Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
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100<br />
DEMOCRACY TODAY<br />
possible without denying the real possibility and threat of nihilism,<br />
I wish to use the analogy of the writer’s writing. Why this analogy? I<br />
see two arguments for it. First, writing has to <strong>do</strong> with language, with<br />
building signifying systems and discourses, and it therefore stands<br />
close to the language and discourse-based theory of Laclau and Mouffe.<br />
Second, analogy must be used in order to broaden the horizon of the<br />
problem, because in Mouffe’s and Laclau’s philosophy we are simply<br />
left with a tension, and there are few, if any, clues towards a solution.<br />
Analogy is an important tool for solving problems, although we should<br />
also be aware of its limits. Analogy is never a literal translation of the<br />
problem to be solved. In the same way, the analogical answer cannot<br />
be interpreted as a literal answer, but instead must be conceived as a<br />
direction in which we should search for an answer.<br />
I use the analogy of a writer’s writing because I think the writer is<br />
constantly confronted with the impossible possibility of writing itself.<br />
The possibility of writing can only exist through the final impossibility<br />
of writing. A writer never succeeds in writing the Ultimate Book<br />
which contains everything he ever wanted to say or that ever can be<br />
said. The writer’s writing never comes to an end. And, if it ever came<br />
to an end, writing itself would no longer be possible. A writer can<br />
only continue to write by virtue of the ever-unfinished nature of his<br />
activity. [19] This is a necessary consequence of the nature of art itself.<br />
Art always seeks to capture the infinite in a finite object – whether it be<br />
a picture, a poem or a symphony. [20] The infinite can only be captured<br />
through the finite, yet, of course, the finite can never fully capture the<br />
infinite. If we are blinded by the illusion of fully capturing the infinite<br />
through the finite, then the infinite as such disappears.<br />
This same idea is present in Blanchot’s interpretation of the myth<br />
of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this myth, Orpheus is offered the chance<br />
to recover his deceased lover Eurydice from the underworld. Hades<br />
was thrilled by the way Orpheus sung about his lost Eurydice, and that<br />
is why Orpheus had the opportunity to get Eurydice back. But Hades<br />
set one condition: Orpheus was not allowed to look back at Eurydice<br />
while he guided her out of the underworld. Only in broad daylight could<br />
19<br />
Critchley (2004) 36.<br />
20<br />
Compare to Badiou (2005) 37.