What They Said: Elias Canetti
What They Said: Elias Canetti
Once again, now more than ever, Canetti's masterpiece "Crowds and Power" is essential reading for the Covid Age, as prophetic as 1984
“The mask is distinguished from all other end-states of transformation by its rigidity. In place of the varying and continuous movement of the face it presents the exact opposite: a perfect fixity and sameness. Man’s perpetual readiness for transformation is clearly expressed in the mobility of his face. The play of his features is far richer and more varied than that of any animal and he has, too, the richest experience of transformation. It is inconceivable how many changes a face can undergo in the course of a single hour.
…Once the mask is in position, there can be no more beginnings, no groping towards something new. The mask is clear-cut; it expresses something which is quite definite, and neither more nor less than this. It is fixed; the thing is expresses cannot change.
…The working of the mask is mainly outward; it creates a figure.
…A mask expresses much, but hides even more. Above all, it separates. “
—Elias Canetti, ”The Figure And The Mask,” Crowds and Power
Unless you make your own mask! I have worn my own since May 2020. It is unmistakenly a dissident mask, replete with dissident messages. I have received almost nothing but smiles and encouragement. My only regret is that I have not met anyone else doing this. I am particularly disappointed that the Arts Community has not engaged in such satire, wit and shaming, but has only kowtowed to this evil.
Have you heard Jonathan Pageau on Youtube? He's an orthodox christian and all he talks about is symbolism. He made a video about, I don't remember if it was masks or veils. Very good stuff as well.