September 15, 2019: Difference between revisions

From Gerald R. Lucas
(Add WWW notes.)
(Added Brady and Binelli notes.)
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** '''Cancer''' is an outgrowth of inaction or conformity.{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=19}}
** '''Cancer''' is an outgrowth of inaction or conformity.{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=19}}
** “Culture’s worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we’re all totalitarian beasts.”{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=126}}
** “Culture’s worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we’re all totalitarian beasts.”{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=126}}
** Mike Lennon: “Truth comes out of opposition.”{{sfn|Brady|2018|}}


* '''Democracy''' is noble and always threatened{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=70}}
* '''Democracy''' is noble and always threatened{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=70}}
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** contradiction; leads to greed in a “Christian nation”{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=120}}
** contradiction; leads to greed in a “Christian nation”{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=120}}
*** live as an oxymoron: be altruistic / “beat everyone”
*** live as an oxymoron: be altruistic / “beat everyone”
*** “money-grab” of the nineties led to a “pervasive American guilt”
*** “money-grab” of the nineties led to a “pervasive American guilt”;{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=108}} “Christian bad conscience”{{sfn|Binelli|2007|p=69}}
**** “money leaches out all other values”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=108}}
**** “money leaches out all other values”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=108}}
*** “Jesus and Evel Knievel don’t consort too well in one psyche.{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=46}}
*** “Jesus and Evel Knievel don’t consort too well in one psyche.{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=46}}
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** likens corporatism to “the pall of plastic”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=46}}
** likens corporatism to “the pall of plastic”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=46}}
*** the aim of technological society is to work everything over to plastic{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=92}}
*** the aim of technological society is to work everything over to plastic{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=92}}
*** “We live in a cheaper environment now than we used to.”{{sfn|Binelli|2007|p=69}}


* '''Technology''' inspires totalitarianism{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=126}}
* '''Technology''' inspires totalitarianism{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=126}}
** “Technology has become the dominant culture in existence and may soon be the only real culture.”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|pp=88–89}}
** “Technology has become the dominant culture in existence and may soon be the only real culture.”{{sfn|Mailer|2003|pp=88–89}}
** contributes to “the deterioration of the powers of concentration, like florescent lights, bad architecture, invasive marketing and ubiquitous plastic{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=91}}
** contributes to “the deterioration of the powers of concentration, like florescent lights, bad architecture, invasive marketing and ubiquitous plastic{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=91}}
** frays the soul{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=91}}
** frays the soul;{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=91}} “slightly deadening”{{sfn|Binelli|2007|p=70}}
** substitutes power for pleasure, making us narcissistic and power-driven{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=92}}
** substitutes power for pleasure, making us narcissistic and power-driven{{sfn|Mailer|2003|p=92}}


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* {{cite journal |last=Begiebing |first=Robert |title=Norman Mailer and Joseph Ellis: Unsettling Dialogues on Democracy |url= |journal=The Mailer Review |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=2020 |pages= |access-date= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite journal |last=Begiebing |first=Robert |title=Norman Mailer and Joseph Ellis: Unsettling Dialogues on Democracy |url= |journal=The Mailer Review |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=2020 |pages= |access-date= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Binelli |first=Mark |date=May 2007 |title=Norman Mailer |url= |magazine=Rolling Stone |pages=69, 72 |access-date= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Binelli |first=Mark |date=May 2007 |title=Norman Mailer |url= |magazine=Rolling Stone |pages=69, 72 |access-date= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite news |last=Brady |first=Amy |date=March 22, 2018 |title=Why Norman Mailer Still Matters in 2018 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/03/22/why-norman-mailer-still-matters-in-2018/ |work=Village Voice |location= |access-date=2018-04-23 |ref=harv }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Busa |first=Christopher |date=1999 |title=Interview with Norman Mailer |url=https://outline.com/m2E6V5 |magazine=Provincetown Arts |pages=24–32 |access-date=2019-09-15 |ref=harv }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Busa |first=Christopher |date=1999 |title=Interview with Norman Mailer |url=https://outline.com/m2E6V5 |magazine=Provincetown Arts |pages=24–32 |access-date=2019-09-15 |ref=harv }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Norman Mailer: A Minority of One |url= |journal=New Left Review |volume=22 |issue=March/April |date=1997 |pages=115–128 |access-date= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Norman Mailer: A Minority of One |url= |journal=New Left Review |volume=22 |issue=March/April |date=1997 |pages=115–128 |access-date= |ref=harv }}

