Tempo e storia - Storiografia e relatività del tempo

Tesina Interdisciplinare

Siciliano Daniela

V H

Liceo Scientifico statale “Giancarlo Siani” Aversa

A.S. 2009/2010

Il tempo e la storia

Apertura di Rivoluzione

  Coinvolgimento

Animal Farm Russa russo nelle

George Orwell Nascita

  guerre arabo-

1984

 dell’URSS e israeliane

avvento di Stalin

Da Breznev alla



Il comunismo di Lenin

e il socialismo di

Marx: le differenze

Concetto di storia e Spazio e tempo

tempo per i vari filosofi:

Kant. kantiani

Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx,

Per la pace Nietzsche, Arendt, Kant

perpetua

Confronto fra Excursus sui vari

repubblica e Teoria della

storiografi latini

principato: relatività, da

Tacito Galileo ad Einstein

Concetto di

storiografia I buchi neri

Eugenio

Montale: Crisalide

La storia Passaggio

dall’età infantile

all’età adulta

Dovrei spiegare perché ho scelto questo tema per la mia tesina.

La verità è che non lo so. 2

Questo è quello che accade quando qualcosa ti piace: non lo sai.

E il non sapere è cifra caratteristica del tempo e della storia, ma allo stesso tempo

contraddice i concetti stessi di tempo e storia.

«Che cos'è il tempo? Se nessuno me lo chiede, lo so; se voglio spiegarlo a chi

me lo chiede, non lo so più.»

(Agostino da Ippona)

Per quanto riguarda il tempo, non possiamo dire con certezza nemmeno quale sia il

tempo giusto da usare: tempo umano o animale?; Lineare o circolare?; Relativo o

assoluto?

Per tali domande non vi è risposta, ma l’abitudine, unita allo studio, può venirci

incontro.

Lo scorrere del tempo, il continuo muoversi in avanti delle lancette dei nostri orologi,

ci appare come qualcosa di normale.

Eppure il tempo non è sempre esistito, né scorre alla stessa velocità per tutti gli

esseri viventi su questo pianeta.

Ad esempio per una mosca il tempo scorre molto più velocemente rispetto al nostro

e, se potessimo osservare le azioni di una persona attraverso gli occhi di una mosca,

vedremmo tutti i movimenti come al rallentatore: è per questo che la mosca sembra

prevedere quando stiamo per colpirla e riesce quasi sempre a volare via in tempo.

Nel corso della storia il modo di concepire il tempo è mutato radicalmente. Oggi

siamo abituati a pensare il tempo come lineare, ma non è sempre stato così. Seppure

noi avessimo una concezione del tempo già prestabilita dalla società, dalla religione

con la quale siamo stati cresciuti, non dobbiamo rifiutare o screditare le altre

concezioni.

Nelle civiltà greche e romane, ad esempio, il tempo era vissuto come ritmica

successione delle fasi in cui si svolge il divenire nella natura.

Tale concezione è propria delle civiltà contadine, nelle quali è il susseguirsi delle

stagioni a scandire il tempo.

Anticamente imperversava quasi una lotta fra chi credeva che il tempo fosse lineare,

secondo la concezione cristiana del mythos, e chi

credeva che il tempo fosse circolare, secondo la

concezione greca di tempo come telòs.

La concezione del tempo come lineare fu introdotta

dalla Bibbia, nella quale si descrive un tempo che

procede a senso unico e lo svolgimento storico

dell’umanità diventa quindi irreversibile, senza

possibilità di ritorno.

Di fronte alla relatività del modo di percepire il tempo,

ci rassicuriamo guardando le lancette dei nostri

orologi correre sicure, sempre con lo stesso ritmo e,

magari ci culliamo nell’idea che, al di là delle diverse

culture, dal punto di vista scientifico il tempo sia

uguale per tutti, ovunque.

Con l'avvento delle equazioni di Maxwell, delle trasformazioni di Lorentz e infine della

teoria della relatività di Einstein venne meno il concetto, fino al 1900 dato per 3

scontato, di tempo assoluto, cioè di un tempo che scorre immutabile e indifferente,

identico in tutti i sistemi di riferimento.

(Si prenda, come esempio lampante delle conseguenze delle scoperte di Einstein, il

paradosso dei due gemelli).

Einstein rivoluzionò, così, un mondo intero e mise a tacere tutti coloro che ritenevano

ci fosse un unico tempo, che cercavano in tutti i modi, quasi che fosse una gara, di

decifrare il tempo giusto.

