A revival of Romanticism?
I was reading a very cheap book that explained the basic tenets of Post-modernist thinking. Interesting enough at the very end of the book it said that "the only cure for post-modernism is the incurable illness of romanticism".
This of course made me think for a minute. Is Romanticism the cure for our Post-Modern decadence? In my personal opinion, yes it is.
What is Romanticism? It was basically a late 19th century artistic/cultural movement that in many ways was a rejection of the ideals of the Enlightenment. What are the characteristics of Romanticism? Although it varies, many scholars agree that the the main tenets are:
http://www.sandiego.edu/french/romanticism.html
1. THE CULTIVATION OF SENSIBILITY, EMOTION, PASSION, in opposition to classic rationality [and] common sense . . . . (The opposition appears clearly in the title of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility, 1811.) The Romantics believed that the emotions, spontaneously released, conduce to good conduct.
2. A REVIVED INTEREST IN AND APPRECIATION OF Christianity in general and in particular of CATHOLICISM, now valued for its ritual drama and emotional power.
3. RELISH OF MEDIEVALISM. The eighteenth century had admired classical Greece and Rome, and used the term "Gothic" in derision. The Romantics rediscovered the Middle Ages; indeed, they turned it into a rich costume drama which still imposes itself on the historic picture of that time.
4. ACCLAIM OF THE EXCEPTIONAL MAN, THE TRAGIC HERO, the individual genius/rebel who defies society's conventions--the type soon to be known as "Byronic." The experiences of the exceptional man were bound to be exceptional; hence the Romantic writers favored plots of violent melodrama.
5. TASTE FOR THE MYSTERIOUS, THE FANTASTIC, THE SUPERNATURAL (AND THE NON-EUROPEAN). The rationalist mood of the early eighteenth century had sought scientific clarity and had [had contempt for] the miraculous, in faith and life. The Romantics restored the miraculous, perhaps more for its artistic opportunities than out of conviction. Romanticism gives birth to the "Gothic novel"--for example, Frankenstein.
6. APPRECIATION OF NATURE, on philosophical as well as aesthetic grounds. Eighteenth-century literature, even poetry, had been predominantly an urban literature. The predecessors of the Romantics, the pre-Romantics, opened their eyes to the beauty of wild nature, and described it with loving exactness. They found a harmony between nature and man; nature is good, and man is good insofar as he cleaves to her. . . .
7. RESPECT FOR THE SIMPLE, PRIMITIVE MAN, representative of "THE FOLK." Rejecting the aristocratism of the past, the pre-Romantics and the Romantics found inspiration in the virtues, sufferings, and emotional dramas of the common man, and in those of "the noble savage," uncorrupted by civilization. A mystical regard for DAS VOLK, especially in Germany, encouraged folkloristic studies, by which the Romantic writers profited.
8. CONTEMPT FOR THE BOURGEOIS, THE MIDDLE CLASS man, who is by definition money-grubbing and materialistic, lacking the defiantly unconventional high-mindedness admired by the romantics.
Indeed, many aspects of Romanticism fit perfectly in our basic world-view. And of course it should, since modern nationalism grew out of Romanticism. Romanticism glorified the local, the national, the folkish over the cosmopolitanism of the Enlightenment. Rousseau and von Herder were the major inspiration for Romantic theories on nationalism and nationhood. Contrary to Modernist myths, nationalism indeed existed before this period, but it was Romanticism that brought about the intellectual apsects of nationalism, particularly theories on what exactly constituted a nation.
With this glorification of the local, national, and folkish; Romanticism brought about a revival of interest in traditional folkore and folk music. Indeed many classical composers adopted many aspects of traditional folk music into their music. Writers took on elements of traditional folkore into their own novels. This was especcially true with the revival of elements of the romance stories of the Middle Ages.
Indeed the Romantic age brought about an appreciation for ones national roots. Although Romanticism ended in the 19th century, elements of it lived on. Tolkein's novels and the themes in them are directly linked to the legacy of Romanticism.
Just like Romanticism was a couter-movement to the cosmopolitan decadence of the Enlightenment, I believe a revival of Romanticism could indeed lead us out of our current post-modernist decadence.
I'd like to hear other peoples opinions.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Sigrun Christianson
Bookmarks