Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
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But it is extremely important to realize that Orpheus’ lookingback<br />
was only possible because of the beauty of Eurydice that he had<br />
sung about. The beauty of his songs was the only reason he gained<br />
access to the underworld. The longing for a pure representation of<br />
Eurydice was cultivated through nothing but the songs he sung. The<br />
moment Orpheus looked back, the object of desire was touched but<br />
immediately disappeared again. Orpheus is definitively condemned<br />
again to meet Eurydice only within the limits of the song. The moment<br />
of looking back is what Blanchot calls the birth of literature. But this<br />
is a para<strong>do</strong>xical statement, because looking back was only possible<br />
through the singing about Eurydice. This is the para<strong>do</strong>x of writing<br />
itself. One must only write to find the opening to what one longs for,<br />
yet the writing itself is only possible through the longing itself. As<br />
Blanchot himself puts it:<br />
102<br />
DEMOCRACY TODAY<br />
“[…]one writes only if one reaches that instant which nevertheless one can<br />
only approach in the space opened by the movement of writing. To write,<br />
one has to write already.” [24]<br />
Thus, the hope and the longing of the writer are inextricably bound<br />
to the act of writing itself. The longing is born out of the act of writing<br />
and the writing is born out of the longing. Longing and writing are like<br />
head and tail of a snake which bites itself. The impossible moment in<br />
which the snake has eaten itself is the moment when Orpheus looks<br />
back and faces the true impossibility of his writing. But what keeps<br />
the writer writing despite this fundamental impossibility is the longing<br />
evoked in the very act of writing. In the act of writing, the longing<br />
becomes an impossible promise. Writing can only exist by virtue of<br />
this promise.<br />
Wanted: a Discourse of Hope<br />
Of crucial importance is the connection between longing and writing,<br />
or, more generally, between acting and hoping. What counts for writing<br />
24<br />
Blanchot (1982) 176.