The Disappointed of the Earth

This essay offers a consideration of how the affect of chronic disappointment contributes to the formation of extreme beliefs. It debates how the disappointment in question is a matter of social class and the desire for self-betterment, contesting the assumption that fundamentalism constitutes a simple rejection of modernity. The essay also attempts to theorize the ways in which chronic disappointment can lead to the establishment of what is formulated in terms of ‘pariah elitism’. In moving from a consideration of Al Aswany's The Yacoubian Building and Herzl's Alteneuland to a consideration of colonial and postcolonial situations in Southern Africa, it broaches the question of how chronic disappointment serves to challenge both the othering of extremism and extremism's otherings. Finally, the essay suggests that there is a distinction to be maintained between the idealism of extremism and a praxis of good faith.