Ruins of Modernity (Politics, History, and Culture)

Images of ruins may represent the raw realities created by bombs, natural disasters, or factory closings, but the way we see and understand ruins is not raw or unmediated. Rather, looking at ruins, writing about them, and representing them are acts framed by a long tradition. This unique interdisciplinary collection traces discourses about and representations of ruins from a richly contextualized perspective. In the introduction, Julia Hell and Andreas Schönle discuss how European modernity emerged partly through a confrontation with the ruins of the premodern past.Several contributors discuss ideas about ruins developed by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Georg Simmel, and Walter Benjamin. One contributor examines how W. G. Sebald’s novel __The Rings of Saturn__ betrays the ruins erased or forgotten in the Hegelian philosophy of history. Another analyzes the repressed specter of being bombed out of existence that underpins post-Second World War modernist architecture, especially Le Corbusier’s plans for Paris. Still another compares the ways that formerly dominant white populations relate to urban-industrial ruins in Detroit and to colonial ruins in Namibia. Other topics include atomic ruins at a Nevada test site, the connection between the cinema and ruins, the various narratives that have accrued around the Inca ruin of Vilcashuamán, Tolstoy’s response in __War and Peace__ to the destruction of Moscow in the fire of 1812, the Nazis’ obsession with imperial ruins, and the emergence in Mumbai of a new “kinetic city” on what some might consider the ruins of a modernist city. By focusing on the concept of ruin, this collection sheds new light on modernity and its vast ramifications and complexities. __Contributors__. Kerstin Barndt, Jon Beasley-Murray, Russell A. Berman, Jonathan Bolton, Svetlana Boym, Amir Eshel, Julia Hell, Daniel Herwitz, Andreas Huyssen, Rahul Mehrotra, Johannes von Moltke, Vladimir Paperny, Helen Petrovsky, Todd Presner, Helmut Puff, Alexander Regier, Eric Rentschler, Lucia Saks, Andreas Schönle, Tatiana Smoliarova, George Steinmetz, Jonathan Veitch, Gustavo Verdesio, Anthony Vidler Images of ruins may represent the raw realities created by bombs, natural disasters, or factory closings, but the way we see and understand ruins is not raw or unmediated. Rather, looking at ruins, writing about them, and representing them are acts framed by a long tradition. This unique interdisciplinary collection traces discourses about and representations of ruins from a richly contextualized perspective. In the introduction, Julia Hell and Andreas Schönle discuss how European modernity emerged partly through a confrontation with the ruins of the premodern past. Several contributors discuss ideas about ruins developed by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Georg Simmel, and Walter Benjamin. One contributor examines how W. G. Sebald’s novel The Rings of Saturn betrays the ruins erased or forgotten in the Hegelian philosophy of history. Another analyzes the repressed specter of being bombed out of existence that underpins post-Second World War modernist architecture, especially Le Corbusier’s plans for Paris. Still another compares the ways that formerly dominant white populations relate to urban-industrial ruins in Detroit and to colonial ruins in Namibia. Other topics include atomic ruins at a Nevada test site, the connection between the cinema and ruins, the various narratives that have accrued around the Inca ruin of Vilcashuamán, Tolstoy’s response in War and Peace to the destruction of Moscow in the fire of 1812, the Nazis’ obsession with imperial ruins, and the emergence in Mumbai of a new “kinetic city” on what some might consider the ruins of a modernist city. By focusing on the concept of ruin, this collection sheds new light on modernity and its vast ramifications and complexities. Contributors . Kerstin Barndt, Jon Beasley-Murray, Russell A. Berman, Jonathan Bolton, Svetlana Boym, Amir Eshel, Julia Hell, Daniel Herwitz, Andreas Huyssen, Rahul Mehrotra, Johannes von Moltke, Vladimir Paperny, Helen Petrovsky, Todd Presner, Helmut Puff, Alexander Regier, Eric Rentschler, Lucia Saks, Andreas Schönle, Tatiana Smoliarova, George Steinmetz, Jonathan Veitch, Gustavo Verdesio, Anthony Vidler Authentic Ruins : Products Of Modernity / Andreas Huyssen -- Air War And Architecture / Anthony Vidler -- Modernism And Destruction In Architecture / Vladimir Paperny -- Ruins Of The Avant-garde : From Tatlin's Tower To Paper Architecture / Svetlana Boym -- Modernity As A Destroyed Anthill : Tolstoy On History And The Aesthetics Of Ruins / Andreas Schönle -- Democratic Destruction : Ruins And Emancipation In The American Tradition / Russell A. Berman -- The Ruins Of A Republic : Czech Modernism After Munich, 1938/39 / Jonathan Bolton -- Layered Time : Ruins As Shattered Past, Ruins As Hope In Israeli And German Landscapes And Literature / Amir Eshel -- Cities, Citizenship, And Other Joburg Stories / Lucia Saks -- Imperial Ruin Gazers, Or Why Did Scipio Weep? / Julia Hell -- Hegel's Philosophy Of World History Via Sebald's Imaginary Of Ruins : A Contrapuntal Critique Of The New Space Of Modernity / Todd Samuel Presner --^ Vilcashuamán : Telling Stories In Ruins / Jon Beasley-murray -- The Monument In Ruins / Daniel Herwitz -- Simultaneous Modernity : Negotiations And Resistances In Urban India / Rahul Mehrotra -- Ruins As Models : Displaying Destruction In Postwar Germany / Helmut Puff -- Memory Traces Of An Abandoned Set Of Futures : Industrial Ruins In The Postindustrial Landscapes Of Germany / Kerstin Barndt -- Colonial Melancholy And Fordist Nostalgia : The Ruinscapes Of Namibia And Detroit / George Steinmetz -- Dr. Strangelove's Cabinet Of Wonder : Sifting Through The Atomic Ruins At The Nevada Test Site / Jonathan Veitch -- Invisible At A Glance : Indigenous Cultures Of The Past, Ruins, Archaeological Sites, And Our Regimes Of Visibility / Gustavo Verdesio -- Foundational Ruins : The Lisbon Earthquake And The Sublime / Alexander Regier -- The Promise Of A Ruin : Gavrila Derzhavin's Archaic Modernity / Tatiana Smoliarova -- Ruin Cinema / Johannes Von Moltke --^ The Place Of Rubble In The Trümmerfilm / Eric Rentschler -- Lost In Time : Boris Mikhailov And His Study Of The Soviet / Helen Petrovsky. Edited By Julia Hell And Andreas Schönle. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Authentic ruins : products of modernity / Andreas Huyssen -- Air war and architecture / Anthony Vidler -- Modernism and destruction in architecture / Vladimir Paperny -- Ruins of the avant-garde : from Tatlin's tower to the paper architecture / Svetlana Boym -- Modernity as a "destroyed anthill" : Tolstoy on history and the aesthetics of ruins / Andreas Schönle -- Democratic destruction : ruins and emancipation in the American tradition / Russell A. Berman -- The ruins of a republic : Czech modernism after Munich, 1938/39 / Jonathan Bolton -- Layeredtime : ruins as shattered past, ruins as hope in Israeli and German landscapes and literature / Amir Eshel -- Cities, citizenship, and other Joburg stories / Lucia Saks -- Imperial ruin gazers, or why did Scipio weep? / Julia Hell -- Hegel's philosophy of world history via Sebald's imaginary of ruins : a contrapuntal critique of the "new space" of modernity / Todd Samuel Presner -- Vilcashuamán : telling stories in ruins / Jon Beasley-Murray -- The monument in ruins / Daniel Herwitz -- Simultaneous modernity : negotiations and resistances in urban India / Rahul Mehrotra -- Ruins as models : displaying destruction in postwar Germany / Helmut Puff -- "Memory traces of an abandoned set of futures" : industrial ruins in the postindustrial landscapes of Germany / Kerstin Barndt -- Colonial melancholy and Fordist nostalgia : the ruinscapes of Namibia and Detroit / George Steinmetz -- Dr. Strangelove's cabinet of wonder : sifting through the atomic ruins at the Nevada test site / Jonathan Veitch -- Invisible at a glance : indigenous cultures of the past, ruins, archaeological sites, and our regimes of visibility / Gustavo Verdesio -- Foundational ruins : the Lisbon earthquake and the sublime / Alexander Regier -- The