Ralph Dumain : I considered adding more on the contemporary appeal of Nietzsche, though that has been done elsewhere. There's some article I have on the conceits flattered thereby, but I can't place it, and some of my references discussed the Nietzsche-based French poststructuralism. One could pose the question of why this stuff appeals to intellectuals who fancy themselves leftish. This question is probably easy to answer for the French intellectual elite, as the situation may be more complex in the academic brainwashing that transpires elsewhere. But the severely regressive nature of this movement, masked by layers of self-indulgent alienation, needs to be clearly seen for what it is.
I am thinking of adding this to my biblio: Williams, Raymond. The Politics of Modernism, T. Pinkney (ed.) London and New York: Verso, 1989. I have no idea where my copy is buried, but I'm guessing it's relevant because Williams analyzes the logic behind the allegiances of avant-farde intellectuals and artists. I can't remember whether he mentions Nietzsche, but I'm guessing that Nietzscheanism is an exemplar of what Williams is talking about, and thus Williams' framework can explain Nietzcheanism as am alienated avant-garde that can go right or left depending on historical conjunctures. ^^^^^ CB; Sydney Finkelstein, Marxist, wrote some critique of Nietzsche in a book on existentialism et al, attributing Nietzche's irrationalism to alienation in the imperialist epoch. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
