Transcending Contemporary Madness through Literature

[@artlesscalamity]

I am so surprised and honored that my comment inspired you! Thank you for acknowledging the chaos, specifically in the wake of US elections (which was 100% what prompted me). I have had this same question of “why isn’t anyone saying anything?” - have we normalized so much, regressed so far, that there’s nothing left to say? There seems to be a wariness in media (including online) of dividing the audience by taking a “side.” I guess it’s more diplomatic to stay neutral, even when a position is undeniably harmful or factually incorrect. Also at this point there are many people who avoid anything “political” out of fear of being targeted, or simply out of exhaustion. I believe there is a need though for the reaffirmation of humanity in moments like this. Maybe the word “politics” implies something petty and tribalistic, but when you have a visible degradation of human and civil rights, functional justice, truth, empathy, etc., it is something more fundamental. And while I sympathize with exhaustion and fear (particularly from groups who are directly threatened), what good is art if it does not have the courage to push back? Art is political because art is us - our perceptions and dreams and preoccupations. I agree though that there is a balance - for example it could be off-putting for a piece of light fiction to transform halfway into a self-righteous polemic. So maybe it has to do with our expectations and whether we feel like an artist or creator is inserting themselves too much into the experience. But in wild times where we are all cognizant of extreme developments, it makes sense to bend those expectations, right? At a certain point it feels weirder NOT to say something. Anyway I’m rambling because it’s morning and I just woke up. But thank you for this video, and for seeing me and making me feel (in some anonymous, mediated way) connected. You demonstrate great thoughtfulness and empathy, and as usual you pulled some great quotes that I will take with me. Cheers.

[@strange.lucidity]

I'm thinking along very similar lines. Especially the "at this point there are many people who avoid anything “political” out of fear of being targeted, or simply out of exhaustion" is so true and so difficult to navigate. That's why this video came to be. Anyways, thanks for making me think!

[@ornleifs]

Art has many roles - it can be escapism, it can be a mirror and it can be a hammer - there is a strong need for the mirror and hammer role these days.

[@ScottChamberlain-j9m]

Thank you Maria. You never fail to please me on a Sunday, by far the otherwise most empty day of the Week, particularly for someone like me who doesn't get up and go to Church on a Sunday morning! So, yet again, you have filled me with our certain concoction of Hope and meaning or, at least, 'something visceral' to fill that Sunday void, so ta muchly xx

[@strange.lucidity]

I'm so glad to hear that!

[@cerdic6586]

The world has always been mad, and the more sensitive and aware have always had to practice selective dissociation.

[@simone9209]

If you haven't, I higly recomend you to read Walter Benjamin. In one of his pieces he writes: A Klee painting named ‘Angelus Novus’ shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such a violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.

[@Phoenix_Rises]

I absolutely love this video, and appreciate the focus being on connection, and literature being something that can unite us and is itself a form of deep connection. I’m baffled on how to handle all of this, and appreciate thoughtful takes on the complexity of life but seen through a lens of hope. And despite the darkness I still believe there is much hope.

[@Viewer12241]

Yess indeed, sneaking among the books is a helpful way to shield oneself from madness! I might also add, however, that the great literature art and poetry was conceived in even greater ages of terror!

[@greatbooksbigideas]

Brilliant. Thanks for this. You are having a positive effect on the discourse. We will get through the hard times together.

[@istanbullu-p4m]

🎉 The love of my life, my smiling angel. The weather is very cold, but the love that warms my heart is always there, like a fireplace. "Your love made me a poet. If you respond to my love, my heart will become a butterfly, fly away, find you, land and take its place in your heart. God, help me to love me, my angel. ❤

[@AnaGuillenBachs]

I don't believe that art is a form of escapism. Rather, I think that art helps us better understand the reality in which we live.

[@p4sardinha]

I've never been that keen on literarure, but I subscribed to your channel anyways. I just enjoy all your videos. They are little breaths of sanity in an otherwise increasingly insane world.

