Hey-hei! There is not too much glamor in the life of a sharp cultural journalist, so when I realized that I had been invited to both the French ambassador and to the very castle of one and the same week, I set myself in the swings of decoding what “Dress Code: Cocktail” and “Daily, Nice” would mean in practice. The occasion was the newly founded Fosse lecture and the Fosse Prize, two measures from the government that quite a few of us had realized what entails. The intention is to honor Jon Fosse’s Nobel Prize by bringing in new thoughts to Norway each year through a lecture of a foreign intellectual, as well as to give a price of half a million kroner to a valued translator. NEWS: The Crown Princess is a fan of Fosse’s books, and called him jokingly “our neighbor”, since Fosse lives (partially) in the cave, a few meters from the castle. Photo: Heiko Junge / Pool / Pool / NTB The government has set aside 4 million annually for this event and booked the castle as an arena, so they really hit the big drum. The award winner Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel stole Norwegian hearts with his tribute to Norwegian literature, in fluent Norwegian with only a hint of German accent. But the French philosopher’s lecture on creation (delivered in French) was a nut to crack. I think the government needs some help if they are to achieve Jean-Luc Marion’s thoughts reaching out to the Norwegian people, so here I make my contribution. Three reasons why it is worth your time to learn a little about Jean-Luc Marion’s philosophy: You benefit from your tax money. 😊 It can give you a lovely look at the world around you. You can think again about writing and creating. OK, ready? My journey into Marion’s philosophy went over three days – the pure festival, it was! We will visit three beautiful premises: the French residence, the castle and the National Library. The residence – what is really on the bus for reception on the French residence, I read up on Wikipedia. Jean-Luc Marion (78) is one of the most significant philosophers of our time, it said. He is assigned a place in the super -priestly french academy. He is theologian and philosopher, and inspired by philosophers such as Derrida, Wittgenstein and Deleuze. Here the panic grabbed me a little, because I have been to all the three guys in literature and film studies, and with a knife against the neck I could tell you three sentences about what each of them stands for, but not much more. So now I imagined that I had to converse in French about post -structuralist philosophy, and that can be tough on a Thursday after work. Cocktail: Author Hans Petter Blad and I felt both we had the nail dress code on the French residence. Photo: Hjørdis Losnedal / news I foamed in Wikipedia and found something I could hang on. Based on what the Bible says about the creation of the earth, Jean-Luc Marion has come to the conclusion that Aries are a gift. (In French, the term his Étant Donné.) Ok, now I had something to base some philosophical small talk on. When I arrived, it turned out that several of the guests were just like me. The exception was some Norwegian philosopher theologians, who were well read and actually fans of Marion. From them I was told that a supporter of Marion’s thoughts call herself a puppet, which I thought was fun, although it might be a joke. So the question was – could I also end up as a marionette by the week was over? First stop: France’s ambassador Florence Robine has studied science history and was a good hostess for Jean-Luc Marion. Photo: Siss Vik / news I never came to exchange a few words with the philosopher myself, but instead threw myself over Margreth Olin, filmmaker and author, for some insight. Olin had been commissioned to interview the French philosopher at the National Library and had plowed through the Fosse lecture titled “Creation” several times. She said that the middle party was a bit technical, but that she had cried in the end. Okay, then there is something that can touch the soul, here you just have to join the journey. The castle – completely Greek this time I came more prepared, and had read half Marion’s lecture in advance. The only reading friendly with that lecture is the font, the size of easy -to -read books, but already on the first page we have to deal with Aristotle and Greek concepts, and then it follows with both Latin and Hebrew. FOSSE Lecture: The very first Fosseofråket is found in both French, English and Norwegian. Photo: The National Library therefore I became skeptical when the Crown Princess, the Minister of Culture and the National Librarian in turn assured us that they were very much looking forward to this lecture, and that we had something big in store. I got the feeling of parents who insure their children that fish and broccoli for dinner will taste great. Marion even seemed afraid that it would pull out, because he skipped parts of his own text, so the simultaneous translator struggled to find the thread. A cartoonist would illustrate it with questioning our heads. Fortunately, you could admire the beautiful chandeliers when falling off the load. Stunning: 250 people were invited to the Fosse Lecture and Fossepris at the Castle. Photo: Heiko Junge / Pool / Pool / NTB This lecture would probably have been a good scouring for students at theology at Sorbonne University in Paris, but it must have been the most high-flying lecture at the castle ever. At the mingling afterwards the shampoo was good, but the mood a little trying. What had we really got out of the lecture? I tried my insight that existence is a gift, but met resistance. For some asked: Is Putin’s Aries a gift, especially seen with Ukrainian eyes? Or Trumps, or Kim Jong-uns, or your sour neighbor’s existence for that matter? I think Marion wanted to respond that they manage their gift badly. But what if these powerful men had learned from marion and seen people, animals and plants as gifts? What would the world look like? Tired: According to the castle’s dress code, sneakers were banned, so the feet were as tired as the brain after the waterfall. Photo: Siss Vik / news I have