History is the subject of a structure whose site is not homogenous time, empty time, but filled with presence of the now (Jetztzeit). Thus, to Robespierre ancient Rome was a past charged with the time of the now which he blasted out of the continuum of history. The French Revolution viewed itself as Rome reincarnate….Fashion […]
What does Ernst Bloch mean by the “rectification” as opposed to the “reification” of heritage? And how does he justify rectification? And, most importantly (at least for this blog), how does this relate to the tradition of the schlemiel? As I pointed out in my last blog entry, Bloch is in favor of a “cultural […]
In the last blog entry, I contrasted Slavoj Zizek to Walter Benjamin with regard to the tension between tradition and the liquidation of tradition. Zizek follows one strain of Benjamin; namely, the liquidationist strain. Zizek prefers Benjamin’s “Destructive Character” and Benjamin’s notion of “Divine Violence” to Benjamin’s interest in preserving the tension between tradition and […]
Comedy is all about timing. As they say in showbiz, “it’s all in the timing.” So, if “it’s all in the timing,” how do we understand comic timing? More to the point, how does schlemielintheory.com understand the timing of the schlemiel? I have been thinking about the timing of the schlemiel in many different entries. […]
Lately I have been wondering about Menachem’s earlier posts regarding the prophetic (possibly messianic?) potentiality of the schlemiel. In a post on Benjamin and Strauss, he gave a nod to the secretive ‘wink, wink’ capacity of the schlemiel’s humor which the spectator gets, but which the schlemiel may not. Menachem writes: “Winking is not a […]
When I was an undergraduate, I remember reading James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and wondering whether art could be reconciled with religion. In my studies, I came across several arguments that insisted on separating the two. Soren Kierkegaard, in his book Either/Or, puts aesthetics in a battle with faith and […]
The circus – whether it is ancient, medieval, or modern – is a riotous place. And the question of how to describe and place the circus in Western theology, philosophy, literature, and art is, despite what many would think, an important question. It was of interest to such great theologians as Augustine and Petrach and […]
Last year I read Adam Kotsko’s Awkwardness: An Essay. I put it on the backburner as something I would write about in the near future because, quite frankly, Schlemiel Theory has been busy with several different philosophers, books, and comedians over the last year. That said, when a friend of mine tagged me in a […]
Today is a special day for Schlemiel Theory! One year ago today, I started this blog as a part of an academic project (and to some extent, a personal project). The goal of my project was to provide an important academic and public resource for the study of the Jewish comic character otherwise known as […]
I have been reading parts of the Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz’s diary. I read him and include him in Schlemiel-in-Theory because I think his comic novels (Ferdydurke being my favorite) and many of his comic reflections on himself have schlemiel-like resonances. He is an exceptional writer who has been recognized by Susan Sontag and others. […]
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