(no subject)
Yeah I'm posting my homework so I can print it at tafe, my USB isn't working...
‘All That is Solid Melts to Air’ Questions
1. How does Berman characterize modernity in the first part of his introduction?
Berman characterizes modernity as a duality of forces; that simultaneously modernity provides us with promises of possibility in the world around us while at the same time threatening the existence of that same world that surrounds us.
2. Briefly summarize the key phases of modernity’s history and the specific characteristics of each phase.
The first phase occurs loosely from the start of the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, in this stage aspects and characteristics of modernization are merely emerging, these characteristics include further development of the vocabulary and the emergence of the sense of a modern community.
The beginning of the second wave is marked by the Revolutions of the 1790’s, the ‘modern public’ appears in these events, the public is conscious of what life was like in the pre-modern word.
The third and final phase occurs in the twentieth century, the changes of modernism start to manifest of a global scale and much intellectual progress is made and the forces which drove the three phases of modernity start to die out.
3. Why is Rousseau represented as the archetypal voice of the early phase?
Rousseau was one of the very first to use the term modernity in the context that it would be understood in through out the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while also partaking in many traditions that have come to be associated with modernity, it also clear that his writings have been influenced by many of the key aspects (that countless individuals would have experienced) of a society modernizing.
4. What are the distinctive Timbre’s and Rhythm’s of 19th century modernity?
When examining these rhythms and timbre’s one of the most notable changes in experience is one of environment, with events such as the industrial revolution there are many changes in the appearance of the world and the way it is experienced by an individual, new inventions are opening new possibilities to the individual.
5. How are two of the key ‘modernists’ of the 19th century - Marx and Nietzsche - situated in regards to this landscape? How does each respond to it’s challenges?
Both Nietzsche and Marx made the observation that modern life was full of contradictions and paradoxes. Marx saw the coming of modernization as the rising of the ‘working men’, who would rise to prominence in a new age which demanded something very different of it’s inhabitants. Nietzsche saw modernization as encompassing change which would leave mankind with a loss of values and morals which would open new possibilities for mankind.
6. What is the substance of Berman’s critique of 20th century modernism?
Berman makes many critiques of 20th century modernism through out the introduction of ‘All that is Solid Melts Into Air’, many of which are reflective of the way in which 20th century modernism can be compared to that of the 19th century. Many parallels and juxtapositions between the respective works of the two centuries are explored by Bergman. In Bergman’s opinion while the twentieth century has produced outstanding art, in general people have failed to ‘grasp the life from which this art springs’.
One of the most outstanding of Bergman’s critiques of twentieth century modernism is the way in which it’s artists largely failed to explore modernism with the same sense of duality that the previous centuries writers had. The perspective of those from the twentieth century is described as being ‘flat’. Bergman explains that while the artists of the previous century explored both embracing and rejecting modernity and all it’s aspects, twentieth century artists had a tendency to do one or the other and deny the effect that man can have on the course modernity takes. Bergman traces this back to the Italian futurists at the beginning of the twentieth century.
‘All That is Solid Melts to Air’ Questions
1. How does Berman characterize modernity in the first part of his introduction?
Berman characterizes modernity as a duality of forces; that simultaneously modernity provides us with promises of possibility in the world around us while at the same time threatening the existence of that same world that surrounds us.
2. Briefly summarize the key phases of modernity’s history and the specific characteristics of each phase.
The first phase occurs loosely from the start of the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, in this stage aspects and characteristics of modernization are merely emerging, these characteristics include further development of the vocabulary and the emergence of the sense of a modern community.
The beginning of the second wave is marked by the Revolutions of the 1790’s, the ‘modern public’ appears in these events, the public is conscious of what life was like in the pre-modern word.
The third and final phase occurs in the twentieth century, the changes of modernism start to manifest of a global scale and much intellectual progress is made and the forces which drove the three phases of modernity start to die out.
3. Why is Rousseau represented as the archetypal voice of the early phase?
Rousseau was one of the very first to use the term modernity in the context that it would be understood in through out the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while also partaking in many traditions that have come to be associated with modernity, it also clear that his writings have been influenced by many of the key aspects (that countless individuals would have experienced) of a society modernizing.
4. What are the distinctive Timbre’s and Rhythm’s of 19th century modernity?
When examining these rhythms and timbre’s one of the most notable changes in experience is one of environment, with events such as the industrial revolution there are many changes in the appearance of the world and the way it is experienced by an individual, new inventions are opening new possibilities to the individual.
5. How are two of the key ‘modernists’ of the 19th century - Marx and Nietzsche - situated in regards to this landscape? How does each respond to it’s challenges?
Both Nietzsche and Marx made the observation that modern life was full of contradictions and paradoxes. Marx saw the coming of modernization as the rising of the ‘working men’, who would rise to prominence in a new age which demanded something very different of it’s inhabitants. Nietzsche saw modernization as encompassing change which would leave mankind with a loss of values and morals which would open new possibilities for mankind.
6. What is the substance of Berman’s critique of 20th century modernism?
Berman makes many critiques of 20th century modernism through out the introduction of ‘All that is Solid Melts Into Air’, many of which are reflective of the way in which 20th century modernism can be compared to that of the 19th century. Many parallels and juxtapositions between the respective works of the two centuries are explored by Bergman. In Bergman’s opinion while the twentieth century has produced outstanding art, in general people have failed to ‘grasp the life from which this art springs’.
One of the most outstanding of Bergman’s critiques of twentieth century modernism is the way in which it’s artists largely failed to explore modernism with the same sense of duality that the previous centuries writers had. The perspective of those from the twentieth century is described as being ‘flat’. Bergman explains that while the artists of the previous century explored both embracing and rejecting modernity and all it’s aspects, twentieth century artists had a tendency to do one or the other and deny the effect that man can have on the course modernity takes. Bergman traces this back to the Italian futurists at the beginning of the twentieth century.