Suchergebnisse

Der Beitrag untersucht anhand von Revolutionsgedichten die Mischung von Wissenschaft, Mythos und Utopie in der leninistischen Ideologie. Der Autor stellt fest, daß Mythen den Ideen der linken Revolution im Prinzip nicht entsprachen. Gleichwohl hätte man sich aber mythologischer Formeln bedient. Dargestellt wird der Konflikt zwischen Wissenschaft und Mythos, zwischen Lenin und Sorel. Als mythische Elemente der Oktoberrevolution werden unter anderem Lenins Technikkult ("Sozialismus ist Sowjetmacht plus Elektrifizierung") und der unterdrückte Proletkult sowie die Ideen der Futuristen erläutert. Nach Lenins Tod habe seine Person dazu eingeladen, ihn mythisch zu überhöhen. Der Autor vermutet, daß in den 80er Jahren gerade die Geringschätzung von Utopie und Mythos die Revolutionsmythologie untergruben. Er warnt allerdings vor der Gefahr, daß ohne rasche Demokratisierungserfolge eine nachholende russische Mythisierung versuchen könnte, das erstarrte System mit "alt-neuem-russisch-nationalem Sinn" zu füllen. Zahlreiche nationalistische Mythen würden bereits darauf hindeuten. (rk)

Examines tensions between critical, polemical, & messianic threads in Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri's Empire (2000) in light of prior arguments deviating from orthodox historical materialism. Hardt & Negri's move from a deconstructive-critical to an ethnopolitical methodological approach is addressed before considering the place of Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari's work in their postmodernism, highlighting the notion of "deterritorialization." Understanding their polemical divergence from critical or deconstructive approaches when such polemic does little to impel or describe the leftist struggle is difficult; ie, their prophecy is problematized when their metaphysics offers no empirical course or conclusion, & this raises questions for the organization of their notion of multitude. Attention turns to comparing their thought to Georges Sorel's anarchist variation on orthodox Leninism; specifically, multitude is likened to his "General Strike," with the Hardt & Negri's idea constituting what Sorel would call a political myth. The value of such a myth for social movements operating in the context of Empire is questioned. J. Zendejas

The Holocaust has made it possible to think of a posthistorical age where humanity has been destroyed as an ethical ideal, where modern societies can annihilate themselves through nuclear weapons or irrevocable damage to the human condition, & where history is irrelevant to the conduct of human affairs. In this posthistorical context, & with the fear that mankind's present folly might annihilate future generations, the relationship between a mythic mode of world orientation & political culture is discussed. The case is made for a tentative mythico-poetic rendering of political events. The dangers of aetheticizing political life & inspiring particularistic loyalties through myth are weighed against its benefits in interpreting the world. The particular case of myth's role in helping Europeans to live in a changing world of plural identities, overlapping loyalties, & different forms of authority is discussed. M. Pflum