Can a bout of laziness or a digressive spell actually open up paths to creativity and unexpected insights? In Obstruction Nick Salvato suggests that for those engaged in scholarly pursuits laziness; digressiveness; and related experiences can be paradoxically generative. Rather than being dismissed as hindrances; these obstructions are to be embraced; clung to; and reoriented. Analyzing an eclectic range of texts and figures; from the Greek Cynics and Denis Diderot to Dean Martin and the Web series Drunk History; Salvato finds value in five obstructions: embarrassment; laziness; slowness; cynicism; and digressiveness. Whether listening to Tori Amoss music as a way to think about embarrassment; linking the MTV series Daria to using cynicism to negotiate higher educations corporatized climate; or examining the affect of slowness in Kelly Reichardts films; Salvato expands our conceptions of each obstruction and shows ways to transform them into useful provocations. With a unique; literary; and self-reflexive voice; Salvato demonstrates the importance of these debased obstructions and shows how they may support alternative modes of intellectual activity. In doing so; he impels us to rethink the very meanings of thinking; work; and value.
#2250271 in eBooks 2016-02-02 2016-02-02File Name: B01BTMZ90I
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Early 21st C - overviewBy ShipshapeThis is a well researched volume looking at the stater of the art and cultural participation on the doorstep of the new millennium. As such; it is a snapshot that may have faded a little. For example; reality TV was just breaking out - it is now daily fare. The public policy prescription come from a particular ideology that has little traction in todays climate --0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Great Book!By Lauran H.Arrived early; Great Book!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MilduraIts a great book
