Discussion opener for GRGR(4) (church and hospital)

[Paul Murphy]

Andrew Dinn responds:

>The Proustian cathedral is indeed the point of departure. However,
>this reading fits closer to the plan of Henry Adams `Mont Saint Michel
>and Chartres' whose subject is exactly this architectural rise and
>fall; the movement from early, simple mediaeval architecture through
>high Gothic to the chaotic, populist (and at times bordering on pagan
>or animist) bulk and decoration exhibited at Chartres; and the
>processes of order and disorder which inform this up and down
>movement. So, if there is any image which fits here it must be the
>parabolic up and down trajectory of every failed attempt to touch the
>heavens, to transcend the mundane (an up and down A, not a down and up
>V).
>
>`In my beginning is my end' - which new age guru used that phrase?
>Well, it's true of the rocket since we all know that Brennschluss will
>take over and the fall will occur. And it's the same with religious or
>spiritual movements. The seeds of its own destruction lie in the very
>form of its original organization. Then Victorian period (V period,
>anyone?)  in Britain is the final working out of the disorder and
>chaos which represents the crash of the Protestant movements from the
>preceding 200 years.

Thanks for the thoughtful response and the reference -- I'll look up Adams
when I get a chance...
Just a brief observation about the failure and disorder Andrew mentions
here. I think this is crucial in coming to terms with what TRP is up to in
GR: the terms invoked obtain their efficacy from the opposition in which
they stand -- success / failure, order / disorder, order / chaos. What we
run up against in the ensuing Pointsman episode is the 'constructed'
character of such polarities; the 0 and the 1 (and the excluded middle).
The point (I gather) is to try to think our way out of binarisms, such that
chaos can be perceived as potentially constructive ... transformation
rather than extinction...?

Cheers,
Paul

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                             Paul Murphy
                       paul.murphy at utoronto.ca
                 ------------------------------------
                "Well I've been praying a lot lately,
                 it's because I no longer have a TV
            Just a fluorescent hangover to light the way..."
            -American Music Club, "Apology for an Accident"