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Dread: The Dizziness of Freedom
Constantly changing technology and growing communication networks give mankind ever more choices and options. however, every technological innovation has its counterpart: the military, administrative, existential crash; catastrophe looms. Virilio: ‘the innovation of the ship also meant a new form of shipwreck’.
This imminent, hard to interpret threat evokes feelings of ‘dread’. Dread is an essential and potentially productive element of the human consciousness, and according to the contributors to this volume, a defining characteristic of the present-day condition humaine. Closely related to anxiety and fear, the concept of dread is associated with the ‘dizziness of freedom’, as proposed by Søren Kierkegaard in 1844.
However dark and fatalistic its connotations, through its dialectical coupling of caution and transgression, of paralysis and overdrive, it allows us to imagine the world spectacularly differently, offering glimpses of the ineffable. it is precisely this creative agency that seems ever so valuable in our complex times – an agency that is created by the very forces that, in their politicized guises, wish to suppress or even destroy it.
This book is a peripheral exploration of dread and reflects on possible re-articulations of the concept in our times.
This imminent, hard to interpret threat evokes feelings of ‘dread’. Dread is an essential and potentially productive element of the human consciousness, and according to the contributors to this volume, a defining characteristic of the present-day condition humaine. Closely related to anxiety and fear, the concept of dread is associated with the ‘dizziness of freedom’, as proposed by Søren Kierkegaard in 1844.
However dark and fatalistic its connotations, through its dialectical coupling of caution and transgression, of paralysis and overdrive, it allows us to imagine the world spectacularly differently, offering glimpses of the ineffable. it is precisely this creative agency that seems ever so valuable in our complex times – an agency that is created by the very forces that, in their politicized guises, wish to suppress or even destroy it.
This book is a peripheral exploration of dread and reflects on possible re-articulations of the concept in our times.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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July 31, 2020
This is a book I've had hanging around my room for a while and never got around to reading, but was really pleasantly surprised when I finally did. The book is a series of short essays and interviews on the concept of dread, war and technology and was originally created as a companion piece to an art exhibition. In places it is incredibly poetic and well written, it is not overly dense and each essay was self contained and covered a topic in a novel and interesting way.
I'm taking a star off because I felt, in contrast to the essays, the interviews tended to meander in places without making a clear point. Also, one of the latter essays in the book deals with the concept of dread and threat in respect of cities and how this particularly impacts on women. It was at this point that I noticed not a single contributer to the book was female and I think that would have been an extremely relevant viewpoint to have, particularly in light of the themes of that essay.
I'm taking a star off because I felt, in contrast to the essays, the interviews tended to meander in places without making a clear point. Also, one of the latter essays in the book deals with the concept of dread and threat in respect of cities and how this particularly impacts on women. It was at this point that I noticed not a single contributer to the book was female and I think that would have been an extremely relevant viewpoint to have, particularly in light of the themes of that essay.
Displaying 1 of 1 review