The end of the Soviet period, the vast expansion in the power and influence of capital, and recent developments in social and aesthetic theory, have made the work of Hungarian Marxist philosopher and ...social critic Georg Lukács more vital than ever.The very innovations in literary method that, during the 80s and 90s, marginalized him in the West have now made possible new readings of Lukács, less in thrall to the positions taken by Lukács himself on political and aesthetic matters. What these developments amount to, this book argues, is an opportunity to liberate Lukács's thought from its formal and historical limitations, a possibility that was always inherent in Lukács's own thinking about the paradoxes of form. This collection brings together recent work on Lukács from the fields of Philosophy, Social and Political Thought, Literary and Cultural Studies. Against the odds, Lukács's thought has survived: as a critique of late capitalism, as a guide to the contradictions of modernity, and as a model for a temperament that refuses all accommodation with the way things are.
Seit der Erstpublikation von Georg Lukács’ "Theorie des Romans" in der Zeitschrift
für Ästhetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft im Jahr 1916 ist mittlerweile
ein ganzes Jahrhundert vergangen. Nur ...wenige Werke waren in
dieser Zeit Gegenstand so vieler Kontroversen und heftiger Debatten in der
Literaturwissenschaft, aber auch darüber hinaus. Die "Theorie des Romans" war
maßgeblich und stilprägend für das linke Denken, für die Verbindung von
existenzieller Erfahrung und Gesellschaftskritik – und zugleich gilt sie als ein
so naives wie romantisches Frühwerk. Die Kontroversen um das Werk dauern
bis heute an und umso erstaunlicher ist es, dass in der jüngsten Gegenwart
dieses Werk wieder eine beunruhigende Seite offenbart, die in diesem
Band Anlass zur Diskussion bieten soll.
DE
Georg Lukács was one of the most important intellectuals and philosophers of the 20th century. His last great work was an systematic social ontology that was an attempt to ground an ethical and ...critical form of Marxism. This work has only now begun to attract the interest of critical theorists and philosophers intent on reconstructing a critical theory of society as well as a more sophisticated framework for Marxian philosophy. This collection of essays explores the concept of critical social ontology as it was outlined by Georg Lukács and the ways that his ideas can help us construct a more grounded and socially relevant form of social critique.
World and Novel Brenkman, John
Narrative (Columbus, Ohio),
01/2016, Volume:
24, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A century after Georg Lukács launched literary theory as we know it with the publication of The Theory of the Novel, that work remains a vital resource for novel theory. Lukács's famed thesis that ...the novel is "the epic of a world that has been abandoned by God" establishes the intimate relation of the novel and nihilism. What is at stake in this relation is intensified by Nietzsche's suggestion that reality does not take the form of a world except under the watchful eye of a monotheistic God and by the multiple and contradictory meanings of nihilism itself in modern thought. These issues are explored by examining Lukács's twofold conception of the novel's "problematic individual" and "contingent reality" and transposing those terms into the question of the "essence of singularity" (Philip Roth) manifest in the creation of novelistic protagonists and the "ordeal of universalism" into which novelists themselves plunge by venturing their creation in the public sphere.
Originally published in 1988, this is the first systematic account of the writings of Hungarian dissidents and former students of George Lukacs, collectively known as the 'Budapest School'. Dr. Brown ...demonstrates the importance of their work in contributing to a logically consistent yet realistic theory of socialist mixed economies, and genuine radical democracies. The Budapest Schoool's model of radical democracy represents a critique of both industrial capitalism and existing socialist systems, with immediate political as well as philosophical importance. Dr. Brown is particularly concerned to draw out its significance for the practical realities of political economy, and the logical implications for desirable reform of Western mixed economies.
