In an article by Standpoint Magazine Joseph Rachman uses insights from author Umberto Eco to understand the rise of new far right movements. I found the following quote interesting because it describes how the far right now also uses the “Semiological Guerrilla Warfare” tactics that Eco proposed.
Today’s far Right is also counter-cultural, setting itself against existing institutions, seeing the media, universities, courts and parliaments as lost causes or compromised. Far-Right supporters form networks on social media where news is reinterpreted into evidence of the conspiracy they ‘know’ exists. They also show impressive sensitivity to the media’s weaknesses. When the far Right claim, semi-ironically, common symbols such as the OK sign and the Facebook “trash dove” as their own, they garner media attention and force liberals to worry about previously innocuous signs.
Read the full article here.
Finished a second novel of Elizabeth Strout, "My Name is Lucy Barton". What a wonderful short novel full of heart and sincerity, I had to read it in one go! 📚 Elizabeth Strout is an exceptional writer I must say; there are some many lovely phrases I was underlining throughout this book. The book is written in a concise way, but there are a lot layers in this story about Lucy Barton who is recovering after a surgery (and who is also writer in the novel), and has an opportunity to reconnect with her mother through gossip. Which allows Lucy to understand more about her own and her mother’s difficult lives.
📖 First time reading a book by Elizabeth Strout, finished "Olive Kitteridge". Very well written prose and amazing how she can give us such a detailed glimpse into all those different characters’ lives using only small stories. I didn’t get any special attachment to Olive Kitteridge herself though, and sometimes her character seems a bit forced in the story to make a link between the different segments. But overall I enjoyed it and found several stories quite memorable.