Modernity began officially around 1889, I guess, when one discourse first supplanted the other — though with both achieving the same effect, of course: producing the impression of uniform individual existence despite all of us being always and already immersed in the social. Continue reading “Different Discourse, Same Effect”
How Deep is Your Love?
(You really should play the song below while you read this post. For the full audio-visual experience.)
A routine turn of phrase in the English language is to enhance a claim by using the metaphor of depth — thoughts can be deep, the hero looks deeply into his love’s eyes, or “deep down, I feel that…”. Conversely, of course, a lack of such depth signifies insincerity and probably insufficient intelligence — after all, “Shallow Hal” was a movie all about overcoming a preoccupation with surface appearances, learning instead to see true, “inner beauty.” Continue reading “How Deep is Your Love?”