[@joelharris4399]

Escapism can only go so far. It'll be a mistake to view literature only through the myopic lens of leisure and aesthetics. Francois Rabelais, George Orwell and Miguel de Cervantes, to name but a few notable writers were very much interested and engaged with the politics of their day, part of the reason their work still resonate with us in the contemporary. Those crying "wokeism" would rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong with the status quo. When they attain the reigns of power, like the far right in the US, it's amazing to see the systemic abuse of power across the board. MAGA has to find out the hard way

[@kalai_doscope]

Thank you for making my sunday afternoon magical, in a quiet and gentle way

[@db0we]

I appreciate this video. Im in a masters in philosophy program and ive just felt intellectually paralyzed in how to move forward in the world of politics and its intertwinement in books today. It is not bad to discuss what i might term "meta-politics", of how to understand the nature of politics. But i still ponder at the question of at what point does one move forward of the reintegration of oneself into society. I appreciate your honesty and willingnesss to read books that you are not necessarily drawn towards, i will be doing more of this once i graduate. :)

[@TakaTakaMuTaka]

Every good story has a message. Those messages are intertwined with the human condition. Politics is a human construct. Stories are inherently a method of reflecting the human condition and that includes politics and great problems that politics tries to correct. To not allow oneself the recognition of an underlying message is to remain uncurious.

[@artlesscalamity]

Well said.

[@DrGBhas]

Thankyou Maria for that multifaceted view on our World. Regarding Contemporary Literature, one book that helped me a lot is Samantha Harvey's Orbital . Orbital is such a great work of art because it lifts the horizon of our mindscape in such a way that we can see and touch our World as one undivided, clear, luminous whole. Beyond all geographic boundaries, beyond all categories -- we and our planet are One World Family. May we all live with Peace and Love and Kindness wherever we are. May Literature and Art help us to live in the vastness and wonder of our Inner World. With all its paradoxes, conflicts, suffering and strife, may we always cherish within us, all that is Truth , Goodness and Being.

[@Cathal.]

God's great loafer Walt Whitman has been helping me quell the noise a lot recently. Also, one of my favourite chapters in any book is 'The Gilder' from Moby Dick. That chapter represents our deeply human need for a break from the noise: a caesura from the turbulence of the hunt and the driving necessity of life's choppy waters. Ishmael contemplates the mess and struggle of life and history. It always puts a smile on my face.

[@kenjohnson6326]

What helps me is doing something about the world, in some small way. Going to a protest, say, against the Israeli genocide of Palestine or making a donation to a Palestinian charity. Writing a letter to the editor criticizing the NATO warlords. When I read literature, however, I appreciate it for what it is and much of the best, not all, is not political.

[@thatgirlyesher8845]

I love seeing and reading this. Thank you for your little actions for me those are massive. You inspire my heart. 💛

[@js9876]

Hello María, I hope you're doing well above all else. It is always a pleasure to hear from you in a new vlog. The topic that brings us together today is incredibly interesting, and it would be difficult to fully elaborate on it in just a few paragraphs. However, I want to emphasize what those poets of the past told us-wisdom that remains relevant-the search for transcendence. The poet, undoubtedly, writes as a deliberate way to save themselves and others, or so I believe. They are "a fallen angel" in the midst of the chaos they are a part of; "their place is in the heavens," and yet they perish because they are submerged in matter. One cannot remain indifferent to what happens in their immediate surroundings and simply live in a dream. That is precisely what is happening with humanity today: it lives in a dream without realizing it is dreaming (entertainment, family, work). Few truly reflect on the world. "The last shall be first," says the Bible. In the meantime, we must contribute our grain of sand to humanity so that it may be saved from imminent chaos (I hope I don't sound tragic-that's not my intention!). Without anything else to add, I hope you have an excellent day, María.

