{"id":337,"date":"2020-07-03T10:24:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T08:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/?p=337"},"modified":"2021-11-26T08:47:29","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T07:47:29","slug":"only-lovers-left-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2020\/07\/03\/only-lovers-left-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Only Lovers Left Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_337 social_share_privacy clearfix 1.6.4 locale-de_DE sprite-de_DE\"><\/div><div class=\"twoclick-js\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\njQuery(document).ready(function($){if($('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_337')){$('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_337').socialSharePrivacy({\"txt_help\":\"Wenn Sie diese Felder durch einen Klick aktivieren, werden Informationen an Facebook, Twitter, Flattr, Xing, t3n, LinkedIn, Pinterest oder Google eventuell ins Ausland \\u00fcbertragen und unter Umst\\u00e4nden auch dort gespeichert. N\\u00e4heres erfahren Sie durch einen Klick auf das <em>i<\\\/em>.\",\"settings_perma\":\"Dauerhaft aktivieren und Daten\\u00fcber-tragung zustimmen:\",\"info_link\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.heise.de\\\/ct\\\/artikel\\\/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschutz-1333879.html\",\"uri\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\\\/zekkblog\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/03\\\/only-lovers-left-alive\\\/\",\"post_id\":337,\"post_title_referrer_track\":\"Only+Lovers+Left+Alive\",\"display_infobox\":\"on\"});}});\n\/* ]]> *\/<\/script><\/div>\n<p>Since late January Albert Camus\u2019 <em>La Peste<\/em> (<em>The Plague<\/em>) \u2013 first published in 1947 \u2013 has become a global sensation, being sold with an unprecedented record, making publishers rush out reprints. Although it has often been read as an allegory for fascism, due to its relevant theme to our present situation, the story strikes people today in a more literal light, and thus the infectious disease (=plague) no longer stands for us metaphorically for the Nazi occupation of France, but is rather understood in the literal sense of the word: an infectious disease; Covid-19. We can relate to the story since we see our own dramatic situation reflected in it: a city being suddenly stricken by a lethal epidemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who read the novel literally are fully justified to do so, but it is my strong conviction that Camus\u2019s intention was not story-telling, and that he has used this literary medium in order to imply a much deeper message. He is talking about a disease that lies in the fabric of human society; \u201cthat <strong><em>each of us has the plague within him; no one, no one on earth is free from it<\/em><\/strong>\u201d. We spread the plague, the moment we are witness to an instance of injustice \u2013 however trivial it might be \u2013 taking place in front of our very eyes, and when turn away in cold blood. We afflict others with the disease, the moment we empty our hearts of any affection and love, and think egoistically of our own personal progress and well-being. We are plagued, when we turn deaf and blind to the environmental catastrophes we bring about to the world, due to our unmindful modern life style. We are contributing to the spread of the plague in the world, if we don\u2019t question the unjust <em>status quo<\/em> \u2013 simply because we are its direct or indirect beneficiaries. Such easy is being plague-stricken and plague-distributer. We have the plague in us and keep spreading it, without even being aware of it. And the experience with Covid-19 showed us, how dramatically well it can work \u2013 to be a medium of a disease without knowing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the situation is not that\ndesperate. We still have a way out of this vicious circle. The path taken by\nthe members of the plague-fighting squad in the novel: first realizing and\nadmitting the fact (acceptance) that we are plagued, and then rally all our\nforced against it. Our sole weapon in this fight is \u201clove and compassion for\nothers\u201d, while taking responsibility and action. However absurd the situation\nmight be \u2013 due partly to our inherent ignorance as humans and partly to\nimmensity and lethality of the disease \u2013 we must keep fighting. In spite of its\nabsurdity, we fight! To give in to this absurdity, is to fail being human. What\nis interesting in Camus\u2019 position is his emphasis on \u201clove\u201d \u2013 a central religious\nconcept \u2013 as the sole way to our survival as humans, in our fight against this lethal\nhuman disease. Both\nthe plague and the love come from the human being; the source of the ailment\nand the cure both lie in the human being. And, it is completely upon us to\nchoose either of them: \u201cAll I\nmaintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and\nit\u2019s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences\u201d.<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> All the quotations are from Camus\u2019 novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8222;Only Lovers Left Alive&#8220; is the titel of a 2013 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2020\/07\/eastern-grey-kangaroo-5348452_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-blue-color has-text-color\">Saida Mirsadri ist Doktorandin am Zentrum f\u00fcr Komparative Theologie und Kulturwissenschaften in Paderborn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since late January Albert Camus\u2019 La Peste (The Plague) \u2013 first published in 1947 \u2013 has become a global sensation, being sold with an unprecedented record, making publishers rush out reprints. Although it has often been read as an allegory &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2020\/07\/03\/only-lovers-left-alive\/\">Weiterlesen <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8844,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}