626
E. M. CIORAN
nations, despite their lacunae and their accidents of growth. For the
minor peoples, how much more tragic the national problem becomes!
No sudden expansion here, no gradual decadence either. Without a
prop
in
the future or in the past, they weigh upon
themselves:
a long
sterile meditation is the result. Their evolution cannot be abnormal, for
they do not evolve. What is left to them? Resignation to themselves, since,
outside, there is all of History from which, precisely, they are excluded.
Their nationalism, which we take for a farce, is actually a mask
by
which they try to hide their own drama and to forget, in a frenzy of
claims, their incapacity to graft themselves onto events: painful lies, an
exasperated reaction against the scorn they fear to deserve, a way of
conjuring away their secret obsession with themselves. In simpler terms:
a people which is a torment to itself is a sick people. But whereas Spain
suffers for having exited from History, and Russia for seeking,
in
spite of
all opposition, to install herself there, the minor nations struggle in order
to have none of these reasons to lose patience or to despair. Cursed with
an original flaw, they cannot remedy it by disappointment, or by dreams.
Hence they have no other resources than to be haunted by themselves. An
obsession not lacking in beauty, since it leads to nothing and interests
no one.
THE IRISH AND
IRISH POLITICIANS
Edward M . Leville
An ethnic portrait, executed in
N
EW
bold strokes, tracing the develop–
ment both historically and psy–
chologically, of the Irish politician
in America. It pays nostalgic
FA
ll.
tribute to the vanishing Irish poli·
ticians-the only ethnic political
group ever produced in America.
256 Pages
$6.00
LAND OF URBAN PROMISE '
Juliall E. Kulski
Based on the history of urban–
ization, Professor Kulski's book
pinpoints the key evolutionaryfac–
tors which lead to contemporary
urban problems. Using these
elements, he develops a sound
synoptic concept of urban plan–
ning-the long view for emerging
megalopolis.
180 illustrations
320 Pages January 17
$13.50
TITLES
FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
~UIL.
THE SOCIAL IMPACT
OF CYBERNETICS
Charles R. Dechert, editor
An anthology of papers presented
during a symposium at George–
town University, which discussed
the influence of cybernetic·based
technologies on modern man
and culture. Included are papers
by Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rick–
over, John Diebold and Marshall
McLuhan.
208 Pages
$7.50
LA RAZA:
FORGOTTEN AMERICANS
Juliall Samora, editor
Seven authorities' present the
problems of 4·1/2 million Spanish
speaking Americans in five South–
western states. One of the largest
minority groups in the United
States is shaking off the centuries
in a search for improved living
conditions, better education, new
civil rights, church participation,
labor relations and political action.
288 Pages
$6.00
ND
/7PK
University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana
