tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post692856513886414143..comments2023-10-21T07:44:20.549-04:00Comments on The Existence Machine: Modernism against ModernityRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-68936805051630755012009-12-04T09:14:52.684-05:002009-12-04T09:14:52.684-05:00Hi Paul - of course you're right about England...Hi Paul - of course you're right about England's experience of WWII. I wasn't forgetting that, or meaning to diminish it, but I should have been clearer. Likewise, I think you're quite right that the differences between the modernisms have deeper roots. In fact, this was one of my points, though again I know I wasn't as clear as I'd have liked. I do hint at it in the post (and have touched on such points more explicitly in other posts) when I refer to pragmatism, utility, analysis, etc. But, I move too quickly from Josipovici's separate point involving WWII to the experience of modernity, which itself obviously begins long before the World Wars (and indeed, the modernists I names, in both camps, are beginning writing well before the wars, except for Beckett, who himself was writing well before WWII).<br /><br />I'll have to expand on the points I make here (which was obviously, and intentionally, full of massive generalizations) later on, but for now I wanted to at least register my awareness of that. Thanks.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-78888566002934458152009-12-03T22:22:52.281-05:002009-12-03T22:22:52.281-05:00It's true that America has been insulated from...It's true that America has been insulated from gritty realities like a Nazi occupation, but that isn't as true for Britain, which was bombed to smithereens during WWII (my grandparents had a bomb shelter in their back yard), nearly lost the war, and never fully recovered economically. I think the differences between Anglo-American modernism and continental modernism probably have deeper historical roots. If you look at the history of western philosophy, the Anglo-Americans have favored empiricism and logic as far back as John Locke, while the continent has embraced rationalism in its many ethereal and insubstantial forms. The English have been skeptical about everything French ever since the Battle of Hastings, and this feeling cropped up recently here with "freedom fries."<br /><br />The problem with America is that it is in essence little more than the full realization of Calvinism: work hard, make lots of money, and God will reward you. The idiocy of this mantra was evident as early as Thoreau, yet the country has never changed course and has only become self-congratulatory while it has stumbled onto the world stage with the delusion of exceptionalism. Most of the history of American art has in fact been the history of American artists moving to Europe to cut their teeth. The issue became confused after WWII when artists like Duchamp came to New York, which was where the money was with Europe in ruins.<br /><br />M.F.A. programs teach American writers to find their "voice," and the academy is there to tell us which "voices" we should listen to, but what may be missing is an inherent richness and depth in the life and culture of the New World.Paul Dorellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14951651359610774853noreply@blogger.com