ait ha Italiaacce t Tho ghMed ite rrae aIdev el

oped s l o l T hi s cas ed pr obl em s at t he G m a

sim Mostof th e ativ eGerm assh e dm eI

m a d e f r i e d s i t h t h e f e T r k s i t h e d i s t r i c t

b t l e a r e d o l a f e T r k i s h o r d s



20/110

“TheGym nasium required everyoneto participatein

anextracurricular activity. I tried outfor allthesports

teamsbutnever madeitpastthefirstcut. Intheend I was

relegated tothechorus. Thoughshort,I stood intheback. In

thespringofmylastyear intheGymnasium,weweresent

tocompeteinacity-widechoralcontest. Wecameinlast.

“N everag ood student I w asresigned to acareerasa

laborer. A weekafter thesingingcontest,theheadmaster

(healsodirected thechorus)called mein. I thoughtI was

beingexpelled for apranksomeofusperformed beforethe

show . ‘Giuseppe’heasked m e ‘do you rem em berthethin

manwiththegrayturtleneckwhowasobservingthegroups

asthey rehearsed?’I hadn’tof course ‘He’sam usic instruc

torfrom V ienna H enoticed som ething in yourvoice I ’m

notsurew hat but’”

M aríarem oved herg lasses “Hey isn’tthatM aría

TeresaCrosetti?” som eoneon thef arsideof thecafé ex

claimed.

“Excusem e I need to usetherestroom ” shesaid

Thewaiter,anticipatingabigtip,appeared and deftlyled

her toabackexit.

Thew aiterreturned w ith afullbreakfast “W hatw ill

theseñoritahave?” Beppo asked Hestared athiscooling

food for afullfiveminutesuntilthewaiter returned and

asked him if them ealw assatisf actory “Theseñorita?”

Beppoasked again.

Thew aiterputag lassof red w ineon thetable “She

asked m eto g iveyou this I t’son thehouse Shesendsher

apolog ies Som eonerecog nized her shesaid Shedidn’t

w antyourinterview to becom eacircus ”

“Ah ” Beppo said suaveashecould m anag e H e

picked athisfood,drankthewine,hiscoffee,Señorita

Crosetti’scof fee and pushed hisplateaw ay

Thew aiterreturned w ith thebill “I ’d likem ore

w ine” Beppo said

“I ’m sorry sir” thew aitersaid “You’vebeen atthis

tablealongtimealready. Wehavepeoplewithreservations

com ing in I f you’d likeanotherdrink you’rew elcom eto sit

atthebar”

Beppofished somebillsand coinsoutofhispocket,

enoughtocover thebilland leaveatip,amuchsmaller per-

centagethanheusuallygave. Heleftthroughthefronten-

trance,found thebusstopfor thereturnride,and stood at

thestopsquintinginthesununtilthebusfinallyarrived.

Whenhereturned tothehotel,Sachswaswaitingin

thelobby. Thedirector escorted him totheelevator,rode

withhim tothetopfloor,and led him toapenthousesuite.

“ A weekafterthe

sigigcotestthe

headmaster(healsodirectedthechors)calledmein… ‘Giuseppe’heasked

me ‘do youremember

thethimawiththe

gra trtleeckwhowasobservigthegropsastherehearsed? ’Ihadn’tof

course ‘He’samusic

istrctorfromViea

eoticedsomethiginyourvoice I’m not

surewhat but’”



21/110

“Excusem e” Beppo said “thew ine thecof feeatbrunch ”

Whilehewaswashingup,henoticed histoothbrushinthe

holder.

“Sitdow n Beppo ” Sachssaid Hew asalready sitting in

aplushcouch,hisfeetonahassock. A soccer gamewasonthe

w idescreen television Thesound w asof f “Haveyou thoug ht

aboutw hatyou’lldo betw een now and yourperf orm ancein

N ew York?”

“I haveThursday evening’sshow here Thefollow ing

M onday I ’m flying to N ew York”

“Scratch that An understudy w illsub foryou on Thurs

day Theoperacom pany w on’tallow you to sing. Thelaw yers

areafraidof liability ”

Beppo thoug htf oram inute “M aybeI can bookaflig ht

to M unich I ’d liketo seem y m other”

“I ’m sorry Beppo W ecan’triskhaving you fly so m uch

or,muchworse,notreturningfrom Bavaria. Asyoucansee,

w e’veupg raded youraccom m odations You’renotto leave

theseroom stillyou fly to N ew York There’satreadm illin the

nextroom soyoucanexercise. Thewallshavebeensound-

proofed so you can sing . I f you need fresh air” hepointed

w ithoutlooking to aspiralstaircasebehind him “you can w alk

uptotheroof. Therewillbethreeor four guardsthereatall

tim es”

“Do you thinkI ’lljum p?”

“I t’sforyourprotection Yourm ealshavebeen taken

careof . They’llbedelivered atnine one and six each day

You’llbeeating g ood fresh food chosen by ourhealth m an

ag er”

“H ow do they know I ’lllikeit?”

“Believem ew eknow . I f you need com panionship noth

ingillicit,butifyouwanttospend timewithafriend,justcall

theconcierg edow nstairs Thedeskw illtry to arrang eit”

Sachsrose “Do you haveany questionsoristhereanything I

can g etyou now ?”

“I g uessnot”

Assoon asSachsw asg one Beppo dialed M aría “W here

areyou?” heasked

“I n thehelicopter I ’m alm ostbackinBuenosAires”

“W edidn’tf inish ourinterview ”

“I’m sorry Beppo Som eonerecog nized m eand thepa

per wanted metocomeback. I havetoworkonmyother as-

sig nm entsbackhere”

“M aybeyou can com eto N ew Yorkin tw o w eeks There

arealotof I taliansthere I can takeyou to Brooklyn ” Beppo

had never beentoBrooklyn,had barelyleftmidtown.

