for thinking people
April 6, 2018
The word juxtaposition comes from the Latin juxta (meaning “next”) and the French poser (meaning “to place”). In other words, juxtaposition refers to the practice of arranging things next to each other. Now, in terms of writing and literature, juxtaposition refers to the way (usually) two elements are grouped in order to create a certain effect. In today’s article we’ll take a look at juxtaposition. Particularly, I’ll give you tips on how to use juxtaposition in fiction.
April 3, 2018
Speculative fiction is a genre dealing with what-ifs. In this context, Elleander Morning belongs to what one might rightfully (and whimsically) call “WW2-whatif-fiction”. We’ve had several stories dealing with an alternative world where Nazi Germany has won the Second World War. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick probably remains the point of reference, though in recent years Fatherland by Robert Harris has also received quite a bit of attention.
Elleander Morning is indeed such a novel, with a sort of a twist: the Second World War has never happened. The reason? A young woman – Elleander Morning – travels to Vienna before the outbreak of the First World War and kills a mediocre artist called Adolf Hitler. Many decades later, in the early 1980s, Elleander Morning’s granddaughter, Lesley, discovers a book. It’s a complete history of World War Two, including marvelous photographs that cannot be dismissed as a forgery. Something odd is going on, but what? Well, that’s a damn good question. One that sadly not even the author, Jerry Yulsman, seems to have been able to answer.
April 1, 2018
Do you feel happy right now? Let’s assume that you do. What if I told you that you’re wrong? What if I told you that you only think that you’re happy? Maybe you would then change your mind; or maybe, you wouldn’t. Defining happiness has been an elusive activity since ancient times. For Aristotle, for example, happiness was more of an activity and less of a state of mind. Today let’s take a look at an interesting aspect of happiness, which is subjectivity. Let’s talk about the happiness illusion paradox.
By happiness illusion, I refer to the hypothesis my questions above posed: what if you only think that you’re happy while you actually aren’t. The happiness illusion paradox exposes the fallacious notion that happiness is an objective state. In other words, the happiness illusion paradox underlines the fact that you cannot measure or detect happiness outside the experiencer. If you think you’re happy, then by definition you’re happy.
