This is a really great piece. I'm twenty years older than you, and I can feel that nostalgia going back to an even *earlier* time: I've often said it, but parts of my childhood (maybe the parts I remember best?) would not have been out place in - and allowed me to viscerally connect with - childhood stories that take place in the 1950s, even the 1930s. The Change came slowly, then all at once ... I would have a lot more to say about it, but here, just to drop you this: when I was doing my graduate research work here in France, I came across this 1992 book by Marc Augé called "Non-lieux" (Non-places). The title is also a play on the French legal system idea of a "non-lieu" :
("At the end of their investigation, the investigating judge either refers the case to the trial court (ordonnance de renvoi) or issues an ordonnance de non-lieu (a "no-case" judgement). The latter happens when the evidence gathered by the investigation does not justify further action. - Wikipedia).
There's something interesting about that also: it didn't happen. "Avoir lieu" is "to take place" (event). So a "non-lieu" is something deemed to "not have sufficient evidence for further action". It "didn't happen" ...
Anyway, I went to see if there was an English translation to share, in case you're interested, and lo and behold, the Internet delivereth!
This is a really great piece. I'm twenty years older than you, and I can feel that nostalgia going back to an even *earlier* time: I've often said it, but parts of my childhood (maybe the parts I remember best?) would not have been out place in - and allowed me to viscerally connect with - childhood stories that take place in the 1950s, even the 1930s. The Change came slowly, then all at once ... I would have a lot more to say about it, but here, just to drop you this: when I was doing my graduate research work here in France, I came across this 1992 book by Marc Augé called "Non-lieux" (Non-places). The title is also a play on the French legal system idea of a "non-lieu" :
("At the end of their investigation, the investigating judge either refers the case to the trial court (ordonnance de renvoi) or issues an ordonnance de non-lieu (a "no-case" judgement). The latter happens when the evidence gathered by the investigation does not justify further action. - Wikipedia).
There's something interesting about that also: it didn't happen. "Avoir lieu" is "to take place" (event). So a "non-lieu" is something deemed to "not have sufficient evidence for further action". It "didn't happen" ...
Anyway, I went to see if there was an English translation to share, in case you're interested, and lo and behold, the Internet delivereth!
https://monoskop.org/images/3/3c/Auge_Marc_Non-Places_Introduction_to_an_Anthropology_of_Supermodernity.pdf
This competing with the Amazing Digital Circus finale. I’ll probably choose this.
I’d never heard of that before and now I’ve gone down a rabbit hole 🫨 thanks for reading!
The amazing digital circus?