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Spartakus
Schon 1969 hat Furio Jesi Spartakus. Symbologie der Revolte verfasst, doch erst 2000 wurde seine Rekonstruktion des Spartakusaufstandes in Berlin im Winter 1918-19 posthum veröffentlicht. Hier liegt sie erstmalig in deutscher Übersetzung vor. Am Beispiel des Spartakusaufstandes entwickelt Jesi den grundlegenden politischen Unterschied von Revolution und Revolte.
Ausgehend von literarischen Quellen wie Brecht, Eliade, Nietzsche, Mann und Bakunin skizziert Jesi eine Phänomenologie der Revolte, die zwei Zeitlichkeiten gegeneinander stellt: die zielgerichtete Linearität der Revolution und die »Aussetzung der historischen Zeit« in der Revolte. Jesi behauptet einen grundlegenden Unterschied zwischen dem unmittelbaren Erscheinen (Epiphanie) der Idee und ihrer Erstarrung im ideologischen Kanon, zwischen der Zeit der Subversion oder des Mythos und der Zeit der Erinnerung. Damit verbindet er Mythos und Revolte und versteht die Wirklichkeit des Mythos als etwas radikal Neues, gerade weil sie sich nicht in die Zeit der Erinnerung einschreiben lässt und wieder zu einem Synonym von Wahrheit wird.
Jesi, der eine ganze Generation italienischer Denker:innen von Pasolini über Eco bis Agamben beeinflusste, zeigt das spartakistische Berlin als eine aktualisierte Version der Pariser Kommune, die dann wiederkehrt in den Revolten des Pariser Mai 1968 und den politischen Kämpfen im Italien der 70er Jahre und so politisch anschlussfähig bleibt für gegenwärtige Bewegungen, die den Status quo eines „There is no alternative“ angreifen.
Ausgehend von literarischen Quellen wie Brecht, Eliade, Nietzsche, Mann und Bakunin skizziert Jesi eine Phänomenologie der Revolte, die zwei Zeitlichkeiten gegeneinander stellt: die zielgerichtete Linearität der Revolution und die »Aussetzung der historischen Zeit« in der Revolte. Jesi behauptet einen grundlegenden Unterschied zwischen dem unmittelbaren Erscheinen (Epiphanie) der Idee und ihrer Erstarrung im ideologischen Kanon, zwischen der Zeit der Subversion oder des Mythos und der Zeit der Erinnerung. Damit verbindet er Mythos und Revolte und versteht die Wirklichkeit des Mythos als etwas radikal Neues, gerade weil sie sich nicht in die Zeit der Erinnerung einschreiben lässt und wieder zu einem Synonym von Wahrheit wird.
Jesi, der eine ganze Generation italienischer Denker:innen von Pasolini über Eco bis Agamben beeinflusste, zeigt das spartakistische Berlin als eine aktualisierte Version der Pariser Kommune, die dann wiederkehrt in den Revolten des Pariser Mai 1968 und den politischen Kämpfen im Italien der 70er Jahre und so politisch anschlussfähig bleibt für gegenwärtige Bewegungen, die den Status quo eines „There is no alternative“ angreifen.
267 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Furio Jesi
57 books15 followersFurio Jesi (May 19, 1941 - June 17, 1980) was an Italian historian, writer, archaeologist, germanist and philosopher.
The only son of "war hero" Bruno Jesi, Furio Jesi was an independent scholar of myth, Egyptology, history of Mediterranean religions, philology and archeology, most notable for his work on extending the ideas of Karl Kerényi including studies of the science of myth and the difference between classic Myths and "Technified Myths".
With no formal degree, Jesi published, beginning at the age of 15, a series of studies on the world of ancient Greece and Egypt, including on the topic of mythological themes and mystery cults. His focus on the consistency of myths in modern times has influenced political activists like the Wu Ming collective in Italy.
Jesi was also an active translator and consultant for Italian publishers on the topic of German literature.
Jesi died at age 39 carbon monoxide poisoning at his home in Genoa, Italy.
The only son of "war hero" Bruno Jesi, Furio Jesi was an independent scholar of myth, Egyptology, history of Mediterranean religions, philology and archeology, most notable for his work on extending the ideas of Karl Kerényi including studies of the science of myth and the difference between classic Myths and "Technified Myths".
