Chapter 59 Reading Notes "Brody's Report"--Reading Borges' Novels

"Brody's Report" is a report from the hometown of art, which vividly expounds the concept of art. It often happens that when we stand in front of a beautiful painting, we are deeply moved, and at the same time, we are surprised: Where does the primal force that sweeps away everything in the painting come from? What kind of world does the creator live in alongside our pale, counterfeit world? Through what channels does he communicate with civilized society? "Brody's Report" takes us to the artist's hometown took a cruise. The Yahu people are not a primitive nation, they have many primitive features, but this race has civilization.This is a race that has voluntarily degenerated from civilization to barbarism. In fact, their degeneration is just a kind of active breakthrough, a breakthrough into a strange and higher spiritual realm.This kind of breakthrough requires returning to the basics, abandoning many things in civilized society, including language, until reaching the source of civilization, and re-experience everything that human civilization has experienced.To these natural creators nothing is ready-made, but all that exists is that which, bathed in the light of the gods, has been named by them, silently or audibly.And their gods live in their own spiritual realm.Yahu people's spiritual realm excludes worldly carnal desires. They close their eyes or hide when they eat, and feel deeply guilty for their desires. Their sexual intercourse is full of sacred passion and beauty, but it is not related to the satisfaction and Reproduction has nothing to do.However, these people with incomparably clean spirits have the most exuberant and vile vitality at the same time. They live in groups like poisonous snakes and ants in the swamp full of filth (nearby there are vast grasslands and mountains with shaded trees and clear springs), all day long. Exposed to the sun of the equator, he has a special preference for eating spoiled food and dead bodies (reminiscent of Mr. Lu Xun's "choose one's heart to eat one's own food").It is these corrupted foods that are transformed into powerful forces through their special digestive system.The language of the Yahu people regresses from the language of civilization and develops into the language of the body and mind, forming a spectacle of reverse experience.Their simple words full of abstract thinking come directly from the induction of the soul, and the rich dialectical meaning in the words is not intentional, but only the expression of a profound realm.There is nothing purer than Yahu people's ideas. These people who have lost the memory of the "past" and are only obsessed with the creation of the "now" only know four numbers, and they even put the complicated process of commodity exchange They are all simplistic, they don't like the complexity of the world, they are indifferent to the joy and pain of the world, and live in an abstract and simple realm all day long.Their rational thinking is also beyond ordinary people, and this kind of thinking aims to push them to the most extreme experience of human nature.What they are most in awe of is magic power. They believe that magic power is above all else, and magicians can turn people into ants or turtles.They are obsessed with the present, and the characteristic of excluding the past has given them an incredible ability to foresee. There is almost nothing they cannot foresee. They can foresee the future as freely as we recall the past. This kind of "doing the opposite" The artistic prowess of Yahu people is commonplace.No one views sacrifice more frankly than the Yahu people, and all agree that sacrifice is the highest virtue, the most coveted state.As soon as the king was born, he cut off his limbs, cut off his genitals, burned his eyes, and let him sit in a cave to concentrate on developing his wisdom.When war broke out, the magician took the crippled king on his shoulders and rushed to the fiercest battle, where he was stoned to death by the wildlings.This spiritual nation also has a tradition of art. Their obscure poems are inspired by the gods. Once the poet utters those simple words, he himself becomes a god, so he is no longer in society. Having a foothold, he must flee to the quicksand in the north to continue his art, and from then on his duty is to sacrifice.Those who violate the creed with their own desires will end up being stoned to death. When the punishment is executed, all people regard sacrifice as enjoyment, and the criminal himself will never resist.In fact, criminals yearn for this ending. The more the body suffers, the more liberated the soul is.

Human society unites incompatible contradictions in a way that is unimaginable, and develops the most humanistic concept.The noble realm they opened up has coexisted with our civilized world from ancient times to the present, or in other words, it is the ideal fruit of our civilization from generation to generation.It is a utopia, and it actually cleanses us, inspires us, and keeps us from shriveling or festering entirely in toxin pollution.As long as there are still people in the world, the world is not hopeless.