Contr’un

anarchist mutualism

Anarchism’s Ungovernability, and What it Means to Be a Mutualist

November 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  Some time back I posted an unexpectedly controversial post on “The Ungovernability of Anarchism.” My goal was to start to talk about how the things that we are in the process of learning about the early phases of the anarchist movement, together with the struggles we are currently having to determine the limits of the tradition, raise interesting and potentially troubling questions about the ways in which we can lay claim to the various aspects of “anarchism.” I fully intended to “raise the bar,” but what I said was taken, by a variety of folks with an interest in […]
Contr'un

Gastrolatry / Gastronomy / Gastrosophy

November 13, 2012
These entries are from the Dictionary Of Phalansterian Sociology: GASTROLATRY. — Ignoble role of the man who only knows how to play with his jaw. — New Industrial World, 259. Theory of Universal Unity, 109. — See: Gluttony. GASTRONOMY. — In civilization gastronomy can only play a very subordinate role, nearer to debauchery than to wisdom. — New Industrial World, 258. — Conditions which render gastronomy honorable and praiseworthy.  X. 251. — Gastronomy is a seed of attraction more effective than any other. N. 260, 382. GASTROSOPHY. — Gastrosophy is gastronomy applied to industrial attraction and to hygiene. — Gastronomy, […]
Contr'un

Louise Michel, “The Claque-Dents” (IV-VI)

November 13, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CLAQUE-DENTS [continued] IV There are two little-known islands on the coast of Morbihan. From a distance, Hœdik has the appearance of a seahorse; some bits of land, one having the appearance of bagpipes, the others stamped in the shape of the tail, surround it. Houat is a double star; reefs, where the waves and wind roar, border Hœdik and Houat. On these islands, and on their constellations of islets, live a population of fisher-folk who only know the sea. On the horizon, eating into the coasts of Quiberon and Penmarch, is the sea; between the two harbors, a first […]
Contr'un

Louise Michel and “the birds of the coming storm”

November 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Here is a literal translation of Louise Michel’s “Les Corbeaux”, from Before the Commune, a posthumous collection of poems published in 1905.  _____ THE CROWS Up there, on the fir trees, are some soft birds’ nests; In the dark trees the are black crows. From Germany to the Ukraine, They open their wings to the wind; And they fly, casting over the plains Their raucous rattle of their voices. For them the harvest is superb; The dead are there, sown in the grass, O black bird, like wheat. Go, and from eyes full of shadow, As if from cups, drink; […]
Contr'un

Here he comes, to save the day…

November 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve been reading bits and pieces of Louise Michel’s novels, as part of a larger project to get a general sense of what’s out there, and naturally with some eye to what might be worth translating in the future. One of the titles I’ve been looking at today is a massive work, Le Bâtard Impérial, co-written with Jean Winter and published in 1883. One of the major plot-lines of the novel involves Yvan, who has been an executioner in Russian prisoners, and who, through a plot twist that seems to involve mistaken identities and one of Michel’s favorite plot devices, […]
Contr'un

A lighter side of Louise Michel

November 7, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve posted translations of “Old Chéchette,” a first story from Louise Michel’s Tales and Legends for the Children (1884), and “The Clavier of My Over-Dream,” an article/prose-poem contributed (under the name “Louis Michel) to Le Progrès musical in 1867. 
Contr'un

Joseph Déjacque, “The Humanisphere” — Note on “The Extremes”

November 3, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’m working on completing Part I of The Humanisphere, but I decided to finish up this very interesting note before settling down to that task. There are tensions in the work which are pretty remarkable — as we saw in Part III, Déjacque was prepared to call for a war against Civilization (defined, following Fourier, as the form of society of the modern era, and thus something to be progressed beyond) exceeding even that proposed by Ernest Coeurderoy, but, as we will see in Part II, that didn’t prevent him from imagining his anarchic utopia as a kind of thoroughly […]
Contr'un

Joseph Déjacque, “The Humanisphere” (Part III)

November 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[I’ve posted parts of The Humanisphere before, and talked a bit about the difficulties involved. Slowly, but surely, I’m working my way through the work, but not necessarily tackling the sections in order. This is the final section.] THE HUMANISPHERE by Joseph Déjacque Part III The Transitional Period. How will the progress be accomplished? What means will prevail? What route will be chosen? That is what is it is difficult to determine in an absolute manner. But whatever these means, whatever the route, if it is a step towards anarchic liberty, I will applaud it. Let the progress take place […]
Contr'un

Jean Grave, The Adventures of Nono — Chapter X

October 29, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  THE ADVENTURES OF NONO by JEAN GRAVE  [continued from Chapter IX] X THE ENCOUNTER The group was returning very slowly, without hurrying, when Nono saw a splendid death’s-head hawkmoth. He immediately decided to catch it. But when he tried to seize it, the insect, with an unexpected flap of its wings, escaped from the net and came fluttering, as if to taunt him, very close to the hunter who, carried away by the heat of the chase, soon found himself led far from his friends. Finally, stopping near a large oak, the moth seemed within range, and Nono thought […]
Contr'un

Jean Grave, The Adventures of Nono — Chapter IX

October 28, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE ADVENTURES OF NONO by JEAN GRAVE  [continued from Chapter VIII] IX THE PROMENADE Nono had been in Autonomie for some time, and that time seemed to have passed like a dream. The time passed quietly; each day brought diverse labors and pleasures, which prevented the children from being bored for a single minute. Nono now knew all his comrades by name, knew who their parents were, what they did, and what country they came from. Most of the time, school-hours were spent in the gardens, on the lawns; but, for variety, they had long since planned a long walk […]