Change of direction to start this month of July which is not at all fun.
Also to counterbalance a deadly news, let's try to keep our spirits up
and our hopes up with a few titles that are a little lighter than usual.
Ancient China to start with, with Essai sur le Zhuangzi by Marc-Antoine
Hellboid. Centenary: the essential Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier. A
few lessons in Politeness with François Bégaudeau. Put into orbit with
2001: A Space Odyssey, the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Our heads always
in the stars with La vie dans l'univers and Les Exoplanètes by Priscilla
Abraham and Bruno Mauguin. ---- "Franz Kafka understood that writing was
the best way to ask questions" Roland Barthes ---- Les copains du Rat
noir au lac de Prespa (Western Macedonia). Photo Patrick Schindler
Marc-Antoine Hellboid: Essay on Zhuangzi
In his preface to the "Corpus" of the Essay on Zhuangzi (Apogée ed.),
presented and commented by Marc-Antoine Hellboid, Jean Levi reveals to
us in the preface "the little that we know" about the life of Zhuangzi.
Eminent representative with Laozi of the "ancient Taoist current" with
Laozi. At our disposal, some meager factual data on Zhuangzi left two
centuries later by the historian of the Han, Sima Qian (end of the 2nd
century BCE). To be discovered.
However, the preface writer reveals that in his "mysterious ambivalent
myth with a transgressive, rebellious and libertarian verve", Zhuangzi
plays the main role in many anecdotes, "within a universe prodigal in a
gallery of horrors: cripples, mutilated and disgraced; within an
exuberant and baroque nature in the style of Arcimboldo's paintings." It
should be noted that several extracts from Zhuangzi had been
particularly appreciated by Franz Kafka.
For its part, the Chinese tradition has made Zhuangzi, "a philosopher
with a reassuring and smiling image." But, on the other side of the
mirror, we can perceive in Zhuangzi, as "An echo of the concerns of the
servants of the State, or how to survive under a despotic master without
losing one's soul, one's head, by the zero degree of political action?",
concludes Jean Levi!
We now suggest that you go and dig here and there within all the
contradictions emerging from this text, in the company of Marc-Antoine
Hellboid in this fascinating volume.
In the introduction, he suggests that we approach the Zhuangzi, "a
mixture of diverse and complex doctrines from different systems of
thought, from the angle of the process of formation of writings in
ancient China" with this simple underlying question: "Is a government in
conformity with nature possible?".
Certain contradictory passages in the work invite a radical critique of
power, others less so.
To explain these contradictions somewhat, the first chapter attempts to
elucidate the meaning of "the posture of the wise man through the
examination of the theme of conformity to nature." Archetype of Taoist
wisdom? In any case, we will come across several interpretations,
including those of Zhong Ni (the common name of Confucius), "authority
figure par excellence." Fascinating passage on "silence" or "emptiness"
(or even the "Chinese neutral" as Roland Barthes calls it in his course,
with the eponymous title), as a suspicion on the authenticity of the
"wisdom of the wise man," which in fact, could only be "spectacle"? Or
again, to be qualified as a borderline act, "of non-transmission of a
discursive content, but initiation by practice needing to be said by a
third party in order to be understood"?
Then reflection on the "dao" (dynamism of the principle of the natural
and spontaneous order). Variations on the motif of the "shadow", or "the
other person than the wise man" and this, according to the variations
expressed by many of the translators of the texts of the Zhuangzi
(Wieger, Watson, Graham Lynn, Lion, Julien or even Jean Levi). A
magnificent text is then offered to us: "Knowing how to escape from
one's shadow" or, "how to explain the transformations of shadows" (three
possible readings)!... Further on, intervention of the Wàngliang
(multifaceted demon of Chinese folklore). Finally, fascinating: what
political issues were hidden in ancient Chinese philosophy?
The second chapter delves into the historical reflections of the
Zhuangzi including the one that states the principle of a "degradation
of the human condition which makes it necessary to restate the problem
of conformity to nature on the political level". But then in this case,
what becomes of the posture of the wise man who is part of the dynamism
of Heaven, in a disordered world? Does the wise man then become harmful,
"in the face of the degradation of the human condition and the disorder
engendered on the human order which imposes itself materially on the
world by the intrusion of objects which replace natural beings and
pervert nature and animals"? What choice then, for the wise (dupes or
lucid) if not to approach the powerful? Edifying passage on "the
beginning of the degradation" with the Emperor Huangdi, called the
"Great Yellow God". The best known and the first of the Five mythical
Emperors: the central emperor, the supreme master of the universe.
Having become, after his victory over Chi You (the warrior god), the
supreme god according to Taoism, Having engendered wars. In fact what
has become of "the lost past"?
Finally, in the third and equally captivating chapter, Marc-Antoine
Hellboid attempts to show that the idea of natural (or spontaneous)
government is introduced into the Zhuangzi "only at the cost of certain
deviations in the use of concepts intended to establish a firm and
marked ideological position, a gesture perfectly contrary to the
attitude of the withdrawn sage." Hence the multitude of different
characters that we will encounter here: sages, outcasts, infirm,
artisans, men of antiquity or even marvelous animals.