Georg Lukács stands as a towering figure in the areas of critical theory, literary criticism, aesthetics, ethical theory and the philosophy of Marxism and German Idealism. Yet, despite his influence ...throughout the twentieth century, his contributions to the humanities and theoretical social sciences are marked by neglect. What has been lost is a crucial thinker in the tradition of critical theory, but also, by extension, a crucial set of ideas that can be used to shed new light on the major problems of contemporary society. This book reconsiders Lukács' intellectual contributions in the light of recent intellectual developments in political theory, aesthetics, ethical theory, and social and cultural theory. An international team of contributors contend that Lukács' ideas and theoretical contributions have much to offer the theoretical paucity of the present. Ultimately the book reintegrates Lukács as a central thinker, not only in the tradition of critical theory, but also as a major theorist and critic of modernity, of capitalism, and of new trends in political theory, cultural criticism and legal theory.
The relationship between the intellectual development of the young Georg Lukacs and the culture of Vienna around the turn of the century was investigated in the research project: Georg Lukacs and ...Vienna. Because of this the main point of interest was to investigate aspects of his work which stand in relation to Vienna around 1900. First of all the results of previous research about the theme 'Lukacs and Vienna' were held onto. After this, the methodical procedure from cultural studies about the turn of the century, which are treated as the standard works in this field, we re sketched out and the methods for contemporary works were laid down. The relevant biographical facts were laid out in two chapters about his life and his education - with special attention being paid to the question of his introduction to the problems of contemporary Austrian philosophy. The effect of Rudolf Kassner on Lukacs thoughts around 1910 seems to be very important. Lukacs' literature critical texts on modern Austrian drama especially the literature of Arthur Schnitzler and Richard Beer-Hofmann play a central role. The theories, which are developed in these texts, were made more precise in a discussion with Mihaly Babits as well as in the text: Aesthetic Culture. Following this Lukacs' aesthetical Heidelberg writings, which are relevant to the investigation of this project, were analyzed. The insight into the theories, which show up in Lukacs' texts, which was won in the research project through the aforementioned writings was then deepened with consideration to the Jewish Question as well as with an analysis of the concepts of liberalism, culture, and the Modern. At the same time Lukacs' activities were placed in the context of Central Europe. In addition the question was answered: what meaning did the relationship between Lukacs and Vienna have for his later development. The result of the project is that insight into Georg Lukacs must be viewed in the context of modernity and Central Europe, in order to understand his activity and, in a very concrete way, in order to understand his individual texts. If one doesn't take his contradictory relationship to Vienna around 1900 and to the Modern and Central Europe into account he remains a confused solitary person. Afurther and perhaps even more important result is: When one places Lukacs in the relation of these aforementioned intellectual-historical appearances, these appearances themselves win on dimensions, which first make their understanding possible.
"This book contributes to the foundations of a critical theory of communication as shaped by the forces of digital capitalism. One of the world's leading theorists of digital media Professor ...Christian Fuchs explores how the thought of some of the Frankfurt School’s key thinkers can be deployed for critically understanding media in the age of the Internet. Five essays that form the heart of this book review aspects of the works of Georg Lukács, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Axel Honneth and Jürgen Habermas and apply them as elements of a critical theory of communication's foundations. The approach taken starts from Georg Lukács Ontology of Social Being, draws on the work of the Frankfurt School thinkers, and sets them into dialogue with the Cultural Materialism of Raymond Williams.Critical Theory of Communication offers a vital set of new insights on how communication operates in the age of information, digital media and social media, arguing that we need to transcend the communication theory of Habermas by establishing a dialectical and cultural-materialist critical theory of communication. It is the first title in a major new book series 'Critical Digital and Social Media Studies' published by the University of Westminster Press."
Acerca de Lukács y de Ortega y Gasset, filósofos de la generación de 1914, se ha sostenido que ambos representan posiciones radicalmente opuestas y que puede adjudicárseles el crédito de ser ...precursores de Martín Heidegger. Sin embargo, el autor aplica el método de la sociología del conocimiento al ambiente cultural europeo del primer tercio del siglo XX, y cuestiona estos dos lugares comunes de la historia de las ideas. Es el primer estudio que hace hincapié en las coincidencias entre las obras de juventud de Lukács y las de Ortega y Gasset. La metodología del presente trabajo constituye un argumento más a su favor por su estilo claro y preciso, por la erudición de sus notas y de su bibliografía y, sobre todo, por su exigencia de continuidad con la obra de José Gaos. Esta obra recupera las mejores tradiciones de investigación en México.
PDF
