i was rather taken by the following post on various' blog. what a valuable resource to be able to anonymise those day to day hatreds and vituperations and see them represented in their petty and acid glory. how it made me smile!
not that i took part. it was the very anonymity of the exercise that put me off. it's the same wiht the bloggery. i'm uncomfortable with it even for venting spleen at my own personal hobby horses like wendy cope or the human arse that is martin amis. no, me i'm a proponent of full contact hatred. i just can't say behind anyone's back what i is so much more effectively said to their face.
i find it eases the process, one has to consider the person on the other end otherwise the whole discuss - argue - shout - fight - police cells cascade is far too easily enacted. such a speech act should be declared alone, people hating each other in groups - so unimaginative, so dull - i hate that! i definitely follow the path trod by bernard in the skinhead bit from black books
the expression of quotidian hatred should be funny, it's very ridiculousness should prevent it from the belittling of the person that substitutes so often for the countering of an argument. a good rant should end in laughter, be self terminating, otherwise it's just unhealthy. the best rants should be universal but at the same time be ridiculous, or at least have the appearance of it, and in so doing highlight the ridiculousness of the speaker as much as the subject. no hatred is as healthy as self hatred!
as says william hazlitt, sort of, in 'on the pleasures of hating' a fine read, and worth it
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12 comments:
I think the old poetic invention of 'flyting' might be useful swiss. The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy is my favourite - such inventive insults. ISTR Bill Herbert had a go at someone in poetic form fairly recently.
absolutely. that dunbar and kennedy thing is hilarious
it's strikes me, thinking about the dunbar and kennedy, and about the lnaguage in general of how a good rant can contain a mischievousness and glee in language. also, and again with reference to the above flyting, of that certain scottish reveling in scabrous, profane language for its own sake
haha - proponent of full-contact hatred, yes, i would have been surprised if that hadn't been the case :-)
so you would not survive long in Japan :-)
thank you for Hazlitt, how true this is, i have often pondered this muself:
We learn to curb our will and keep our overt actions within the bounds of humanity, long before we can subdue our sentiments and imaginations to the same mild tone.
Thanks Swiss, must admit I wasn't sure what the experiment would yield, I suppose it's not surprising that what people can't say on their blogs are things that might hurt others in general - ie talking about stuff they hate - begs the question then - is hatred better left unsaid!?! It does have such a destructive reputation, as an emotion - but you do need to hate a situation in order to change it (and stuff needs changing in general). I'll read Mr Hazlitt to find out more...
"..scottish reveling in scabrous, profane language for its own sake" ...
makes me think of the malcome tucker character in 'the thick of it'. brilliant, swearing riffs.
I seem to have missed your Wendy Cope rant/reasons for rant.
Dare I ask..?
x
roxana - to be honest i think i'm very grateful to living exactly where and when i am. i think in previous times i'd have had a poor time of it.
niamh - looking back at the hazlitt, and because i've been having a because i've been having a bit of a mentalist week - it has been suggested i'm in possesion of ovaries! - i really enjoyed it. i think i'll be rereading swift's modest proposal as well because it's just so funny and spot on.
kate - malcolm tucker - the man is a linguistic creative genius. to listen to him in full mode in to be soothed like a lullaby. unfortunately i too often get that remind you of anyone look when he's in proper fulmination esp in the 'i'm going for a walk' segment. it's embarassing! lol
rachel, wendy cope is here
http://theswisslounge.blogspot.com/2007/12/wendy-cope.html
i could add to it as age has not lessened my feelings on the subject but i'm just up and my powers are still weak! looking for it did see me scanning down the ranting tag. ah, what a lovely picture i paint of myself! lol
"the human arse that is martin amis"
*concurs loudly*
i applaud your concurrment!
The skinhead bit reminded me of George Melly's anecdote (you probably know it and apologies if I'm repeating myself) about being cornered in an alley by a group of toughs. He pulled a copy of Kurt Schwitters' Ursonate out of his pocket and started reading it out. They all ran off.
Re anonymity and blogging. I think it's easy to forget how public the internet is. I don't mind being myself when I'm sat in my snow-hole watching Dr Who, but at other times -when I feel like a rant, for example- I prefer to be an ostrich. It depends what I've got to say.
i think if someone pulled a copy of ursonate on me i'd run away! lol
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