{"id":9751,"date":"2021-08-15T17:55:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T21:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=9751"},"modified":"2021-10-19T12:22:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T16:22:17","slug":"ketman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/08\/ketman\/","title":{"rendered":"Ketman"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who are out of step with the prevailing authority practice ketman<\/em> to avoid trouble. Ketman is a way to dissemble. At a minimum people practicing ketman must self-censor their speech. When silence isn’t enough, ketman-practitioners find ways to appear to actively support the regime. When ketman-practitioners cannot escape the oppressive regime, they develop ways to express their natural feelings by engaging obscure topics or technical issues. <\/p>\n

Ketman is described by the poet and Nobel prize winner Czesław Miłosz<\/a> in his book The Captive Mind<\/em><\/a> published in 1953.  The Captive Mind<\/em> describes how life under totalitarianism crushes thought.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Robert Smith<\/span><\/a><\/div>

As a Pole, Milosz is intimately familiar with totalitarianism. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 ignited WWII, as you no doubt already know. The Soviet Union in accord with its secret pact with Germany subsequently occupied the eastern portion of Poland. Warsaw was in the German sector which is where Milosz, then  28, was confined. After experiencing the travails of German occupation, Poland was entombed in the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War.<\/p>\n

Communism was imposed on Poland violently and from abroad. This is not what Leftists like Milosz expected the revolution to look like.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Painting: Mother Nursing Infant<\/span><\/a><\/div>

After the war, Miłosz worked as a cultural attaché in the Polish embassy in Washington. Finding himself the representative of a government that was a puppet of Soviet totalitarianism, Milosz practiced ketman for several years until he defected in 1951.<\/p>\n

Ketman is derived from a Persian word for concealment. Shiite Muslims practiced ketman to conceal their true beliefs from their Sunni Muslim rulers, for example. In The Captive Mind<\/em>, Milosz identifies 7 types of ketman. Aesthetic ketman is escapism by immersing oneself in art, literature, and music of past ages. I read this section with special interest. The other essays in The Captive Mind<\/em> are brilliant portraits of some of Milosz’s contemporaries. <\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Manet in Toledo<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Milosz and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn<\/a> are the two best writers of the 20th century. I sometimes get carried away by enthusiasms and at one time considered Celine and Bukowski great writers (not so much anymore, especially the latter), but youthful interest in Balzac and  Solzhenitsyn continues undimmed. Milosz is a later interest but The Captive Mind<\/em> is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve ever read.<\/p>\n

Milosz is the best poet of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Love Everything About It<\/span><\/a><\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who are out of step with the prevailing authority practice ketman to avoid trouble. Ketman is a way to dissemble. At a minimum people practicing ketman must self-censor their speech. When silence isn’t enough, ketman-practitioners find ways to appear to actively support the regime. When ketman-practitioners cannot escape the oppressive regime, they develop ways […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":9753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[251,139,108,253,470],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aesthetics","category-bio","category-books","category-culture","category-current-affairs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/milosz.jpg?fit=380%2C384&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4473,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/robert-koepnick-sculptor\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":0},"title":"Robert Koepnick, sculptor","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was in high school, my regular habit was to take the bus downtown from my suburban home outside Dayton, Ohio. After rambling about, I always went to the library to read and study. Haunting libraries was a habit I developed from\u00a0my earliest days. Anyway, above the entrance to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Kop-DAI.jpg?fit=427%2C479&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3139,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/book-review-a-history-of-western-philosophy-by-bertrand-russell-audio-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":1},"title":"Book Review: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (audio version)","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"March 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\"You mock, dude!\" Bertrand Russell\u00a0(1872-1970) was a lively philosopher and prodigious writer known for his biting wit. Russell was deeply involved with the social issues of his day and spent time in prison for his efforts--for his pacifists views during World War I, and again for his anti-nuke protests in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bertrand Russell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/b-russell.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5536,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/10\/transferring-designs-to-canvas-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":2},"title":"Transferring designs to canvas–update","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've written before\u00a0about the various methods used to\u00a0transfer designs to canvas or other surfaces. There are three ways to do it: projector, grid, or\u00a0cartoon. Typically, I use\u00a0grids. Grids can handle any scale and I like working out final design elements on the canvas grid before picking up the brush. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2-women-PHS.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2-women-PHS.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2-women-PHS.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2478,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/08\/i-cant-get-this-little-painting-out-of-my-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":3},"title":"I Can’t Get This Little Painting Out of My Mind","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cleveland Museum of Art, like most museums, rotates the paintings in its permanent collection. The museum recently rotated its Dutch School collection, happily bringing into view this little gem by Gerrit Dou. When I say little, I do mean little. This exquisite painting is a mere 6 3\/8\" x\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Young Woman by Gerrit Dou","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/gerrit_dou.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3054,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/in-the-studio-222014\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":4},"title":"In the studio 2\/2\/2014","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a photo of some recent work. I have discussed the larger, The Call, in the series of posts I wrote about it, which I'll update tomorrow. The smaller painting, Two Women Before a Window still has a ways to go. Today I closed the window. Originally the window\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/studio-2-2-14.jpg?fit=500%2C910&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6314,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/08\/in-the-studio-8716\/","url_meta":{"origin":9751,"position":5},"title":"In the studio 8\/7\/16","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"After working on a painting, I set it aside to dry for a day before taking it up again. \u00a0But when a painting is large, I can work on it for several days in succession. \u00a0Yesterday, I worked on On the Square\u00a0and\u00a0because of its size, 48\" x 60,\"\u00a0I was able\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/studio-2016-8-7.jpg?fit=666%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/studio-2016-8-7.jpg?fit=666%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/studio-2016-8-7.jpg?fit=666%2C681&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s2Gw6F-ketman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9751"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9895,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9751\/revisions\/9895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}