The New Aesthetics of Deculturation: Neoliberalism, Fundamentalism, and Kitsch

"What are the predominant aesthetics of the twenty-first century? Thorsten Botz-Bornstein argues that deculturation, embodied by the conspicuous vulgarity of kitsch, is the overriding visual language of our times. Drawing on the work of Islam scholar Olivier Roy, who argued that religious fundamentalism arises when religion is separated from the indigenous cultural values, Botz-Bornstein shows that the production of 'absolute' truths through deculturation also exists in contemporary education. The neoliberal environment has separated learning from culture by emphasizing standardization and quantified learning outcomes. In a globalized environment, the idea of culture is no longer available as a referent; instead we are taught to rely on the culturally neutral term 'excellence'. For BotzBornstein, this is an absolute value similar to the 'truth' of religious fundamentalists. Similarly, kitsch is what happens when aesthetic values are separated from cultural contexts. Kitsch is aesthetic fundamentalism. Kitsch aesthetics are an aesthetics of excellence. The consumption of kitsch can be understood as an intrinsically narcissistic impulse, reinforced by social media, individuals recycling their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the "other." The existence of self-centred "alternative truths", fake news and conspiracy theories and selfies are linked together in the fundamentalism-neoliberalism-kitsch pattern. Including analysis of the intersections of 'cute', 'excellent', 'sublime', and 'interesting' in contemporary aesthetic culture, this is a journey through philosophy, psychology and cultural theory, redefining a new aesthetics of deculturation"--Bloomsbury Publishing. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Foreword 9 Acknowledgments 15 Introduction 16 Deculturation 17 Decultured education 18 Liberalism 20 Political correctness 21 Excellence rhetoric 22 Kitsch 23 Excellence civilization 24 Image culture 26 Liberalism and deculturation 28 Dubai 30 Liberal utopias 31 The narcissistic culture of quantification 33 Liberalism and kitsch 34 The paradox of freedom 35 Which culture? 36 Notes 37 Chapter 1: A Religion of Excellence 38 The Gulf countries and excellence culture 39 A society of excellence 41 The progressive neoliberal 43 Positivism and dogmatism 46 Enlightened excellence 48 Corporate excellence versus Greek excellence 50 Excellence and utilitarianism 52 Note 56 Chapter 2: Kitsch: An “Alternative Aesthetic Truth” 58 On Bullshit 60 Does kitsch exist? Some methodological clarifications 61 Kitsch and liberalism 61 Kitsch and bullshit 65 Kitsch and standardization 68 Interactions between kitsch and bullshit 69 Is everything relative? 71 Rhetoric 72 Note 75 Chapter 3: Kitsch Liberalism 76 The Cold War 77 The denial of kitsch 79 Managerial kitsch 83 Kitsch humanism 84 Militant kitsch 86 Note 89 Chapter 4: A Culture of Narcissism 90 Kitsch and bullshit: Wittgenstein on Fania Pascal’s “Narcissism” 92 Self-deception and pretentiousness 95 Excellence@tfu.edu.com 98 Self-deception 101 Cheating 103 Seduction 104 Coolness 106 Chapter 5: Cute, Excellent, Sublime, Interesting 112 The cute, the excellent, and the innocent 113 The excellent and the sublime 116 The cute and the sublime 118 The cute, the interesting, and the sublime 121 Aesthetics of the non-beautiful 123 Kitsch 125 The interesting and the excellent 126 The cute and the interesting 136 The interesting, the cute, and the excellent 137 The interesting, the sublime, and the cute 137 Trivial versus important 138 The excellence, the sublime, and the beautiful 142 Conclusion: A religion of excellence 146 Note 149 Chapter 6: Can Liberalism Be Saved? 150 The trajectory of liberalism 154 Neoliberalism 156 The paradox of liberalism 158 The paradox of “universal individualism” 159 “Enlightenment fundamentalism” 165 The French intellectual right 169 Liberalism and freedom 173 Deculturation: The ideology of indifference 176 Notes 179 Chapter 7: Immigration and Relativism: Toward a Better Liberalism? 180 Religion and relativism 182 Can refugees be Nietzscheans? 183 Nietzsche’s “tragic relativism” 184 Tragic versus dramatic 188 The drama of conspiracies 189 Good space-bad space 190 Those who came off badly 193 Notes 194 Chapter 8: Three Anti-Liberals: Burckhardt, Evola, and Meinecke 196 The irrational 197 A better liberalism 200 Community and culture 203 Julius Evola 203 Jakob Burckhardt 205 Terribles simplificateurs 207 Notes 210 Chapter 9: The Narcissistic Culture of Quantification 212 Liberalism and quantification 213 Excellence versus existence 215 Conclusion: The Hermeneutic Solution 222 Humanists against pseudo-science 225 Notes 231 Bibliography 234 Index 245 "What are the predominant aesthetics of the twenty-first century? Thorsten Botz-Bornstein argues that deculturation, embodied by the conspicuous vulgarity of kitsch, is the overriding visual language of our times. Drawing on the work of Islam scholar Olivier Roy, who argued that religious fundamentalism arises when religion is separated from the indigenous cultural values, Botz-Bornstein shows that the production of 'absolute' truths through deculturation also exists in contemporary education. The neoliberal environment has separated learning from culture by emphasizing standardization and quantified learning outcomes. In a globalized environment, the idea of culture is no longer available as a referent; instead we are taught to rely on the culturally neutral term 'excellence'. For BotzBornstein, this is an absolute value similar to the 'truth' of religious fundamentalists. Similarly, kitsch is what happens when aesthetic values are separated from cultural contexts. Kitsch is aesthetic fundamentalism. Kitsch aesthetics are an aesthetics of excellence. The consumption of kitsch can be understood as an intrinsically narcissistic impulse, reinforced by social media, individuals recycling their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the "other." The existence of self-centred "alternative truths", fake news and conspiracy theories and selfies are linked together in the fundamentalism-neoliberalism-kitsch pattern. Including analysis of the intersections of 'cute', 'excellent', 'sublime', and 'interesting' in contemporary aesthetic culture, this is a journey through philosophy, psychology and cultural theory, redefining a new aesthetics of deculturation"--Bloomsbury Collections What are the predominant aesthetics of the twenty-first century? Thorsten Botz-Bornstein argues that deculturation, embodied by the conspicuous vulgarity of kitsch, is the overriding visual language of our times.0Drawing on the work of Islam scholar Olivier Roy, who argued that religious fundamentalism arises when religion is separated from the indigenous cultural values, Botz-Bornstein shows that the production of 'absolute' truths through deculturation also exists in contemporary education. The neoliberal environment has separated learning from culture by emphasizing standardization and quantified learning outcomes. In a globalized environment, the idea of culture is no longer available as a referent; instead we are taught to rely on the culturally neutral term 'excellence'. For Botz-Bornstein, this is an absolute value similar to the 'truth' of religious fundamentalists. Similarly, kitsch is what happens when aesthetic values are separated from cultural contexts. Kitsch is aesthetic fundamentalism. Kitsch aesthetics are an aesthetics of excellence. The consumption of kitsch can be understood as an intrinsically narcissistic impulse, reinforced by social media, individuals recycling their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the "other." The existence of self-centred "alternative truths", fake news and conspiracy theories and selfies are linked together in the fundamentalism-neoliberalism-kitsch pattern. Including analysis of the intersections of 'cute', 'excellent', 'sublime', and 'interesting' in contemporary aesthetic culture, this is a journey through philosophy, psychology and cultural theory, redefining a new aesthetics of deculturation