Apocalypse as Limit of Signification

Bamberg Apocalypse - Dragon Pursuing Woman In Wilderness (Commons)

The Apocalypse is the limit of signification. For the western mind there can be no beyond it, no possible emotional commitment can be found in anything but the twin Janus faces of the apocalypse: revelation or destruction; the one looking ahead, the other drowning all possible futures in the abyss. Ours is a culture that… Continue reading Apocalypse as Limit of Signification

Happy 200th Birthday Socialist Richard Wagner

Caricature of Wagner by Karl Clic in the Viennese satirical magazine, Humoristische Blätter (1873).

An Introductory Note As I edit this article, in a world where the socialism that Richard Wagner fought for may have achieved gigantic global proportions, and perhaps should deserve a name more fitting to its real nature (since humanity seems now to be the enemy), I wonder what the revolutionary, some say “terrorist” genius that… Continue reading Happy 200th Birthday Socialist Richard Wagner

The missing heroine: Revelation 12

Bamberg Apocalypse Folio031v Dragon Pursuing Woman In Wilderness

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? (Ecclesiastes 3:21) If the Book of Revelation is not a tragic piece it is because the main character is missing. No matter how hard we attempt to convince ourselves that the protagonist is humanity… Continue reading The missing heroine: Revelation 12