“I w orkfora N ew Yorkpaper Thepeopletherew ill

“M aybeIcanbooka

flightto M unich I’d

liketoseem mother”

“I’m sorry Beppo We

can’triskhavingyou

flsomchormchworseotretrig

f r o m a v a r i a Asocaseewe’veupgradedyour

accommodatiosYou’renotto leave

theseroomstilloflto New York”



22/110

coveryourperform ance I ’llseeyou nextyearif

o com et oe osiresad m abe ifo re turn to M ontevideo ”

“But”

“I ’m sorry Beppo Thepilotw antsm eto

turn m y phoneoff ”

T el ve das l at er eppo s at al oe at a bi g

t abl e ear t he back of a L at i r es t ar at o C o

lum busAvenue thef irstrestauranthe’d been to

si ceh em et Maríaat th ecaféThe secr it d e

t ai l as s pr ead am og s m al l er t abl es i t h eas

a c c e s s t o h i m s h o l d a t h i g h a p p e t l a s t

he’d haveabig dinnerw ith them em bersof his

com pany Hehoped itw asn’thislast

T h e b a r a s m o r e c r o d e d t h a t h e t a

bl es f or i t as ot et s i x copl e s at at a t abl e

b e h i d h i m T h e o m a a s r e a d i g f r o m t h e

ims . “’Heispossessed of areedy tenorw hich

despiteorbecauseof itsw eakness’” shequoted

Them an w asindignant “W hy can’tthey justsay

he pos s es s es or bet t er has a r eed t eor ? T he

m i ght eve t ake a ot ol ogi cal l eap ad s a he i s

areedy tenorbutpossessed of ?”

epp obe t hish eadra hish ad s

t hr ogh hi s oce r ed hai r E ver s i ce he as

o ghe a t edt obebo ldt otak elife bt he

h o r s b t a l a s s o m e t h i g h e l d h i m b ac k e

t h o g h t o f h i s c h i l d h o o d s o i c o m p l e t e l c o

f essed to M aría shew asn’taconf essor tellitto

yourshrink she’d w antto say orbem orem a

cho he as ever m acho he as ol r eed as m e t i o e d i t h e r e v i e t h a t o m a a s r e a d

i g o f h i s p e r f o r m a c e t o m o r r o e t r e d t o

her “M ay I borrow ?” heasked pointing to the

pape r

Hereyesw idened “N o ” shesaid “Som e

peop le” shew hispered to herdate

“W hatareyou doing ?” Beckasked He

ad a om a s at do acr os s f r om eppo

“I ’m sorry They w erereading areview

fro m th eims arev ie ofm p erf orm ace I

know becausethey m entioned areedy tenor”Becklaug hed “That’sareview of arock

cocer t I t s eem s t he l ead s i ger i s pas t hi s

pr im eTh eimsdidn’tactually review the

show . Tina show Beppo theArtssection ”

T i a p l l e d t h e e s p a p e r f r o m a s t r a

b a g U d e r e a t h t h e h e a d l i e f o r t h e o p e r a r e

v i e e p p o s a t o c o l m s t h a t e r e c o m ple t el blackeclt ch edh ishe art reache dfo r

a gl as s of at er s pi l l ed i t T o m e f r om t he s e

cr i t det ai l r os e

“W hat’sthis?” Beckasked “Sorry Beppo

Iforgot th att he ims p r i t e d t o e d i t i o s t o

da T he col m s er e a gl or i os bl ak cavas

w hitein thereview I read thism orning . They’re

t r i g t o b e m o r e av a t ga r d e I g e s s I t h o g h t

Tinahad thesam eedition ”

epp oeased p The secr it m e re

t r e d t o t h e i r t a b l e s

“W hatkindof placeisthis?” thew om an

atthenexttablesaid “Firstthatg uy w antsto

t a k e m p a p e r t h e h i s t h g f r i e d s a p p r o a c h

him . I ’m notcom ing hereag ain ”

“I ’veneverseen anything likethathere”

hercom panion said “Let’shop ethey settledow n

soe cae jot he rest oft h em ealThisp lp o

isdelicious”

“I ’velostm y appetite”

Thepeop leatBeppo’stablebroug httheir

a p p e t i t e s T h o s e h o e r e s i g i g t h e e x t d a

drankm oderately thosew ho w eren’tdrankex

ces s i vel epp o had a gl as s of Mal becad al ot

o f i c e a t e r T h e t a b l e c a l m e d d o o l h e

t h e a i t e r a s k e d i f a o e a t e d d e s s e r t e p p o d e c l i e d e a s s r p r i s e d h e t h e a i t e r

b r o g h t a p l a t e o f f l a a d p l a c e d i t a t t h e e m p t

setting to hisright “Excusem e” hesaid “I did

n’torder I can’t” then hesaw aw om an com ein

b e h i d t h e a i t e r

MaríaTeresasatdo e x t toep poa d

squeezed hisarm . “W hatcan’tyou do?” she

a s k e d h i m

“I can’tbelieveyou’rehere”

“I w ould havebeen herem uch earlierb ut

m f l i gh t as d e l a e d I s o m c h a t e d t o s h a r e

thism ealw ith you ”

“M y last?”

“N o oneknow sthat”T h e t a b l e q i e t e d N o o e i t h e g r o p

m entioned Beppo’scollapseaf terTinatookback

he r bl acke e d e s paper M ar íat r i ed t o ch age

thesubject “I t’snotfarto thehotel” shesaid

“Let’sw alkback You can tellm eaboutBrooklyn



23/110

I ’llhaveto w riteand filem y story af teryour

show butif you’ref reeyou can takem eto Ben

sonhurston Sunday ”

Beppo thoug ht Hedidn’tknow any Ben

son Hurst Thenam edidn’tsound I talian “I ’m

sorr MaríaIhav et ot ake th ecabbackt ot he

hotel Theinsurancew on’tallow m eto w alk”

“Then letm eridew ith you Theinsurance

w illletm esleep w ith you tonig ht w on’tit?”