[@catabasiis]

what a beautiful pov, thank you for sharing

[@valala2987]

I understand why you feel that literature is treated only as a launchpad into politics when you talk about it through the lenses of certain theories such as post-colonialism, politics, or gender studies. However, in my opinion all of these topics including the many other areas of literary theory and philosophy are as much a part of literature as its artistic value. I like the idea that literature takes on a life of its own as different people and cultures interact with it throughout time. Literature creates new meanings as it interacts with everything in the world. It's a communicative act between the author, the audience, other pieces of literature and the world. I think when you look at it from that perspective and consider how varied peoples interests are as well as how much society changes over time, it becomes increasingly clearer why you would want to not just talk about its artistic value but also how it connects to the world at large. Of course, none of these different ways of looking at literature are right or wrong and you are of course allowed to agree and disagree with all of it, but I think literature is not just being used as a launchpad into topics like politics but instead a good medium to analyse the intersection between art and politics (and whatever else interests people).

[@strange.lucidity]

Very well put. Thank you for making me think.

[@kellarcheron6675]

Many contemporary students claim to be virtuously infatuated by literature, yet when it comes down to it, they ultimately care far more for the projected aesthetic, the identity associated with it, and most terrifying of all, the grades on their papers. The grade obtained is the social marker, a constructed valuation point never to be doubted, a ranking, the letter given serving as a marker that we have absurdly associated with corresponding to intelligence. You are playing a game you don’t realize you’re in, arriving at a pre-ordained destination that is inevitable within such constraints. Learn how to frame a house, build an engine, drive a tractor or anything of the sort. Do something in the real world as you continue your literary quest, otherwise your “transcendence” into the intellectual realm will be a very shallow one indeed (and yet, you and all your peers will be convinced it is a bottomless well) Contemporary university is the pouring of a molten mind into a mold, hardening with heat treatment and hammering over time; As the degree is handed out, the new cog is polished to a glossy sheen, ready to replace the worn cogs. It is not about learning, it is about acquiring a piece of paper known as a degree, all in an effort to obtain what is perceived as a desirable (comfortable) place within society. You are on a conveyor belt, a product to fill a place in the great market. If you truly want to transcend, get off the conveyor belt. You won’t though, that is a hard life and the contemporary logic is to compromise beliefs for comfort. Much like transcending the “madness” of the time is akin to hiding beneath a rock; Right at a moment when the world needs readers and writers most

[@michaelrivellis9563]

Thank you for your sensitive analysis. As an older person, living in the US, I have seen that many of my country's "exports" are repeated historically-sometimes the good and other times the seriously bad. Currently, a deflation in hope and optimism is in progress (among the center and left). Short term, I believe, Americans can be a fickle batch. It is especially distressing for those who have been around a while and have an especially pronounced POV chronologically. It feels that spans of time have lost whatever progress they may have been witness to. Reading with a critical eye (using balance) has taught me that there truly is "nothing new under the sun." Reading history may be dry to many but instructive to everyone. Fiction (novels) perhaps helps us get a better understanding-through empathy and a capsulized version of a certain micro-reality. Your tips of staying balanced are a gentle reminder not to give in to doom. One of the biggest crimes that the current political world has done is to steal hope from youth. But don't despair. Never give in to this though it might seem easiest. BTW, I have noticed that the current powers that be in the US, and their followers, apparently do not read. (My observation based on personal contact with the far right .) To finish, if those of us who strive for a better understanding (and a better world), give up these goals--what then? To all of the young, I emphasize that the pursuit of being a better human, and to create a better world, is never wasted. Pursue your goals with hope and enthusiasm.

[@strange.lucidity]

Very well put. Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate your perspective!

[@astridentismo6425]

This is a very important video to me. Maybe its cause im a historian and also a professional dancer and also mexican and also a woman and also working class but everything feels political, i cant see it any other way. Even when i dance: what i choose to dance, the stereotypes that are promoted in the name of the art, the fact that sometimes dance is also a privilege, i mean i could go on and on... and i see it in literature and in cinema (dont make me start on Emilia Pérez, for example, i mean what was that???!! The biggest insult to a very real, very painful reality of so many families and our society...) and im convinced that it doesnt matter that people say "art should Just be art", to me it never is Just art. Its always attached to circumstances and particular contexts... and yet... yes, i do love to read and it gets me through the day, both when i read to escape but specially when i read to interact with the world, bc as u said, its one of many ways to connect and today more than ever i think is necessary.

