PRIMO LEVI OTHER PEOPLE'S TRADES Ou obocare wring”hit 165 | crear ras geamy. AL this point there appeared on the sage the “Spreaders,” who forthe mest part wee very young women fiom suntise to sunset they squatted onthe ound, sed 3 ‘lock in Bie places witht hands thee et, and the toes of thee fet, and then saghtened out, quicty opening thet farms the block was then spead out in a sheet with 2 pentagonal contour as tal 5 the spreader, transparent an Egle at las, which was then shatered into thin and therefore ely soluble sales. With this geste, repeated 20 Inte numberof times, teil it machines es fiom the closed potion of sed fo the ape one f the flower. st Ihave been a comical tle, rel and pet n stone ean Ingenta eyial as that which depved the eal insects oftheir ley am ingensy which didnot hesitate fo mai tool ‘man, reyes him fo an aimaleiue act in which the ‘mouth, the word workshop, once again became an instrament for biting ON OBSCURE WRITING eso. Never impos limits oF rules on creative writing. Those who do. generally obey polical boos or Stave ere actualy, a‘witen fet, no mar how is ite, is Tess dangeous than 1s commonly dough: the Famous judgment aed on Sv Pelic's My Pins, which soppsely harmed Austia “more than» lt ate,” it hypitlc isa mateo acl oberon hata backor «ory, whether is neo be god or bd, ext inet ad innocuous ebjet even in is mot noble incat tions or example, the ‘Nasbtinged see and ptologe oreraphic yi) ian only ease eat ar, cern Infrin fo that produced by alesha, smoking, of opomte ss. "Tei Inne wakes i agate by the at that tela al weting ameter ina ew month by emo of cet writings which push up behind it Fstherore, rales and limitations, being determined histeealy, tendo change fen: the hitory of all Metres fl of eisnds in which {ich an valid works were oppored in the wane principles ‘which ater prove tobe moh moreephemenl haa the wake themes fem tone can deduce at many press books ‘must have diappared without lesving + trace, having been ‘defeated in the neverending strug tween hoe ho wie and thse who prescribe how one shold site. Pom the Ings of our permisive epoch the trl (eal tin cout) of Flaubert, Baudlse, and D. Hi, Lavience sce osoe ae 17 ere man et feu nd ore wth ef Cl, wide done betucn judges and judged spent the omer bout theietime, the ater alive oral cecal oe. she, to legit for the nant ito sy the les, ls ‘Tis sid, adhere emphatically renouncing any sezlative, prohibitive, or puis, 1 wou ie fo that in’my opinion one sbould not wrke in an oboe manner, betaue a lee of wing hs al the moe vl nd All the more hope of diflson and permanence the bt fs Undestood ard he les it ends belt eutocal inept: tis obvious hat pret lcd writing presuppose tly conscious wir, and ths dosnt vo rei. We Se made up of ego andi apt and cy and fortron ‘clei ais, tation, herman, femal and reset expe tiences, and eau, thercoe we are condemned ea fom eb to rave a doppelaner a mute and fle boc who nevertheless eoreponsble for traction, and or Allof our pages. itis known that aor deeply indes ‘hate has writen and al authors ave had fe opertnty ‘being astonished by he beaut snd nfl hing tat the ‘cites have found in tr works nd ht they di ot Ino they had pt there, many boos conan plage, cone tual or veil, of which the author dele n godin they vere unaware. This i «fc one cant fight apt Boe source of unkoowabiliy and iaonality which tach eo hatbors must be aceled, even ahorzd to exes isl 4 (Pecenanly obser) language, but should net be con rede bet or only source expen, ts ott thatthe only authentic wing is tht which "comes frm the est and which actully comes fom all the tine Ingen ‘onsciousnes mentoned above. Thi tine hovel epaion ie based on the preposition tht the het which “aor Inside” i an organ diferent fom tat ef reson and ore roble, and that the language of the eat the ame ‘enone, which its not Fa om eing univer nine ed oom vane | 1 space, the language ofthe heat is eapsious, contained, nda unstable as ashin, of which ts indeed a pat nor an ‘ne fm maintain that the sae within the cfs of 4 eoutty and an epoch. ‘To pot i difleenty, init 3 Tanguag tall, or at the mst veracli,an ngotf on india invention. Sohe who wits the language ofthe hea can tout Seine adit ite pl nl shat a th pepe of his wing indeed (and T would say at hi a widely aceepable postulate) wing snes 1 commence, transmit information or felngs Gore tind Yo nl, fa place place, and fom time wo tine” Kad he who i al be by anyone dss not tans snyting, bei a the deet. When this Bsppent the well-nentone! read ‘mot be rensured: ihe doesnt undead the text the Suthers fault not his Rr up to the wer to make helt tundembod Dy thse who with. to undead ims it i his nae, wing is poblc seis and he wling reader must ‘ote disappointed. ‘As fo his readet—and Lave the stange impresion of Irving him alongide me aI wite—t ten tT have slightly ieaied Rim He i sina to the pet pc of ‘emnadynamic, perfect only inasmach a thelr beer ‘ety Frese on the Bas of single favs, west rel fees ate more complicated. My “pet” ead s tats Scholi but neither ise an ignores, he does st ead because he has to, nora pti, nor to make aps in soci, ut because he i eure about many things wither, 'o choose among them, and doesnot wih to delat thi hice o anyone he knows the itso hi competence and ‘location, and dels his choice according the pent ‘ase he Tas with gual chosen my books and wld ‘eapetene ition or pain if he didnot undestan ne by line what Lad wien nded, hve wien fr im: in fc wit for hin ad net forthe exis, nor forthe