Beppo didn’tknow . W hen oneof the

o m e o f o r d r e a m s f a l l s i t o o r a r m s o

should takeherbutif I ’m denied tonig ht herea

soned I ’llliveto bedenied tom orrow

Maríableh im ak issasshelef t th eele

v a t o r f o r s h e a s s t a i g i t h e s am e h o t e l a s

epp oThe oth erp asse gerssee m edim pre ssed

“W ho w asthat?” an elderly m an asked Beppo

h e t h e b o t h g o t o f f

“A friend ” Beppo said

“You m ustbequiteastud to havef riends

likethat Rem indsm eof w hen I w asyourag e”

Them an’sw if epunched him lig htly “Harold

thatm an m ustbealm ostasold asus” shesaid

epp oigo red th em ope ed th edoor to

hisem pty hotelroom . Everything w asashe’d left

i t e al k e d t o t h e i d o g az e d a t t h e l i g h t s

o f m i d t o f i g e r e d t h e f i l c h e d l a x a t i v e i h i s

pock et ism ot h erala sk ep t aclea ho se

“W em ay bep oor” shesaid “butw e’llneverbe

dirtpoor” Thoug h Beppo couldn’tkeep his

thing stidy heinherited hism other’sm aniafor

cleanliness H e’d heard thatpeople’sbow els

loosen w hen they die H edidn’tw antto leavea

m ess Thethoug htof thenew spaper’sdescrip

t i o –M aríaw ouldn’tdirty hernarrativew ith

t h o s e d e t a i l s h e h a r d l k e h e r k e h e r o l

e o g h t o i d e a l i z e h e r – o f h i m p r o e s m e l l

m o v i g o l d s i c k e h i s m o t h e r k i l l h e r O

t h e o t h e r h a d t a k i g t h e p i l l o l d d e h d r a t e

hi m i cr eas e t he l i kel i hood of hi s f i al col l aps e

edropp edt h epillk e lto th er gtoloo k for

i t e o t i c e d e v e r p i e c e o f d s t e v e r b i t o f f zz it h egl redp ileof th ecarpe t Fi allh e

fo d th epill d er eat h th eradiat orTh ere

er e i er adi cabl e s pecks of di r t al l over i t eppo

st ood pi spe ct ed th ek eesof hisp at s

They’llthinkI w aspraying , hethoug htw hen he

e x a m i e d t h e s t a i s e t o o k h i s p a t s o f f la

t h e m o t h e b a c k o f a s p a r e a r m c h a i r i t h o t c l e a i g t h e m T h o g h i r r e l i g i o s h e a t e d h i s

m o t h e r t o b e c o s o l e d i h e r g r ie f b h i s f i a l

d e v o t e s s

epp oclosed th ecr t aifl she dt h e

d i r t p i l l d o t h e t o i l e t a d s a t a t t h e s m a l l

des k T her e as a s m al l pad ad a pe o t he

d e s k e s p p o s e d h e sh o l d r i t e s o m e t h i g a

testam entorparting shot Hedidn’tfeelconf i

d e t i a o f t h e l a g a g e s h e k e e p r e

sm ed th eh ot elpr ov ide dsm allpadstoe cor

age coci s ees s at hi g he r ot e ol d be

prolix Hestood up looked dow n atthepad H e’d

dr a a m oo ad s t ar or t he T r ki s h f l ag

poor lWh e he aso gh ism ot h erd re

m o o s a d s t a r s a d t a l k e d t o h i m a b o t s p ac e

travel Shedidn’tw anthim to bealaborerlike

hisfather I ’m them irrorim ag eof him , Beppo

t h o g h t a e t e r a l j o r e m a s i t e d f o r m

trade I f I haveonedistinction it’sthatI didn’t

b r i g a o t h e r S a r o i t o t h e o r l d

epp osh oe red readied him self forbe d

I tw asbarely nineo’clock Hecouldn’tdecide

h e t h e r h e s h o l d s t a p a l l i g h t a s d e a t h r o

prisonersdo attheend org etag ood night’s

sleep bt ho cold he sleep k o i gth e igh t

col d be hi s l as t ? W hat do gr eat ar t i s t s do o l as t i g h t s ? e t h o g h t o f r e a d i g b t h i s k o l e d g e

of literaturew aslim ited and hedidn’thaveany

favo rit epoe m sort ho gh t sit h him eco ld pla m sich easaft erallam siciab t his

portableplaying devicew asn’tvery g ood To

hearg reatm usic poorly rendered didn’tseem

r i g h t e t h o g h t o f p l a i g i t h h i m s e l f b t t h e

stain besideshedidn’tf eelvirile hew asright

o t to accept Maríaafail reit h he rt o ight

ol d pr es age hi s f i al f ai l r e t om or r o e l a

o t h e b e d t r e d o t h e T V f o d a m o v i e

c h a e l t r e d t h e s o d o f f a d a t c h e d t h e

i m ages t i l l f i al l s es es dl l ed hi s t or por r e

sem bled sleep itm ah aveb ee sleep eash alfaake atam e eed ed to

pee hedidn’tw antto g etup H ow w illitbeif I

l i v e t o 5 h e t h o g h t T h e T V as st i l l o b t t h e

t e e b r o s l i g h t i s s i g f r o m t h e s c r e e i l l m i

nated little Hedidn’tw antto bang hiskneeon



24/110

som et hi gft erallhe hadt om ov eo th est age

t om or r o he at ed t o be gr acef l e f odt h e r e m o t e t r e d t h e T V o f f a d l a i t h e a l

m o s t d a rk t h i k i g t r i g o t t o t h i k T h e

r o o m a s t h e s a m e o r e a r l t h e s a m e a s t h e

room she’d stayed inon otherN ew Yorktrips

w hen he’d played m inorrolesand failed to foray

i t o r o o k l e o d e r e d h a t o l d b e d o e

i t h t h e r o o m I f h e d i e d t o d a i t c o l d b e c o m e

of f l i m i t s or a at t r act i o I f he l i ved

ise ese re oaccst om edt ot he

di m es s T her e as al as at l eas t s om e l i ght i

t h e s e r o o m s I f o l h e c o l d m a k e t h e r o o m

pitch blackthisonce H e’d havehisfillof black

e s s s o o I t h e m e a t i m e t h e r e e r e t h e

t h i g s i t h e r o o m c o m m o p l a c e a d e t f a

m i l i ar t hi gs a ed t abl e a phoe chai r s

T her e as hi s a ar ees s of t he t hi gs T he

t hi gs i l l r em ai or be r epl aced e i l l go or

chage e i l l go her e efe lt

t sixh epe ed Thisash isor m alake

p t i m e f o r m a t i e e s h e l i k e d t o s l o l l i m b e r

p a d r e a d h i s i s t r m e t e r e t r i e v e d t h e

pape rleft ifr o t ofh isdoorIt asa atio al

e s paper i t h a s m al l ar t s s ect i o i s per

f orm ancew asn’tm entioned init H eturned on

t he r adi o Som eoe as t el l i g s cat ol ogi cal j okes i bet ee f d r ai s i g pl eas e s at at s t ool

