In this reading by Habermas, he discusses the overcompensation that is done to differentiate antique from modern. There is a general consensus/feeling that the more modern something is, the more plain and less decorated it should be. The more antique something is the more lavish and detailed it tends to be.
Habermas addresses this idea in his piece by discussing 'the romantic modernist.' He states that we have developed self-enclosed canons that define modernity. For example, the period we live in, we define as modern. The period previous to that is defined as antique.
Because of this constant development and change over time, with each successive generation thinking of itself as more modern than the one before, this idea of romantic modernism is beginning to blur. There are less fixed lines between modern and antique due to this rapid and ever-constant evolution into what is modern.
Habermas states that we should not give up on modernity because of these blurring lines but we should learn from this process and implement it in other ways. Rather than defining modernity in such definitive ways, we can understand that it is a cycle and perhaps better comprehend the relation of modernity to the world in general. We can focus on aesthetic modernity and the way that modernity is used to represent forms of art in the current time. Rather than pit it against previous art and ideas, we can draw from the process and discuss how the past has influenced this change in time consciousness that is modernity.
Habermas addresses this idea in his piece by discussing 'the romantic modernist.' He states that we have developed self-enclosed canons that define modernity. For example, the period we live in, we define as modern. The period previous to that is defined as antique.
Because of this constant development and change over time, with each successive generation thinking of itself as more modern than the one before, this idea of romantic modernism is beginning to blur. There are less fixed lines between modern and antique due to this rapid and ever-constant evolution into what is modern.
Habermas states that we should not give up on modernity because of these blurring lines but we should learn from this process and implement it in other ways. Rather than defining modernity in such definitive ways, we can understand that it is a cycle and perhaps better comprehend the relation of modernity to the world in general. We can focus on aesthetic modernity and the way that modernity is used to represent forms of art in the current time. Rather than pit it against previous art and ideas, we can draw from the process and discuss how the past has influenced this change in time consciousness that is modernity.
No comments:
Post a Comment