Excerpts from 'Dark Matter
The History of Shit' by Florian Werner (transl. Tereza Kuldova)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2651889 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Florian Werner (0000-0002-0709-3591, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 63-80 |
| Publication date | 2017-03-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Extreme Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2535-3241 • E-ISSN: 2535-3241 |
| Publisher | University of Oslo Library (PUBLISHER • NO) |
| DOI | 10.5617/jea.4520 |
| OpenAlex | W2596138059 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 1 |
Human culture is built on shit. Not only because our cities, the paradigmatic example of our modern civilization, are built above gigantic sewage systems. Not only because our metabolism and with it our life itself would be impossible without the excretion of shit. But also because it is only when we draw a line of separation from shit, we come to know what culture is. Without shadows, there is no light, without dirt, no cleanliness. We need an uncultured opposite in order to be able to think of ourselves as civilized beings. We need shit in order to do away with it and in order to affirm our sophistication. Shit is indispensable to our self-understanding as modern people. This accompanies us throughout our whole life. Already the saint Augustin knew that 'we are born between shit and piss', and that it is precisely in this moment that our confrontation with the dark matter begins. It is through excretion that we acquire the social grammar of disgust, of hygiene and a sense for what is pleasant and what not in the realm of smells. We learn that the word 'shit' is a taboo, and we learn immediately to use it as a weapon, as a provocation or as a punch line of our dirty jokes. During the anal stage of our development, we learn to control, keep or let go of our bowel movement; this is how we explore the boundaries, openings and muscles of our bodies. And when we turn old, we chat with our excrements -as Alfred Lambert does, the father from Jonathan Franzen's novel The Corrections, who suffers of dementia. From the cradle to the stretcher, shit shapes our understanding of culture, society, health, decency, humour and identity
Art · Art history · Shit · Scientific Research and Philosophical Inquiry · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2024 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |