Anarchy And Culture: The Aesthetic Politics Of Modernism (critical Perspectives On Modern Culture)

A masterful study of the hidden roots of contemporary culture and should b read by anyone interested in how and why our intellectual landscape has changed quite dramatically since the Victorian era. Anarchism Is Generally Understood As A Failed Ideology, A Political Philosophy That Once May Have Had Many Followers But Today Attracts Only Cranks And Eccentrics. This Book Argues That The Decline Of Political Anarchism Is Only Half The Story; The Other Half Is A Tale Of Widespread Cultural Success. David Weir Develops This Thesis In Several Ways. He Begins By Considering The Place Of Culture In The Political Thought Of The Classical Anarchist Thinkers William Godwin, Pierre-joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, And Peter Kropotkin. He Then Shows How The Perceived Anarchy Of Nineteenth-century Society Induced Writers Such As Matthew Arnold, Henry James, And Fyodor Dostoyevsky To Turn Away From Politics And Seek Unity In The Idea Of A Common Culture. Yet As Other Late Nineteenth-century Writers And Artists Began To Sympathize With Anarchism, The Prospect Of A Common Culture Became Increasingly Remote. In Weir's View, The Affinity For Anarchism That Developed Among Members Of The Artistic Avant-garde Lies Behind Much Of Fin De Siecle Culture. Indeed, The Emergence Of Modernism Itself Can Be Understood As The Aesthetic Realization Of Anarchist Politics. In Support Of This Contention, Weir Shows That Anarchism Is The Key Aesthetic Principle Informing The Work Of A Broad Range Of Modernist Figures, From Henrik Ibsen And James Joyce To Dadaist Hugo Ball And Surrealist Luis Bunuel. Weir Concludes By Reevaluating The Phenomenon Of Postmodernism As Only The Most Recent Case Of The Migration Of Politics Into Aesthetics, And By Suggesting That Anarchism Is Still Very Much With Us As A Cultural Condition. 1. Definitions: The Ideologies Of Anarchism -- 2. Reactions: Anarchism As Cultural Threat -- 3. Responses: Culture In The Anarchist Camp -- 4. Affinities: Anarchism And Cultural Promotion -- 5. Aesthetics: From Politics To Culture -- 6. Artists: Anarchism And Cultural Production. David Weir. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 269-296) And Index. Anarchy & Culture 2 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 9 1 Definitions The Ideologies of Anarchism 19 1 20 2 23 3 26 4 29 5 34 6 37 7 41 2 Reactions Anarchism as Cultural Threat 50 1 51 2 60 3 66 4 70 5 82 3 Responses Culture in the Anarchist Camp 95 1 97 2 99 3 109 4 118 4 Affinities Anarchism and Cultural Promotion 124 1 125 2 131 3 138 4 154 5 159 5 Aesthetics From Politics to Culture 166 1 166 2 170 3 177 4 190 5 199 6 Artists Anarchism and Cultural Production 209 1 210 2 218 3 235 4 246 5 255 Afterword 266 Notes 275 Introduction 275 Chapter 1: Definitions 276 Chapter 2: Reactions 279 Chapter 3: Responses 282 Chapter 4: Affinities 284 Chapter 5: Aesthetics 289 Chapter 6: Artists 294 Afterword 301 Index 303 A 303 B 304 C 304 D 304 E 305 F 305 G 305 H 306 I 306 J 306 K 306 L 306 M 307 N 307 O 307 P 307 Q 308 R 308 S 308 T 309 U 309 V 309 W 309 Y 309 Z 309