Not h igcam eeexam ie dt h efro t ofh is

stained draw ers H ew asn’tsureof thecause

W h d i d h e f l s h t h a t d s t p i l l ?

epp oex ercise dlag idl sho ere dad

e t d o s t a i r s t o t h e h o t e l c o f f e e s h o p e s a t

a lo e a t t h e c o t e r h i s s e c r i t d e t a i l i s ig h t

eordere dh iss alme ricabre akf ast – c o r

flak escoff eeora gejice et ho gh t oford er

i g p r e j i c e b t i f h e b r o k e r o t i e o o r i f

t h e s e c r i t p e o p l e o t i c e d e o p e e d t h e ims

he’d picked up in thelobby A parag raph on the

first pagem e t io eda it er atio albao

m e t i o i g h i s p e r f o r m a c e t o d a e p p o t r e d t o t h e o b i t s o t f r o m a S c h a d e f r e d e

t hat pecl i ar l G er m a or d ol t he G er m as

butthat’sbeen thoug htbefore on m y lastm orn

i g I s hol d be or i gi al I or k as a m ot hpi ece

bt I ai m t o i t er pr et or i gi al l hi l e s t i l l r e

m a i i g f a i t h f l I p l a s o m e o e t t o r e d a

jackof oe tr adem aste rof – eogh! eppot r e d t o t h e a r t s s e c t i o s h o r t a r t i c l e i t h o t

M aría’sbylinem entioned thepricesthescalpers

e r e g e t t i g e p p o t r i e d t o c o v e r t t h e f i g r e s

i t o E r os gave p

elook ed att he co t eralft he m ilk

from hiscer ealasot he table t opTh elef t

sleev eofh isshirt aset The ait erst ood e ar

t h e k i t c h e e t r a c e e e i g h i m d a r k l e p p o

sige dachit assigi gth ebillt ohisroo m ad

a b r p t l l e f t t h e c o f f e e s h o p

eret r ed toh isroom too k off his

shir tsat ia armch aira dclosed hise ese

t r i e d t o v i s a l i z e h i s p e r f o r m a c e T h e b e g i i g

o f t h e s h o h i s e t r a c e a d f i r s t l i e s ca m e

e a s i l e o g h S d d e l i m p a t i e t c o t r a r t o

h i s s al r o t i e e p p o t r i e d t o v i s a li z e t h e

second act Hesum m oned nothing. Perhapsit’s

becauseI ’m notenvisioning theshow inse

q e c e h e t h o g h t e e t b a c k t o t h e b e g i

i g b t o h e as so p s e t ab o t h i s s e co d

actf ailurethathecouldn’tconjurethat Beppo

t r e d t h e T V o p r e t t t h o g h v a p i d b l o d i

a bl e dr es s cr os s ed her l egs ad r eci t ed s om e

t h i g a b o t t h e o d d s i V e g a s t h e f i r s t t i m e p e o

ple bet o Ope raercoa ch ors iff ed som e

t h i g a b o t e l i t i s m e p p o t r e d t h e T V o f f I i l l l i ve t he da t he a I s l eep he r es ol ved l i ke

a ai m al al as ar of t he deat h bl o ol

t h i s t i m e e x p e c t i g i t t o c o m e f r o m i t h i m aybeif I sleptbetter it’stoo latenow , I can’t

help it I ’m justf odderf orthealg orithm s the

o l r e a l r h t h m I e v e r h a d

ep t oadr shirt ad alke dt h efe

bl ocks t o L i col C et er N or m al l he ol d

leavem uch laterbutthisw asn’tanorm alday if I

could f ollow m y norm alroutine I ’d H estopped

sho rt atroada am b lace asset pat

t h e f a r e d o f t h e p l a z a W o r k m e e r e a s s e m

b l i g s o m e k i d o f f ie l d m e d i c a l e m e r g e c f ac i l

ity Thoug h itw asn’tyetnine theplazaw asal

r e a d cr o d e d i t h c r i os i t s e e k e r s Sc al p e r s

d e c l a i m e d t h e i r p r i c e s o m i a l l o t o f e a r s h o t

o f t h e p o l i c e

Som eho eppo cr os s ed r oad a

c l i m b e d a f e s t e p s a d p s h e d t h r o g h t h e



25/110

crow d Hef eltf orhisphone I tw asn’tin hispocket He’d

forg otten to callhism other H estepped on som eone’s

sh oe

“Cutthatout buddy ” David shouted

“Behaveyourself ” Lenaw hispered “W ho w as

that?”“Justsom erandom m iddleag ed g uy ”

“Latem iddle age b t he l ook of i t C om e o e

haveourtickets there’snothing to seehere let’shave

brunch atthatnew placeof f Colum bus ” []



26/110

POETRY

I introspect,

And speakoftheextantcore,

And thebrightlightsthatshootthroughthenarrow road towardstheseatofmirrors.

I speakinriddles,highstrungand reekingoftruth,

Whileyouplaywithliesuntiltheyshinewhite,

Beatingdownlikeamercilesssunto

Drownthefrozensentinelsintoasea.

Youknow theywilllearnhow toswim.

ButI fear for their death,

Lettinglifedieabelittled lieinabid toaccommodatetheir chaoticmadness.

