“The left as self-created through the melancholic meme is not only abstracted from the present: even the lost past it clings to is held at a distance. … Though Freud dismissed it as mere rhetorical device, irony often functions as a Freudian defence mechanism. On the melancholic meme pages, it enables the ego of the weakening left to displace its self-loathing onto its past incarnations in a playful fashion, rather than consider its contemporary failures. But now is the time for attack, not defence. An ironic revolution is no revolution at all.”
Site Overview
Introduction
Structure
Vassilis Lambropoulos
C. P. Cavafy Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature
vlambrop@umich.eduFollow Blog via Email
- Follow The Tragedy of Revolution on WordPress.com
Parallel blog of further reflections on solidarity and collaborative culture:
https://poetrypiano.wordpress.com In The News
“Letter of Solidarity and Support for Zapatista Resistance and Autonomy”
“All Out Against Bolsonaro! An Appeal from Brazil”
Magdalena Gómez: “Towards the 25th anniversary of the Zapatista National Liberation Army”
Andrew W.M. Smith: “The Gilets Jaunes Protest: A Grand Refusal in an Age of Commuter Democracy”
Recent Blog Posts