[lit-ideas] Mourn: A Performative Analysis
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:38:15 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 6/13/2012 5:50:52 P.M. UTC-02, cblists@xxxxxxxx writes:
They published "Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern" ("The Inability to Mourn")
in 1967, an exploration of Germany's attempts to come to terms with
the Second World War in the era of post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
Note how German philosophers (etc.) often ignored, to their loss, most of
the analyses by J. L. Austin, H. P. Grice, etc.
Note that
"I mourn"
is the performative use of 'mourn'. To apply it to a country in General
seems too general and possibly false ("Germany's inability to mourn --" -- No
counterexamples? Not one single German speaker who mourned?).
The plural forms,
"They mourned"
can be tricky. Ditto for the plural FIRST person (how can it be a first
person PLURAL?):
"We mourn"
"Mourn" seems to be an individualistic speech act -- and so on. Hence the
need to start idiosyncrasically (sic) with individual mourners and then
proceed.
Yet if it is
Margarete Mitscherlich is unable to mourn.
Or
Alexander Mitscherlich is unable to mourn.
Why generalise? Shouldn't they speak for theirselves, rather?
And so on.
Cheers,
Speranza
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