The author then proposes to "start from the political problem of
government in Zhuangzi, to then show how it is diverted or becomes more
introspective." Here we are at the heart of the problem. Will the
reflection on politics then develop into a positive content, or from a
purely critical angle of power? Or again, is all power an evil or only a
certain form of power? Could the sovereign's apparent calm be the
"paranoia of a tyrant fearing to be overthrown" and could it not be
based on an administration that "controls"? Finally, the killer
question: could "non-government in accordance with nature" be a certain
way of governing? Ah, ah!... As a conclusion, Marc-Antoine Hellboid
rightly wonders whether the contradictory insertions in the Corpus of
the Zhuangzi were intended to protect the work throughout the cycles and
to preserve it from the political destruction it has undergone? Or
should we see a subtle ruse in adding to the Corpus a few ideas that
"would only deceive those who wish to be deceived"?!!!
These two very oriental conjunctures remain open... It's up to you to judge!
Gabriel Chevallier: Clochemerle
Gabriel Chevallier was born in May 1895 in Lyon. The son of a notary's
clerk, he studied in various establishments, including a religious
college. He then entered the Beaux-Arts in Lyon, but the war interrupted
his studies. Mobilized in 1914, he was wounded a year later. Returned to
civilian life at the end of 1919, he worked in various professions:
photo retoucher, traveling salesman, journalist, designer, poster
artist, drawing teacher, etc. From 1925, he began writing novels using
his own experience. But it was Clochemerle that he found success.
Translated into twenty-six languages and sold several million copies,
the work brought its author fame and fortune.
What a pleasure (no doubt shared?) to read or reread the "Rabelaisian"
Clochemerle (published by Livre de Poche) by Gabriel Chevallier.
The events that he will tell us with fierce humor take place in the
small village of Clochemerle, a charming locality located in the general
valleys of Beaujolais. It is the spring of 1923, under the presidency of
the Council of Poincaré, a year before the victory of the Cartel of the
Left, against the National Bloc. Two men, two inhabitants of
Clochemerle, are walking there and chatting quietly. Two men who are not
just anyone. The first, Barthélémy Piéchut, a large respected
winegrower, is the mayor. The second, Ernest Tarfadel, the
schoolteacher, a staunch anticlerical "with fetid breath and feared by
all the Clochemerlins". These good gentlemen are chatting about the
opportunity to "find something that will make the superiority of an
advanced municipality burst forth". Yes, but what? They search until the
mayor admits that he has an idea: "For example, a building that is
useful for both hygiene and morals" ... A public urinal! At first a
little skeptical, the teacher, after being a little flattered, ends up
agreeing to defend the proposal at the next Municipal Council.
But here's the thing: where to put this urinal?
It's all there. In the middle of the village, next to the church and
opposite the very popular Taverne des Torbayon? Why not, but the problem
is that it's important not to offend anyone. Not even Madame Baroness
Alphonsine de Courtebiche "with her declining fortune whose supremacy
rested on the rarity she knew how to give to her expressions of
sympathy." Nor, shock Ponosse, the priest, "a lover of good Beaujolais
wine, local pride, (to catch up with his parishioners) and the blushing
awkwardness of the seminarian struggling with the shameful discomforts
of puberty that had not left him since his time with the Jesuits". Nor,
Honorine, "the perfect type of the devoted servant of the priest,
complacent and devoted to the personal hygiene of her priest's life".
Nor, to master Girodot, the notary, sworn enemy of the teacher whose
"family who by dint of marrying fortunes rather than women, bastardized
their race". The notary who, moreover, "confusing the affairs of
families to the best of his interests". As well as the other "supporters
of the reaction" that the small town has.
With at the head of the pack: Justine Putet, a forty-year-old spinster
"the most zealous parishioner of Clochemerle, otherwise known as: the
censor of the morals of the town". A bilious, dark-skinned woman "dried
up, viperous, bad-mouthed, with a bad intestinal tract, in short: a
scorpion camouflaged as a beast of God".
Let's continue with the village "personalities" who have a great role to
play in this story. The lovely Judith Formignon, the redhead, a
shopkeeper who "gives all men insomnia"! Her rival, Adèle Torbayon, the
owner of the inn of the same name, an equally attractive woman but who,
for her part, shows easy payment to a certain Hyppolite Foncimagne, the
young and handsome clerk who is a resident of the establishment. Doctor
Mouraille, a robust, loud-mouthed and free-thinking man "with muscular
curative methods" ... Poilphard, the pharmacist, a strange man with
formal diagnoses, but granting small privileges "to women ready to make
full moons for men". Etc., etc.
A fine bunch in short who will lead this story, drums beating.
It is time to return to the central question of the urinal, this little
fact "apparently insignificant". But if it quickly took on considerable
proportions, if passion got involved "with the violence that is
sometimes known in the provinces: out of proportion with the causes for
which it took pretext"? And action: we are going to get our money's worth!
