In this twelfth podcast of the Gendering the Media with Brikena Ribaj series, I provide a reading of the concept of friendship by way of a tip of the hat to the philosophy of Plato and Derrida. This short piece simply attempts to address a sociality-oriented question and a more detailed discussion of the topic will be attended to at a later time.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
Might I also direct your attention to an analysis of Derrida's book The Politics of Friendship by David Mills?
A bit from the article says:
" . . . and after the telephone call, I will turn my back on you to sleep, as usual, and you will curl up against me, giving me your hand, you will envelop me.
Jacques Derrida, The Post Card
The first version of this essay was written for a conference on Derrida's Politics of Friendship sponsored by SUNY-Stony Brook in New York in November 2002. As fate would have it, that was the last occasion I saw Jacques Derrida before he fell ill, watching him back away down 6th Avenue, slightly bowing as he stretched out his arm to wave in his very personal and personable manner, as if he never wanted to be the first to turn and walk away. I could not have known then what sort of definitive "back" he would have turned towards us by the time my words found their way into print, even though the fact of mortality is readable in everything he wrote, and especially in Politics of Friendship. What I did know, and what enlivens the memory of him in the wake of his death, was the experience of a friendship in practice, upright and supportive from start to finish. This is dedicated to that memory"
That article is here.
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16 comments:
This made me forget about my stuff and made me focus on what it is I actually think about friendship and my own relationships.
Thank you.
I'd like to check out Derrida's last book. Didn't know about this.
I enjoyed the Symposium references.
And the gender.
thx.
Plato's Symposium has left a mark on me as well. I need to revisit it and think more about Plato's 'take' on friendship.
Re: Derrida, I wondered about the Politics of Friendship when I first heard about it in grad school. It seemed like Derrida was running out of projects when in the States and thought, well, I'll do a reading of human nature now. You know?
But I'll check it out.
How did literary scholarship receive Derrida's Politics of Friendship?
I agree with the idea that language is right to give us different options when it comes to verbally categorizing people. Friends, good friends, not-to-good-friends, people of interest, lovers, etc.
I will basically note that I appreciate the podcasts mostly because you manage to create a concrete picture of things about which I only think abstractly.
thanks.
And i like the fact that you endorse your friends' art in the podcasts. it's apropos, actually.
I heard this twice today.
And I'd have to agree with Nicki. It's the stuff that I think about but can't quite phrase right.
That's what these podcasts do for me.
Ergo, gratias tibi ago!
:)
And I am liking Camille's new album, too.
By the way, who handles the production?
Impressive stuff.
There is nothing irrelevant about friendship at is spills into so much more in life.
I can only count my friends in one hand. For my other people, I've got Facebook.
I liked the 'Muse' reference.
And 'Early morning cravings of miscellaneous oddities"
Good phrase!
And this one:
"The development of friendship is also circumstance-informed, I think."
Interesting point. How different circumstances are piled on top of each other can determine whether some liaisons lead to relationships or not.
Oh, and the tangerine reference just about made me fall off my chair. 'She's not one for fruity jokes.' He-He-He. What informed that, pray tell?
Have been wondering about Derrida's later work, esp. this one you quote here.
Ditto on "Early morning cravings of miscellaneous oddities."
Had a cigarette after this podcast, then blew the dust off my old copy of De Anima.
A little linguistic comment towards the text: The German language displays its culture very nicely when using the word “Bekannte(r)” in contrast to “Freund(in)”. It seems to me the older one becomes, the more careful they use the word “friend”. And this have been socially accepted and respected among all social level. They even go so far to look down on someone who calls everybody a “Freund”. A clear indicator that they don’t have any friends.
Uta's point is totally right on the money!
I liked this. I find myself a little frustrated by people who behave more familiarly toward me than our friendship status ought to allow. I know a few people who treat everyone like their best friend, even if they really know nothing about you. I think they are just trying to be friendly, but they are missing the fact that you can be friendly without necessitating friendship. To me it just comes across as fake.
Genau!
Esato!
Totally!
Friendship is not conferred. It is earned.
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