Indiana University Bloomington Week 6 Plato & Jean de la Fontaine Paper Dear Skholars, This coming week we will continue the discussion we started on Thur

Indiana University Bloomington Week 6 Plato & Jean de la Fontaine Paper Dear Skholars,

This coming week we will continue the discussion we started on Thursday with regards to genre, but this time focused on the question of the sort of work (and temptations) that poetry implies. There are many definitions of poetry, but for our purposes this week we will think of it in its etymological sense of “making” (poeisis= to create in Ancient Greek). What is it that gets “made”? Keep this in mind as you read the acceptance speech by Nobel Prize recipient Toni Morrison. It is a parable about the power of language, what gets made in her parable, how, and by whom? Please note that there are two links on the Syllabus for her speech. One is a Word document for you to print and annotate. The other is a link to the Genius website which has the same text but with some annotations that you may find useful. It is a dense, rich and beautiful meditation on the power of language, and as you read and respond to it, I invite you to choose one quotation that you found particularly striking and share with us your reaction to it.

The second text is a fable by the seventeenth-century court writer Jean de la Fontaine. He took as model Aesop’s fables, little stories meant to convey wisdom, where nature, often through personified animals, plays an important role. His collection became an international success, often used in the education of children. It is likely that you’ve read or heard his fables before. On Tuesday we will discuss the first in La Fontaine’s collection. As you read it, I invite you to think about its position in the collection. Considering that the collection was dedicated to the future king of France (Louis XIV, the Sun King!), why do you think that the tale of the cicada and the ant was placed at the very beginning? What is the significance or symbolism of each animal? How do you interpret line 16 “This is the least of her faults”? Does it refer to the ant or the cicada? What would be the “fault” of each one? Does the cicada’s singing represent work, leisure, play, or laziness (consider the perspective of each of the characters as well as that of the author)?

Finally, the last assigned piece is a Claymation adaptation of the “allegory of the Cave” taken from the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s _Republic_, a book that features another philosopher, Socrates, in dialogue with his students, asking them (and us, the readers) to consider what is justice and what constitutes an ideal political regime. In this book, Socrates argues for the exile of poets from the ideal republic. The justification comes from the “allegory of the Cave.” According to Socrates, there exists an eternal realm of ideas where Truth may be found, and we, mere mortals, can only access the shadow image of those Ideas. The argument, then, is that if our “reality” is already a realm of shadows, then the made-up stories of poets can only be shadows or shadows at best, and who wants that?! If you choose to respond to this video in your weekly reflection, I invite you to do so by flexing your creative muscle: If you were a poet, how would you answer the philosopher’s claim that you are a problem for the republic? Feel free to mobilize here any of the texts we have read before to make a claim for the importance of poetry (or mythos) to any self-respecting political order.

Happy reading!

Prof. Velázquez

Readings

Plato (Greek philosopher 5 BCE), “Allegory of the Cave (Links to an external site.)” from Republic

Jean de la Fontaine (French, 1621-1695), Fables, “The Ant and the Grasshopper” La cigale et la fourmi
La cigale ayant chanté
Tout l’été,
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue :
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau.
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu’à la saison nouvelle.
« Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,
Avant l’août, foi d’animal,
Intérêt et principal. »
La fourmi n’est pas prêteuse :
C’est là son moindre défaut.
« Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud ?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.
— Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.
— Vous chantiez ? J’en suis fort aise :
Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant. »
The cicada (cricket) having sung
All summer long,
Found herself most destitute
When the north wind blew :
Not even one little morsel
Of fly or worm.
She went to plea her famish
To her neighbor the ant,
Begging her to lending her
A little grain so she’d survive
Until the new season.
“I shall pay you, she told her,
Before the harvest, animal’s oath,
Interest and principal.”
The ant is not a lender :
This is the least of her faults.
1
5
10
15
“What were you doing at the warm season?
She asked this borrower.
— Night and day, to anyone
I sang, please you if it may.
— You sang ? I’m delighted :
So, go on and dance now.”
20
Thomas Day Response
The cicada represents leisure and enjoying life in the story. The cicada sang all summer
instead of preparing for winter. In contrast, the ant prepares food for the winter and is
consider the hard worker, or the laborer in the story. These representations make sense
because we often think of a cicada as idle, but chirping. An ant is always seen moving and
working for the betterment of the colony. I think in line 16, where the author talks about
“her faults,” Fontaine is talking about the faults of the ant. I think he is trying to say that the
ant is not a lender and that should not be looked down upon. The ant is in the right because
she worked all summer and it is not fair for the cicada to take that. It seems selfish, but I
think it is there to tell the overall message which is to be responsible and prepared for the
future. I think the poem was dedicated to Louis XlV because he is known for his busy reign
which included the creation of Versailles and his several wars which empowered France. It
would make sense that he wanted to connect hard work to the King.
I have read the “Allegory of the Cave” before, but I have never seen a visual of it. I found that
useful. In the original text, the prisoner is first released inside of the cave and can see what is
producing the shadows, and then he slowly discovers the exit of the cave, and then the world
beyond. I think this makes more sense in the context of the story because he discovers a new
truth only after discovering another. In our world, understanding why things happen and
who is controlling our lives can help discover a rabbit hole of truths. I like that the prisoner
can not communicate back into the cave clearly. I know discover a truth in my life, it might
not make sense to others or I can not completely comprehend the experience. When Adam
and Eve eat from the tree, they are in a sense exiting the cave. They have eaten from the
Tree of Knowledge and understand more about the world. They can not go back just like the
prisoner can not go back to communicate. When I first read this story, my teacher talked a
lot about how some people are ignorantly bliss and some might prefer “staying in the cave.”
The sole prisoner’s life is now harder and he can’t go back to his old life. He can not look at
the world or his old world the same way. For the others, they can just live their entire lives
in the cave without challenging what they know which in a sense is a state of idleness and
leisure.

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