Synopses & Reviews
Romanticism is a worldview that finds expression over a whole range of cultural fields—not only in literature and art but in philosophy, theology, political theory, and social movements. In
Romanticism Against the Tide of Modernity Michael Löwy and Robert Sayre formulate a theory that defines romanticism as a cultural protest against modern bourgeois industrial civilization and work to reveal the unity that underlies the extraordinary diversity of romanticism from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century.
After critiquing previous conceptions of romanticism and discussing its first European manifestations, Löwy and Sayre propose a typology of the sociopolitical positions held by romantic writers-from “restitutionist” to various revolutionary/utopian forms. In subsequent chapters, they give extended treatment to writers as diverse as Coleridge and Ruskin, Charles Peguy, Ernst Bloch and Christa Wolf. Among other topics, they discuss the complex relationship between Marxism and romanticism before closing with a reflection on more contemporary manifestations of romanticism (for example, surrealism, the events of May 1968, and the ecological movement) as well as its future.
Students and scholars of literature, humanities, social sciences, and cultural studies will be interested in this elegant and thoroughly original book.
Synopsis
"Solidly argued . . . A lively and alert text."--Jean Chesnaux, "La Quinzaine Litteraire
""A luminous book, whose sociology of culture is at the same time a beautiful phenomenology of the spirit."--Sophie Ernct, "Les Temps Modernes
""This reflection on the various courses of romanticism [is like] a current of fresh air entering by surprise an elegant dining room designed by the most glacial of the fashionable architects, where for a long time the windows had remained closed."--Enzo Traverso, "Ventesimo Secolo"
Synopsis
From reviews of the French edition:
"Instead of exploiting the cliches of melancholy, of exhibitionism, and of the langorous ego, Robert Sayre and Michael Lowy follow the path of rebellion."--Roland Jaccard, "Le Monde
""This beautiful and generous book . . . is a marvelous utopian oasis shining on the horizon of the desert of banality and perplexity where we have been lost."--Isabel Maria Loureiro, "Em Tempo "(Brazil)
Synopsis
A translation from the French of Michael Lowy and Robert Sayre’s attempt to unify discussion of the diverse manifestations of of Romanicism.
About the Author
Michael Löwy is Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
Robert Sayre is Professor of Anglophone Literatures at the University of Marne-la-Vallée.
Table of Contents
1. Redefining Romanticism
The Romantic Enigma, or “Tumultuous Colors”
The Concept of Romanticism
The Romantic Critique of Modernity
The Genesis of the Phenomenon
2. Romanticism: Political and Social Diversity
Outline of a Typology
Hypotheses for a Sociology of Romanticism
3. Excursus: Marxism and Romanticism
Rosa Luxemburg
Gyorgy Lukacs
4. Visages of Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century
Romanticism and the French Revolution: The Young Coleridge
Romanticism and the Industrial Revolution: The Social Critique of John Ruskin
5. Visages of Romanticism in the Twentieth Century
Romanticism and Religion: The Mystical Socialism of Charles Peguy
Romanticism and Utopia: Ernst Bloch’s Daydream
Romanticism as a Feminist Vision: The Quest of Christa Wolf
6. The Fire Is Still Burning: From Surrealism to the Present Day and
Beyond
Surrealism
May 1968
Contemporary Mass Culture
The New Social Movements
The New Religious Movements
The Contemporary Romantic Critique of Civilization
What Future for Romanticism?
Notes
Works Cited
Index