Noon

Isagreattime

Towakeup

Leavethemornings

Tocar seat,Calvinist

Sedansand pick-uptrucks

I am comingoffthe

Nightwatch

Thenightshift

Withmypenand scroll

Star-struck

Moonburned byabsinthe

ThewordsI wrotelastnight

Awaitcold

Daylight

Destruction

ThefriendsI made,inthedark

Withthedark

Areetherealand gone

Beingpaid

Tostayaway

Noon

AsCatholicbells

OfSaintJoseph

Markthemiddle

Ofcarpenter days

Noontimecoffee

InmyTexas

Solitude

Poetryisabridge

Betweenliteratureand art

I am crossing

NoonPWCovigto

Cavas:Aimpressiob J aga athC h akravarti

Accommodations J aga athC hakravarti



27/110

POETRYblind justice

Desm ond’s

fellonhard times

clothingstorechain

elegantand crucial

intheforties

inthefifties

irrelevant

bythelate’ ’s

clienteledead

or dyingoff

I metHalRoach

hestillcamein

meWestwood nightmanager

another glaciallyslow

weekdaynight

m em orizingthecarpet’spattern

whennoisyand extroverted

colorfulbright

loud laughing

flamboyant

shetookover

thewom en’sdepartm entenlivened

electrified

her scarvesflowing

jewelryrattle

heavymakeup

flirtyfunnyoutrageous

pilingupoutfits

outer wear

under wear

aonewoman

sale-a-bration

checkoutprotocol

followed totheletter

I tookher check

approved theIDs

shepacked upcracklybags

left

partyover

smellofdecay

resettles

weekslater

I’m calledto am anager’soffice

meetingwithofficers

bearingbad checks

fakeid’s

mugshots

and chargesoffraud

I identifyher sad foto

her saleswoman

perpetualtinyfrowned

prunefaced Marie

workingpastretirement

alsoidentified her foto

“that’sher

I’dknow heranywhere

itwashorrible

Iseeherfaceatnight”

shesaid

worried

I’m briefedon thetrial

mytestimony

witnessfor theprosecution

seated inthecourtroom

Mariegaspsand chirpsand points

“that’sher

I’dknow heranywhere

itwashorrible

herfacecom esto m ein thenight”

shesaid balefully

indicatingablack

uniformed and armed

femalebailiff

I could see

wherethiswasgoing

called tothewitnessstand

I lookdown

atthedefendant

slumpshouldered

downcastsitting

nexttoher lawyer

she’sjum psuitprison dressed

searchingfor afuture

onthetabletop

nojewelry

wigless

nappyspikyshortblack

hair

shelooksnothing

likethewomenI met

whosecheckI approved

fotoidentified

for allI knew

shewasn’t

theprosecutor recites

hispracticed prompt

“anddoyou seethewom anwho wrotethischeck?”

I lookather

“Iknow

I’m supposedto sayit’sher

becauseshe’sthedefendan

buther

I’veneverseenbefore”

stunned courtroom silence

shelooksupslowly

strangelyfullofhope

gavelslam

I’m physicallyescorted

ejected

from thecourtroom

doubledoors

closingonhatefulattorneyglare

convicted and jailed

byM arie’sim paired

toxictestimony

she’soneghost

whonever visits

sleepless

lightless

earlymorning

wakings[]

Blind

InjusticeRetters



28/110

POETRYa s t u p i d w a y t o s t o p s u d d e n l y

o f f l i g h t

o f f l a t e

s l o w S a n F r a n c i s c o

N o r t h

N o r t h B e a c h w e e k n i g h t

w a i t s h i f t o v e r

b i c y c l e h o m e

r a r e s o u t h b o u n d b r e e z e

f l i e s m e t h r o u g h e m p t y

f i n a n c i a l d i s t r i c t

g r a y c o n c r e t e c o r r i d o r s t r e e t s

a n y i n t e r s e c t i o n l i g h t n o t m a d e

r u n j u s t t h e s a m e

f a t t i r e b i k e

b a l l o o n w h e e l b o u n c e

t h e b u m p s

e r a s e t h e f i s s u r e s

r i d e t h e c r a z y w i n d o r g y

s p e e d s c r e a m m e

t o t h e M i s s i o n

q u i c k c r o s s e m p t y M a r k e t S t .

f l i p b i k e s l a m

s t o p p e d

b i k e o n t o p

H a r r i s o n S t . s u r f a c e s t r i p p e d

g r o o v e g r a d e d c e m e n t

p r o b a b l y p a v e t o m o r r o w

n o c a u t i o n s i g n

o f a n y k i n d

I’m m eaton thestreet

b o r e d y e l l o w c a b c o r n e r s

f a s t r e a c t i o n b r a k e s

k e e p m e a l i v e

w i t h h i s b u r n b r i g h t

w h i t e l i g h t s i n m y e y e s

d e e p d r a w n b r e a t h

f i n d s n o i m m e d i a t e d a m a g e

s l o w l y f i n d m y f e e t

s w i n g m y b l a c k j e a n e d l e g

o v e r t h e s a d d l e

r e m o u n t a n d r i d e

A

S t u p i d

W a y

T o

S t o p

S u d d e n l y

t w o c l u b d o o r s

s l a n t l i g h t s h a d o w s

d o o r m e n

a t e i t h e r e n d o f t h e b l o c k

o n e c l a p s

s l o w l y [ ]

2 8 C ul t u re C ul t M a g a z i n e - S p r i ng 2 0 1 6


29/110

TwoPoems Roberteveridge

Artwork:ShasKrisha

POETRY

Sheiseverything,and we

her offspring,perfectinnothing

saveour lovefor her. Mahimata,

greatmother,younurture

your familywithkisses,thekindest

ofwords,handsand willofsteel

whentheneed arises. You,thestone

foundation,thegluethatkeepsus

from spinningapartintoour own

littleorbits. Noneofusisperfect,

true,buttous,youareperfectwife,

perfectlover,Mahimata. Greatmother.

A mountainofscapulae,

thighbones,papier-mâchéd

withsignaturepages. Your

auburnlover givesyouthat

look,youknow theone. You

takeuppen,bluetooth,dormant

SaintBernard and head outagain.

Therearefew trailsintheglue

butyouknow thesepathsaswell

asifyouhad threshed them

yourself. Until,thatis,government

regulationor naturaldisaster

changestopography. Now you

aremired tits-deepinplaster,

heather,thistledown,and that

goddamned SaintBernard has

half-emptied hiscask. You

havehim pour youanaperitif

for ennui,preparefor thenext

conferencecall,awaitthearrival

ofthatslimyguyfrom Corporate.

Wonder,again,whyyougaveup

Mahimata


BoardCertified


30/110

How do you Feelabout Europe?Carter Vance

POETRY

I thought about kissing you in the Sandinista rain,

grey sky storming reflected in revolutionary sunglass,trains carrying our tender skin, milk-white in shade

from Beirut to Buenos Aries and back, and

never had I known your touch from the opposite

side of a kitchen table.

