I am going through my writings in search of pieces dedicated to barbarization. That is, decay of European civilization that parallels the demise of nobility. Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Mann pop up in so many pieces that touch on the subject however lightly. But then I become aware of yet another index of barbarization, and in my own writings: the incidence of Latin titles per unit time. To my chagrin, it has been declining from decade to decade quite steadily. Barbarization in a nutshell. And in my own crumbling mind, of all places.

Addendum (April 5, 2017)

At long last, I have embarked upon copyediting of my Residua, which I have been intending to embark upon for quite a while. The job will take me a couple of years at least, but I am now working on the first five yearbooks, which stretch between 1976 and 1980. There is much that connects them, and it is thus a joy to work on the whole lot at the same time. Written mostly during my stint in Slovenia, the five yearbooks have much in common in both content and form. Powerful stuff, I dare say. Which is why I cannot but keep wondering about barbarization in my own writings over the years. By comparison, the last five yearbooks strike me as crude, rough, and even callous. For all my complaints about barbarization all around me, there can be hardly any doubt that I, too, am part and parcel of this crumbling civilization. Alas, the incidence of Latin titles has been declining over time in my magnum opus rather precipitously! Barbarization in a nutshell, indeed.