2009年11月23日星期一

Psycholagny

First Year Seminar
Autumn 2009
Bartscherer


Psycholagny, which according to the explanation on dictionary means the ability to reach or achieve orgasm without any physical stimulation and usually achieved through mental stimulation or fantasy alone, has been extraordinary popular in China recently, especially pervasive on the internet. Far more extended from its original meaning, psycholagny is generally used to describe the behavior that people, far from pursuing what they want in a tangible way, would like to gain satisfaction through imagination. For example, if I want to buy a computer monitor but do not have money currently, I may enjoy the feeling of owning that monitor simply by fantasy. Such action is metaphorically referred as psycholagny.

Saint Augustine’s Confession, since its publication, has been regarded as one of the most thorough examination of author’s soul. What are analyzed in this book is Augustine’s mental transition from youthhood to all the levels and periods in his whole life. Instead of exquisite usage of words or superb construction of sentences or author’s paramount loyalty to god, the significance of Confession is the unusual role of Augustine in his book. Compared with the authors of other masterpieces, Augustine is more like executing an anatomy, putting himself in front of god and waiting for a comprehensive dissection of every thoughts and ideas he has. Since he believes that god is omnipotent, then his confession towards god must be so sincere and true: what is the point for him to hide something in front of a deity who knows everything? With this basis, what exactly is confessed by Augustine to god is the central question regarding this book. Is it some kind of evil, a certain folly hidden deeply in mind, or a mistake which was committed repeatedly?

In book four, the episode in which Augustine and his naughty friends steal the pears has been so controversial, and is also one of the puzzles in Confession. The satisfaction gained from stealing something that is currently lacking of is explainable. However, as Augustine wrote:
I stolen something that I have in plenty and of much better quality. My desire was to enjoy not what I sought by stealing but merely the excitement of thieving and the doing of what was wrong. ….we carried off a huge load of pears. But they are not for our feasts but merely to throw to the pigs. Even if we ate a few, nevertheless our pleasure lay in doing what was not allowed. ( )
People stealing something they have plenty of is odd. However, once we perceive every element in this situation and try not to ignore any details, such behavior can be understood. Putting to much emphasis on “people stealing something they do not need”, Augustine does not mention an extremely important element in the above description—the role of garden keeper. Augustine and his friends, far from attacking garden keeper directly, choose to steal garden keeper’s pears thus make him suffering. Because of their incapability to hurt garden keeper in a face-to-face way (Augustine and his friends are just kids anyway) they decided to achieve the same goal in a more gentle and peaceful way—stealing pears, just like someone who is incapable of buying monitor would rather to immerse himself in the feeling when he use it. This action can be accurately characterized as psycholagny. Through such psycholagny, not only Augustine protects himself from being scolded by angry garden keeper, but also he achieves the success, not in a tangible way but in mind. Such method to gain spiritual victory was described interestingly in Lu Xun’s The True Story of Ah Q (I remember this satirical passage was collected in first year seminar’s reading list a few years ago).
When our miserable Ah Q was beaten by another guy, he did not beat back immediately, instead he only thought in his mind: “damn, I was beaten by my son again; it is such a turbulent and ridiculous world that son even is daring to beat his father.”
As to the reason why these children want to make a fool of garden keeper, we can attribute such behavior to the attraction for children to commit mischief and the nature for them to do something unusual which marks the disobedience of adolescence.