More than a century later, if Clochemerle continues to have so many
followers, we can give a few reasons. Above all, the inimitable style of
Gabriel Chevallier. His humor, too. Well-tempered as in the best
Beaujolais vintages and which "caps" each tirade of this imperishable
masterpiece of the best French literature. But, let us add to all that,
the regular considerations, as much historical as geographical which
teach us a lot about this beautiful region that is Beaujolais. A region
"little known to gastronomes and tourists. A series of mountains set
back from the main routes, entirely covered with vineyards whose highest
peaks can reach a thousand meters. As a vintage, it is sometimes
mistaken for a tail of Burgundy, a simple comet trail. In reality,
Beaujolais wine has its own special virtues, a bouquet that cannot be
confused with any other." Dixit Gabriel Chevallier in 1935, the date the
book was published.
François Bégaudeau: La politesse
François Bégaudeau was born in Luçon, in Vendée. In the 1990s, he was
the singer of the punk band Zabriskie Point. A graduate of modern
literature, he began a career as a teacher before devoting himself to
writing. He is also known for his political commitment close to
libertarian communism.
François Bégaudeau introduces La Politesse (ed. Verticales) in the form
of an email that he sends to his niece to tell her, at her request,
about his experience as an author in the years 2012/13, at the end of
Nicolas Sarkozy's term. So he's going to do it. But in the tone of
serene detachment of a writer that we will discover over the pages,
capable of "deflating his hot air balloon all by himself"!
Which gives us many passages in which the author laughs heartily at all
the individuals he meets in the context of his profession as a writer
"who doesn't really take himself seriously".
A few examples. Recordings of shortened shows, more or less failed
dedications at festivals or in high schools. Hilarious passage in a
bookstore where a customer takes him for the bookseller and asks him to
have the author sign two copies of a book on Napoleon for her husband,
because he loves the Emperor! ... Filming of a so-called spontaneous
program at the home of a reader who admits to having read only the first
twenty sentences of his latest novel, in a hurry! Situations with
unmotivated interns, press officers full of good intentions (or quite
elsewhere), literary critics, one of whom claims that "living from
criticism is easier than dying from it"!
Our writer also sometimes finds himself prey to attacks or desires from
authors, some former Trotskyists ("because it is rare to come across new
ones"!). Others desperately looking for ways to make ends meet (very
instructive). Still others requesting an audience with literary bloggers
"because in general, they are flattered to receive your book and give
you positive reviews in return"! Also confidences from publishers on
storage, for example: "The pestle is still the best way to decongest".
In short, a microcosm where we sometimes come across contrite or overly
emphatic politeness or, downright rudeness. The author's opinion on this
subject: "I don't find polite formulas so stupid. The simulation of
civility is a mark of civility. Is civility itself".
Now a small selection of a few gems (there are many), pinched in passing:
- "In the studios I am welcomed without smiling. It is not me who does
them the favor of coming, but they who receive me: one is a celebrity
only when the relationship is reversed"!
- Anecdote of an author who wants to enter the Book Fair with his cocker
spaniel and to whom a security guard points out that "Dogs are not
allowed." - "Children are allowed in," the author replies. - Yes, but
dogs don't read. Answer: Children even less!"
- The author to a philosophy student. "- You know that philosophy leads
nowhere?" - "It leads to philosophy teacher..." - "That's what I'm saying!"
- "The price of success is that you often get teased. But you can also
get teased without having success."
- "How do you get a fourteen-year-old kid to read? - By handcuffing him
to his book, he'll end up opening it!"
- A writer to the author: "I sent my novel to lots of publishers and I
only get form rejection letters." Answer: "That doesn't necessarily mean
the novel is good!"
The tone changes in the third part of the novel. In particular, from
pages 195 to 199, François Bégaudeau didn't get lost at the Merlieux
Book Fair? And by chance, didn't he end up in the Kropots' lair? Because
in this passage, it smells devilishly of anarchy! In the same vein, the
author gives us notes taken in vivo, of experiences of collective
cogitations to "live differently", or spontaneous expression sessions,
and an enriching experience of reappropriation of a luxury hotel on the
Coast. "You really have to be rich not to feel stupid in a jacuzzi". Or
when utopia finally becomes possible!...
Arthur C. Clarke: 2001, A Space Odyssey (the novel)
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset (United
Kingdom). A British science writer, futurologist, television presenter,
underwater explorer and inventor, he is part, with Isaac Asimov and
Robert A. Heinlein, of the "Big Three" English-language science fiction
authors. In some of his novels, he anticipated the Internet and
artificial intelligence (notably in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Moreover, in
a 1976 interview, he predicted for the year 2000, both the arrival of
the World Wide Web and that of the mobile phone.
The novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (ed. J'ai lu, new translation by Gilles
Goullet), published in 1968 by Arthur C. Clarke, was written in parallel
with the development of Stanley Kubrick's film, also released in 1968
(their joint project dating back to the meeting between the two men in
1964). 1968: only one year before the first human step on the Moon! But
what distinguishes the novel from the film are the images suggested by
the words that leave the imagination open, while the images of the film
undoubtedly limit its perception.
First we are on Earth (in this region that would one day be called
Africa), after the period of great drought that had lasted more than 10
million years. A tribe of ape-men are trying to survive there, unable to
progress until the day when the leader of the pack stumbles upon a
strange monolithic block "of unknown matter" which, after a brief
passage, mysteriously disappears. But not without having left the
ape-men a kind of "sign or message", encouraging them to develop their
first reflexes of defense and attack. Which will lead them, step by
step, to spread little by little on the planet from this heart of
Africa. Then, cross the dark centuries, learn to speak, first victory
against time for the rest, we know the rest!
