Conversation · Steban, the Student Communist

"Maybe you should ditch the passphrases and meet in a coffeehouse."

"Hmm. I thought the cloak-and-dagger routine made us seem more appealing."

"I thought so, too, but perhaps we overdid it, just a little..."

"There was another thing: We were also debating putting up some posters around town."

"Though some of us maintain that advertising is an unacceptably bourgeois tactic."

That's what makes it so beautiful. The irony is unbeatable.

Ahem. As a noted art cop you definitely have an opinion on this.

"As something of an art critic myself, I support this poster plan."

"Glad to hear it. I was thinking we might be able to get Cindy to design the posters..."

"Hmmm, I guess no one could accuse Cindy of having a bourgeois aesthetic."

"Plus, I've got the perfect place in mind..."

"Put some more coffee on, Uli. We've got a long night ahead of us. We should probably get Cindy in here too..."

"Oh! And, gendarme. One last thing..."

"About that question you asked earlier. It reminded me of a certain poem that you might appreciate..."

Ah, so he has read something besides his books of abstruse theory!

"It was written by a young communard who was killed on the barricades during the Coalition landings. The story goes that he wrote it on the last night of his life, keeping watch from the barricades in the middle of the night. I don't have the whole thing committed to memory, but there's a line in it I think about sometimes."

"What's the line?"

"'In dark times, should the stars also go out?'"

"Anyway, goodnight to you."

"I've been thinking about what you asked before, about women, you know..."

"Not that it's any of my business, but it sounds like this question is really tearing you up inside."

You're holding it together, somehow, despite everything...

"So, good luck with that, I guess."

It is tearing you up. It's like there's a tiny hateful beast shredding your very soul...

"Sounds like something Cindy could help with..."

"That's exactly what I was thinking..."

"As someone who's dabbled in murals himself, I support this plan."

"Ah, it makes sense. There's already a sub-theme of radical street art running through our reading group..."

"I suppose that makes it a historical inevitability, beyond contradiction."

"Think of it this way: you're appropriating bourgeois methods for revolutionary ends."

"Oh, I like that. We're dismantling the structures of capital with their own tools..."

"Hmmm, it does sound pretty cool when you describe it like that."

"Posters are great. Who doesn't like posters?"

"Exactly! I was thinking we could print them in the old communard style, with huge slogans..."

"Yeah, posters are pretty bourgeois."

"See? Even the gendarme agrees."

"I suppose that would open us up to charges of hypocrisy... not to mention it might make us look pretty desperate for new members..."

"When nothing could be further from the truth."

"Right. We'll have to table this question until we've considered the potential downstream effects."

Effects like... having more people in their reading group?

... and just like that, their ironic defences are back up.

"In any case, we've kept you long enough. Goodnight to you."

"Hmm. It probably would help if you didn't make people go through a whole interview just to join."

"That's interesting. I thought people loved group interviews."

"Have you considered changing up the reading list?"

"I suppose we have read through most of the infra-materialist canon by this point."

He sighs. "You're right. It probably wouldn't kill us to read more conventional historical materialism."

"As long as we maintain the appropriate critical distance."

"No, you should keep it the way things are."

"Exactly what I've been saying. On fundamental matters there can be no compromise!"

"I'm not saying we abandon our beliefs. I just think it would be better if our group had more than two regular attendees."

"Good point. Two's not really a 'group,' is it?"

"Plus, all these empty chairs are a little sad, aren't they?"

"Nah, two's the best number. Three's when they start cramping your style."

"Precisely my point. It's about quality, not quantity."

"Do I know you two from somewhere?"

"You've read our article?" For the first time since you've met the young man, words seem to desert him...

"That I did not expect." His companion is blushing now, a sheepish grin on his face.

The energy in the room has shifted ever so slightly in your favour. They're afraid they've somehow embarrassed themselves in front of you.

"Well, don't keep us on tenterhooks! What did you think of the essay?"