LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Saturday, October 27, 2012

New Orleans

We are here.  Picked up at the airport and driven to where we're staying for the first part.  A lovely friend of a friend with a lovely home in the Broadmoor neighborhood, who loves New Orleans and who knows it so well.  Had dinner with a mixed krewe of our Hostess, a mixed bag of Tulane academics and others.  And this is among the elements that I love so much about New Orleans -- that xocial interaction stratification between formal academic experts and artists, etc. and anyone else who cares and studies and knows, is just not there.  Which is what it was like in Havana.

It feels almost like I'm dreaming at the moment.  I keep thinking I'm back in London (am very tired) but it is so not London.  It's so great to be back again.  It feels more like home than 'home,' does, i.e. where I was born and grew up.

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