[@Cevin.]

I’m of the 40% of the US viewers and it’s somehow comforting yet terrifying to know that you’re sad too. Thank you for saying something ❤️

[@РоманаСінкевич]

A belief that literature exist out of politics is sign of a privileged society. As a Ukrainian I was learning about laws which forbade to publish books written in Ukrainian language or names of writers, poets and artist executed during the USSR times. Even now, here, in the literature museum, there is an exhibition of a diary of Ukrainian writer killed by Russians in occupation. His diary was hidden in the plastic bag in the earth for it not to be destroyed and someday found. Art is not crated by its own, it is created by people. And one day these people can become objectionable to the regime.

[@josec8814]

Same thing happening to writers criticizing the israeli genocide in Palestine

[@selimgure]

Those who don't buy into the madness of the many create a madness for the few.

[@Raventooth]

American living in Europe here. I didn't quite catch exactly what you are upset about. There is a lot going on.

[@tiki0000]

This chaos is on the people who sit in their cozy home, instead of going voting. All kind of votes, not only the big ones. Its on YOU, who is reading this, if you didnt vote. Cheers :)

[@nataliemoon1512]

The best book to help inspire during this time ~ nonfiction LEAD me where the light is ours by n.gallea!!!

[@rssreader7352]

What's happening in Austria that has been unsettling?? Politics? Austria is probably like my country in the most of the time the world doesn't take too much notice.

[@laylachisom8996]

Aren’t they waking up ?

[@artlesscalamity]

Looking at recent news stories it seems that the Austrian government has turned towards the far-Right, like much of Europe and the US. Maybe she’s referring to that but I don’t know.

[@LennyAnnePee]

I enjoyed your video so much! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I would like to recommend the blog “Better Living Through Beowulf” by US professor Robin Bates. He’s been writing for years and although very USA-centric his reflections are broad in their relevance. Also, “Tolstoy Therapy” offers a similar connection between literature and living.

[@alicezamberlan6037]

Thank you for your words, thoughts and quotes. I understand how challenging it is to resist radicalization and avoid being consumed by negativity. Your video is one of the few that help keeping a broader perspective and recognize the humanity also in those who hold beliefs fundamentally different from our own. Thank you❤

[@istanbullu-p4m]

❤ The angel of my life, the owner of my heart, good evening my love. I love you very much. I fell in love with your hair, your angel face, your sweet look and your beautiful eyes. I live in Eskişehir, Austria. I would never have thought of falling in love with a beautiful angel, but I love you so much, hear my voice. ❤

[@GeorgeFloyd2023]

I am *this close* to putting Emile Zola on the DNF list. So far, 37 pages in, he hasn't resonated with me at all. He hasn't been pertinent to my life, which tells that he was no clairvoyant prophet/artist.

[@jamesduggan7200]

Like Montaigne wrote: que sais-je? You began with Hamlet complaining about his rotten fate in life - if that isn't a haw haw haw lol then what is? After spending three hours with him can anyone really be surprised that the Electors of Denmark passed over Hamlet as King? Shakespeare had to deal with politics his entire career, and ultimately I believe it was politics that retired him, mais que sais-je, n'est pas? Perhaps after you read and digest Proust you'll have a more finely honed perspective on the relationship between literature and politics, i don't know. It's good to see you. Thanks.

[@watcher8582]

You watched the news today, oh boy...

[@tminoor]

We shouldn't be radicalized in either of the directions because we also can act in those ways?

[@JTM1809]

Great literature is always a commentary on the world. But I disagree, that it should necessarily be political. To that end, there already is a tool: political commentary in the daily press. Great literature (at least literature, that might hope to stand the test of time) should be a more in depth analysis of phenomena, that might be actual at the time of writing, but are general and universal enough, so that they'd be relatable at any point in the future. Though set in particular space and time, great literature tells us something about human condition, that is relatable at any other time. Works of literature, that are overly and overtly political and propagandistic rarely do stand the test of time.

