Diaphanous / Acedia (double post!)

As you may or may not know, Melissa and I just took comps last Thursday. During the study blitz leading up to the exam, I let this slide a bit, and so "acedia" is being presented alongside this week's word, "diaphanous". It's quite a juxtaposition. Anyway, you can comment on both of these or just one of them - your call.

diaphanous • \dye-AF-uh-nus\ • adjective

1 : of so fine a texture as to be transparent

2 : characterized by extreme delicacy of form : ethereal

3 : insubstantial, vague

Well, if I hadn't already talked about lace I might have used it here. It would certainly fit the definition.

The definition that inspired me was the second one, and I thought about les macarons. Delicious.



The picture above came from the Ladurée website, where you can also read a history of the macaron as it is known today.

There is often some confusion between macarons (the French pastries) and macaroons as we know them here. Macaroons as we know them are made with coconut and are usually kind of bumpy. Macarons are sandwiches made with cookies and fillings, and can be in any number of flavors. The best description of how a macaron should be can be found at Serious Eats. This site also tells you a little more about the history of the macaron before Ladurée.

Baking is generally very precise, but macarons require a high degree of delicacy and patience to come out just right. The flavor and texture are very important. Macarons aren't dense, but they are light and smooth. I don't know that I would have come up with diaphanous as an adjective for them on my own, but considering the definition I think it's appropriate.

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acedia • \uh-SEE-dee-uh\ • noun

: apathy, boredom

The first thing I thought of was ennui, which is more or less a synonym of acedia. Ennui indicates the same kind of boredom, disinterest, and lack of motivation that acedia does, but it is also often linked to depression. I tend to associate the idea of ennui (and thus also acedia) with French literature. Here's one good example.

In the introductory poem to Les Fleurs du mal, "Au lecteur," Charles Baudelaire invokes "l'Ennui" and laments its role as the ugliest and worst influence on society. We are human and prone to sin and wrongdoing, but Baudelaire claims that ennui is the ultimate danger. It may not seem like as evident a danger as things like murder and rape on the surface, but it lies beneath everything and threatens to undermine human relations. Baudelaire seems to indicate that it is the worst of the troubles that the devil has set upon society.

Read "Au lecteur" here (in the original French plus six different English translations).

Acedia and ennui are ideas that seem to come up time and time again in our society. We are so often dissatisfied with our lot in life that we detach from what's around us and continually ask ourselves, "What's the point?" Baudelaire's condemnation of ennui serves as a reminder that we have to care about and take interest in all aspects of society or else we'll never have any hope of getting beyond the other negative aspects of society. Ignorance isn't bliss; it's just a Band-Aid on a gaping wound - not good enough to heal anything.