ratsonjulia

Dear ratsonjulia
Reading your yesterday entry made me think of small booklet (less than 100 pp) I have kept for months now next to my desk: it's called L'impensable, l'indicible, l'innommable ( the unthinkable, the unspeakable, the unnameable) by Michel Bounan. Bounan is a some sort of an outsider in the realm of French sociology. He writes very short and easily readable books (this is, mostly, what makes him such a black sheep) on such subjects as disinformation or the adequation of L.F. Cline's works with the times he lived in.
Most of the chapter entitled "the unspeakable" is about alexithymia. Quote: "P.E. Sifneos described 1973 a surprising new disease, he called alexithymie (greek a-lexi-thymia: "no word for naming the pain"). A perturbation of conscience causing " an unability to understand one's own emotions, to differentiate them, to name them": making them 'sufferings with no name'."
But the book is not about psychiatry nor psychology: the thesis it illustrates is, modern society and especially modern communication means ("today, reality as shown by media is but a gigantic fantasm made visible; the press has become the imagery system that makes visible a virtual object") cause individuals to become unable to keep in touch with their own emotions: "(...) suffering and anger becoming unthinkable things". Today's society becoming, so to say, a vast alexithymia production plant. (oh, and the book was first written in 1993: so, no mention of Afghanistan in it).

...... finally, to make it short, I don't think it's at all surprising to be embarassed, bewildered, confused, and having his throat tightened when having to talk about a subject that all media have clearly identified as one about wich all that could be said has still been said.

I was happy reading today that it's old news, and that your leave to NY is scheduled!
"New York, New Yooooork..."

--hamstersonjulia