[@faxin0110]

Wow, you got an amazing hairstyle in this video ! It is so gorgeous, and you are, too ! :)

[@cecethompson914]

There are many of us in the US and around the world who are very happy about the Presidential election. When the pendulum swings too far one way…into insanity….whether right or left….it will eventually right itself.

[@artlesscalamity]

In what way did “the pendulum swing too far”? The US is the richest country on earth yet people still struggle with a livable wage, we have poorly-funded science and education, we have groups that continue to be marginalized for their identities, we are losing the fight against climate change, and we still don’t have universal healthcare. Explain how voting in a regressive billionaire (DJT) who is controlled by other billionaires (Heritage, Musk) will fix these issues. I’m genuinely curious.

[@BertoConsalvi-p1y]

Politics is dualistic; Literature/Art is non-dualistic. Non-duality incorporates duality, but it does not serve it.

[@laylachisom8996]

Majority of American voted for Trump, it didn’t just happen.

[@artlesscalamity]

We should not go too far on this tangent, but this statement is reductive. 1) US voter turnout is routinely poor 2) US voters are mostly uneducated on and uninterested in their government 3) Trump is a familiar name on a ballot while Harris was a “newbie” with only a few months to campaign (though she has been in public service her whole life) 4) Another large factor is digital media, which contributes to the collapse of shared truths and values and creates siloed “alternate” realities and a lot of space for misinformation and agit-prop. 5) There is an impulse, especially in the US, to rebel against “the system” (despite not knowing how systems work or how they help people) - MAGA is a movement of uninformed but self-righteous rebels who bought into a scam by a criminal billionaire, because they felt he would shake up “the system.” 6) And last there is immigration and inflation, which are global issues but can be exploited by nativist and populist politicians, as we’re seeing a lot in the West.

[@BardSonic]

Don't worry honey. The MAGA wave will right the ship.

[@laylachisom8996]

I 💯 agree

[@artlesscalamity]

I think you’re very gullible but I’m willing to let you explain how. Go ahead.

[@artlesscalamity]

BTW - this kind of trolling completely proves the thesis here. She didn’t even say anything explicitly political in this video, but you’re harassing her anyway, simply because she’s a humanist and you’ve been conditioned by your media to associate humanism with “liberalism” which is apparently “bad” (in reality liberal democracy is the reason you have rights and mechanisms of justice and progress, i.e. The Enlightenment etc.) Basically you got conned and it made you into an internet bully who is way too invested in a manufactured “movement.” And now content-creators like this have to constantly worry if a comment will trigger the trolls (or worse), and thus everyone starts getting quieter, and shittiness is normalized, and that’s how fascism wins. I’m not exaggerating - fear is the primary tool of autocrats, and the bullying tendencies of MAGA trolls are part of the same tissue as DJT’s threats against free speech and democracy. Be very careful about the road you’ve chosen.

[@laylachisom8996]

@@artlesscalamity I am a woman of colour who voted for him. It’s time to end the stigma., and the hypocrisy corruption of the left and right. The left has oppressed us just as much, in different ways. I voted for radical change in our sinking ship of a country, where my work is awarded appropriately. Where I’m treated equally and can thrive in my business

[@laylachisom8996]

@@artlesscalamity i realize Trump can be a big bully, but thats the side effect of getting him in. He’s needed to clean out the massive illegal problem and bring back business to America amongst other reasons

[@gabesassoon2854]

Very good video. The seeds of some of the discontent expressed here are contained, in my humble opinion, in faulty premises. Throughout this video you keep repeating that “we all” just want love and happiness. You seem to connect this with your worldview that people are not born with hate and malice in their hearts, that people are born good. Perhaps your latter assumption is broadly correct, but your first one sadly is not. And I think this is something that causes decadent westerners a great deal of misery. The inability to admit that there are ideologies that would happily kill all infidels, and kill many non-infidels in the process while believing all of this killing is sanctified in the name of God, is completely incomprehensible to the western mind. And this resistance to believing the very obvious leads to twisted and broken ideologies on the western political left - which in turn so frequently leads to the pendulum swinging far back to the right. The right has many of its own issues, but the left seems wilfully blind to its own rampant complicity in the world’s atrocities.

