[Xmca-l] Re: Collective moments and perezhivanie - the Bowie phenomenon

[Bruce Robinson]

Even though I'm of the right age to have heard his early music as a 
background to my undergraduate years, I too found the recent attention 
to Bowie somewhat overblown - the entire first half of the BBC News, a 
12 page supplement in the Guardian and interviews with everyone ever 
connected with him. The obvious parallel is Diana in 1997 when there 
were also hundreds of people on the streets crying, spontaneously 
embracing etc. Something strange that came out of nowhere and is now 
seen as a break with the continued stiff upper lips of the royal family 
and others, particularly men, of earlier generations. I found it 
worrying at the time.

On Bowie and fascism - even if Bowie thought he was just playing with 
ideas and identity, which I doubt, he was doing so in a context where 
real fascism and extreme racism were on the rise in Britain in the 70s. 
Some other musicians expressed anti-immigrant views too. Even if it was 
'playing', it was extremely irresponsible given his influence. However I 
doubt that was the case. I think he was probably identifying with one of 
the trends of the time.

Bruce R


On 14/01/2016 14:48, Beth Ferholt wrote:
> Thanks, Susan.  > > What I have noticed in NYC about David Bowie's death day of his > 
death is a lot of people crying in public or talking about crying in > 
public earlier in the day. > > It is sort of weird.  With other 
celebrity deaths I have seen people >  talking and sometimes a few tears 
but not so many people crying.  I > think embodied emotion is a key part 
of perezhivanie that makes it > generally harder to experience in a 
large group. > > I thought I was just having this reaction because of my 
age/what this > particular artist meant to me, but I wonder if reactions 
to his death > are actually different than reactions to the other deaths 
mentioned > above.  His being in role so often is important for 
perezhivanie, as > is the lack of violence in his death, I think. > > 
Beth > > On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 11:23 PM, Annalisa Aguilar > 
<annalisa@unm.edu> wrote: > >> >> Hi Susan and others, >> >> Yes, it 
does feel like over the past few days, at least in the >> media, there 
has been a kind of "global" perezhivanie for those >> who actually found 
meaning in the music and performance of David >> Bowie upon learning of 
his passing. >> >> As I've been considering his koan-like methods of 
creating art, >> perhaps a reason we feel kinship with him is not only 
because we >> may have grown up with this music, and we might have felt 
 >> communion with his artistic content of difference and how that is >> 
joined with liberation. Perhaps also because he created large gaps >> 
that we could fill in ourselves and thereby construct our own >> 
meanings interwoven in his lyrics, so the work became "cognitively >>  
interactive" for want of a way to say it "differently." >> >> One of the 
most hilarious stories I read recently is that when he >> lived in 
(walled) Berlin in the 80s one time on a whim he took the >> stage 
unasked at a cabaret and sang Frank Sinatra songs. The >> Berliners 
wouldn't have it. They "shrugged and asked him to step >> down." The 
article doesn't say so, but I can imagine him actually >> reveling in 
that experience. >> >> There are all these different meanings colliding: 
 >> >> What is: a Berlin cabaret in the 1980s? What is: a Frank Sinatra 
 >> song? What is: David Bowie singing in a cabaret unasked? What is: >> 
being rejected by Berliners (who lived behind the wall)? >> >> Thinking 
about this (like this) functions similarly to the way his >> art took 
form, all these overlapping meanings that must somehow be >> filled in 
my own summation, by what I bring to all those >> "meanings." Humor is 
also about filling in gaps. >> >> However, on a more somber note, one of 
the aspects I consider while >> reflecting on David Bowie's lifework, is 
his short-lived >> fascination with fascism. I want to understand that 
too. I'm >> pretty sure he wasn't one, but rather, as an artist he was 
 >> exploring how that worked, as in "taking on the body" to see its >> 
inner architectures and mechanisms, as performance artists are wont >> 
to do. Who knows if this was conscious or unconscious (probably >> 
both). I'm not claiming it was totally innocent, but there was >> 
something more going on than trying to shock for its own sake, nor >> 
was it some pathological desire for world domination. >> >> There is 
something "inside" fascism about filling in gaps that >> functions 
similarly, and, much like Arendt, and perhaps Bowie >> himself, I feel 
compelled to know how that works. >> >> Does this also pertain in some 
way to "global" perezhivanie? If it >> does, what makes it the same? And 
how it is different. Does it >> have to do with consent (or lack of it)? 
 >> >> Does it mean there is a responsibility not only for the positive 
 >> aspects of what one does, but also the absences as well? Which >> 
seems to be about not acting, or non-doing. >> >> Then, how does this 
link to ethics? I mean, we could be heroes. >> >> Kind regards, >> >> 
Annalisa >> >> > >

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