Aphorisms: What are they and how they managed to survive in the era of social networks

Probablemente los dijiste, seguramente los oíste o leíste. Son textos cortos que parecen resumir la verdad, como joyas de perfecta sabiduría. Concisos, profundos, didácticos. Fue Hipócrates quien, 400 años antes de la era común, usó la palabra aforismos que heredamos del griego para nombrarlos y que significaba “definición”.

The one that many call "the father of medicine" used them to summarize the rules established for medical practice."Life is short and long art.The fleeting experience of the crisis is dangerous and the decision, difficult ".Today aphorisms are less practical.

Now, the word indicates a bite of general wisdom, summarized briefly and stylish, such as "what does not kill you, makes you stronger," by Friedrich Nietzsche, or "doubt is one of the names of intelligence", of Jorge Luis Borges.

Adagios, proverbios, epigramas y máximas forman parte de la misma familia, ligeramente mandona y dictatorial, al igual que los eslóganes y jingles. Pero en el cínico clima de 2021, cuando nadie parece tener el monopolio de la verdad, las voces de los expertos solo invitan a la duda y al desacuerdo, ¿caducaron estas píldoras de certeza?

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— Adébáyò Abímbólá Thu May 27 14:16:46 +0000 2021

Interestingly, no.More and more aphoristic books are published and the form blooms on social networks.Is it because aphorisms are a much more humble and complex literary form than it seems?

Crystallized ideas

Aphorisms are so short and emphatic that they seem indisputable, as a piece of distilled wisdom.The last word about something, polished and perfected, a communication pinnacle.In that sense it might seem that they have a nuance of arrogance.However, many have sprouted from vulnerability or pain or some loss, even the disease.

Several authors wrote their aforistic pieces essentially from their sick beds, such as the mathematician, writer and philosopher Blaise Pascal, he who said: "The heart has reasons that reason ignores".Franz Kafka did it while trying to recover from tuberculosis.He prohibited himself.That's the point we have to reach".

Thus, aphorism was, for thinkers, a way to crystallize ideas when they felt that their health failed or feared that they would not have much time or energy left.

Fun pain

For other writers, aphorism offered a bit of color, a small touch of ingenious power that would otherwise be out of society, such as those of women and homosexuals.“The only thing that can comfort one for being poor, is extravagance;The only thing that can comfort one for being rich is the economy ”, is one of the examples of the many and brilliant that Oscar Wilde wrote, who was part of the gay community when he was convicted.

A community that was long associated with Aforistic ingenuity.The list is long, and includes luminaires ranging from the actor, playwright and composer Noël Coward -”The best thing to invite people to stay at home is when they leave” -to the novelist Gertrude Stein -”takes a long time to become agenius.You have to sit so much time without doing anything ”.

For author Quentin Crisp, the reason that this form of expression resonates with queer writers is his sobriety."Most people are deeply indifferent to your pain and suffering.The only justification for introducing such issues in a conversation is for entertainment purposes.And you must make clear from the beginning that your story is offered for people's fun and not for their sympathy.Even so, your story must condense in a single anecdote or epigram ”.

As the American poet Wh Auden said, "a suffering or a weakness that cannot be expressed by aphorism should not be mentioned".

In a nutshell

So Aforisms allow to express painful feelings safely, and without ignoring or telling you that you don't complain so much.They served those whose experiences, opinions or knowledge historically were not completely recognized or validated by society in general.

And that is even more true today.Social networks such as Twitter amplified the voices of marginalized, trans people, young people, sex workers, people with autism, chronic patients.

Those who feel oppressed today can counterattack without being interrupted.But those who do it with the elegance and ingenuity of aphorism make their words dramatically resonate in the silence that creates that surprising form of expression.