Secrets of the Picaresque

Life beyond the mania of new iPhones and old Donald Trump

“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. ” –Pablo Picasso

Today I’m going to write about a term borrowed from literature.

The picaresque.

I will attempt to suggest why—in our electronic age—the picaresque narrative is turning everyone and everything upside down. And why this is most likely a good thing.

The dictionary defines picaresque like this: “relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero or heroine.”

You could say we have been living a version of the picaresque during the last four years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

But how?

Aside from Trump’s general hideousness, what made his time as president so maddening was the constant clash Americans experienced as the picaresque narrative overcame and replaced their old tragicomic narrative.

Why?

Because the tragicomic narrative is the one most Westerners were raised on (and have lived their entire lives through.)

Jumping In

The founder of social dreaming, W. Gor…