Second part: other times, other customs. We are on Earth in 1999. The
population has already reached six billion human beings, leading to food
problems, man having lost none of his initial aggressiveness (38 nuclear
powers!), etc. We embark with Professor Hywood Floyd, accustomed to
space travel, for a somewhat special mission. Indeed, a rumor is
circulating about a probable epidemic that may have developed on the
Moon. We disembark with him at the Clauvius base, where more than 1,700
highly qualified scientists and technicians, men and women, live in a
closed circuit. Are they all contaminated, or is his mission completely
different? Let's not say more.
In the third part, we will this time be propelled to 2001, aboard the
Discovery II, in the company of Commander David Bowman and his assistant
Frank Poole. Destination Saturn, with a stopover on Jupiter. Both are
technically subject to the ground teams as well as under the control of
HAL 9000, an "intelligent" computer, the brain and nervous system of the
spaceship, which alone knows the purpose of the journey. We then wonder
what the connection with the other chapters could be!
If the film has left several generations with the memory of great
musical moments and joyful psychedelic images, the book on the other
hand is just as fascinating with its narrative rhythm that builds
crescendo. A true epic whose longevity is the best proof!
Priscilla Abraham & Bruno Mauguin: Life in the Universe and Exoplanets
Managers of the planetarium of the Espace des sciences in Rennes,
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin, brilliant science popularizers
"live with their heads in the stars". One of the works in their
collection, Life in the Universe (published by Apogée) asks this
question: "What is life and what is it based on?"
Also in the first chapter, the authors give us the first element of the
answer: the water molecule in the liquid state which combines, among
other things, extraordinary properties (electrical, physical and
chemical) that we will discover and which are also found in our body!
Further on, we discover that life has another particularity "specific to
time" or more precisely, to a succession of calm periods and others more
eventful. But, what would be the consequences, for example, if we
witnessed a slowdown in volcanic activity on our planet?
The authors invite us further on, to understand the different parameters
which were at the origin of life on earth, in particular thanks to the
recent discovery of the Allende stone, a meteorite dating back 4.6
billion years, compared to 4.55 for the Earth: fascinating!
Then, thoughts on exoplanets (located outside the solar system). Focus
on the four gas giant planets of our system (Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and
Neptune), compared to the smaller terrestrial planets that are Mars,
Mercury, Venus and Earth. But, what would be the chain reactions that an
asteroid would cause in this game of skittles?
Then: how was the Moon formed? Could life have developed on Mars? What
is the action of the magnetosphere in the presence of life on Earth?
Followed by equally fascinating chapters on the characteristics of the
Earth, in particular the contribution of phosphorus. And what if
extraterrestrials totally escaped our current imagination? What have the
satellite explorations that nourish so much hope revealed to us, on
Titan, Europa and Enceladus? What are these masses present around
certain stars? Fascinating focus on the problems posed by distances and
time: the time lag. What is the relevance of the messages written on
space probes and the messages sent into space? Projections on three
possible reactions of extraterrestrials to these signals.
Conclusion: the universe animated by other lives, fanciful dream or
evidence of a possibility that other beings inhabit space? To devour!
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin, invite us this time to a fabulous
journey to the land of Exoplanets (ed. Apogée).
The authors initiate us in the introduction to the evolution of the
perception of the Universe since Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century
BC, passing by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, etc. Through their
observations, the possibility of considering the existence of planets
elsewhere than around the sun, called extrasolar planets or exoplanets
"the two terms being used nowadays" is born.
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin then question our understanding and
reasoning "about possible other solar systems from aspects of our own".
But, given the infinite number of stars in the Universe, where should we
look for those likely to host a planetary procession?
Using macro-telescopes, but is that really enough?
The authors share with us the three essential criteria for a
pre-selection of candidates.
We then fly over the first attempts and the first clues (stars with dust
disks). But what are the detection modes? Speed? Color? Mass?
Luminosity? Inclination? Eccentricity of the orbit? What about
detections by transit? We arrive in 1995, the year of the detection of
the first planet: 51 Pegasi, its orbits and their analysis. Fascinating.
A quick jump to 1999, the year of the discovery of the star HD 209458 by
the "transit method". But what are its weaknesses? What about the
"astrometry" method and what are the results? Is gravitational
microlensing (multi-photography of a large number of stars) a more
random method and why? What about the study of stars that have no chance
of having planets? What about gaseous and massive planets close to their
star? We thus arrive at 2004, and the first photograph of an exoplanet.
Once again: fascinating.
To conclude, Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin tell us that more than
5,500 exoplanets have been identified from 1995 to 2023, from which we
have been able to determine three main families that they present to us.
"Multi-diversity of fascinating worlds to study and there are still so
many to discover. Is the Earth an anomaly in the Universe or is it an
ordinary planet, like perhaps millions of others? And there still remain
many questions, projects, hypotheses for very few answers"! ...