Bisogna, però, non dimenticare che Le leggi della fisica non distinguono fra passato e

futuro, ma che queste sono solo coordinate relative ad un sistema di riferimento che

prevede come ascissa e come ordinata noi stessi e la nostra vita.

Per quanto riguarda la storia, almeno questa doveva essere un sapere determinato:

già accaduta, già formata, già definita. [“Storia” viene dal greco historia. In questa

parola c'è la stessa radice del verbo latino video (vedo): in greco indica un'azione

compiuta, che dura nei suoi risultati ("ho visto" e quindi, ora, "so")].

Storia, dunque, è ciò che "ho visto", ciò di cui ho fatto esperienza, che, quindi,

conosco.

Eppure i filosofi hanno da sempre snocciolato tesi, paragoni, antitesi per capire cosa

fosse realmente, a cosa servisse la storia e se fosse davvero in grado di

comprendere, elevare, migliorare l’uomo, tracciandone una mappa nei secoli.

Tempo e storia, sono dunque connessi fra loro, infatti, i filosofi greci, avendo una

concezione del tempo ciclica, di tipo naturalistico, vedevano le cose non come

ricerca, all'indietro, delle origini che possono spiegare il nostro presente, o, in avanti,

degli sviluppi per il futuro.

Ma i fatti risultavano essere qualcosa impresso nella memoria, così da poter ancora

parlarne. L'esperienza della storia permette, quindi, di rinvenirvi una legge

ciclica: alla Hybris (la colpa come trasgressione e tracotanza: non sapere stare al

proprio posto) segue, inevitabile, la nemesis in una alternanza sovraindividuale e

sovraumana: una legge divina della natura, la Moira, cui anche gli dei devono

sottostare.

Dove gli storici greci vedevano la storia in maniera naturalistica e circolare, e i filosofi

la consideravano di poco interesse per chi cercava ciò che è più importante, e cioè

l'eterno e l'immutabile, con la rivoluzione cristiana le cose cambiarono.

L'universo non era più visto come circolare ed eterno, perché esso stesso è stato

creato dal nulla per una decisione personale di Dio. La storia del rapporto di Dio con

gli uomini ha degli eventi significativi, che costituiscono altrettanti mutamenti

antropologici, e che le danno un carattere lineare. Il futuro non è più identico al

passato. Le regolarità di oggi possono cambiare domani. Può perfino darsi un

progresso che conduce, nella storia, alla perfezione.

Mentre la storia antica è ciclica e statica, la storia post-cristiana è lineare e

potenzialmente progressiva.

Tuttavia, entrambe le concezioni della storia hanno un carattere in comune: la storia

narra di creature che possono essere considerate nella loro collettività, e si rivolge a

creature che di questa collettività fanno parte.

Inoltre, queste vicende ci interessano perché in qualche modo troviamo in esse

qualcosa in comune con noi: le leggi empiriche che regolano anche le nostre vicende,

4

ad esempio, oppure il senso di un'impresa di cui anche noi ci sentiamo partecipi,

oppure idee diverse dalle nostre ma con le quali vogliamo confrontarci, per

comprendere o criticare noi stessi.

Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to

remember to shut the pop-holes.

With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard,

kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the

scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs. Jones was already snoring.

As soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through

the farm buildings. Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White

boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the

other animals.

It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr. Jones was safely out

of the way.

Old Major (so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was

Willingdon Beauty)

was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in

order to hear what he had to say.

[…]

All the animals were now present except Moses, the tame raven, who slept on a perch behind

the back door. When Major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable and were

waiting attentively, he cleared his throat

and began:

"Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will

come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I

shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you

such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I

lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as

well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you.

"Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable,

laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in

our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our

strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered

with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he

is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is

the plain truth.

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does

not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet

he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum

that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.

"Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the

tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our

own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work

night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to

you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week

or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or

later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of

your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that 5

future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.

"And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. No argument must lead you

astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest,

that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the

interests of no creature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity,

perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades."

Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones, who sprang out of bed, making sure that there

was a fox in the yard. He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom, and

let fly a charge of number 6 shot into the darkness. The pellets buried themselves in the wall

of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly. Everyone fled to his own sleeping-place. The

birds jumped on to their perches, the animals settled down in the straw, and the whole farm

was asleep in a moment. That’s how everything starts.