I thought about you at a rooftop party in Brooklyn,

the dusk of August breezes dancing through strands

of your hair as hitchhikers and squeegee men through

a Don Valley traffic jam; you'd make the round,

red wine glass in hand and talk to me just the

same as the others.

My life seemed so bland to compare, colourless, eating

Tesco bread and jelly snakes in a County Tipperary

coroner's office, the sun tick-tapered behind about

six layers of concrete and piping, double that

for clouds and clinging indifference coming on

tight as turning hairpins.

I thought about your many-coloured coats streaming through

Prague's November snows and the breweries of Plzen,

standing still as Cubist lampposts on the side-street,

my legs shivered bone-deep beneath thin polyester pant,

reaching limit, stepped into the bar with the pivo place-mats,

neon flicked a second

off.



31/110

Moments areMeant to PassCarter Vance

POETRY

Thinking about the captain's cliffs,

we were seeking out triangles of theporous ocean light, literary watches

ticking bell hours in the damp night.

In the morning in the bathtub, waking up

soaked-sullen as ever, great Gods of the

Marianas Trench, rising deep between ourselves;

your eyes flickered as vineyard wine in monas-

tery

casks.

Reached out to hold lightly, your skin well-

known

as the New York skyline, traces well-trod

as the MTA map; forgotten faces flickered

coarsely as rocks on sandy parchment.

Blood was pumping, rising up swiftly

hearts melding cautious to elixir's dawn;

I never looked upon wind favourable,tossing ship-ward aquamarine allusions, until

you.

Teeth chattered to the blanket warm-up,

glinting dull grey-yellow in the morning's

indifference,

floods of inevitability washed over

us, tearing apart and soaking through,



32/110

T w o P o e m steeKlepeta

POETRY

“Som etim eswhenwetryto speak

wecan’tevenstam m er”

allWeMao

S o m e t i m e s t h e s k y i s f u l l o f c l o u d s a n d s n o w ,

s o m e t i m e s e m p t y a n d b l u e a s a c a n d y d i s h .

S o m e t i m e s l i g h t s c a t t e r s a n d w e s e e f l a m e

o n t h e h o r i z o n , s m o k e p o u r i n g f r o m t h e e d g e

o f t h e w o r l d . S o m e t i m e s o u r h a n d s a r e c o l d

a n d f i l l e d w i t h r a i n . T h e r e a r e a t m o s p h e r i c

c o n d i t i o n s b e y o n d o u r c o n t r o l , o u t p a s t t i d e s

a n d g r a v i t a t i o n a l w a v e s . T h e y s a y t w o b l a c k

h o l e s c o l l i d e d m o r e t h a n a b i l l i o n y e a r s a g o ,

d i s t u r b e d t h e f a b r i c o f s p a c e t i m e . S o m e t i m e s

y o u h a v e t o w a i t y o u r t u r n , b e p a t i e n t a s a s h e s

f a l l t h r o u g h t h e l e a f l e s s f i l i g r e e o f t r e e s .

S o m e t i m e s , w h e n n o o n e i s l o o k i n g , y o u s t a r e

a t y o u r r e f l e c t i o n i n a d a r k s t o r e w i n d o w ,

dream youseeyourfather’sfacerising

l i k e a s i l v e r f i s h t o w a r d t h e g u n n e l s o f y o u r

b o a t . S o m e t i m e s y o u f e e l t h e w e i g h t o f h i s

h a n d p r e s s e d a g a i n s t y o u r s h o u l d e r b l a d e .

Thenit’sgoneandyou’realoneagain standing

o n s o m e s h o p p i n g s t r e e t o r f l o a t i n g o n a q u i e t

l a k e , g r a y a n d c a l m o n a s u m m e r a f t e r n o o n .

S o m e t i m e s y o u h e a r s t a r l i n g s c h i r p , t h e o c c a s i o n a l

t w a n g o f f r o g s , b u t y o u r o w n v o i c e i s c h o k e d ,

c h o p p e d a n d r e d u c e d t o s o m e i n h u m a n s o u n d

l o c k e d i n a t h r o a t s o r a w w i t h y e a r s t h a t n o w o r d s

k n o w n t o y o u w o u l d m a k e a d e n t i n t h e s u l l e n a i r .

S n o w o n r o o f t o p s g l i t t e r i n g i n p a l e s u n .

E i g h t b e l o w i n e a r l y a f t e r n o o n , s o c o l d

t h e a i r s e e m s b r i t t l e , e a c h b r e a t h a n i n t a k eo f i c e a n d p a i n , w h i c h h a n g s u n m o v i n g

l i k e s o m e t h i n g h a r d . W e t u r n i n w a r d

t o n i g h t a n d d r e a m s . A n o w l s t r e a k s p a s t ,

i t s f e a t h e r s a s o d i u m f l a s h a g a i n s t b l a c k

s k y . W e p e e l o f f o l d b o d i e s , s t e p o u t

w h e r e t r e e s s h i v e r i n w i n d b l o w i n g

t h r o u g h a g a r d e n s t r e w n w i t h w h i t e s t o n e .

S t a t u e s l e a n a t a n g l e s , c h i p p e d o r b r o k e n

o r f a l l e n t o t h e g r o u n d a s i f t h e d e a d

h a d s h o v e d t h e m a s i d e a n d r i s e n , d r i l l i n g

t h e i r w a y f r o m f r o z e n e a r t h . W h o c a l l e d

t h e m h e r e f r o m d a r k a l l e y s w h e r e t h e y

w a n d e r e d a l o n e , o r i n f o r l o r n g r o u p s ,

t o u c h i n g n o t h i n g w i t h t h e i r i v o r y h a n d s ,

w a i t i n g t o b e d r a g g e d t o w a r d t h e g a t e o f h o r n ?

