One of the most profound insights I have gleaned from reading The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Fighting in America is the place of ritualized and symbolic violence in societies over time. Men crave the order of violence with rules and attach elevated importance to such contests in part because so much of life is entirely unjust, oppressive, mundance, etc. Violence is not something one, no matter ones level of expertise, can actually entirely plan for. It is chaotic, often in a brutal way, often in a deadly way, as anyone who knows a bit about violence knows all too well. I can think of many tough young men dead young now. I can think of innocents dead now. The symbolism of the ring, or the octagon, or in our narratives of glory enshrined in whatever form--from soundbite to epic poem--gain resonance because they appeal to our desperate need for order out of the desperate appearance of chaos, for a struggle, if not for a taste of our heros invulnerability, for a portion of his honor and nobility. Gorn ties this drive, over time, to the class struggle both in England and America, and how the working class who fought for workers rights often identified closely with great fighters and bare-knuckle boxers. This is not a mindless voyeuristic venture into violence, this study, it is a glimpse into the reality of working class heroes that perhaps many who purport to be their champions among the liberal class would rather shy away from. https://goodreads/book/show/8148794-the-manly-art
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:16:17 +0000
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