The Politics of Modernism: Against the New Conformists

by Raymond Williams

This is an exploration of the ambivalent relationship between revolutionary politics and modernist or avant-garde art. Williams clarifies many of the issues that have dogged recent critical discussion: the term “modernism” itself; the distinction between modernism and avant garde; and the possibility of a cultural theory “beyond the modern” which avoids the pitfalls of postmodernism.

Genres: Theory, Nonfiction, Politics, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Criticism, Art

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist, and critic. He taught for many years and the Professor of Drama at the University of Cambridge. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the cultural materialist approach. Among his many books are Culture and Society, Culture and Materialism, Politics and Letters, Problems in Materialism and Culture, and several novels.

Reviews

[yuefei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't very interested in a lot of the content about the history of drama/theatre and cultural studies, and Williams' antiquated writing style can be a bit painful to read, but there were some highlights that I'd like to return to, especially "Afterword to Modern Tragedy" and "Culture and Technology."

This collection of writings are very much situated within and responding to a specific historical situation, which I am unfamiliar with, but I can't help but feel like Williams is strawmanning "poststructuralism." I think he and Barthes has a lot more in common than he might expect (what Barthes wrote in Mythologies, that "a little formalism turns one away from History, but that a lot brings one back to it," resonates deeply with one of Williams' main points here). For me the most valuable takeaway is the idea that "culture" and "society" aren't so much polarities as they are interrelated forms, the various manifestations of human activity, and that their relationships (between "form" and "formation"), their symbiosis, is the centre of a historically specific analysis from which a politics of cultural forms can sprout.

[Mehmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modern olan nedir? Avangard olan nedir? Bu sığ tartışma sanatı siyasetsizleştirme ve apolitikleştirme üzerinden post modernizm cevabı ile karşılık buldu. Raymond Williams bu soru ve cevabın karşısına, devrimlerin, siyasetin, toplumsal sanat ve toplumsal sanatçı ile ilişkisini Kültürel Materyalizm kavramı ile irdeleyerek dikiliyor. Ne kadar sanatı en son tahlilde siyaset yani toplum ile kuracağı ilişkiyi tariflemekte muallak olsa da, kitap sanatın siyaset ve devrim olmaksızın algılanamayacağını net gösteriyor.

[Ana Builes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williams recoge de una manera muy particular la teoría Marxista y le da un vuelco muy interesante. Es una interpretación, respetuosa y muy cuidadosa de un aparato teórico y crítico, en muchos casos muy ortodoxo, pero con un matiz muy interesante.
Si a usted le interesa la teoría literaria, le recomiendo que se lo lea, no se lea solo Marxismo y Literatura, La Larga Revolución o Cultura y Sociedad, dele una leída a este y a El Campo y La Ciudad valen mucho la pena.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marxist arts and cultural critic Raymond Williams put together this collection of essays in the 1980s and the subject is modernism. Spends more time on the artistic merits of the movement than the politics and is interesting as art and literary criticism goes. Not extremely political though or at least not obviously so.

[Mo'men Tawhid - تَوْحِيد‎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

طريق كتابة النص مؤلمة، تفتقد للإيقاع وتتميز باللا تكوين
المترجم بطبيعة الحال لم يكن في حال يُحسد عليه، حتى في الزائدة الأخيرة التي تُظهر آراء ومحاورة بينه وبين إدوارد سعيد يتضح صعوبة إمساك السياق وتحديد المعاني.
فتح كثير من المواضيع في مجالات متعددة لدرجة تُصيب بالتشوش.

[Osman Tümay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daha çok İngiltere’ye ve belirli bir döneme odaklı olsa da Williams’ın son çalışmalarını kapsaması açısından önemli bir derleme.

[Ivan Labayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

at times, i was thinking if the things Said said in this book's appendix have much more luster (muntik nang pati "worth") than the preceding bulk supplied by Williams. Yet I accede that it is refreshing to see Williams comment on brecht and film and the British Arts Council (whose ruminations made me consider to do the same sa Philippine context: ask the functions and orientation of state cultural instis) at iba pa. most is this: i was introduced to august strindberg via this book!

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume contains eleven essays which provide an interesting look at the politics of culture as applied to modernism. Raymond Williams is one of the pioneers of this particular type of analysis and needless to say he is very good at it. Well worth a read.

[aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book; I picked it up second-hand for about £3, and it's the sort of purchase you feel happy about for a long time afterwards. I definitely want to read more Williams.

[Osama Farid · Rating 3 out of 5]

ابتعته من الأزبكيّة بثمن بخس الصّراحة واليوم بعد بعاد طويل عن الكتب أمسك هذا الكتاب وأقلبه ذات اليمين وذات الشّمال مقرراً أن أقرأ 4 فصول فقط منه فقط . جيد جداً

[A L]

He really comes alive when talking about the theater.