The Dude Abides

Another year, another compilation of the year's work in Lebowski studies.  The annual "Lebowski Fest" is not just a place where wannabe Dudes get together and ask "why is everything a fiasco with you, man?"  I bet the real Dude would get a big laugh from the essay on the White Russian.

Comments

[Allison]

This makes me want to pick a Big Lebowski topic for my thesis next year.

[LarryK]

Great idea! I bet economists are under-represented in Lebowski studies. Could be better to write a theoretical than empirical thesis in this area, since quantification is so un-Dude like....

[Allison]

So far I have a request for "Law, Legislation, and Lebowski: Customary law, spontaneous order, and informal institutions in TBL." But I'm still taking nominations.

[LarryK]

Interesting...you can explore how spontaneous order emerges from the conflict between the creative experimentation of the Dude and the more rule-based behavior of his bowling buddy Walter ("I don't roll on Shabbas!" and - famously, but controversially, when contrasting Nazism with nihilism - "Say what you will about National Socialism, at least there was a credo there") (IMO, a line the (Jewish) Coen Bros were brave enough to keep in the script only because it was spoken by a Jewish character).

And of course, the bowling alley is an informal institution that channels behavior in all kinds of ways...