Hi Sebastian,
Yes, I would to some extent agree, that authenticity is paradoxical, which
is why it intrigues me so much. I quite like the idea of authenticity
myself, as I have certain, firm (not necessarily dogmatic), beliefs. But
does that make me authentic because, I believe in certain things, which
might be true (or at the very least, believable), for me and not
for others. Is it not a subjective authenticity ? Is it not the same as
saying there are no universal truths, hence authenticity is not a universal
truth ? Does it matter ?
Regards
Lubna Nadvi
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On Tue, 4 Feb 1997, Sebastian Gurciullo wrote:
>
> I have been following the recent authenticity discussion. I am replying to
> Lubna Nadvi discussion of hegemony and authenticity. It seems to me that
> the idea of hegemony relies on an idea of authenticity (ie. there is a false
> consciousness determined by a particular complex of power relations and this
> is called hegemony, and then there is my illumination of this situation
> which is not any of these things), but this is not really what I want to
> talk about. My point has to do with the paradoxes of authenticity,
> precisely the paradoxes one falls into when trying to get free of it, as if
> you could just cast authenticity (or a unified subject, or meaning or
> whatever) off like a piece of worn clothing that you did not like any more.
> If authenticity is hegemonic in some way, or even if it only harbours a less
> pernicious illusion of some sort, and if authenticity were then to be
> abandoned for these reasons, would it be because authenticity was no longer
> thought true?, or because it is incapable of authentically representing the
> actual situation of power configurations (that authenticity is hegemonic as
> a specific instance of the power/knowledge complex)? Can authenticity be
> ditched in this way without somehow re-invoking it in the process of
> ditching it? Is it not a further instance of self-purifying and wanting to
> be true to oneself that characterises authenticity, to then want to purify
> oneself of the last trace of that great deceiver authenticity, to then be
> true to oneself in recognising that one cannot be true to oneself, that
> being the authentic truth.
>
> And yet for all this, despite the difficulty it gives you when trying to get
> free of it, I quite like the idea of authenticity.
>
> Sebastian Gurciullo
>
>