Discuss this week’s reading. You can start with the questions below, but don’t feel limited to these. Make an effort to answer a question nobody or few people have tackled yet.
- Look closely at the following two sections: “Monologue about War Movies” (109-118) and “Monologue about a New Nation” (119-126), which are approximately in the middle of part 2. What do the speakers discover when “descend[ing] into the depth of themselves.” What questions do they pose?
- Move forward in the text to examine the “Monologue about Lies and Truths” (133-143). The speaker argues that “Chernobyl presents itself first of all as a problem of self-understanding” (133). Find examples in the monologue that illustrate this problem.
- Look at the shorter sections in this part of the book, particularly its opening and closing section. What themes emerge, and to what degree do these shorter sections extend or question the concern with self as it emerges in part 2 of the book?