Patrick Schindler, individual FA Athens
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=7926
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Also to counterbalance a deadly news, let's try to keep our spirits up
and our hopes up with a few titles that are a little lighter than usual.
Ancient China to start with, with Essai sur le Zhuangzi by Marc-Antoine
Hellboid. Centenary: the essential Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier. A
few lessons in Politeness with François Bégaudeau. Put into orbit with
2001: A Space Odyssey, the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Our heads always
in the stars with La vie dans l'univers and Les Exoplanètes by Priscilla
Abraham and Bruno Mauguin. ---- "Franz Kafka understood that writing was
the best way to ask questions" Roland Barthes ---- Les copains du Rat
noir au lac de Prespa (Western Macedonia). Photo Patrick Schindler
Marc-Antoine Hellboid: Essay on Zhuangzi
In his preface to the "Corpus" of the Essay on Zhuangzi (Apogée ed.),
presented and commented by Marc-Antoine Hellboid, Jean Levi reveals to
us in the preface "the little that we know" about the life of Zhuangzi.
Eminent representative with Laozi of the "ancient Taoist current" with
Laozi. At our disposal, some meager factual data on Zhuangzi left two
centuries later by the historian of the Han, Sima Qian (end of the 2nd
century BCE). To be discovered.
However, the preface writer reveals that in his "mysterious ambivalent
myth with a transgressive, rebellious and libertarian verve", Zhuangzi
plays the main role in many anecdotes, "within a universe prodigal in a
gallery of horrors: cripples, mutilated and disgraced; within an
exuberant and baroque nature in the style of Arcimboldo's paintings." It
should be noted that several extracts from Zhuangzi had been
particularly appreciated by Franz Kafka.
For its part, the Chinese tradition has made Zhuangzi, "a philosopher
with a reassuring and smiling image." But, on the other side of the
mirror, we can perceive in Zhuangzi, as "An echo of the concerns of the
servants of the State, or how to survive under a despotic master without
losing one's soul, one's head, by the zero degree of political action?",
concludes Jean Levi!
We now suggest that you go and dig here and there within all the
contradictions emerging from this text, in the company of Marc-Antoine
Hellboid in this fascinating volume.
In the introduction, he suggests that we approach the Zhuangzi, "a
mixture of diverse and complex doctrines from different systems of
thought, from the angle of the process of formation of writings in
ancient China" with this simple underlying question: "Is a government in
conformity with nature possible?".
Certain contradictory passages in the work invite a radical critique of
power, others less so.
To explain these contradictions somewhat, the first chapter attempts to
elucidate the meaning of "the posture of the wise man through the
examination of the theme of conformity to nature." Archetype of Taoist
wisdom? In any case, we will come across several interpretations,
including those of Zhong Ni (the common name of Confucius), "authority
figure par excellence." Fascinating passage on "silence" or "emptiness"
(or even the "Chinese neutral" as Roland Barthes calls it in his course,
with the eponymous title), as a suspicion on the authenticity of the
"wisdom of the wise man," which in fact, could only be "spectacle"? Or
again, to be qualified as a borderline act, "of non-transmission of a
discursive content, but initiation by practice needing to be said by a
third party in order to be understood"?
Then reflection on the "dao" (dynamism of the principle of the natural
and spontaneous order). Variations on the motif of the "shadow", or "the
other person than the wise man" and this, according to the variations
expressed by many of the translators of the texts of the Zhuangzi
(Wieger, Watson, Graham Lynn, Lion, Julien or even Jean Levi). A
magnificent text is then offered to us: "Knowing how to escape from
one's shadow" or, "how to explain the transformations of shadows" (three
possible readings)!... Further on, intervention of the Wàngliang
(multifaceted demon of Chinese folklore). Finally, fascinating: what
political issues were hidden in ancient Chinese philosophy?
The second chapter delves into the historical reflections of the
Zhuangzi including the one that states the principle of a "degradation
of the human condition which makes it necessary to restate the problem
of conformity to nature on the political level". But then in this case,
what becomes of the posture of the wise man who is part of the dynamism
of Heaven, in a disordered world? Does the wise man then become harmful,
"in the face of the degradation of the human condition and the disorder
engendered on the human order which imposes itself materially on the
world by the intrusion of objects which replace natural beings and
pervert nature and animals"? What choice then, for the wise (dupes or
lucid) if not to approach the powerful? Edifying passage on "the
beginning of the degradation" with the Emperor Huangdi, called the
"Great Yellow God". The best known and the first of the Five mythical
Emperors: the central emperor, the supreme master of the universe.
Having become, after his victory over Chi You (the warrior god), the
supreme god according to Taoism, Having engendered wars. In fact what
has become of "the lost past"?
Finally, in the third and equally captivating chapter, Marc-Antoine
Hellboid attempts to show that the idea of natural (or spontaneous)
government is introduced into the Zhuangzi "only at the cost of certain
deviations in the use of concepts intended to establish a firm and
marked ideological position, a gesture perfectly contrary to the
attitude of the withdrawn sage." Hence the multitude of different
characters that we will encounter here: sages, outcasts, infirm,
artisans, men of antiquity or even marvelous animals.
