Dove e quando

Talk by Jeanette Bicknell

ABSTRACT

Waiting is woven into the fabric of our existence in mundane and profound ways. A “wait” is a temporal pause that delays our attainment of some desirable end or prevents, for a time, some unwelcome eventuality. Waiting structures our lives across seasons of the year and seasons of our lives. In this paper I make a case for the existential and aesthetic significance of waiting. Understood existentially, waiting is paradoxical. While the obligations imposed on us to wait can limit our freedom, our ability to give meaning to periods of waiting demonstrates our power to give meaning to our lives. Section One explores the connections between the everyday and existential. Section Two surveys examples of waiting to illustrate its universality and its pervasiveness. The final sections consider the everyday and existential significance of waiting, and the
ramifications for aesthetics.