Seems that D.'s more minor, lesser-read works are enjoying an unlikely vogue. I'll have to finally go back and read more of them.
I am fascinated the philosophical switch which D. performed so balletically after his imprisonment. Interestingly, this switch is less evident in his fiction than his awful, to me almost-unreadable nonfiction. It's a credit to his literary bona fides that his fiction remains as fascinating and relevant as it does to readers across the political spectrum.
Thanks for the analysis. I agree that neither he nor N. offer easy answers but I believe that we are still living in the shadow of these two. Interesting that you bring Marx in, tho to be honest I haven't spent as much time with him. Alienation and all that, of course. I've never thought of the two of them in relation to M. Of course, they'd all be disgusted with one another, probably. (Excepting N.'s great admiration for D., "the great psychologist," of course.)
Tbh I never considered Marx in relation to the other two either. It occurred to me during my PhD research on alienation and sense of place within short fiction. I read Gogol's The Overcoat and then D's Dream of a Ridiculous Man, fresh from taking in Marx's theory of alienation, and I immediately saw a curious correlation. Of course, and as you point out, they had very different perspectives. D in particular would not have had any time for Marx (not so sure about N, but probably would have given him more time than Marx) and like I say in the essay, alienation in itself is not a concept invented by Marx. However, the correlation between his theory, D's story, and N's thoughts on the death of God are really interesting. I'm undecided on what is the overriding link tbh, it will require a lot more research and thinking about. I'd say it's between God is Dead and Marx's theory of alienation. It's in those two ideas where the overlap exists I think. So God's death, His absence, creates this void for alienation to take hold. I don't know. It is all nineteenth century events that the three are reacting to. Looked at that from that perspective, the overlap may not be so surprising?
PS - check out Marx's theory of alienation when you have time. I think this casts a larger shadow in many ways.
Seems that D.'s more minor, lesser-read works are enjoying an unlikely vogue. I'll have to finally go back and read more of them.
I am fascinated the philosophical switch which D. performed so balletically after his imprisonment. Interestingly, this switch is less evident in his fiction than his awful, to me almost-unreadable nonfiction. It's a credit to his literary bona fides that his fiction remains as fascinating and relevant as it does to readers across the political spectrum.
Thanks for the analysis. I agree that neither he nor N. offer easy answers but I believe that we are still living in the shadow of these two. Interesting that you bring Marx in, tho to be honest I haven't spent as much time with him. Alienation and all that, of course. I've never thought of the two of them in relation to M. Of course, they'd all be disgusted with one another, probably. (Excepting N.'s great admiration for D., "the great psychologist," of course.)
Thanks for sharing.
Clayton @ amokxy@gmail.com
Tbh I never considered Marx in relation to the other two either. It occurred to me during my PhD research on alienation and sense of place within short fiction. I read Gogol's The Overcoat and then D's Dream of a Ridiculous Man, fresh from taking in Marx's theory of alienation, and I immediately saw a curious correlation. Of course, and as you point out, they had very different perspectives. D in particular would not have had any time for Marx (not so sure about N, but probably would have given him more time than Marx) and like I say in the essay, alienation in itself is not a concept invented by Marx. However, the correlation between his theory, D's story, and N's thoughts on the death of God are really interesting. I'm undecided on what is the overriding link tbh, it will require a lot more research and thinking about. I'd say it's between God is Dead and Marx's theory of alienation. It's in those two ideas where the overlap exists I think. So God's death, His absence, creates this void for alienation to take hold. I don't know. It is all nineteenth century events that the three are reacting to. Looked at that from that perspective, the overlap may not be so surprising?
PS - check out Marx's theory of alienation when you have time. I think this casts a larger shadow in many ways.
Thanks for the response. I will try to, tho my undergrad days trying to read Marx still leaves me parched.
I think it was just the times. I wish there were some way of going back and trying to read those authors with 19th c. eyes.
I seriously doubt N. would have had much time for M., tho we know he was aware of him.
Makes me wonder what I'm missing these days...