The author then proposes to "start from the political problem of
government in Zhuangzi, to then show how it is diverted or becomes more
introspective." Here we are at the heart of the problem. Will the
reflection on politics then develop into a positive content, or from a
purely critical angle of power? Or again, is all power an evil or only a
certain form of power? Could the sovereign's apparent calm be the
"paranoia of a tyrant fearing to be overthrown" and could it not be
based on an administration that "controls"? Finally, the killer
question: could "non-government in accordance with nature" be a certain
way of governing? Ah, ah!... As a conclusion, Marc-Antoine Hellboid
rightly wonders whether the contradictory insertions in the Corpus of
the Zhuangzi were intended to protect the work throughout the cycles and
to preserve it from the political destruction it has undergone? Or
should we see a subtle ruse in adding to the Corpus a few ideas that
"would only deceive those who wish to be deceived"?!!!
These two very oriental conjunctures remain open... It's up to you to judge!
Gabriel Chevallier: Clochemerle
Gabriel Chevallier was born in May 1895 in Lyon. The son of a notary's
clerk, he studied in various establishments, including a religious
college. He then entered the Beaux-Arts in Lyon, but the war interrupted
his studies. Mobilized in 1914, he was wounded a year later. Returned to
civilian life at the end of 1919, he worked in various professions:
photo retoucher, traveling salesman, journalist, designer, poster
artist, drawing teacher, etc. From 1925, he began writing novels using
his own experience. But it was Clochemerle that he found success.
Translated into twenty-six languages and sold several million copies,
the work brought its author fame and fortune.
What a pleasure (no doubt shared?) to read or reread the "Rabelaisian"
Clochemerle (published by Livre de Poche) by Gabriel Chevallier.
The events that he will tell us with fierce humor take place in the
small village of Clochemerle, a charming locality located in the general
valleys of Beaujolais. It is the spring of 1923, under the presidency of
the Council of Poincaré, a year before the victory of the Cartel of the
Left, against the National Bloc. Two men, two inhabitants of
Clochemerle, are walking there and chatting quietly. Two men who are not
just anyone. The first, Barthélémy Piéchut, a large respected
winegrower, is the mayor. The second, Ernest Tarfadel, the
schoolteacher, a staunch anticlerical "with fetid breath and feared by
all the Clochemerlins". These good gentlemen are chatting about the
opportunity to "find something that will make the superiority of an
advanced municipality burst forth". Yes, but what? They search until the
mayor admits that he has an idea: "For example, a building that is
useful for both hygiene and morals" ... A public urinal! At first a
little skeptical, the teacher, after being a little flattered, ends up
agreeing to defend the proposal at the next Municipal Council.
But here's the thing: where to put this urinal?
It's all there. In the middle of the village, next to the church and
opposite the very popular Taverne des Torbayon? Why not, but the problem
is that it's important not to offend anyone. Not even Madame Baroness
Alphonsine de Courtebiche "with her declining fortune whose supremacy
rested on the rarity she knew how to give to her expressions of
sympathy." Nor, shock Ponosse, the priest, "a lover of good Beaujolais
wine, local pride, (to catch up with his parishioners) and the blushing
awkwardness of the seminarian struggling with the shameful discomforts
of puberty that had not left him since his time with the Jesuits". Nor,
Honorine, "the perfect type of the devoted servant of the priest,
complacent and devoted to the personal hygiene of her priest's life".
Nor, to master Girodot, the notary, sworn enemy of the teacher whose
"family who by dint of marrying fortunes rather than women, bastardized
their race". The notary who, moreover, "confusing the affairs of
families to the best of his interests". As well as the other "supporters
of the reaction" that the small town has.
With at the head of the pack: Justine Putet, a forty-year-old spinster
"the most zealous parishioner of Clochemerle, otherwise known as: the
censor of the morals of the town". A bilious, dark-skinned woman "dried
up, viperous, bad-mouthed, with a bad intestinal tract, in short: a
scorpion camouflaged as a beast of God".
Let's continue with the village "personalities" who have a great role to
play in this story. The lovely Judith Formignon, the redhead, a
shopkeeper who "gives all men insomnia"! Her rival, Adèle Torbayon, the
owner of the inn of the same name, an equally attractive woman but who,
for her part, shows easy payment to a certain Hyppolite Foncimagne, the
young and handsome clerk who is a resident of the establishment. Doctor
Mouraille, a robust, loud-mouthed and free-thinking man "with muscular
curative methods" ... Poilphard, the pharmacist, a strange man with
formal diagnoses, but granting small privileges "to women ready to make
full moons for men". Etc., etc.
A fine bunch in short who will lead this story, drums beating.
It is time to return to the central question of the urinal, this little
fact "apparently insignificant". But if it quickly took on considerable
proportions, if passion got involved "with the violence that is
sometimes known in the provinces: out of proportion with the causes for
which it took pretext"? And action: we are going to get our money's worth!
