Comments on: The art issue http://www.elifbatuman.net/2010/04/27/the-art-issue/ "Writing a book is a very lonely business. You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, submerged in your obsessions and memories." Mario Vargas Llosa Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:05:47 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Elif http://www.elifbatuman.net/2010/04/27/the-art-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-1809 Elif Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:11:51 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/?p=940#comment-1809 those of you who can't get enough lists of books should definitely check out my latest effort in this important genre at <a href="http://www.blackbirdinc.com/recommendations/122-book-recommendations-from-elif-batuman.html" rel="nofollow">blackbird media</a>. thanks to jeff haden for putting it up! those of you who can’t get enough lists of books should definitely check out my latest effort in this important genre at blackbird media. thanks to jeff haden for putting it up!

]]> By: Elif http://www.elifbatuman.net/2010/04/27/the-art-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-1808 Elif Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:07:55 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/?p=940#comment-1808 dear isabel, thank you for your interesting comment! i actually wrote that article several years ago, and didn't realize they had put it back up. that is a good point about pre-global universals in storytelling traditions, although snakes and floods probably don't have symbolic significance in cultures where there are no snakes or floods, so in that sense they are environmentally and evolutionarily conditioned... i mean, i'm <a href="http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/can-neuro-lit-crit-save-the-humanities/#more-34631" rel="nofollow">not a huge fan</a> of evolutionary theories of literature, but one could definitely argue that myths demonizing snakes serve the evolutionary purpose of teaching people to avoid potentially poisonous snakes (or that they are a reflection of an evolved, innate disgust for snakes). dear isabel, thank you for your interesting comment! i actually wrote that article several years ago, and didn’t realize they had put it back up.
that is a good point about pre-global universals in storytelling traditions, although snakes and floods probably don’t have symbolic significance in cultures where there are no snakes or floods, so in that sense they are environmentally and evolutionarily conditioned… i mean, i’m not a huge fan of evolutionary theories of literature, but one could definitely argue that myths demonizing snakes serve the evolutionary purpose of teaching people to avoid potentially poisonous snakes (or that they are a reflection of an evolved, innate disgust for snakes).

]]> By: Isabel http://www.elifbatuman.net/2010/04/27/the-art-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-1805 Isabel Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:50:53 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/?p=940#comment-1805 Sorry that this is unrelated, but this comment is in response to your article, “Adventures of a Man of Science,” that was published today in n+1. Another argument against Moretti’s use of the theory of allopatric speciation in literature is the use of common forms even in stories that were written before globalization. Symbols such as the snake or the flood are used in literature across the globe. The snake is employed as a symbol of sin or revulsion in both Genesis and ancient Indian literature. The apocalyptic flood appears in both Noah’s story and in Native American creation stories as the purger of humankind’s accumulation of sin. Perhaps, this similarity can be seen as a tie of intellectual design that crosses linguistic, and supposedly evolutionary, divisions. Sorry that this is unrelated, but this comment is in response to your article, “Adventures of a Man of Science,” that was published today in n+1. Another argument against Moretti’s use of the theory of allopatric speciation in literature is the use of common forms even in stories that were written before globalization. Symbols such as the snake or the flood are used in literature across the globe. The snake is employed as a symbol of sin or revulsion in both Genesis and ancient Indian literature. The apocalyptic flood appears in both Noah’s story and in Native American creation stories as the purger of humankind’s accumulation of sin. Perhaps, this similarity can be seen as a tie of intellectual design that crosses linguistic, and supposedly evolutionary, divisions.

]]> By: Kate http://www.elifbatuman.net/2010/04/27/the-art-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-1799 Kate Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:23:18 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/?p=940#comment-1799 I'm so sorry for your beautiful prints! I know it's a long-shot, but have you tried contacting Amtrak's lost-and-found? Maybe some kind soul rescued them! http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245658009 While I'm at it, if one has "Travels with The Possessed" photos, where might one direct them? (I have not yet seen Up in the Air, but I'm reminded that the garden gnome in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain also gets to make voyages on behalf of his patron!) Warm regards! I’m so sorry for your beautiful prints! I know it’s a long-shot, but have you tried contacting Amtrak’s lost-and-found? Maybe some kind soul rescued them! http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245658009

While I’m at it, if one has “Travels with The Possessed” photos, where might one direct them? (I have not yet seen Up in the Air, but I’m reminded that the garden gnome in Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain also gets to make voyages on behalf of his patron!)

Warm regards!

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