7 ms·

It's very hard to take this essay seriously. Mostly because it so completely dances around the obvious purpose of a "superstore" that it is hard to connect thi

by howlin 3y ago

It's very hard to take this essay seriously. Mostly because it so completely dances around the obvious purpose of a "superstore" that it is hard to connect this described experience much at all to what people actually do in such a store. This essay kind of describes this sort of store as one would describe a walk through the woods. But the purpose of a walk in the woods is so distinct from the purpose of shopping that no comparison can be made.

tomcam 3y ago
Except it’s you know, transgressive. Says so right there in the article. Next time I want some thing that masturbatory I’ll go straight to a porn site.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  It's a continental philosophy thing. The moment I saw Paris Review in the title I knew there would be "transgressive", a few shots at capitalism, and inevitable dog-whistles to race and gender. And sure enough, coulda won bingo with those assumptions. Usually some sort of tie back to "the Real", in either the Lacan / Zizek sense, or the Baudrillard sense. Didn't get any of those, though; kinda disappointed.
  - tomcam 3y ago
    > The moment I saw Paris Review in the title I knew there would be "transgressive", a few shots at capitalism, and inevitable dog-whistles to race and gender. Lol. Boy Howdy, you nailed it and I love your Bingo card. In my weak defense, I hoped that, since it had been vetted by the good denizens of Hacker News, it would’ve been a bit better than average.
  - PreachSoup 3y ago
    Thanks for the tldr. This summary is hilarious and spot on
    - tomcam 3y ago
      > It's a continental philosophy thing. That’s going into the history books.
  - doublepg23 3y ago
    Being able to pick up on these memes would’ve saved me a lot of time in my early adulthood.
  - noduerme 3y ago
    To be fair, even the most remote Carrefour in rural France would be considered an opulent food palace for the top 5% in the United States. Some forms of capitalism seem to produce more aesthetically pleasing results than others.
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  Two different posts have called out that specific part, and I don't get why. It fits just fine, in context. The overall tone of the article, I get criticizing, but that part seems entirely fine to me. (the context is that the author's parents seem to have disliked the store, and ran a press that published a book that was sharply critical of Wal Mart, with the result that the author went many years without visiting one—this context is presented right before that entirely reasonable and appropriate use of "transgressive")
giraffe_lady 3y ago
I think they're giving us the benefit of the doubt that we know what a store is for and have already sufficiently considered what can be accomplished in one.
dbtc 3y ago
The essay is not about the purpose, it's about the effect. I see where you're coming from, living in a big busy city and shopping regularly in such stores you get desensitized, but your comparison to a walk in the woods is perfect. A walk in the forest can teach you a different way to see, and so can reading a book. A more systems-minded person might see an entirely different world of hidden machinations than Annie Ernaux if they walk their local megamart like they would in the woods, but it would be equally fascinating to read. It has the same essence as the hacker's posture of curiosity and play.

by howlin 3y ago

tomcam 3y ago

Except it’s you know, transgressive. Says so right there in the article. Next time I want some thing that masturbatory I’ll go straight to a porn site.

red-iron-pine 3y ago
It's a continental philosophy thing. The moment I saw Paris Review in the title I knew there would be "transgressive", a few shots at capitalism, and inevitable dog-whistles to race and gender. And sure enough, coulda won bingo with those assumptions. Usually some sort of tie back to "the Real", in either the Lacan / Zizek sense, or the Baudrillard sense. Didn't get any of those, though; kinda disappointed.
- tomcam 3y ago
  > The moment I saw Paris Review in the title I knew there would be "transgressive", a few shots at capitalism, and inevitable dog-whistles to race and gender. Lol. Boy Howdy, you nailed it and I love your Bingo card. In my weak defense, I hoped that, since it had been vetted by the good denizens of Hacker News, it would’ve been a bit better than average.
- PreachSoup 3y ago
  Thanks for the tldr. This summary is hilarious and spot on
  - tomcam 3y ago
    > It's a continental philosophy thing. That’s going into the history books.
- doublepg23 3y ago
  Being able to pick up on these memes would’ve saved me a lot of time in my early adulthood.
- noduerme 3y ago
  To be fair, even the most remote Carrefour in rural France would be considered an opulent food palace for the top 5% in the United States. Some forms of capitalism seem to produce more aesthetically pleasing results than others.
yamtaddle 3y ago
Two different posts have called out that specific part, and I don't get why. It fits just fine, in context. The overall tone of the article, I get criticizing, but that part seems entirely fine to me. (the context is that the author's parents seem to have disliked the store, and ran a press that published a book that was sharply critical of Wal Mart, with the result that the author went many years without visiting one—this context is presented right before that entirely reasonable and appropriate use of "transgressive")

giraffe_lady 3y ago

I think they're giving us the benefit of the doubt that we know what a store is for and have already sufficiently considered what can be accomplished in one.

dbtc 3y ago

The essay is not about the purpose, it's about the effect. I see where you're coming from, living in a big busy city and shopping regularly in such stores you get desensitized, but your comparison to a walk in the woods is perfect. A walk in the forest can teach you a different way to see, and so can reading a book. A more systems-minded person might see an entirely different world of hidden machinations than Annie Ernaux if they walk their local megamart like they would in the woods, but it would be equally fascinating to read. It has the same essence as the hacker's posture of curiosity and play.