Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Thoughts and Expressions...

This is a topic on alienation and this particular paragraph from the book "Marx's Concept of Man written by Erich Fromm and it shows so much depth that I cannot even explain how overwhelmed I was when I read it...
Karl Marx says,
"Among the many forms of alienation, the most frequent one is the alienation in language. If I express a feeling with a word, let us say, I love you, the word is meant to be an indication of the reality which exists within myself, the power of my loving. The word "love" is meant to be a symbol of the fact love, but as soon as it is spoken it tends to assume a life of its own, it becomes a reality. I am under the illusion that the saying of the word is the equivalent of the experience, and soon I say the word and feel nothing, except the thought of love, which the word expresses. The alienation of language shows the whole complexity of alienation. Language is one of the most precious human achievements; to avoid alienation by not speaking would be foolish; yet one must be always aware of the danger of the spoken word, that it threatens to substitute itself for the living experience. The same holds true for all other achievements of man: ideas, art, any kind of man-made objects. They are man's creations; they are valuable aids for life yet each one of them is also a trap, a temptation to confuse life with things, experience with artifacts, feeling with surrender and submission."

Please also do refer the September post on Language and expression. Expression is the most essential part of human life and living and is very much needed in the surrent scenario...
http://acchor.blogspot.com/2006/09/language-expression.html

1 comment:

earthling said...

Quite a remarkable observation!
How much ever we say/talk/express through words, there's only a certain amount of truth in the expression. That's why when we love, or express love, it transcends beyond words...through expressions that are physical, mental, psychological or spiritual.
That's why we feel incomplete without the actions of expression other than verbal. You can feel this especially when you miss someone who has been very close to you in the physical level, i.e, the moment they go away/leave you feel a certain emptiness creeping up. The next time it happens to you, think about the different forms of expression you can possibly try.