More than a century later, if Clochemerle continues to have so many
followers, we can give a few reasons. Above all, the inimitable style of
Gabriel Chevallier. His humor, too. Well-tempered as in the best
Beaujolais vintages and which "caps" each tirade of this imperishable
masterpiece of the best French literature. But, let us add to all that,
the regular considerations, as much historical as geographical which
teach us a lot about this beautiful region that is Beaujolais. A region
"little known to gastronomes and tourists. A series of mountains set
back from the main routes, entirely covered with vineyards whose highest
peaks can reach a thousand meters. As a vintage, it is sometimes
mistaken for a tail of Burgundy, a simple comet trail. In reality,
Beaujolais wine has its own special virtues, a bouquet that cannot be
confused with any other." Dixit Gabriel Chevallier in 1935, the date the
book was published.
François Bégaudeau: La politesse
François Bégaudeau was born in Luçon, in Vendée. In the 1990s, he was
the singer of the punk band Zabriskie Point. A graduate of modern
literature, he began a career as a teacher before devoting himself to
writing. He is also known for his political commitment close to
libertarian communism.
François Bégaudeau introduces La Politesse (ed. Verticales) in the form
of an email that he sends to his niece to tell her, at her request,
about his experience as an author in the years 2012/13, at the end of
Nicolas Sarkozy's term. So he's going to do it. But in the tone of
serene detachment of a writer that we will discover over the pages,
capable of "deflating his hot air balloon all by himself"!
Which gives us many passages in which the author laughs heartily at all
the individuals he meets in the context of his profession as a writer
"who doesn't really take himself seriously".
A few examples. Recordings of shortened shows, more or less failed
dedications at festivals or in high schools. Hilarious passage in a
bookstore where a customer takes him for the bookseller and asks him to
have the author sign two copies of a book on Napoleon for her husband,
because he loves the Emperor! ... Filming of a so-called spontaneous
program at the home of a reader who admits to having read only the first
twenty sentences of his latest novel, in a hurry! Situations with
unmotivated interns, press officers full of good intentions (or quite
elsewhere), literary critics, one of whom claims that "living from
criticism is easier than dying from it"!
Our writer also sometimes finds himself prey to attacks or desires from
authors, some former Trotskyists ("because it is rare to come across new
ones"!). Others desperately looking for ways to make ends meet (very
instructive). Still others requesting an audience with literary bloggers
"because in general, they are flattered to receive your book and give
you positive reviews in return"! Also confidences from publishers on
storage, for example: "The pestle is still the best way to decongest".
In short, a microcosm where we sometimes come across contrite or overly
emphatic politeness or, downright rudeness. The author's opinion on this
subject: "I don't find polite formulas so stupid. The simulation of
civility is a mark of civility. Is civility itself".
Now a small selection of a few gems (there are many), pinched in passing:
- "In the studios I am welcomed without smiling. It is not me who does
them the favor of coming, but they who receive me: one is a celebrity
only when the relationship is reversed"!
- Anecdote of an author who wants to enter the Book Fair with his cocker
spaniel and to whom a security guard points out that "Dogs are not
allowed." - "Children are allowed in," the author replies. - Yes, but
dogs don't read. Answer: Children even less!"
- The author to a philosophy student. "- You know that philosophy leads
nowhere?" - "It leads to philosophy teacher..." - "That's what I'm saying!"
- "The price of success is that you often get teased. But you can also
get teased without having success."
- "How do you get a fourteen-year-old kid to read? - By handcuffing him
to his book, he'll end up opening it!"
- A writer to the author: "I sent my novel to lots of publishers and I
only get form rejection letters." Answer: "That doesn't necessarily mean
the novel is good!"
The tone changes in the third part of the novel. In particular, from
pages 195 to 199, François Bégaudeau didn't get lost at the Merlieux
Book Fair? And by chance, didn't he end up in the Kropots' lair? Because
in this passage, it smells devilishly of anarchy! In the same vein, the
author gives us notes taken in vivo, of experiences of collective
cogitations to "live differently", or spontaneous expression sessions,
and an enriching experience of reappropriation of a luxury hotel on the
Coast. "You really have to be rich not to feel stupid in a jacuzzi". Or
when utopia finally becomes possible!...
Arthur C. Clarke: 2001, A Space Odyssey (the novel)
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset (United
Kingdom). A British science writer, futurologist, television presenter,
underwater explorer and inventor, he is part, with Isaac Asimov and
Robert A. Heinlein, of the "Big Three" English-language science fiction
authors. In some of his novels, he anticipated the Internet and
artificial intelligence (notably in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Moreover, in
a 1976 interview, he predicted for the year 2000, both the arrival of
the World Wide Web and that of the mobile phone.
The novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (ed. J'ai lu, new translation by Gilles
Goullet), published in 1968 by Arthur C. Clarke, was written in parallel
with the development of Stanley Kubrick's film, also released in 1968
(their joint project dating back to the meeting between the two men in
1964). 1968: only one year before the first human step on the Moon! But
what distinguishes the novel from the film are the images suggested by
the words that leave the imagination open, while the images of the film
undoubtedly limit its perception.
First we are on Earth (in this region that would one day be called
Africa), after the period of great drought that had lasted more than 10
million years. A tribe of ape-men are trying to survive there, unable to
progress until the day when the leader of the pack stumbles upon a
strange monolithic block "of unknown matter" which, after a brief
passage, mysteriously disappears. But not without having left the
ape-men a kind of "sign or message", encouraging them to develop their
first reflexes of defense and attack. Which will lead them, step by
step, to spread little by little on the planet from this heart of
Africa. Then, cross the dark centuries, learn to speak, first victory
against time for the rest, we know the rest!
