Abstract
Book cover
Philosophical Presentations of Raising Children pp 85–102Cite as
Palgrave Macmillan
Le Fils: (Re)Turning and Assembling Reminders
Naomi Hodgson & Stefan Ramaekers
Chapter
First Online: 10 March 2019
194 Accesses
Abstract
In the analysis of Le Fils we return to the notion of the parent as a political figure, standing between child and world, and representative of the culture. The device of filming the character of the father from over his shoulder at close range, and the events of the film, present us with the parent as a political figure. Drawing on Ralph Waldo Emerson, we express this in terms of an aversion to conformity that the renewal of community—as a possibility of the intergenerational relationship—might require. We contrast the restless turning of the father to that of the classical expression of turning in educational philosophy, Plato’s allegory of the cave. Distinct from this, we see the very turning itself to mark not only the pedagogical nature of his movement but also the existential condition of the parent as a political figure, situated between child and world. Returning to Cavell and Wittgenstein, we further elaborate the political register of upbringing: the parent’s investment in common practices as an investment in and agreement with the continuity of community.
Philosophical Presentations of Raising Children pp 85–102Cite as
Palgrave Macmillan
Le Fils: (Re)Turning and Assembling Reminders
Naomi Hodgson & Stefan Ramaekers
Chapter
First Online: 10 March 2019
194 Accesses
Abstract
In the analysis of Le Fils we return to the notion of the parent as a political figure, standing between child and world, and representative of the culture. The device of filming the character of the father from over his shoulder at close range, and the events of the film, present us with the parent as a political figure. Drawing on Ralph Waldo Emerson, we express this in terms of an aversion to conformity that the renewal of community—as a possibility of the intergenerational relationship—might require. We contrast the restless turning of the father to that of the classical expression of turning in educational philosophy, Plato’s allegory of the cave. Distinct from this, we see the very turning itself to mark not only the pedagogical nature of his movement but also the existential condition of the parent as a political figure, situated between child and world. Returning to Cavell and Wittgenstein, we further elaborate the political register of upbringing: the parent’s investment in common practices as an investment in and agreement with the continuity of community.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Philosophical Presentations of Raising Children |
| Pages | 85-102 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Mar 2019 |