Dec 08
Whether working with wood or stone, cement or iron: why do humans insist on imposing their face on even the most unwieldy things in the world, why do they name dead matter after their own flesh, personifying it as parts of the body? Is this hidden tenderness necessary to make the harsh work bearable?
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Herta Müller’s Nobel Lecture, December 7, 2009
In response, I pose a question: To what degree do we as humans personify industry, and to what degree do we mechanize humanity? In other words, how much does holding the “head” of a screw envisage cradling a child’s soft, forming skull, and how much does calling the heart a body “part” imply that, if it gives, the organ is replaceable, as is a screw?
