Perhaps "The Coloniality of Gender" is the author's most famous text, but in this border-conversation, playfulness is the heart-warmer
Image: Bazar do Tempo
It's no surprise that the Argentinian philosopher Maria Lugones would inaugurate the first border-conversation of Perspectiv, B-Side, as I have lived side by side with the feminist thinker's greatest ideas for good years now.
I have first met Lugones' decolonial thought in São Paulo, in 2017, through her best-known article - yes, "The Coloniality of Gender" - , and later in 2019 (oh those days before the pandemic) I had an incredible lecture about another of her most wonderful pieces of work, this time in a summer school in the Netherlands.
The text
Image: Personal Archive
Playfulness, “World”-Travelling, and Loving Perception, published in 1987 in the splendorous feminist journal Hypatia (Cambridge University Press) was striking and loving for many reasons. In this article - that is not exhaustive of the essay - I will focus on playfulness, but also briefly introduce her incredibly well-done tempos:
one, that of the differences between vertical and horizontal consciousness that dictates intergenerational issues in the day-to-day of Latin-American women,
then that of the intersectional counsciousness of a woman, migrant;
the alienation that migrating South-to-North ultimately provokes;
and, finally, survival strategies as a migrant - and here, the trick: where being playful is the big winner,
by changing the rules of the game, playfulness, for Lugones, draw a creative "ease at worlds" whist we're navigating a very demanding pathway in life as latina women, migrants.
There is no end to what a living world will demand of you - said Octavia Butler (and to the ones who haven't read her yet, I recommend Kindred as a first reading of this most spectacular writer) - and about the limitless demands of a living world, Lugones has plenty to say in this essay.
Oh, the confusion
Considering some of the reasons for alienation and confusion in migration, Lugones analysis goes on to explain how the fixed organisation of a world, with its language and cultural codes, existing prior to our migration, will play a massive role in our everyday as migrants, as we're automatically emplaced in the condition of outsiders, even though we might not see that beforehand.
Without any guarantees that our feelings of confusion or alienation will dissipate sooner than later, Lugones ranks four ways of being "at ease in a world" when trying to make sense of such confusion. They are:
First,
to know the language of that world – be it the spoken language or specific terms of a "world" i.e. terms, discourses, cultural codes, practices, etc.
Second,
be – or perform – a normative happiness - to agree with all rules and codes of that "world" and, very importantly, be at ease with all of them.
Third,
bonds - to be surrounded by people that show us affection, and that we can show affection in return.
Fourth,
to have a shared story - with someone, or with a group: the possibility to share the day-to-day and share stories, and from this point we move on to playfulness in its nicest sense.
Then, let's play
Playfulness, to Lugones, it is not merely a survival strategy in migration, but a way to be true to herself, open and free. "I am also scared of ending up a serious human being, someone with no multi-dimensionality" (p.15).
And when Lugones speaks about multi-dimensionality, she is also telling us about the many layers we acquire/bring with ourselves as we migrate: we cannot be the world-project of the place we live in at present, as much as we cannot be, any longer, the world-project of where we came from.
To be playful is also to turn days lighter and brighter, to enjoy our living time, even when they look obscure - especially now, as we seem to be so close to a war-catastrophe. This is for sure a moment of uncertainty, anxiety and of the greatest machineries of fear - which affects us, migrants, very deeply: not knowing means being unable to make decisions as whether to stay and try a little longer, or what will happen to us, the outsiders, when things go really wrong; and to what we're returning to when the day comes.
When we're playful, even with a word, a German-Portuñol mix such as "desfrutiere"
we share horizontal moments - stories, memories, something silly, or the most important of things - and we lighten our paths and agendas from the vertical imprints of fear and terror: we're building ourselves through our many dimensions, a trick to the rule of the game.
The downside of this exercise, Lugones would say, would be a lack of balance: it is important to be sensible and sensitive with moments that ask for sobriety.
Finally...
Finding a nice balance to things - as to say, a big challenge when we're not at ease in a world -- always pays, and pays positively. To conclude, a little passage, almost a call for action:
Playfulness is, in part, an openness to being a fool, which is a combination of not worrying about competence, not being self-important, not taking norms as sacred and finding ambiguity and double edges a source of wisdom and delight. (p.15)
So: wisdom and delight, dear ladies.
'Til next time!
Natalia Pais Fornari Perspectiv, B-Side
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Playfulness, “World”-Travelling, and Loving Perception was the first text we have discussed at the Afelia Study Group of Janainas e.V. , during the pilot session of our feminist open lectures project in September, 2022.
Feel free to contact me through the e-mail: natalia@janainas.org .
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