Disenchanted Night

"I wish I could. In fact, although I’ve done a bit of searching, because I am such an admirer of his, I know almost nothing about him. He appears not to be an academic, but works on his own – and I think he lives in New York. But I know nothing more about him personally. If anyone does, do let me know! I’ve read everything he’s written that’s appeared in English – from a book on the psychology of defeat in war to a social history of spices. I know with this author that even if I think I’m not interested before I begin, I will be 20 pages in. For example, his The Culture of Defeat : On National Trauma , Mourning and Recovery looks at the American South after the Civil War, France after the Franco-Prussian War and Germany after World War I, and examines how nations dealt with the trauma of defeat, how societies rebuild themselves by creating myths about the defeat (such as the “plantation legend” of the Old South), or by reconfiguring their identities to reject, or incorporate, aspects of their conquerors’ societies (taking on educational practices from the victors). What is really fascinating are the parallels he finds across centuries and societies – both inspiring and rather frightening. Again, it’s back to Douglas-Fairhurst and how retroactively we take so much for granted. I love the idea that sociability, even family life, changed dramatically as technology changed. For example, when people used candles, activities were individual – the light they gave was only enough for whatever it was you were doing, and to do something in a group, you had to be able to spend a serious amount of money for enough light. Once oil lamps and then gas, then electricity, arrived, social events became less expensive. So, for example, you see an explosion of books being published on card games soon after gas lighting became relatively inexpensive. Or the changes could be much more core to each society. In the 18th century, Schivelbusch suggests that Paris, with its good, state-mandated street lighting, had not much need for good locks on houses, while England, with poor lighting, saw great developments in the technology of locks. What I love about Schivelbusch, here and in all his other books, is how he combines developments in science and technology with social history and psychology – not just what happened, but why, and why it mattered. There’s a wonderful cartoon drawn by Rowlandson in the first decade of the 19th century, when gas lighting was first demonstrated in one street in London. Everyone stands and stares – the wondering citizens, a comic foreigner overcome by the marvels of modernity in London, a preacher who warns of ignoring religion’s “inward light” in favour of this outward show, and a prostitute worrying that, with no dark corners left, “We may as well shut up shop.” Her customer worries too!"