In book three, psycholagny in fact changes into a more generalized form. Instead of using imagination as a tool to achieve certain objective (such as a monitor, or the delight gained from beating other people), psycholagny starts to show up in a larger place. As Augustine starts to be obsessive with theater, especially tragedy, he writes:
I was captivated by theatrical shows. They were full of representations of my own miseries and fuelled my fire. Why is it a person should wish to experience suffering by watching grievous and tragic events which he himself would not wish to endure? ( )
With no doubts, ordinary people can hardly have the dramatic experiences as characters in a show have. For example, seeing the beloved died, experiencing bankruptcy, participating in a revengeful fight with enemy, or accidently being grant a huge amount of money as a mean of legacy, these legendary events, for a normal person who living imperturbably, are so precious. By sitting in theater and watching shows, people can put themselves in so many characters through psycholagny, thus enjoy the feeling of being a valiant knight who kills so many bad people, a conscientious thief who only steals rich people or a beautiful young lady who is falling in love with a handsome prince. However, the reason why Augustine and so many other people like tragedy also needs our concern. Compared with so many fabulous shows yet with happy endings, why only tragedy can successfully captivate Augustine’s mind? The main reason is probably people’s preference to difference between imagination and reality. Would you like to enjoy the feeling of being a princess who has everything you want during the show and realize you are no more but a desperate clerk who is upbraided by your boss everyday when the show is over, or the feeling of being a poor person who lost everything during an economy crisis but notice that you still own a lot, including your wife, two cute daughters and your profitable occupation after the show? The answer is very clear: everyone always values reality more then imagination, and enjoys the feeling of “returning from hell”. By immerse themselves in psycholagny which is full of agony during the show, people can definitely become more relieved in reality.

Also in book five, in which Augustine leaves his mother and departs for Rome, the idea of psycholagny shows up either. As concludes by Augustine, what is confessed by him to god is the evil of deception—the deception to an innocent mother. But when we are looking through the truth behind surface, the reason leads to deception is not mentioned by Augustine himself. He writes:
My motive in going to Rome was not that the friends who urged it on me promised higher fees and greater position of dignity, though at that time these considerations had an influence on my mind. The principle and almost sole reason was that I had heard how at Rome the young men went quietly about their studies and were kept in order by a stricter imposition of discipline. ( )
From his explanation, it seems that the reason for Augustine to commit deception is that the value gained from teaching in Rome is relatively greater then the lose in temporal separation with his mother. However it may not be absolutely true though this explanation constitutes some parts in the final answer. The decision made when people facing the dilemma between great goal and family separation has always been hard; and the people who choose the former has always been regarded as great men. It is such kind of special moral courage which roots deeply in almost everyone’s mind that make Augustine so steadfast, so resolute even with the cry from his mother. Through spiritual transition (imagination), Augustine fantasizes himself as one of many who sacrificed for what they believed. Even though the separation is painful, he still feels contended, for he, finally, can also be called a great man who disregards any obstacles, especially the constraints from family.

From these three most important instances, the answers to questions presented in the end of second paragraph are quiet easy to be understood if not absolutely and unequivocally true. What Augustine wants to confess, at least partly, is the action of psycholagny, which marks a deeply-rooted bad habit in people’s mind. Through carefully ‘anatomy’ and ‘dissection’, Augustine seems to yell to himself: stop psycholagny, if you want to make fun of garden-keeper, you should attack him directly instead of stealing pears; stop psycholagny, if you want to make your life colorful and marvelous, you should work harder and harder instead of dreaming in the theatre; stop psycholagny, if you really love your mother, you should stay with her instead of fantasying to be a hero who sacrifices the family to achieve great goal. However, we should also view things in a different perspective. On one hand, people view psycholagny with disdain, regarding it as a behavior not only embodies people’s incapability but also represents the ridiculous and awkward solution when people notice their incapability; on the other hand, they can not get rid of psycholagny unless they are monks, lamas or people who strictly abide asceticism. Maybe psycholagny is not a kind of evil at all. Lu Xun said in his essay: “Initially, there are no roads on the ground; it is people’s too much walking that makes roads.” If everyone makes the same mistake, then this mistake can not be called mistake anymore.

Interestingly, although Augustine made a great self-criticism about psycholagny in his book, the intention or reason for him to write such a book, to some extent, is also a kind of psycholagny. Only those people with the most moral standard can complete such a confession without any outside pressure. Augustine once again became a great figure by writing a sublime confession, which at the same time testifies the commonplace and omnipresence of psycholagny.