Each era’s belief in its culture’s permanence is a necessary illusion
Evidence
We are lulled into the belief that pop should be immune to this process by the illusion to which those within any culture, any civilisation, fall prey (perhaps it is a necessary illusion?): the belief that our own culture will continue forever. The question we need to ask, then, is not so much “will pop die?”, but has pop already reached the point of undeath? Has it seduced us into an entropy tango, clasping us with zombie fingers as it slowly winds down towards permanent irrelevance? Questions worth raising, if only because as soon as they are no longer raised we can be sure that pop really has reached its terminal phase. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1085
Categorization
- SEED: The ‘entropy tango’ image plus the test — ‘as soon as the questions are no longer raised, pop is truly terminal’ — could anchor a short essay probing which current art forms have already passed their point of undeath undetected.
- XREF: connects to: Civilisations assume their own culture will persist forever, a necessary illusion; Cultures represent themselves as fixed but are always changed by history; Orientalism’s coherence depends on the permanence of its object (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Civilisations assume their own culture will persist forever, a necessary illusion
#corroborates(0.92) - Cultures represent themselves as fixed but are always changed by history
#expands(0.75) - Invented traditions use claims of continuity with the past to inculcate norms.
#exemplifies(0.75) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 810 - Orientalism’s coherence depends on the permanence of its object
#exemplifies(0.72)