Ennui v. Anomie
Reshmi asked if ennui best described my predicament, but I thought it was anomie. And since I stand accused, some would say justly, of recently uttering the phrase “it’s like squeezing blood from an orange” in Continental Europe with no preceding alcohol intake as an excuse, I thought I’d best put down the definition for both words here to make sure it was, indeed, anomie. After reviewing the definitions, I think it’s probably more that ennui is merely a symptom of anomie, rather than the two being wholly distinct, even if they occupy different spaces in my head.
The former brings to mind the entertainment problem, which is: this, this, this, and this. And I find it interesting that DFW’s unfinished work, The Pale King, was about embracing the boredom. (See this for this quote: “Properly handled, boredom can be an antidote to our national dependence on entertainment, [The Pale King] suggests.”) To equate this to a quote from a friend during that brief period when I was smoking Marlboro Reds, it’s like DFW is saying, “That cotton mouth and raw, burning feeling in the back of your throat? Oh man, you’ve got to smoke through that.” Here’s one more anecdote from the New Yorker article: “Bliss—a-second-by-second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious—lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom.” The book is apparently about postal workers.
The latter is partially the fact that both Nina Simone’s song Mississippi, Goddam AND One in a Million by Guns ‘n Roses exist. I mean shit, Axl says he doesn’t watch much tv. But perhaps more articulately: this (which, note, has a title showing you’ve found something to do with that boredom, just no one to do it with) and this and really just this whole critique of this and this. I also throw in this, which has an excellent quote about the institution qua society perspective on the problem which is the fundamental idea behind The Wire:
“What we were trying to do was take the notion of Greek tragedy, of fated and doomed people, and instead of these Olympian gods, indifferent, venal, selfish, hurling lightning bolts and hitting people in the ass for no reason—instead of those guys whipping it on Oedipus or Achilles, it’s the postmodern institutions … those are the indifferent gods.”
At any rate, the definitions are below:
1. ENNUI
–noun a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui.
Origin:
1660–70; < F: boredom; OF enui displeasure; see annoy 
Synonyms:
listlessness, tedium, lassitude, languor.
2. ANOMIE
–noun Sociology. a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people. Also, an⋅o⋅my.
Origin:
1930–35; < F < Gk anomía lawlessness. See a- 6 , -nomy
