In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

334 CODES
will" (Grimm, 662). In the end, the search for normative forms and
functions threatens to generate what it most fears: chaos, stemming from
the desire for Exuberance and proliferation.
If the aspect of Sobriety that is represented by the German concept of
Sachlichkeit (the focus on things and functions) entails its opposite (an
urge for Exuberance and intoxication), another aspect of Sobriety-its
intense alertness-often succeeds in containing such consequences. Alertness
is the state of mind in which great athletes compete: their senses are
wide open to the world, but they do not fuse with the world. [see Boxing]
It is what Theodor Lessing has in mind when he speaks of a principle
that avoids "the complete dispersion of the divine Eros, the functionalization
and trivialization of sexuality" (Lessing, 245). It is also the drive
and speed that helps individuals overcome drunkenness and loss of
identity. [see Bars] For the young painter Joan Mira, focusing on the
motif of the glaring sunlight becomes a way of resisting dispersion and
loss of focus (Dupin, 160). Ernst jiinger sees such intense alertness as a
reward for overcoming intoxication: "Man ... was first formed in the
fire of battle; now he gives a new and terrifying face to combat and its
instruments. Today's troops no longer consist of those enthusiastic
youths whose intoxicating dreams were sacrificed to the power of machines.
Hardened by the searing flame, they stand firmly and soberly in
a merciless world" (Junger, 36). junger's attitude suggests self-sacrifice,
as well as the willingness to destroy others. Like Sobriety, bleakness can
be the opposite of Exuberance. And even Sobriety need not always be
constructive.
Related Entries
Assembly Lines, Bars, Boxing, Cremation, Employees, Elevators, Engineers,
Railroads, Reporters, Strikes, Individuality vs. Collectivity, Present
vs. Past, Silence vs. Noise, Uncertainty vs. Reality, Male = Female (Gender
Trouble), Transcendence = Immanence (Death)
References
Antonio de Alcantara Machado, Ano de 1926. In Alcantara Machado,
Obras, vol. 1: Prosa preparat6ria; Cavaquinho e Saxofone. Rio de Janeiro,
1983.