Inside theVeins of

C old

BeyondOur

Control

3 2 C ul t u re C ul t M a g a z i n e - S p r i ng 2 0 1 6


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OfPrivacyand

ClandestineWritingSajheeiachadai

Itisironicalthatthispoem shallbesentfor publishing

Thatitruminatesofsequestrationand yetbespeaksdissemination

Privacyofprintisafragileconcept

Anyworkenclosestheartist’sselfhoodand m otivation

yetseekstoenshroud thesame

Thisiswhyadiaristisconsidered superior toanovelist

A diarydecriesofthemostprivateofemotions

Especiallyinthemoderneraoftextualand structuraltumult

ForinstancetheW oolfiantropeof “streethaunting”

Whereinsheabsorbed thehappeningsofurbanlife

Whileliterallywalkingthroughit

Liketheflaneur ofBaudelaire

Itdrawsfrom themelodiesoflivesand personalities

Her essaysalsodelveuponthesame

Thewordscontained intheir solitude

And portrayingthesheer inexplicabilityoflanguage

Drawsfrom her epochthatallartsprings

From acoherentlatentinward self

Likeher Jacobor ClarissaDalloway

Woolfdrownsherselfinstream ofconsciousness

TorevealtheinnermostpsychologicalworkingofthemindOfher charactersand her ownintheprocess

Thusbringingbackthenotionofconfidentiality

whichisbasicallyastateofmind

Rather thanalaw tobemastered

Itisleftuptothereaderstounravel

Un-entangleand explain

Themysteriesleftuncertainbythewriters. []


POETRY


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T hr ough t he l e ns of

J AC QUE S L AC AN

Dibyajit Mukherjee puts forth a Lacanian analysis of the French studentmovement of 1968,evaluatingthe revolutionary zeal of

the times and inspectingthe ideas that led to

mass rejection of an old order by a new generation


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“A g ood lycéeisonew hich teachespatricide”- Aschoolboy (Bendit 45)

I would like to start by referring to this particularstatement made by a schoolboy to point out theparticular mood with which the French studentRevolution of May 1968 was enveloped and my aimin this paper would be to make a Lacanian analysisof two slogans which were at that particular timeused as graffiti. I would specifically like to highlightthe word patricide and interpret it to be the de-struction or the annihilation of the symbolic orderas propounded by French psychoanalyst JacquesLacan. This bears close resemblance toLacan’ssem inar“Theothersideof psychoanalysis”

w herehedevelop ed his“fourdiscourses” thatof

the master , university , hysteric and analyst.

This paper talks about a particular time where therevolution had thousands of School childrenm arching to theslog an ‘Pow erisinthestreet

notin Parliam ent’ Thisrevolution w asnotonly

confined to schoolchildren but also collegeand university students who allied themselves with

workers to protest against the prevalent economiccrisis during that time. It was a thirst for liberty atevery level of life, an urge to throw off the cramp-ing cant and petty tyranny of fossilized institutionsI tw asw hattheFrench calla‘crisedestructures’-something quite new, perhaps the first studentrebellion against the bureaucratic Stalinist regimeof De Gaulle and also at the same time against themorbid parasitic decay of Imperialism whichaccording to Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov was the high-est stage of capitalism due to the establishment ofmonopolies, trusts and cartels which would furthersystematically stop the nature of competition andrule by despotic measures. In this context I wouldlike to mention a certain event in the Life of JacqueLacan where in one of his seminars he was attackedby student of the revolution and he had formulatedthat the act was an act against an old order to forma new one. This can be seen in the documentaryfilm “Lacan Parle”1 directed by Francoise Wolff. Thstudent who had attacked Lacan and had disar-ranged the contents of his table phrased the following words as the justification for his act :“I chosethism om entto havef un and to belike

Photography: Bruno Barbey



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t h o s e g s h o e x p r e s s e s t h e m s e l v e s a t h e t i

cally”. W hen Lacan asked him “by expressing your

self it h isai fro t oft h isadie ceh atisit

exactly thatyou w anted to do” thestudentw as

f uriousandreplied that“thisisthesam equestion

hi ch par et s pr i es t s i deol ogi s t s br eacr at s ad

t h e c o p s a l a s a s k t h e g r o i g m b e r o f p e o p l e

ho act l i ke m e M as er i s I at t o do

jst oe th ig m akerevolution ”

Itisclearfrom th islastst ate m e t th att he st de t i s r e v o l t i g a g a i s t t h e o r d e r s o f t h e s t a t e h i c h

Loislt h sse rte rm sitasth eide ologicaladr e p r e s s i v e s t a t e a p p a r a t s S o i t i s e v i d e t t h a t t h e

r evol t i o i s di r ect ed agai s t hat L aca t er m s as

t h e S m b o l i c o r d e r a d v e r i t e r e s t i g l t h e

st d e t alsosaidt h ath ech oset h ism om e t to be

like“thoseg uys” W ho aretheseg uys? I tisherew e

have t he i m agi ar or der or hat L aca i hi s

“Écrits” def inesto bethem irrorstag easf orm ative

of t he f ct i o of t he I as r eveal ed b P s choaa

l t i c e x p e r i e c e W h a t i s t h i s k i d o f e x p e r i e c e ?I f

e s ee t he docm et ar b F r acoi s e W ol f f e i l l

seet hat Lacasast h atex pe rie cesh os sth at

“itisonelang uag e h i c h o h a v e g r o p i t h

r e c e i v e d f r o m t h e f a m i l I t b r o g h t i t h i t a c o

f sed vibr at realit form edb th ede siresof o rparents So theindividual’supbringing isinfluence

by them other b y them aternallang uag e”3Thisis

o t o l a la g a ge b t t h e f o r m a t i o o f a e d i s

coursew hich Lacan elucidatesinhis“Theother

sideof psychoanalysis” Therehetellsusthat“w ha

isS in them aster’sdiscoursecan besaid to beS

in theuniversity discourse ” S isthem astersig n

fier Sisk ole dgeSisth ebarre dsb ject

w hereas‘a’istheobjetpetitorthesurplusjouis

sace The form lah ich Lacadesi gsf ort h edis

c o r s e o f t h e m a st e r i s S 1 S àS a h e r e a s t h e form lafort h edisco rs eoft h e ive rsit isS S1

