Frédéric Gros, (Saint-Cyr-l’École, 1965) laughs, a lot. The French philosopher was visiting Barcelona a few days ago and who had the opportunity to stop by the headquarters of Angle Editorial, where he spent a good part of his time, it is possible that he was lucky enough to witness some of his laughter. “You don't imagine that someone who writes an essay about shame would vent in this way. “He may not know that we are listening to him,” says one of the editors as the author finishes an interview via video call.
It was also not easy to foresee that he would use Spanish to answer the journalists' questions. “It may seem like it or not, shame is a feeling that is very familiar to me. Even so, I am going to dare to speak in another language. I don't know if this bravery is contradictory or not,” the author of Shame is Revolutionary (Taurus/Angle Editorial) reflects to La Vanguardia, an essay that has just arrived in bookstores and that addresses all the vertices of shyness.
Why do some victims of sexual abuse feel ashamed? How is it possible that some people who experienced the horror firsthand after being in a concentration camp felt ashamed and chose not to tell anyone about what happened? Does the poor person feel more ashamed than he should? And the rich man? These are just some of the questions that Gros tries to find answers to in his pages and for which he turns to authors such as Primo Levi, Virginie Despentes, James Baldwin or Annie Ernaux, “the great novelist of shame.” ”, in the words of the author.
“It seems incredible to me how forgotten shame is and how little has been written about it. It is something that should have been done a long time ago, but both philosophers and psychologists have preferred to focus on guilt, a less dangerous passion, politically speaking, and one that can overwhelm us."
The idea to write this essay arose when reading a quote from Karl Marx that gives the title to Gros' book. “'Revolutionary?', I said to myself. At first I thought that his shame was anything but. I saw it more as a poison that prevents you from speaking naturally and that can destroy your life. However, I did not doubt Marx's intelligence, so I decided to think more carefully about what he was referring to. And, then, I understood that shame is not just sadness and withdrawal, nor other negative aspects. She is also a bearer of anger.”
This, the writer assures, “is not bad. On the contrary. It would be wise for us to take advantage of the power of shame to act, as it is a driving force to combat injustice and an indicator of solidarity and responsibility. We can be ashamed of the state of the world, the way we suffocate the planet, our privileges compared to those who have nothing, or the sexist and racist attitudes that have proliferated for centuries. When shame is shared and becomes collective, it is explosive fuel.”
For this reason, among other things, the philosopher advises the reader to never trust "someone who does not feel ashamed of anything", something "more common than many think" and which is very present in wars, since "they expose "the lives of the innocent, and that cannot be forgiven. Centuries ago, conflicts had a high percentage of deaths of soldiers and a lower percentage of civilian deaths. The reverse has been happening for a long time."
Is there then a crisis of shame? Gros ponders. “Plato says that the wise man is the one who has a sense of shame. That is to say, he knows what is decent to do and not to do. What is happening is that this self-moderation is disappearing not only in war conflicts, but also with social networks, which make us lose our sense of limits.”
The months in which Gros has dedicated himself to documenting and writing this essay have allowed him to see how little some feelings have been addressed. “Will I dare to write about someone else? Who knows. Nostalgia is the other forgotten one. Maybe I have to do something about it,” he concludes.