[@artlesscalamity]

The real issue is authoritarianism, and this can manifest in every single ideology that exists, from fascism to Christianity to communism to Buddhism. What despots, bullies, grifters, etc. all have in common is their desire to exert power over others for their own gain. They are willing to subvert ethics and justice and truth towards this end, and the question for society is whether or not it will hold such people to account. For most of the western world right now, we see this in the form of right-wing nativism, plutocracy, strong-man politics etc. So it’s odd that you’d try to push a point about “leftist complicity.” A bit tone-deaf no offense.

[@gabesassoon2854]

@@artlesscalamity Your list of ideologies/religions is very telling. Wilful, some might say.

[@Cathal.]

@@gabesassoon2854 From reading both of your comments, I think there's a measurably high probability that you're an utter clown.

[@artlesscalamity]

​@ No. And you seem to be vaguely projecting your own biases here. All ideology has the potential for corruption and abuse. In present reality, we see that corruption and abuse coming mainly from right-wing authoritarians (Europe, US). Sure there are “leftist authoritarians” scattered in history and parts of South America, but as I said, the connective tissue is autocratic degradation of human/liberal values rather than anything specific to a political ideology. Look, ideologies are bad. Defining yourself by a “movement” or a doctrine is bad. One because it’s self-restricting against the vast dynamics and diversity of the world, and two because no ideology, however noble it sounds, ever lives up to its own ideals, and instead falls apart under human selfishness and weakness. In fact many of our worst ideologies adopt names that go directly against their true goals and activities (look at how much regressive, illiberal nomenclature employs words like “liberty” or “freedom”). Even democracy has shown itself to be fallible against the corruption and abuse of power-seekers (mainly because people are bad at exercising and valuing it). Anything can be corrupted in this world if people are not vigilant about their values, needs and liberties.

[@artlesscalamity]

@@gabesassoon2854 Huh? (Being vague is not the same thing as being profound)

[@tminoor]

Good and bad are abstractions.... sure... you are studying historical texts and literature in paris and waxing poetic about 'opening our minds', i know it's just that I expected you to be a bit different

[@istanbullu-p4m]

🎉 I'm waiting for your answer just like the soil is waiting for the rain. Either my heart will be healed or the pain will remain for the rest of my life. Love is a very beautiful feeling. Tender and fragile like a rose. Please tell your family that I love you very much and if they allow, please give me a chance. 🎉 ❤

[@TerraAreiaEBarro]

Good morning girl from Austria. May your Sunday be as good as mine. Sweet kisses on your second forehead.🌹🇧🇷😘

[@istanbullu-p4m]

🎉 Don't you want to start a family with someone who really loves you? Please, you don't even give me a chance. I say marry me and let's be a family together. Can you tell your mother and father that I want to marry you? Tell them that I am an honest and reliable person. I'm waiting for your answer. 🎉.

[@istanbullu-p4m]

I fell in love as soon as I saw you. It is obvious that you are a very good person. Can you give me a chance? I really like you. Do you believe in love at first sight? I really love you, sleep well, sweet dreams. You can write to me whenever you want. I am so in love with you, please understand me. 😘

[@istanbullu-p4m]

I promise I will do my best to make you happy. I love you. ❤

[@tminoor]

Not your best video. I can't tell if this is a bit tone deaf or self preservation and actualization in the current media landscape, it's probably everything.

[@TakaTakaMuTaka]

I’m curious what you mean by tone deaf in the context of Maria’s thoughts.

[@strange.lucidity]

Hey could you elaborate on what made me sound tone deaf? I'm very open to hearing what you mean.

[@istanbullu-p4m]

I'm in love with you, why don't you give me a chance? You are the most beautiful lady girl I have ever seen in my life. You don't have to answer in a hurry, I love you but I'm afraid of getting a no answer. ❤