[Xmca-l] Re: Covid as World Perezhivanie?

[Huw Lloyd]

Hi Greg,

Experience, as a unit, does not seem adequate. Intentionality, rather,
yields particular experiences (see section 8 of this
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.academia.edu/42233036/A_Study_of_Active_Orientation_Part_1_A_Perspective-Based_Theory_of_Cognitive_Development__;!!Mih3wA!UnCykgRh9ZCM26w0yYpjYqT66GEXAAWyFaNO8BGtDZ--rK0JQSLjbSrAZaiP0PmgrCg-1A$ >
paper). This pertains to Mike's anecdote of "do not experience it in that
way", i.e. you can chose how to experience something on the basis of how
you orient to it.

In relation to international level agency, collective experience will be
contingent upon the strategy employed mixed with that nation's politics and
infrastructure. However, each nation's activity is a variation stemming
from a "unitary cause". The variations yield the opportunity for learning
from others, and so there is affordance for a greater synthesis.

It seems this presents two hypotheses: that there is a manifest "world
agency" (reasonable in terms of sharing knowledge, resources etc) and that
a rubicon of sorts is approached which the experiencing will yield a new
horizon etc.

Numerous poetic forms come to mind to express the current circumstances.
Covid-19 is an infrared light that allows many people to see the invisible
ink with which many social contracts, conditions, and assumptions are writ.
It is a "truth tablet" in the sense that objective events will transpire
that cannot be papered over. It is a galvanising force in that we have the
opportunity to stop things that it previously seemed impossible to stop.
Covid-19 can be looked upon as a miraculous opportunity to allow
unproductive "industries" to wither on the vine and apply the resources to
better ends.

Best,
Huw





On Fri, 24 Apr 2020 at 19:24, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:

> Greg-
>
> If there is a one right way to interpret the term, perezhivanie, I have no
> idea what it is.  The term is polysemic in Russian.  I would suggest that
> people
> check out the special issue of MCA devoted to this topic.
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/23/4?nav=tocList__;!!Mih3wA!UnCykgRh9ZCM26w0yYpjYqT66GEXAAWyFaNO8BGtDZ--rK0JQSLjbSrAZaiP0PkIOdPzdw$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/23/4?nav=tocList__;!!Mih3wA!Ru_LNDTIFaF00CT1DTghJDhyxqfkySan841wvZgdYM49ppRsG1vjLwlBvPz2Pw4$>
>
>
> These viewpoints are not exhaustive.
>
> The other night I was watching "Servant of the People"  created by
> Volodymir Zelensky on netflix. Absolutely amazing, funny, and very very
> political. The most outstanding case of life imitating art I have yet
> encountered.  In the program, which is in Russian with subtitles in
> English,  an irate father, irritated by his
> son's failure to grasp the nature of corruption in Ukraine tells him
> "dont perezhvai"  in a manner that roughly translates as "don't get upset
> about it."  The example lacks the "pere"  suffix (the over again aspect) of
> re-experiencing an intense emotion/cognition. But this everyday meaning is
> used commonly.
>
> To me, the idea of "world perezhivanie" points to the fact that we are all
> "living through a period of suffering" with lots of cognitions, but it for
> those still standing
> 20 years from now to reflect back on.  The crisis is just beginning.
>
>
> my 2 kopeks
> mike
>
> On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 11:03 AM Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm wondering about Andy's suggestion that covid-19 is a (or maybe "is
>> creating a"?) world perezhivanie. That seems a really rich suggestion but
>> I'm not sure how many of us on the list really understand what he means by
>> this.
>>
>> Andy tends to just tell me to go read more and so I'm wondering if
>> someone else might be willing to take a stab at explaining what he might
>> mean.
>>
>> Also, as a critical intervention, I am wondering whether covid-19 is the
>> "same" for everyone. We have folks in the U.S. who think it is basically
>> just a typical flu that has been turned into a political tool to attack the
>> current president. Or does that not matter for perezhivanie?
>>
>> (and just to be clear, my question is not whether or not this is true or
>> right or beautiful to think this way; my question is whether or not this is
>> how people are actually experiencing the world since I assume that this is
>> what perezhivanie is supposed to be "getting at". Or am I misunderstanding
>> perezhivanie?)
>>
>> So is there really a shared perezhivanie here?
>> (Is The Problem of Age the place to look for answers?)
>>
>> But if no one wants to take this up (perhaps too much ink has been spilt
>> over perezhivanie?), that's fine too.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> greg
>>
>>
>> --
>> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Anthropology
>> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
>> Brigham Young University
>> Provo, UT 84602
>> WEBSITE: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://anthropology.byu.edu/greg-thompson__;!!Mih3wA!UnCykgRh9ZCM26w0yYpjYqT66GEXAAWyFaNO8BGtDZ--rK0JQSLjbSrAZaiP0Pkb8d2ICQ$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://anthropology.byu.edu/greg-thompson__;!!Mih3wA!WN8l_yYMTbBnmCBcPiLWU5hQYwPZIdGtHFRjEQb6reqIHexrpd3i0uUYMaQe4C4$>
>>
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson__;!!Mih3wA!UnCykgRh9ZCM26w0yYpjYqT66GEXAAWyFaNO8BGtDZ--rK0JQSLjbSrAZaiP0PnNnMeLkw$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson__;!!Mih3wA!WN8l_yYMTbBnmCBcPiLWU5hQYwPZIdGtHFRjEQb6reqIHexrpd3i0uUYNZy2lRg$>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> the creation of utopias – and their exhaustive criticism – is the proper
> and distinctive method of sociology.  H.G.Wells
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
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> members of LCHC, visit
> lchc.ucsd.edu.  For archival materials and a narrative history of the
> research of LCHC, visit lchcautobio.ucsd.edu.
>
>
>
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