This lively and insightful account reveals the profound ways in
which everyday acts and artifacts of consumer civilization shape
our sense of self.
ElemA(c)r Hankiss shows how human beings act simultaneously in
two plays. On the "trivial" surface of their everyday lives they
work, make money, raise children, build houses, and do a lot of
other things. At the same time, they also act in the "existential"
drama of their lives -- even if they are not aware of doing so.
They construct and reconstruct their selves each day by striving
for authenticity, the intense experience of being, dignity,
meaning, and the hope of immortality.
Hankiss explores this interaction between the trivial and
existential, in the process unfolding its context in "consumer
civilization." This concept is brilliantly illustrated in a section
entitled "the toothpaste of immortality":
"If we watch enough commercials, we believe that this or that
special brand of toothpaste preserves our teeth, and -- per
metonymiam -- ourselves, young and beautiful indefinitely. And
then, for a fleeting moment, there, in our bathrooms, we experience
the sweet and melancholy illusion that we may stay young and
beautiful forever; that we may defeat mortality; we may defeat
decay and death."
First published to great success in Hungarian, this entertaining
and compelling book reveals surprising insights into the challenges
and possibilities of self-fulfillment.
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