Well, I've just joined the list and found myself in the middle of a
discussion. Anyway, what Richard wrote about Jews as a disease appears
to me to be a perfect illustration of the power of discourse. Not just
an example of the power of language to sculpt beliefs, but the power of
language to exterminate people. So Kevin, the Jewish-virus metaphor was
not the means of JUSTIFYING the eradication of Jews, but the means TO
eradicate Jews. Death camps would not have been possible without the
operation of such discourse.
Now, whether Hitler was a psychotic or not is not an issue here, unless
you intend
1) to do the psychoanalysis of Hitler
2) to analyse discourse(s) construing Hitler as a psychotic.
Saying that Hitler was a psychotic is designating him as the Other,
which, in my opinion, is a way of making sense of the world and human
existence after the Holocaust.
Greetings,
Katarzyna Marcinkowska
discussion. Anyway, what Richard wrote about Jews as a disease appears
to me to be a perfect illustration of the power of discourse. Not just
an example of the power of language to sculpt beliefs, but the power of
language to exterminate people. So Kevin, the Jewish-virus metaphor was
not the means of JUSTIFYING the eradication of Jews, but the means TO
eradicate Jews. Death camps would not have been possible without the
operation of such discourse.
Now, whether Hitler was a psychotic or not is not an issue here, unless
you intend
1) to do the psychoanalysis of Hitler
2) to analyse discourse(s) construing Hitler as a psychotic.
Saying that Hitler was a psychotic is designating him as the Other,
which, in my opinion, is a way of making sense of the world and human
existence after the Holocaust.
Greetings,
Katarzyna Marcinkowska