With no formal degree, Jesi published, beginning at the age of 15, a series of studies on the world of ancient Greece and Egypt, including on the topic of mythological themes and mystery cults. His focus on the consistency of myths in modern times has influenced political activists like the Wu Ming collective in Italy.
Jesi was also an active translator and consultant for Italian publishers on the topic of German literature.
Jesi died at age 39 carbon monoxide poisoning at his home in Genoa, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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January 26, 2025Banners stitched with emblems, beware the 'paladins of reaction' who prowl amongst us. Jesi's famously protean tracings (not to distract from their vision; his insistence on the unknowable dimensions of life and myth - and their eruptive fusion in struggle - is always well italicised) are acute in both caution and conviction. The intractable aporia of revolt and the dark threat of subsumption under the enemy's gaze. The stunning, useless clarity of existential choice and the collective epiphany which cleanses us of the great burdens of historical existence. Untimely meditations on the militant. Joys of grandeur.
August 16, 2022
An interesting exploration of mythic time as it relates to historical time, correlated respectively to revolt and revolution. Jesi is best characterized as a kind of Left-Eliadean thinker, and even if we don't accept the details of his left-wing appropriation of myth with its ominous insinuations of self-sacrifice, it is a merit of the argument that it criticizes the tendency of Marxism to be caught flat-footed when faced with seemingly reactionary narratives.
***
Take two. Adding a star. Jesi's argument can't be dismissed as romanticizing myth and revolt. A lot of people on the left are obsessed with riot porn. Jesi isn't content with this, and formulates a theory of the symbolic space of revolt. In the insurrectionary struggles that punctuate historical time,
"Everyone experiences the epiphany of the same symbols—everyone’s individual space, dominated by one’s personal symbols, by the shelter from historical time that everyone enjoys in their individual symbology and mythology, expands, becoming the symbolic space common to an
entire collective, the shelter from historical time in which the collective finds safety."
If we want to understand revolts we need to investigate how they produce and circulate symbols. Jesi's main example is Rosa Luxemburg, and the text convincingly argues that she deliberately turned herself into a symbol. For her, proletarian struggle doesn't succeed in a single climax. We only emancipate ourselves from the conditioning of the bourgeoisie if we are able to turn their weapons against them.
***
Take two. Adding a star. Jesi's argument can't be dismissed as romanticizing myth and revolt. A lot of people on the left are obsessed with riot porn. Jesi isn't content with this, and formulates a theory of the symbolic space of revolt. In the insurrectionary struggles that punctuate historical time,
"Everyone experiences the epiphany of the same symbols—everyone’s individual space, dominated by one’s personal symbols, by the shelter from historical time that everyone enjoys in their individual symbology and mythology, expands, becoming the symbolic space common to an
entire collective, the shelter from historical time in which the collective finds safety."
If we want to understand revolts we need to investigate how they produce and circulate symbols. Jesi's main example is Rosa Luxemburg, and the text convincingly argues that she deliberately turned herself into a symbol. For her, proletarian struggle doesn't succeed in a single climax. We only emancipate ourselves from the conditioning of the bourgeoisie if we are able to turn their weapons against them.
Read
January 2, 2026Li a edição da vs. traduzida por João Coles
gostei muito dos capítulos iniciais, especialmente quando contrasta a revolta com a revolução temporalmente e quando toca na relação entre o mito e o poeta, mesmo que brevemente. De resto, muito me passou ao lado.
Voltarei a ler
gostei muito dos capítulos iniciais, especialmente quando contrasta a revolta com a revolução temporalmente e quando toca na relação entre o mito e o poeta, mesmo que brevemente. De resto, muito me passou ao lado.
Voltarei a ler
December 5, 2019
Jesi ocupa como ejemplo el Levantamiento Espartaquista (uno de los tantos hechos sintetizados en lo que se llama la Revolución de Noviembre) para graficar la diferencia de dos tipos de sublevaciones: la revuelta y la revolución
Bajo esta misma mirada, pensando siempre en el Mito como leitmotiv en el libro, se realiza un análisis a diversos autores literarios
Bajo esta misma mirada, pensando siempre en el Mito como leitmotiv en el libro, se realiza un análisis a diversos autores literarios
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews