Walking the Landscape Stage

Abstract

The people in Plato’s parable of the cave are tied to their places, watching shadows on a wall. They do not see that that which they perceive to be in front of them is actually located above and behind their heads. They mistake the shadowy projections for the real thing. Freddie Rokem calls Plato’s story ‘the first full fledged literary representation of spectators in the history of Western culture’ (Rokem, 2003, p. 14). These are spectators who cannot choose for themselves where to look. Fixed in a given position, in the dark, isolated from what he or she sees, the spectator can only gape passively at the spectacle taking place.

Look, I never liked that story either, about man set in a cave somewhere, contemplating the shadow of reality. If you ask me, the story stinks! When I think about it, I only see long-haired cavemen with filthy beards drawing animals on walls, I don’t want to have anything to do with that garbage. Or with Diogenes who is supposed to have spent the whole day sitting in a barrel discussing the meaning of life with all those wise men. God, that must have been hell! I reckon that it all still makes sense, even without the cave and Diogenes. Truth is like a flash of light that is always behind you. And if this is the case, then what do you see in front of you? Nothing but your own shadow. You see, you just can’t avoid getting in the way of the image of reality! (Jeroen van den Berg: Sailors on a Bus)¹