I remember: a year ago I sat on the floor reading David Halperin and I thought he was so clever. I still think he's clever, I just think that history is almost too complicated to say much about it. Sometimes I wonder how we manage to make sense of the past if we're incapable of making sense of our own lives. (I guess that's precisely why.)
I like that quote.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the complicatedness and the aporia concerning representation.
I think the past is often easier to turn into a story than the thing you’re currently in the middle of (your life), and creating a story is what making sense comes down to. And yes, we turn to stories of all kinds (historical, fictional) for guidance, and then we fall on our noses because the stories come out of our brains and reality doesn’t (always). It’s tragic, but with a certain slapstick element, so it’s okay(ish).