Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon I found to be very creative and abstract. It was difficult for me to logistically understand the plot and justify/recognize what and why things were happening in the book. That said, I thought it was a fun read because of the visuals given by Aragon. It was also fairly descriptive and edgy.
Aragon constructed a piece grasping the concepts of surrealism. The topic of God, logic, greater powers and self/beauty are all tied into his writing. In regards to this, his thoughts on reality and how we function as humans in society really stuck out to me. You can tell through his writings that he has a lot of depth to his thoughts and makes his readers engaged in analyzing these same questions within himself. I really like when authors provoke ideas or topics that makes them think but also makes you think deeply as well. Especially in this case, when a lot of his points lead to the suggestion that reality and society should be taken so seriously in a sense and how all these things like God or sense of self and such, can allude to this idea that nothing needs to make sense. Nothing has to make sense or has to mean anything, it can just be what it is. People today are so quick to attach meaning to everything which can be a good thing, but it can also lead to genuine pain over something that doesn’t have to be painful.
I found his visuals of women very interesting and a bit disturbing. Countless times he is caught rambling about blondes, hair and women’s bodies. Something that he did say that caught my eye was; “It is the merest change that these films never depict a woman who suddenly catches sight of a man, goes straight to him … Such films would have no success at all, they would smack too much fiction” (pg.55). I think this line in relation to the submissive portrayal of the ‘ideal’ woman is really telling. We can see that 100 years ago, male dominance, especially in a sensual manner, was the only ‘acceptable’ way to form any type of relationship. This also alludes to the idea that women would never make the first move and always need to be pursued instead of pursuing. In comparison to today, although I think women have a lot more levelled equality in regards to men, this is still a normative issue today. But it led me to think, is it human nature to want to be pursued rather than pursue someone? As a woman, wouldn’t you rather be pursued than make the first move? If it wasn’t for societal pressures, would men rather be pursued than make the first move? Is this concept necessarily a bad ‘norm’ for women?
Hi Tamara! I also found the discussion of women in this text to be a bit offside so to say. Perhaps it can just be boiled down to it being a different time, but this sort of narrative around women is just not something I come across often. To your question about the want of being pursued, I do think it is human nature to want to feel wanted. Many of my male friends have mentioned before how attractive they find it when a woman makes the first move on them. Although I do not love the idea of having to make the first move romantically, I also do think it is a strange idea that the man must always be pursuing the woman in heterosexual relationships. It is a long engraved idea within society though, it even got me thinking about the whole dance some high schools have where it is specifically meant for girls to ask boys (I believe it is called Sadie Hawkings?) which further enforces the idea that in the traditional sense the males are often meant to do the pursuing, and there was a whole 1 time special occasion where there is a reversal of gender roles.
Hi Tamara. I also found myself questioning the way Aragon described women in this text. I mentioned it in my blog as well, but I think it is human nature to want to be pursued or wanted. I do think it is harmful as it perpetuates the idea that women are waiting for a man to “sweep them off their feet”. It is becoming more normalized for women to make the first move, which I believe is a good thing.
Hi Tamara! I also thought this book was a fun read. It was confusing, yes, but like you mention in your post, the fun and the beauty of it is in its simple existence, because it doesn’t have to mean anything more than it is. Trying to overanalyze and understand everything that goes on in this text is probably an impossible task and one that would suck the joy out of it for me. I found myself kind of laughing over some of the depictions of women that Aragon presented in this book. It’s a standard example of the ways in which women were perceived back in the day, and to some extent, are still today.
Hey Tamara! I definitely agree that the book consistently brought up questionable depictions women starting with calling them “ancient whores”(39). I simply attributed it to the fact that Aragon is definitely a man and the text was simply written in a time where women had aligned their goals with societal pressures and expectations so their social life was accordingly. Definitely read over it as more satirical because who am I if not a woman who laughs at a man who thinks he can see right through women.