posal the eat, not for meal. I he did not undestand me, be* individual a teas, 17 | omnes ice would fel unjustly humiited, and | would be gully of a breach of contact. Here itis necetary to confront an objection: sometimes one rites or peas) not to communicate bat to gie tet 0 " tension, or fy psi, and then one ao eis inthe Sse, ons laugh, sing, and how's, fr these who how provided they hae valid seasons fr doings, one mat have undenanding: wep nd tow ing, whether restrained o thesia, ave Bene Seesise they alleviate pain. acob hows ve Jeph booed cot ns ‘many civilizations the howled mauring is til and re ‘cred. But then thehow isan eee eu, god fo he inet and uncouth undetocd se 4 language, because that by deiition ite nat the inst isnot aticulat, noise i wot sound, For this reason 1am fd ‘up wth the praise of teats which 1 quote a rnd) “sound atthe lit ofthe inefable, the nonexistent, the whine of {an animal” Tim ted of “dense magmatic impatn,” of ‘semantic refusal,” and sale innovations Blank pages are ‘lank, and its best al them bak fhe king iad t ‘ishonest oy that he naked Penonally Yam aio ted ofthe pase lvised nie ane death on Ezra Pound, who perhaps even a iat oct, but in onder to make sue he would nat be undertones ‘en wrote in Chinese, and I am eomvinced that hs pose ‘obscurity had the same root ashi eli in te spernan, which ted him ft to Fascgm and the to sellienaon: both germinated fom his contempt for the seade, Pechops the American cout which judged Pound ently ill was "ght a wir by instnet, he must have been an bonne ‘Bink, and that i confirmed by bis plial behaves ae ‘is maniacal hated of bakes. Now whoever doesnt ow how to reason most be cured, and win the nis of ponibility respected, even if, like Esra Pound, he leas Fimsel to making Nasi propaganda again his en country at war wth Hers Genny bathe must not be pie not wom ame 173 held ups a example, becae i i beter to bent than “The eae is preferable the ine, thehuman word to the anal whine, I is not by chance thatthe last ‘zxighenbe pots wing in Gena, ra and Celi, bth ‘ids sucies, separated y two geneatons. Their ommon esti makes one think aboot the our thi yoy 2 A preside, 2 not antingtobe, «Bight fom the vr, of hich the intentional death was he crown. They st be feat ban tail in” wa ay mot ‘ated: or Til, by the wreckage ofthe Hapsbrg epi, in which he bleedin the maettvom ofthe Fit Word Wt, for Calan, 2 Gerran Jew, who by 2 muacie suvied the CCermanslaughter, bythe uprotngand appeal anguis in the ae of twiomphant Death. for Calan above albcease he oor contemporary (1920-1970), we smut spk with more seiuines abd greater eon ‘iserident that is songs tragic nd noble, but cof so: to pect iti desperate enterpriefor the common reader but alo forthe este. Celans obscurity i nee enterpt fo the vader, nae epresive imadequny, nor ley Aandonment 10 the Bow ofthe unconcout ly it ‘flection ofthe obscurity of his ie als generation anit HORS ever deter sound the reader, gripping hmm in an ‘Recldvon is, fom the rw city of Death Fugue (198) {othe atrocious chos without a glimmer fight his ast compostions. This datnes grows from page page ut the Inst nau Babble contrat ie the le oa dying ‘man, and tat is jst what is Iatacts sa char tot tbat these time ital deeds us of someting hat should have been sid and war nay al 30 it fst an turns us away. I belive that Celan the poet sould be ‘mediated upon apd pied ae than imitated, IF hiss rmesage, it get lt tn the "ackround note” itis not communication, itis neta language, rat mot ada and truncated Langage precy ite ito person wh abt ae16 | omen mes Spd and i lng aswe al il be at te pinto dent, Baty since we the living ae not alone, we must not wit if we | ‘were alone. AS Tong as we lite We have 3 tesponsbiy we ‘uk anawet fx what we wet, word by word, tnd male sre that every word reaches its ie alr Jose Yoon eye For theres taking to one ellowrnan ina langage that he cannot understand maybe the Bd habit of sme rove Yona, but it isnt at alla eelutienayiatrent ton the contay an ancient reprenive arice, known 1 all churches, the fic vee feu piel elas, the foundstion ofl colonial empts. I issue way of imposing on’ tank: when Fea Cristo (i Mansons Betlvothed) sys “Ona munda mundi in Ltn to Fra Fai, who hs 0 Latin, to the ter “st hearing those wad pregant wit imytrious meaning, and pronounced eo rerltely it seemed that in them mst be connined the slain tl his bubs. He calmed down, and ail Enough! You know mote than I dor "Nor i i tue that one can exes ony hugh verbal tscunitythat oer obscurity of whch wear the hen; ‘di ies in our depths, Wo ue that cree ie necessary to depict done its notre tat the cos ofthe ‘ten page is the bet yb te wliate chs to which tre ae fated: to believe hiss apa vie of oor uncertain century. As long as we lie, ad whatever fate muy fave Leen tssgned tous, or we have cheer, thee no doubt tat the beter the quality of our eexmmunization the mote well (and Secale) ourselves and athe we wi band the long ne 6 willbe remembered He whe docs net know how to corn ics, or eamunicates bal, in ase that belones nl him ora few others is unppr, and sade unapines sound him. If he commusicats badly delieately he i wicked or ata a dicourteausperon, bees he fps Taber, anguish or boredom en i ede. Understandably, forthe menage tobe valid cli isa necessary but not suliient condition: one con be cles ind ie eee banat ime ce ee: [ie dapat te ey and woleman oh ope Seposaneneeee ae aenees oy Soeonmahinis: eee ee eet toe SS eee Soca tacee aware occa pee Ensmoiaee nt =