4 December 2012
Discussed text: Levinas, "The Solitude of Being," Ethics and Infinity
Today’s lesson on jouissance reminded me of a poem I took up as a senior in high school. It’s entitled “The Road Not Taken” and it’s written by Robert Frost.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
We learned that the meaning of the term jouissance is to enjoy something that makes life worth living. It is finding pleasure in doing anything that enhances our zest for life. I remembered this poem because it’s about choosing the road less travelled with a little hesitance in the beginning but without any regrets in the end. It’s about enjoying the journey, taking time to love and live every step of the way. In the poem, as the persona is choosing which road to take, s/he only knows that one road is more travelled than the other but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the better road. S/he has to go through it to know, to find out. Sometimes the less popular choice is the better one because not everyone has to have the same wants and needs in life. Sometimes, the harder thing to do is the best thing to do because it pushes us to find what we really love to do and who we really are. Everyone just needs to learn how to live, how to be, needs to find his/her own happiness. Life is what you make it. Whatever choice you make in anything and everything you do, you have to stick by it and let yourself enjoy the experience.
The class was left with the question “Why do you think Levinas places jouissance after il y a?” for reflection. I found the answer to this question in the poem as the persona is choosing which road to take; s/he is in a state of “in between-ness” and confusion. S/he doesn’t know which road to take, which choice to make. THERE IS (Il y a) a choice to be made, but the persona is still unsure and stuck. It is when s/he takes action and goes down a road does s/he realize the beauty of his/her decision, once s/he has reaped what s/he has sown does the “Jouissance” come into play. “Jouissance” is a reaction to “Il y a” and I think Levinas placed the terms in such order because the former is the answer to the latter.
I like the comparison you made between the poem and il y a, also that you highlighted the fact that "THERE IS a choice to be made." Again, we are called to conquer that impersonality and make the choice to go out. I will make the choice--no one else can determine the road I take. I believe having this choice makes life worth living, too.
ReplyDeleteAfter class, I searched for the word "jouissance" in the internet and found out that it can also be a connotation for sexual orgasm in French. And I think that connotation doesn't stray away from our definition of "jouissance", which is "naive innocent enjoyment". I have no first hand sexual encounter experience yet, but from the way they are depicted in movies, that is exactly what I see--people simply enjoying themselves, not thinking of other things in the world.
ReplyDeleteAs for the relationship between il y a and jouissance, I believe there is another reason why Levinas placed it one after the other. As Dr. Garcia has said in class, most of the time, it's the children who experiences this "jouissance" most of the time. (I do think this is because children are not afraid of criticism and rejection yet.)
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I am thinking about is that maybe Levinas wants to highlight the "goodness", or the positive side of being alive. The concept of "il y a" is a very "demanding" concept. We are told to overcome indecisiveness. We are told to choose something. And the stakes are high: we have to decide or else we'll forever be in the state of "in between", we'll never be able to move on.
Having the concept of "jouissance" after "il y a" refreshes one's mind. It reminds us that though life is full of "il y a"s to overcome, life is also full of "jouissance"s. Life is also full of naive innocent enjoyments.
I'm Nats Barretto from Ph102A by the way. :)
ReplyDeleteJouissance is jouissance for jouissance. That's all the kept ringing in my head after that lecture. I couldn't help but fathom what he mean by enjoyment is enjoyment for enjoyment. I mean correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds super redundant. Although, this idea of enjoyment after il y a, you can't help but be hopeful. I think this makes me think of the times when I'm in a bad mood (representing il y a) and when I use music to make me get out of this bad mood (which for me represents jouissance). The idea that il y a is something that constantly challenges should make us all the more aware that we have to try and be happy. We shouldn't be satisfied with living a "comfortable" life. We should go out of what we are usually used to, our routines and do something different. Whether it be for someone of for ourselves. Pay someone a compliment and you never know, you might end up feeling better that day. I like giving compliments because when I see a smile on someone's face, I can't help but smile as well. It's infectious I tell you.
ReplyDeleteHokulea Cabrera
PH102 A
I think that "jouissance" is placed after "il y a" because the concept of naive, innocent enjoyment comes into play when we have decided what to do and we are no longer in that place of indecisiveness. When we are in il y a, we suffer the falling short of being or simply put, we dread to be. We ask ourselves, should we do this or should we not? Will I call or not? Should i say yes or should i say no? There is a kind of disturbance that happens. But when we emerge from il y a, once we've decided what to do, there is jouissance. There is enjoyment in the decision made, the feeling of distress is no longer there. Peacefulness overwhelms us because we've finally chosen what to do. We enjoy for the sake of enjoyment, no reason needed.
ReplyDeleteCara Garcia, Ph102 A
I like how you compared being at the point where two roads diverged to being in ilya. The feeling of ilya is, like what the others have said, indecisiveness. You ask yourself: "where do I go?" Jouissance comes after because it's the feeling that you've made it ", I'm there."
ReplyDeleteAlex Chua PH 102A
I think this poem paints a really good picture of the moment of il y a. Anyway, to answer the question, I think jouissance is placed after il y a precisely because jouissance can not exist together with il y a at the same time. Jouissance can only be experienced after it. Jouissance is when you experience pure joy. How can you feel that when you are in il y a when il y a is like metaphysical unease? Il y a is when you're indecisive, when you're unsure. It bothers you. When you feel something weighing you down like that, you cannot feel pure joy because whether you know it or not, whether you admit it or not, there is something obstructing that joy.
ReplyDeleteLica Lee
PH102 A