When I was in college, a friend introduced me to critical theory and warned, “You will never be happy again.”  He was sort of right, but being an eternal optimist, I managed to channel my feelings into anger instead of being depressed like my friend.  Having grown up a shooting academic star in a working-class, union household, I thought that if I worked hard enough on the right project, I could accomplish anything.  Work, work, work.  My identity and political interests all revolved around work.

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Most of my associates have not been following this project over the summer. I have been excited about taking on the intensity of writing (and reading) every week but have done it largely alone. The web site hasn’t been that active. Comments on my blog have been nearly non-existent. Even the weekly study group at the center of my social life is reading this book without me (as my job has interfered with my ability to be with the group). I have even avoided, by and large, reading the contributions by Artnoose and others out of concern of repeating points, losing focus, or being responsive rather than proactive in sharing my thoughts. I approached this 10 (12) week project much as I approached the book itself, alone.

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[Part Two concluded by pointing out: "If we are to seriously consider the question of childhood sexuality, how can we do that without knowing what the children think or feel? We have no way to gauge how freely they are engaging in these activities and how much is coercion or a feeling of inescapability." We are all truly indebted to Ariel for her three-part post, concluding here, and for taking up some of the issues from Letters that none of us will soon forget, even if we don't always know how best to analyze and understand them.  -IT]

Yara’s Freedom?

This brings us back to freedom. The question of freedom, much like the questions of morality and desire, is an oft-talked about one in anarchist circles, so I won’t linger here long, but for our purposes the essential question is: How can one be sure they are making “free” decisions? This is a question left unanswered in Letters. Not only is it unanswered; Perlman seems to think it’s not a question worth considering, given that he never even attempts to address this subject in any way except through Sophia, and that’s only to show us how repressed and reactionary Sophia is to judge Tina and Ted’s relationship.

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[Part One concluded by asking what is "typical of the love found in Perlman’s novel"?  Ariel suggests that "it seems to be a predominately sexual love, or another way of putting this is that the only time the word love is used is when it is referencing a sexual relationship. While non-sexual relationships exist, it is the rare one that seems to be totally unhampered by sexual tension."  -IT]

Non-Sexual Relationships in Letters?

One of the few non-sexual relationships is between Sophia and Sabina.  Sophia says:

“When I saw tears under those long black eyelashes I felt an emotion I can’t describe with words like friendship and love. Sabina hadn’t even been ‘Jose’s Girl,’ she hadn’t ever shared his bed, she hadn’t ever desire him physically, yet she loved him; I understood her love for him only because I thought it must be similar to what I felt toward Sabina when I saw her tears.”

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[The following is Part One of a three-part contribution by Ariel Amend-All. Parts Two and Three will be posted over the next few days. - IT]

* * * * * * * *

My post will be broken up into three parts because I am covering a few chapters in one go. Also, I’m trying to cram an entire book’s worth of feelings into this, which is difficult to say the least. I am focusing on some of the more emotion-inducing topics, namely the incest and childhood sexuality. Childhood sexuality is a very complicated topic, not well understood at all, and I don’t claim to be an expert. My opinions are merely based upon my own experiences as a childhood survivor of rape and incest, nothing more or less. My take on these chapters has ended up a little more theoretical/thesis-y then I had hoped, and I look forward to your comments and thoughts!

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As I said in my introductory entry, years ago I told someone I was somewhat envious that he was about to read this last section for the first time, that the ending was that good. While Sophia’s half of the story had its climax in her ninth letter, Yarostan’s story peaks here, specifically during and directly after the engagement party/spectacle that Mirna orchestrates for Jasna and Titus. The mystery is solved, and friendships that have lasted for years begin to unravel.

The real strength in this section, however – and one of the main themes of the book in general – is how it isn’t too late for Yarostan, or Mirna, or Jasna, or anybody else for that matter. Perspectives can take decades to develop, and that’s okay. Yarostan ends his story apologizing for “twenty years of ignorance” but somehow when I see the person he has become, it doesn’t seem to matter.

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We are all grateful to Fredy Perlman, born August 20, 1935, for his activist and intellectual life and legacy.  The opportunity to collectively read (or re-read) Letters of Insurgents – in an age which is generationally beyond its moment of writing but nonetheless still evokes the same clouds of internal and external repression that he grasped so clearly – has been a joy throughout this Insurgent Summer.

Sophia’s Ninth Letter features a few strong, minor characters. These three archetypal characters dominate the Letter and, as archetypes, I have known (or been) each of them. Here are a few of our stories.

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The Ninth Letters continue to separate out those who are focused on “things” and those who are focused on people.  They call into question just how in touch our characters are with their own desires, and clarify the extremely high costs of some of those desires.  If a revolution is supposed to make all desires possible, how is it that some remain beyond the bounds of accepted human morality?  Read the rest of this entry

The plot is thickening, and also quickening. Yarostan’s letter is quite intense this time around, and Sophia’s letter begins to tie up loose ends of the story. Yarostan has heard that foreign armies surround his country, ready to restore order if lawlessness persists. “Freedom inside a cage is still slavery,” he says, and I feel like this might be one of the preliminary themes of the book. How do we navigate as broken people in a world we didn’t choose?

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