àa S T h e s i g i t h e p p e r l e f t d e o t e s t h e

spe ake roft he disco rsea dt he sigo th ep pe r

r i ght i s hat t he di s cor s e i s addr es s ed t o T he s i g

o t h e l o e r r i gh t is h a t t h e d i s c o r s e h a s c r e

a t e d I t i s t h e p r o d c t h e r e a s t h e s i g o t h e l o e

l e f t d e o t e s t h e t r t h T h i s i s h a t t h e d i s c o r s e a t t e m p t e d t o e x p r e s s T h s e c a s e e t h a t i t h e

d i s c o r s e o f t h e i v e r s i t t h e a g e t i s k o l e d g e

a d t h i s d i sc o r s e c r e at e s a p r o d c t t h a t i s t h e

b a r re d s b je c t b t i t s m a i ai m a s t o c r e at e t h e di s cor s e of t he m as t er l s o i cl ded i hi s co

cept of t he s m bol i c or der i s a r ef er ece t o a phr as e

i h i s t e r m i o l o g a m e l –“nom du pére” orthe

a m e o f t h e f at h e r T h e f a t h e r i s a a m e b e c a s e

l t i m a t e l p a t e r i t a l a s i v o l v e s s o m e t h i g

b e o d t h e b i o l o gi c al r e a li t o f t h e m a h o g i v e s

h i s sp e r m so m e t h i g p r e l s m b o l i c T h e r e i s al as t hi s di s as s oci at i o bet ee t he R eal s i de of

Pate r it a dit sFict it iossid ead itist h is

sm bolicside th at asbei gatt acke db th e

st d e t sFict it iosd oes ot m eaill sor ordeceptiveassuch I n Lacan’ssem inar“TheEthicsof

Psychoanalysis”hesaysthatoncetheseparation

b e t e e t h e f i c t i t i o s a d t h e r e a l h a s b e e e f

fe ct edt h i gsareolo gersit at ed h ere oe

m i g h t e x p e c t e f r t h e r s t a t e s t h a t T h e f i c t i t i o s i

o t i e f f e c t i i t s e s s e c e t h a t h i c h d e c e i v e s b

pre cisel h ath ecallsth es m bolic

T h e b a s i s o f t h e i m a g i a r o r d e r o t h e o t h e r h a d

i s t h e f o r m a t i o o f t h e e g o i t h e " m i r r o r



38/110

st age"Sice th eegoisfo rm edb ide t if i git h

t h e c o t e r p a r t o r s p e c l a r i m a g e " i d e t i f i c a t i o "

i s a im p o r t a t as p e c t o f t h e im a gi a r T h e r e l a

t i o s h i p h e r e b t h e e g o i s c o s t i t t e d b i d e t i

ficat io isalocsof "alie atio "h ich isa ot he r

fe at reof th eim agiar adisf dam e t all

ar ci s s i s t i c T hi s i s pr eci s el t he r eas o h t he st d e t saidth ath ech oset h ism om e t to hav e

f adt oactsp ecif icalllik et h oseg sasicall

h a t h e a s t r i g t o s a i s t h a t h e h a d i d e t i f i e d

a im a ge o t s i d e h i m a d t h i s i d e t i f i c a t i o a s

t h e r e a s o t o b e c o m e t h a t i m a g i a r b e i g T h e

i m agi ar a r eal m of s r f ace appear aces hi ch

a r e d e c e p t i v e i s s t r c t r e d b t h e s m b o l i c o r d e r

Italsoiv olv esalig ist icdim e sio h ere asth e

sigif ierist he fo dat io oft h es m bolict h e

" s i gi f i ed" ad " s i gi f i cat i o" bel og t o t he i m agi

a r S o e m s t d e r s t a d t h a t t h e r e a s o h i c h t h e b o g iv e s f o r a t t a c k i g La c a h e h e

sayshew anted “to havefun”pointsustow ards

theroleof thepleasureprinciple I n “TheEthicsof

Psychoanalysis” Lacan saysthattheunconscious

i s s t r c t r e d a s a f c t i o o f t h e s m b o l i c t h a t i t

i s t h e r e t r o f a s i g t h a t t h e p l e a s r e p r i c i p l e m a k e s m a s e e k o t t h a t t h e p l e a s r a b l e e l e m e t

i t h a t h i c h d i r e c t s m a i h i s b e h a v i o r i t h o t

h i s k o l e d g e b e c a s e i t is a f o r m o f e p h o

T hs l agage has bot h s m bol i c ad i m agi ar

as pect s as ed o t he s pecl ar i m age t he i m agi ar i s r oot ed i t he s bj ect 's r el at i os h i p t o t he

b o d t h e i m a g e o f t h e b o d

It h efirst pict r eabov ee caseet h eslogao

thew allw hich translatesitself as“b erealistic de

m and theim possible” I tim m ediately throw slight

onto the“Realorder” form ulated by Lacan This

o r d e r i s o t o l o p p o s e d t o t h e i m a g i a r b t i s

al s o l ocat ed beod t he s m bol i c U l i ke t he l at

t e r h i c h i s c o s t i t t e d i t e r m s o f o p p o s i t i o s

sch as"prese ce"a d"abse ce"t h ere isoab

se cei th erealTh es m bolicop posit io bet e e" p r e s e c e " a d " a b s e c e " i m p l i e s t h e p o s s i b i l i t

t h a t s o m e t h i g m a b e m i s s i g f r o m t h e s m b o l i c

t he r eal i s " al as i i t s pl ace i t car r i es i t gl ed t o

i t s h e e l i g o r a t o f h a t m i g h t e x i l e i t f r o m t h e r e

Ifth es m bolicisasetof diff ere ti ate dsig ifier st h e r e a l i s i i t s e l f d i f f e r e t i a t e d " i t i s i t h o t

fiss re" The sm bolici t rod ces"act it he

r eal " i t he pr oces s of s i gi f i cat i o " i t i s t he or l d

o f o r d s t h a t c r e a t e s t h e o r l d o f t h i g s " T h s t h

r eal em er ges as t hat hi ch i s ot s i de l agage " i t i

t h a t h i c h r e s i s t s s m b o l i z a t i o a b s o l t e l " T h e

r eal i s i m pos s i bl e becas e i t i s i m pos s i bl e t o i m ag

i e i m p o s s i b l e t o i t e g r a t e i t o t h e s m b o l i c o r d e r

T hi s char act er o

culture cult - spring 2016

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