El futuro de lo clásico

by Salvatore Settis

Para encontrar identidad y fuerza, cada época ha inventado una idea distinta de 'clásico'. Así, lo 'clásico' concierne siempre no sólo al pasado, sino también al presente y a una visión del futuro. Para darle forma al mundo de mañana es necesario repensar nuestras múltiples raíces. ¿Por qué la heroína de un famoso manga japonés se llama Nausícaa? ¿Por qué tras el 11 de septiembre de 2001 el mulá Omar comparó a América con Polifemo, "un gigante cegado por un enemigo al que no sabe nombrar", por un Nadie? ¿Debemos quedarnos desconcertados por estas citas –si creemos que Homero es más 'nuestro' que de los japoneses o los musulmanes– o vale más que reflexionemos sobre la intensidad y la eficacia de unas citas que vienen de tan lejos? Salvatore Settis recorre los senderos de la historia del arte, desde los rascacielos americanos posmodernos hasta los romanos y los griegos, para mostrar cómo ha cambiado la idea de lo 'clásico' a lo largo de los siglos, en una estrecha comparación entre antiguos y 'modernos' llevada a cabo siempre en función del presente, como un duelo entre interpretaciones opuestas del pasado y del futuro. Ninguna civilización puede pensarse a sí misma si no dispone de otras sociedades que le sirvan de término de comparación, de otro lugar en el tiempo (griegos y romanos) y de otro lugar en el espacio (las civilizaciones extraeuropeas). Cuanto mejor sepamos mirar lo 'clásico' no como una herencia muerta que nos pertenece sin merecerla sino como algo sorprendente, que tenemos que reconquistar todos los días, como un potente estímulo para entender lo 'diverso', tanto más sabremos formar a las nuevas generaciones para el futuro.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Classics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Camiel 2004 · Rating 3 out of 5]

beter laat dan nooit 🤪 sorry Formi

[Grant Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book (or long essay) addressed many questions and doubts I have had for a long time, but also brought me down several new paths. It is a great primer of the history and implications of how the 'classical' has been constructed at various times, and an argument for what approaches need to be considered by those producing or engaging in 'classical' scholarship. I wish I had encountered this book years ago.

"We have to look at the 'classical' not as our dead and unmerited inheritance, but as something profoundly remarkable and alien that needs to be re-created every day and something that is a powerful incentive to understanding 'otherness'."

[alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

contenuti decisamente interessanti, struttura forse un po’ confusionaria/ripetitiva

[Maya Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good thoughts about the Renaissance, some bad thoughts about classics in general, some odd thoughts about Aby Warburg and cyclical history. I didn't mind reading (most) of it. I wouldn't reread or particularly recommend except if you are actively desiring to grapple with the question of the 'classical'. (Yes he put quotation marks around it EVERY SINGLE TIME he used the word)

[Duncan Caramichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read in a rather confusing format. This is a very short book, or a long essay, which prevents Settis from going deeper into each theme. Each chapter could be its own book. Nonetheless, I think it is a very illuminating study into how West (specifically Britain, Germany, Italy, and to a lesser extent France and Greece) grapple with "classical," tying in ideas of cyclical rebirths throughout history. Perhaps not the most accessible book, but still enjoyable

[Benedetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mi hanno assegnato questo libro da leggere durante l'estate e non penso sia stata una buonissima idea. Certo, alcune parti sono interessanti, ma per la maggior parte diventa una lettura dispersiva, in cui una pagina sembra durarne cinque.
Lo consiglio da leggere con calma e soprattutto senza imporsi una tale lettura, deve proprio piacere l'argomento.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great conversation piece.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un saggio conciso, ma brillante e chiaramente argomentato, che introduce nella sua complessità il tema del rapporto col "classico". Ottima lettura.

[Rita Capuano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro illuminante ma in alcuni tratti troppo ripetitivo. Ne consiglio sicuramente una lettura selettiva ma non integra

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book attempts to present a fairly comprehensive account of how Western cultures have understood and ideologically deployed the concept of 'the classical' even since ancient Greece. One problem here is that the short book doesn't provide Settis the space to do this, so he provides slices of how Western cultures understand and deploy the classical at any given time (especially in the Modernist and postmodern eras--the periods I'm most familiar with--the picture is much more complex than he presents it). Structurally, I think the book takes an awkward approach by opening with how postmodernist (or really, pomo architecture) deploys classical images, and then moves backward to how the Greeks themselves conceptualized their own antiquity. The reverse chronological approach is puzzling to me because it undermines a sense that the way we currently understand and deploy the classical has its roots in how the classical was previously understood.

That being said, his large argument is that we need to change how we conceptualize and understand the classics. The book rejects seeing Greco-Roman as either 1) a unified and ideal historical origin point for Western values tinged with nostalgia, or 2) such a diverse and disjointed collection of histories, aesthetics, and values that the notion of the classical becomes meaningless. Rather, Settis argues that we should understand the classical as simultaneously an important and shaping cultural force, and as one tradition among many which we use meaning making strategies to try to understand in the context of the present.

[Cristina - Athenae Noctua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quanto può essere attuale il 'classico' nell'era moderna, dominata dalle nuove tecnologie, dalla comunicazione digitale e da un interesse smisurato per le discipline scientifiche a scapito di quelle umanistiche? A cosa serve il 'classico' oggi? Come facciamo a dare ad esso un senso che serva per il futuro?
Da queste domande ha inizio la riflessione che Salvatore Settis, storico dell'arte, ha affidato a questo agile libello, Futuro del 'classico'.
Le tesi di Settis prendono le mosse dal settore artistico, ma non possono non coinvolgere l'intero sistema culturale del mondo antico, poiché le stesse considerazioni riguardanti il recupero delle forme architettoniche o scultoree possono essere proposte in riferimento alla letteratura e al pensiero di Greci e Romani.
Delineando la storia del 'classico' attraverso oblio, riscoperte, travisamenti e strumentalizzazioni (non sempre negative) di questo concetto e del mondo cui si riferisce, Salvatore Settis descrive con estrema chiarezza il sistema estetico, ideologico e morale che ha in passato determinato la fortuna dell'epoca antica, ma, allo stesso tempo, individua chiaramente le soluzioni intrinseche alle espressioni classiche per un progresso politico, sociale e culturale futuro.

http://athenaenoctua2013.blogspot.it/...

[Alexandra Van Laeken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a very interesting topic, I can only give 3 stars. Some of the chapters are divided quit randomly, I don't like the chronology of the book and his claims sometimes lack depth.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggio dotto e rigoroso che analizza un concetto fondamentale per interpretare il rapporto tra il passato e il presente (e il futuro, come si dice fin dal titolo) dell'arte e dei valori culturali a essa legati.