Durkheim and Suicide - Durkheim is no fun to read and I recommend anyone who
is interested in reading his work to start with an introductory 'reader'.
Colin wrote
>I first tried when I was 7 by jumping out of a 3rd floor window and getting
up without a scratch. Again at 16, just got very sick. At 20 I put >myself in
a 9 day coma. Boy I was really pissed when I woke up. My final attempt was the
same year. I escaped from where i was incarcerated >in the dead of night,
travelled a 100 miles to the sea. It was mid winter, very cold and very dark.
I walked along a high bridge and threw myself >into the sea. I went SPLAT!!
right into the mud-the tide was out. I gave up then and thought I'd stick this
life out.
Colin, have you read Dorothy Parker's poem "You might as well live"? It seems
to tie in with your glorious failures to top yourself. I'm 2000 miles away
from my bookshelf so I can't quote it to you.
Brenda wrote
>There is a great book titled "Black Image in the White Mind" by Robert Entman
which I highly recommend to Americans of all colors.
You could also try "White" by Richard Dyer, a writer on film studies based at
the U of Warwick, England. He looks at the representation of white within the
contexts of Christianity, race, and colonialism. His thesis (very briefly) is
that white needs black in order to be white, and only has a positive 'value'
in contrast (literally) with 'devalued' black, which ties in with the
"norm/other paradigm" Julius mentions. Purity, hygiene, superiority and
cinematic lighting of black actors all appear in this book. It's fascinating.
Sherelle wrote
>Being referred to as black(s) doesn't offend me personally unless you put the
word "the" in front of it. I'm not sure why that bothers me, but it >does."
This isn't just a problem of the word 'black/Black', it's a linguistic thing
about 'nominalization', that is, making a noun (a thing) from another lexical
category, in this case an adjective (a characteristic of a thing). For
example, would you rather hear people say "You are drunk" or "You are a
drunk", the first is possibly temporary, while the second suggests you have a
drinking problem and a reputation for it. In the first case you may be 'just
visiting', but once you have been named into a category you have checked in
for good. Same goes if you use the word 'cripple', for example. Try it with
other adjectives.
Books- how about a 'favourite book' thread for all of us who don't have cars.
Or maybe a 'book I'm currently reading' thread. I'll start the ball rolling
with "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien, and "A THOUSAND YEARS OF
NONLINEAR HISTORY" by Manuel De Landa.
'Penblwydd Hapus' to Lori
Mike in rainy Barcelona