Second part: other times, other customs. We are on Earth in 1999. The
population has already reached six billion human beings, leading to food
problems, man having lost none of his initial aggressiveness (38 nuclear
powers!), etc. We embark with Professor Hywood Floyd, accustomed to
space travel, for a somewhat special mission. Indeed, a rumor is
circulating about a probable epidemic that may have developed on the
Moon. We disembark with him at the Clauvius base, where more than 1,700
highly qualified scientists and technicians, men and women, live in a
closed circuit. Are they all contaminated, or is his mission completely
different? Let's not say more.
In the third part, we will this time be propelled to 2001, aboard the
Discovery II, in the company of Commander David Bowman and his assistant
Frank Poole. Destination Saturn, with a stopover on Jupiter. Both are
technically subject to the ground teams as well as under the control of
HAL 9000, an "intelligent" computer, the brain and nervous system of the
spaceship, which alone knows the purpose of the journey. We then wonder
what the connection with the other chapters could be!
If the film has left several generations with the memory of great
musical moments and joyful psychedelic images, the book on the other
hand is just as fascinating with its narrative rhythm that builds
crescendo. A true epic whose longevity is the best proof!
Priscilla Abraham & Bruno Mauguin: Life in the Universe and Exoplanets
Managers of the planetarium of the Espace des sciences in Rennes,
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin, brilliant science popularizers
"live with their heads in the stars". One of the works in their
collection, Life in the Universe (published by Apogée) asks this
question: "What is life and what is it based on?"
Also in the first chapter, the authors give us the first element of the
answer: the water molecule in the liquid state which combines, among
other things, extraordinary properties (electrical, physical and
chemical) that we will discover and which are also found in our body!
Further on, we discover that life has another particularity "specific to
time" or more precisely, to a succession of calm periods and others more
eventful. But, what would be the consequences, for example, if we
witnessed a slowdown in volcanic activity on our planet?
The authors invite us further on, to understand the different parameters
which were at the origin of life on earth, in particular thanks to the
recent discovery of the Allende stone, a meteorite dating back 4.6
billion years, compared to 4.55 for the Earth: fascinating!
Then, thoughts on exoplanets (located outside the solar system). Focus
on the four gas giant planets of our system (Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and
Neptune), compared to the smaller terrestrial planets that are Mars,
Mercury, Venus and Earth. But, what would be the chain reactions that an
asteroid would cause in this game of skittles?
Then: how was the Moon formed? Could life have developed on Mars? What
is the action of the magnetosphere in the presence of life on Earth?
Followed by equally fascinating chapters on the characteristics of the
Earth, in particular the contribution of phosphorus. And what if
extraterrestrials totally escaped our current imagination? What have the
satellite explorations that nourish so much hope revealed to us, on
Titan, Europa and Enceladus? What are these masses present around
certain stars? Fascinating focus on the problems posed by distances and
time: the time lag. What is the relevance of the messages written on
space probes and the messages sent into space? Projections on three
possible reactions of extraterrestrials to these signals.
Conclusion: the universe animated by other lives, fanciful dream or
evidence of a possibility that other beings inhabit space? To devour!
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin, invite us this time to a fabulous
journey to the land of Exoplanets (ed. Apogée).
The authors initiate us in the introduction to the evolution of the
perception of the Universe since Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century
BC, passing by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, etc. Through their
observations, the possibility of considering the existence of planets
elsewhere than around the sun, called extrasolar planets or exoplanets
"the two terms being used nowadays" is born.
Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin then question our understanding and
reasoning "about possible other solar systems from aspects of our own".
But, given the infinite number of stars in the Universe, where should we
look for those likely to host a planetary procession?
Using macro-telescopes, but is that really enough?
The authors share with us the three essential criteria for a
pre-selection of candidates.
We then fly over the first attempts and the first clues (stars with dust
disks). But what are the detection modes? Speed? Color? Mass?
Luminosity? Inclination? Eccentricity of the orbit? What about
detections by transit? We arrive in 1995, the year of the detection of
the first planet: 51 Pegasi, its orbits and their analysis. Fascinating.
A quick jump to 1999, the year of the discovery of the star HD 209458 by
the "transit method". But what are its weaknesses? What about the
"astrometry" method and what are the results? Is gravitational
microlensing (multi-photography of a large number of stars) a more
random method and why? What about the study of stars that have no chance
of having planets? What about gaseous and massive planets close to their
star? We thus arrive at 2004, and the first photograph of an exoplanet.
Once again: fascinating.
To conclude, Priscilla Abraham and Bruno Mauguin tell us that more than
5,500 exoplanets have been identified from 1995 to 2023, from which we
have been able to determine three main families that they present to us.
"Multi-diversity of fascinating worlds to study and there are still so
many to discover. Is the Earth an anomaly in the Universe or is it an
ordinary planet, like perhaps millions of others? And there still remain
many questions, projects, hypotheses for very few answers"! ...
Patrick Schindler, individual FA Athens
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=7926
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