been thinking about all the things that gifts for a week now, and I have to say it makes my gaze on the world milder, and fills me with gratitude. I recommend you try, for at least 24 hours, and see if you notice the difference! Then we go on to the big question Jean-Luc Marion puts in his lecture: What happens when you create something? The National Library – the pieces fall into place creation is an everyday word, writes Marion, it can describe everything from writing a song, drawing a fashion collection, creating content on Tiktok, or writing a book. But when you ask where and how creation occurs, we are deep in philosophy and theology. The last part of my waterfall festival was spent at the National Library, along with a great group that also neglected the Friday taco in favor of French philosophy. Friday food: There was a nice atmosphere in the audience who wanted new thoughts on creation Photo: The National Library first interviewed the Margreth Olin philosopher, and now Jean-Luc Marion was a bit in Friday mode he too, and shared his thoughts on eroticism and love. There was both laughter and satisfied mm-ing in the hall when the pieces began to fall into place. Then we got to participate in a reading circle with a writer, a philosopher and a literary writer, knowledgeable program led by Margunn Vikingstad, who had performed the achievement of translating the lecture into Nynorsk. If you ask a writer where the books come from, many people say they do not quite know, that the text is smarter than them, that the characters take over and the story has their own will. One of those who describes the creation process like this is precisely Jon Fosse: Author Patti Smith also told us to visit Oslo that she has experienced finding a song in the air when she is out and about. In another well -known example, Paul McCartney woke up with the tune of “Yesterday” fixed in the head. Based on God’s creation of the world, Marion argues that artists do not create anything out of nothing, as God created the world out of nowhere. Rather, the work comes to the artist, and the artist – or the author in this case – gives the art of art, almost like a craftsman. One of the world’s largest artists, Michelangelo, said that the sculpture is already in the marble block, his job was only to carve it out. There is a good picture in this context. This sounds pretty romantic, and a little old -fashioned and beautiful. The theologian and author: Ragnar Misje Bergem and Hanne Ørstavik looked differently at the philosophy of Marion Photo: The National Library I am left with the impression that you can also use Marion’s philosophy as a method, especially after talking to Margreth Olin. She made dozens of films and last year released her first novel, “Song to Mother”. Olin has stopped calling herself filmmaker, because she feels that her job is more about gathering and receiving. When she made the movie “Fatherland”, she would like to thank her parents for what they had given her. She went out with her movie crew and said: Now we will listen and receive the gifts we receive. The result was a film about a western valley where even the inhabitants said they saw their home in a whole new way. – Marion is theologian and looks at the world with a humble look. For me, these days with him have been pretty mindblowing. Found the tone: Margreth Olin and Jean-Luc addressed the big questions in a more easy-to-understand way. Photo: The National Library Do you have to be an artist to experience this? I think people who become artists are born with a talent for listening, as well as with the patience required to give the matter form. But I also think we others can experience something similar: A mother who will write confirmation speech, a youth who climate the guitar, or a father who makes a good wooden stack; Everyone does it best by listening, and perhaps submitting the will of the music, to the words, to the wooden cubes. Trinity: Three institutions held a party together: National Library, Government and Royal House, represented by national librarian Aslak Sira Myhre, Minister of Culture Lubna Jaffrey and the Crown Prince Pars Photo: National Library VIK / news Philosopher: Jean-Luc Marion was anything but strict, although he looks a bit strict here Photo: The National Library Reading Circle with (Fv) Literature writer Louisa Olufsen Layne, theologian Ragnar Misje Bergem and author Hanne Ørstavik was a good help to understand Marion’s ideas. Photo: The National Library I started the book letter by saying that Marion believed that Aries are gifts. And now I’m going back to it. For the Friday night at the National Library, when Olin interviewed Marion, something quite magical emerged. For one thing is to think that a human existence is a gift and that it leads to gratitude. But it goes the other way, too, Marion said. If you look at humans, animals, plants, art and objects with gratitude, then make them gifts! It means that you and I and each individual can make our surroundings into gifts, just by looking at them with gratitude. It may fall more easily now in the spring than a dark February day, but I call it magical creative power. Now I hope you have been hanging out all the way, and if you are more interested, all the events are on the National Library’s website, and news TV also shows the session from the Castle during the month of May. I realize that the week’s theme was a little narrower than normal, but if you know someone who is concerned about creation or the meaning of life, you should feel free to tip them about this book letter! Currently, I’m reading a biography of Zelenskyj, a collection of poems to call his mother and a gigalanged fantasy epos, so next week will probably be about one of these themes. Talk! Siss comment did you get something out of the waterfall? Can I answer something you are wondering? What do you think about creation and writing, where do you think it occurs? Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in with other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our Terms of Use for Dialogue online Published on 03.05.2025. 08.41
ttn-69
