beckett and seduction
"in French it is easier to write without style"
- Samuel Beckett
seduction can be a game of words. with linguistic sophistication comes artifice. consider valmont, seducer par excellence: where would he be without the sophisticated elegance of his words to beguile? but in this case words are used to overcome the natural inclinations of ones prey, to lead them, apparently "naturally," to some course of action that they would not naturally pursue.
but isn´t there another way out? in a foreign language we are forced to simplify and prune our communication approach. our primary purpose is getting a point across, and we lack the sophistication to load our speech with ulterior motives. what if our motives are simply an appreciation of beauty, nothing more and nothing less? it stands to reason that love affairs which cross language barriers are more passionate and intense. it isn´t because of some received stereotype about the "exoticism" of ethnicity, or some belief that "X lovers are just more passionate," where X can take many values. i can see a new movement forming on the horizon, let us call it "seduction without style." this has worked for me in the past, and i have hope that it will continue to work.
- Samuel Beckett
seduction can be a game of words. with linguistic sophistication comes artifice. consider valmont, seducer par excellence: where would he be without the sophisticated elegance of his words to beguile? but in this case words are used to overcome the natural inclinations of ones prey, to lead them, apparently "naturally," to some course of action that they would not naturally pursue.
but isn´t there another way out? in a foreign language we are forced to simplify and prune our communication approach. our primary purpose is getting a point across, and we lack the sophistication to load our speech with ulterior motives. what if our motives are simply an appreciation of beauty, nothing more and nothing less? it stands to reason that love affairs which cross language barriers are more passionate and intense. it isn´t because of some received stereotype about the "exoticism" of ethnicity, or some belief that "X lovers are just more passionate," where X can take many values. i can see a new movement forming on the horizon, let us call it "seduction without style." this has worked for me in the past, and i have hope that it will continue to work.