Revision as of 15:56, 25 October 2019

Mailer’s Political Resonance

Themes

  • Fascism is humanity’s natural state[1]
    • against political correctness[2]
      • “we’ve got to find a way to say human nature is both ugly and beautiful, and we have to deal with both.”[3]
    • “Americans are angrier now than at any time I’ve ever seen them.” — “rage”[4]
    • flag conservatism and moral reform[5]
      • strive for world empire to begin moral reform at home[6]
        • becomes a moral imperative[7]
    • See the end of Hitchens (1997) for a likely scenario of a fascist takeover. In some ways, it seems similar to Trump’s America, though instead of solely against black Americans, it also demonizes Mexicans and Muslims.
      • Baumann (2016) compares Mailer’s analysis of Barry Goldwater and his supporters to Trump and his with some striking similarities.
      • could happen quickly because of our lack of tradition[8]
    • “Compulsive adoration of our leaders is poison, after all.”[9]
  • Personal Responsibility (The Necessity of Criticism)
    • “When you have a great country, it’s your duty to be critical of it so it can become even greater.”[10]
    • “The politics of Norman Mailer have conventionally been evaluated more as a personal register of the American zeitgeist, and less as owing any debt or duty to ideology.”[11]
    • Left Conservative — “a challenge to those who remain fixed in orthodoxy or correctness”[12]
    • Cancer is an outgrowth of inaction or conformity.[13]
    • “Culture’s worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we’re all totalitarian beasts.”[14]
    • Mike Lennon: “Truth comes out of opposition.”[15]
  • Democracy is noble and always threatened[1]
    • “Democracy is existential”[16]
      • We cannot take democracy for granted because it is always in peril and always changing.[17]
      • Is hard-won and maintained: “The only defenses of democracy, finally, are the traditions of democracy.”[1]
      • “Democracy is a state of grace attained only by those countries that have a host of individuals not only ready to enjoy freedom but to undergo the heavy labor of maintaining it.”[18] [bold mine]
      • “If our democracy is the noblest experiment in the history of civilization, it may also be the most singularly vulnerable one.”[19]
    • “inimical to security”[20] — Mailer hopes there’s not another national crisis to push us toward fascism (Was Obama’s presidency that thing for those who are now in power?)
    • depends on critical distinctions[21]
    • links freedom to democracy, and asserts it’s just as delicate — also the thing he likes most about America[19]
  • Corporate Capitalism
    • “Corporate power is running this country now.”[22] (See the discussion that follows.)
    • against corporations,[2] as they expanded into American life since WWII[23]
    • contradiction; leads to greed in a “Christian nation”[24]
      • live as an oxymoron: be altruistic / “beat everyone”
      • “money-grab” of the nineties led to a “pervasive American guilt”;[21] “Christian bad conscience”[25]
        • “money leaches out all other values”[21]
      • “Jesus and Evel Knievel don’t consort too well in one psyche.[26]
    • “Marketing was a beast and a force that succeeded in taking America away from most of us.”
      • created a culture of interruption that led to a deterioration of concentration. Mailer was talking about commercials on television, so arguably this problem has gotten worse with our devices and notifications.[27]
    • likens corporatism to “the pall of plastic”[26]
      • the aim of technological society is to work everything over to plastic[28]
      • “We live in a cheaper environment now than we used to.”[25]
  • Technology inspires totalitarianism[14]
    • “Technology has become the dominant culture in existence and may soon be the only real culture.”[29]
    • contributes to “the deterioration of the powers of concentration, like florescent lights, bad architecture, invasive marketing and ubiquitous plastic[30]
    • frays the soul;[30] “slightly deadening”[31]
    • substitutes power for pleasure, making us narcissistic and power-driven[28]

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mailer 2003, p. 70.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hitchens 1997, p. 117.
  3. ↑ Hitchens 1997, p. 127.
  4. ↑ Hitchens 1997, p. 121.
  5. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 50, 52.
  6. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 51–52, 57.
  7. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 53.
  8. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 108–109.
  9. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 85.
  10. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 15.
  11. ↑ Hitchens 1997, p. 115.
  12. ↑ Hitchens 1997, p. 116.
  13. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 19.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Hitchens 1997, p. 126.
  15. ↑ Brady 2018.
  16. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 16.
  17. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 16–17.
  18. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 71.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Mailer 2003, p. 110.
  20. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 106.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Mailer 2003, p. 108.
  22. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 104.
  23. ↑ Mailer 2003, p. 48.
  24. ↑ Hitchens 1997, p. 120.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Binelli 2007, p. 69.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Mailer 2003, p. 46.
  27. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 89–91.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Mailer 2003, p. 92.
  29. ↑ Mailer 2003, pp. 88–89.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Mailer 2003, p. 91.
  31. ↑ Binelli 2007, p. 70.

Working Bibliography

  • Baumann, Paul (March 23, 2016). "Mailer on Trump". Commonweal. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  • Begiebing, Robert (2020). "Norman Mailer and Joseph Ellis: Unsettling Dialogues on Democracy". The Mailer Review. 12 (1).
  • Binelli, Mark (May 2007). "Norman Mailer". Rolling Stone. pp. 69, 72.
  • Brady, Amy (March 22, 2018). "Why Norman Mailer Still Matters in 2018". Village Voice. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  • Busa, Christopher (1999). "Interview with Norman Mailer". Provincetown Arts. pp. 24–32. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  • Hitchens, Christopher (1997). "Norman Mailer: A Minority of One". New Left Review. 22 (March/April): 115–128.
  • Mailer, Norman (2013). "Immodest Proposals". Mind of an Outlaw. New York: Random House.
  • — (2003). Why Are We at War?. New York: Random House.
  • Mailer, Norman; Mailer, John Buffalo (2006). The Big Empty. New York: Nation Books.
  • McAfee, Andrew (October 23, 2019). "Technology Will Keep Us From Running Out of Stuff". Wired. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  • Pritchard, William (November 24, 2016). "Stormin' Norman". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  • Sheed, Wilfred (1971). "Norman Mailer: Genius or Nothing". The Morning After: Selected Essays and Reviews. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 9–17.
  • Wade, Francis (August 12, 2019). "Reading 'The Armies of the Night' in an Age of Youth Protest". LA Review of Books. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
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