promise of a ruin : Gavrila Derzhavin's archaic modernity / Tatiana Smoliarova -- Ruin cinema / Johannes von Moltke -- The place of rubble in the Trümmerfilm / Eric Rentschler -- Lost in time : Boris Mikhailov and Authentic ruins : products of modernity / Andreas Huyssen Air war and architecture / Anthony Vidler Modernism and destruction in architecture / Vladimir Paperny Ruins of the avant-garde : from Tatlin's tower to the paper architecture / Svetlana Boym Modernity as a "destroyed anthill" : Tolstoy on history and the aesthetics of ruins / Andreas Schönle Democratic destruction : ruins and emancipation in the American tradition / Russell A. Berman The ruins of a republic : Czech modernism after Munich, 1938/39 / Jonathan Bolton Layeredtime : ruins as shattered past, ruins as hope in Israeli and German landscapes and literature / Amir Eshel Cities, citizenship, and other Joburg stories / Lucia Saks Imperial ruin gazers, or why did Scipio weep? / Julia Hell Hegel's philosophy of world history via Sebald's imaginary of ruins : a contrapuntal critique of the "new space" of modernity / Todd Samuel Presner Vilcashuamán : telling stories in ruins / Jon Beasley-Murray The monument in ruins / Daniel Herwitz Simultaneous modernity : negotiations and resistances in urban India / Rahul Mehrotra Ruins as models : displaying destruction in postwar Germany / Helmut Puff "Memory traces of an abandoned set of futures" : industrial ruins in the postindustrial landscapes of Germany / Kerstin Barndt Colonial melancholy and Fordist nostalgia : the ruinscapes of Namibia and Detroit / George Steinmetz Dr. Strangelove's cabinet of wonder : sifting through the atomic ruins at the Nevada test site / Jonathan Veitch Invisible at a glance : indigenous cultures of the past, ruins, archaeological sites, and our regimes of visibility / Gustavo Verdesio Foundational ruins : the Lisbon earthquake and the sublime / Alexander Regier The promise of a ruin : Gavrila Derzhavin's archaic modernity / Tatiana Smoliarova Ruin cinema / Johannes von Moltke The place of rubble in the Trümmerfilm / Eric Rentschler Lost in time : Boris Mikhailov and his study of the Soviet / Helen Petrovsky. Images of ruins may represent the raw realities created by bombs, natural disasters, or factory closings, but the way we see and understand ruins is not raw or unmediated. Rather, looking at ruins, writing about them, and representing them, are acts framed by a long tradition. This unique interdisciplinary collection traces discourses about and representations of ruins from a richly contextualized perspective. In their introduction, Julia Hell and Andreas Schonle discuss how European modernity emerged partly through a confrontation with the ruins of the pre-modern past. Several contributors discuss ideas about ruins developed by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Georg Simmel, and Walter Benjamin. One of the other contributors examines how W.G. Sebald's novel "The Rings of Saturn" betrays the ruins erased or forgotten in the Hegelian philosophy of history. Another analyzes the repressed spectre of being bombed-out of existence that underpins post-Second World War modernist architecture, especially le Corbusier's plans for Paris. Still another compares the ways that formerly dominant white populations relate to urban-industrial ruins in Detroit and to colonial ruins in Namibia. Other topics addressed include atomic ruins at a Nevada test site, the connection between cinema and ruins, the various narratives that have accrued around the Inca ruin of Vilcashuaman, Tolstoy's response in "War and Peace" to the destruction of Moscow in the fire of 1812, the Nazis' obsession with imperial ruins, and the emergence in Mumbai of a new 'kinetic city' on what some might consider the ruins of a modernist city. By focusing on the concept of ruin, this collection sheds new light on modernity and its vast ramifications and complexities This interdisciplinary work uses the concept of the ruin as an approach to the study of modernity, asking whether there is an intrinsic logic of quot;ruin quot; at work in modernity.