Re: frogs, mountains, nietzsche


>>Well, I will take a stab at this:
>>I don't read French, so am no help with translation. But have you gone
>>frogging?
>>You can catch them easy by approaching them slowly. You never get close
>>and then quick reach out in hopes of clinching it in your hand (or
>>putting a pail over it), as it will be long gone. The whole process of
>>slowww... (then the glory of 'gottcha') .It is not the frogs don't see
>>as good as you. It. is just that they respond to quick motions (that
>>little insect flying in front of it is a history in a flash as it's
>>tongue darts out-and swaps it) and are slower to respond to big slow
>>moving objects( kid with a pail--as long as she is patient and show).
>>In the next sentence, the essay goes on to say "Effective history, on
>>the other hands shortens its vision to those things nearest to
>>it....(the lens of the frog?)
>>Does this make sense?
>>dar
>>
>>At 09:45 AM 3/27/03 +1000, you wrote:
>>>The list has been very quiet of late - no doubt due to recent events.
>>>Intellectuals such as Foucault are sorely missed in such times.
>>>
>>>However this is a totally frivolous enquiry, just to satisfy my curiosity.
>>>
>>>I was rereading Nietzsche, Genealogy and History and on p.89 of the
>>>translation in Rabinow's Foucault Reader came across this sentence
>>>'[Traditional history] accomplishes this by getting as near as possible,
>>>placing itself at the foot of its mountain peaks, at the risk of
>>>adopting the famous perspective of frogs.' I'm not quite sure I like
>>>that translation: the last bit in French is 'quitte a avoir sur eux la
>>>fameuse perspective des genouilles'. Does anybody know what Foucault is
>>>alluding to here? I tried a google search and came up with
>>>1. The Japanese poet Kusano Shimpei
>>>2. A few references in Nietzsche about people who walk with the gait of
>>>frogs and how yuck frogs are in general
>>>3. The Aristophanes play The Frogs.
>>>
>>>I think the same reference has also been picked up by the ex Monty
>>>Python crew in the episode of Ripping Yarns titled 'Across the Andes by Frog'.
>>>--
>>>Clare
>>>************************************************
>>>Clare O'Farrell
>>>email: panopticon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>website: http://www.foucault.qut.edu.au
>>>************************************************


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