George Orwell

George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, was born in Motihari, Bengal, India, in

1903, as the second child of Richard Walmesley Blair and Ida Mabel Limonzin. His

father was a civil servant in the opium department and his mother was the daughter

of a tea-merchant in Burma. In 1904 Orwell moved with his mother and sister to

England, where he attended Eton.

Orwell published his first writings right there, in college periodicals. During these

years Orwell developed his antipathy towards the English class systems. Also Orwell's

years at St Cyprian's Preparatory School in Easbourne were not happy. His bitter,

barely disguised attack on St. Cyprian's, SUCH, SUCH WERE THE JOYS, was not

published until 1968 for fear of libel action.

When he was seventeen, he had his first experiences as an "amateur tramp" in

Plymouth, where he was stranded accidentally without much money. After Orwell

failing to win a scholarship to university, Orwell went in 1922 to Burma to serve in

the Indian Imperial Police (1922-27) as an assistant superintendent.

From his essay “Why I Write”:

<<First I spent five years in an unsuitable profession (the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma),

and then I underwent poverty and the sense of failure. This increased my natural hatred of

authority and made me for the first time fully aware of the existence of the working classes,

and the job in Burma had given me some understanding of the nature of imperialism: but

these experiences were not enough to give me an accurate political orientation. Then came

Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, etc. By the end of 1935 I had still failed to reach a firm

decision.>>

He goes on to say:

<<The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew

where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written,

directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand

it.>>

Like his colleagues, Orwell had a native mistresses. Eventually Orwell's mounting

dislike of imperial rule led to his resignation. Works he wrote influenced by this period

of his life are his essay “A Hanging” (1931), in which a Hindu man is hanged in a

hurry, but with a great routine: 6

<<An enormous relief had come upon us now that the job was done. One felt an impulse to

sing, to break into a run, to snigger. All at once everyone began chattering gaily.>>

“It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy,

conscious man.”

Another one is “Shooting an Elephant” (1936), a collection of essays revealing the

behavior of the colonial officers: <<It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant – it

is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery.>>

His novel Burmese Days was first published in the United States in 1934 and then

London in 1935, also based on his days in service.

After Orwell resigned, he returned to Europe and lived as a tramp and beggar,

working low paid jobs in England and France (1928-29), where his aunt lived. When

he moved to Paris, he tried his hand at short stories, writing freelance for various

periodicals though he ended up destroying them because nobody would publish

them. He had to resort to menial jobs including one at the pseudonymous ‘Hotel X’

that barely provided him enough to eat as a plongeur:

<<[A] plongeur is one of the slaves of the modern world. Not that there is any need to whine

over him, for he is better off than many manual workers, but still, he is no freer than if he

were bought and sold. His work is servile and without art; he is paid just enough to keep him

alive; his only holiday is the sack... trapped by a routine which makes thought impossible. If

plongeurs thought at all, they would long ago have formed a union and gone on strike for

better treatment. But they do not think, because they have no leisure for it; their life has

made slaves of them.>>

Then he picked hops in Kent as a migratory laborer and once Orwell tried to get

himself arrested as a drunk to have some knowledge about life in prison. After forty-

eight hours he was released. In 1928 he had decided to become a writer, but his first

"like a cow with a

amateurish efforts arose smiles. A poet friend described him

musket".

After a bout of pneumonia in 1929 Blair moved back to England to live in East London

and adopted his pseudonym George Orwell, in 1933, partly to avoid embarrassing his

family. From 1930 Orwell contributed regularly to the New Adelphi.

The pseudonym used by Orwell to sign all his publications comes from Orwell, which

was the name of a small river in East Anglia, and George that was definitely a British

Christian name.

Orwell's experiences in poverty gave material for Down and Out in Paris and London

(1933). However, the author was never a full-time vagrant, but he stayed every now

and then with his older sister or with his parents, and plunged to the lower depths of

society like an explorer.

"The Paris slums are a gathering-place for eccentric people - people who have fallen into

solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent. Poverty frees

them from ordinary standards of behavior, just as money frees people from work." (from Down

and Out in Paris and London)

Down and Out in Paris and London, similarly to Emile Zola’s The Fat and the Thin

(1873) famously exposes the seedy underbelly of Paris and accounts his days of

living hand to mouth:

<<At present I do not feel that I have seen more than the fringe of poverty. Still I can point

to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that

all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a

penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, 7

nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a

beginning.>>

A proponent for socialism, Blair now wanted to write for t