The Romanticism of Defeat

After Utopia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 108-163
Author(s):  
Judith N. Shklar
Keyword(s):  
Social Criticism ◽  
Traditional Philosophy ◽  
Surrounding World ◽  
Negative Form

This chapter looks into the possibility of pure Romanticism no longer existing in the present day, while the “unhappy consciousness” flourishes as never before. It talks about how Romanticism does not express itself today in spontaneous outbursts of feeling, noting that the change in tone has not brought Romanticism an inch closer to traditional philosophy. It also mentions how the unhappy consciousness has become acutely aware of itself as the realization that God is dead and how it analyzes its condition with a detachment unknown to the earlier romantics. The chapter examines the distance between the unique self, the increase of the surrounding world, and the unhappy consciousness that openly admits its sense of meaninglessness in the present. It discusses the survival of aesthetic idealism in its negative form as a basis for social criticism.

A comparative analysis of the Slovenian particles še and že against the background of the Russian language

2020 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Author(s):  
Mariya L. Kuleshоva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Time Axis ◽  
Temporal Modifiers ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Negative Form

The article compares the Slovenian particles še and že mainly with the Russian particles еще and уже. Unlike the Russian particle уже, the Slovenian particle že cannot be combined with the negative form of the verb: instead of it, the adverb več is used in such contexts. The most subtle differences between the Slovenian and Russian languages are found in the combinations of še and že with temporal modifiers, where the so-called “plot time” is characteristic of the Slovenian language. The event is interpreted as localized on the time axis, not from the perspective of the «speaker’s time», which is manifested in the possibility of using že in such contexts as umrl je že v devetnajstem stoletju (he died in the nineteenth century already). Moreover, že is not able to express the meaning ‘no earlier / no later than’, because the particle šele replaces it in this function. The author comes to the conclusion that Slovenian particles are more widely used as modal than their Russian equivalents. The particle še has numerous intensifying functions, correlating with the functions of Russian particles даже, еще и, и. The particle že can be used in the same way as two Russian words уже and уж. In contrast to уж, že does not always express displeasure and can add the meaning of a concession to the statement.

Catastrophic narratives

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kahn ◽  
Mark Lipovetsky ◽  
Irina Reyfman ◽  
Stephanie Sandler
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Criticism ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
First Century ◽  
Holocaust Literature ◽  
World War ◽  
Important Trend ◽  
Narrative Forms ◽  
Personal Trauma

The chapter considers how, beginning with the Revolution and continuing across the centry, new narrative forms in prose and poetry fashion a discourse of national destiny. As narratives conceptualize historical change and convey the meanings of catastrophe, they develop new plotlines, metaphoric systems and mythological visions. The chapter argues that Russian literature on the Great Terror, collectivization, and Gulag achieves a focus on historical and personal trauma comparable to Holocaust literature. Soviet narratives of World War II also form an important trend from the 1940s through twenty-first century, serving simultaneously as the source of social criticism and the sustained attempt to redefine national identity.

Fiction and Social Criticism

1952 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
Granville Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Social Criticism

The welfare state criticism of the losers of modernization: How social experiences of resentment shape populist welfare critique

2021 ◽  
pp. 000169932199419
Author(s):  
Arno Van Hootegem ◽  
Koen Abts ◽  
Bart Meuleman
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Social Criticism ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Working People ◽  
Paradoxical Finding ◽  
The Welfare State

This article aims to explain the paradoxical finding that socio-economically vulnerable groups express more economic, moral and social criticism of the welfare state. As these groups generally benefit more from the welfare state and hold more egalitarian world views, their stronger criticism cannot be explained by the traditional frameworks of self-interest and ideology. As an alternative, we highlight the importance of social experiences of resentment as a source of discontent with welfare state performance. Our contribution argues that the dissatisfaction is embedded in a broader welfare populist critique that pits the hard-working people against the deceitful elite and welfare abusers. This welfare populism emerges from experiences of resentment related to the restructuring of group positions in the process of modernization. We differentiate between three types of discontent: economic status insecurity, group relative deprivation and social distrust. By applying structural equation modelling, we test whether resentful experiences mediate the relationship between the social structural position and welfare state criticism. Results indicate that relative deprivation consistently leads to more economic, moral and social criticism. Social distrust, moreover, stimulates a higher level of moral criticism. This study illustrates that resentment is indeed an important element for understanding the paradoxical relationship between social class and welfare state criticism.

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