the utopian function of art and literature selected essays

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• Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought

The Utopian Function of Art and Literature

Selected Essays

by Ernst Bloch

Translated by Jack Zipes and Frank Mecklenberg

ISBN: 9780262521390

Pub date: March 6, 1989

• Publisher: The MIT Press

356 pp. , 6 x 9 in ,

ISBN: 9780262022705

Pub date: October 30, 1987

• 9780262521390
• Published: March 1989
• 9780262022705
• Published: October 1987

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Essays in aesthetics by the philosopher Ernst Bloch that belong to the tradition of cultural criticism represented by Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin.

The aesthetic essays of the philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) belong to the rich tradition of cultural criticism represented by Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin. Bloch was a significant creative source for these thinkers, and his impact is nowhere more evident than in writings on art. Bloch was fascinated with art as a reflection of both social realities and human dreams. Whether he is discussing architecture or detective novels, the theme that drives his work is always the same—the striving for "something better," for a "homeland" that is more socially aware, more humane, more just.

The book opens with an illuminating discussion between Bloch and Adorno on the meaning of utopia; then follow twelve essays written between 1930 and 1973 on topics such as aesthetic theory, genres such as music, painting, theater, film, opera, poetry, and the novel, and perhaps most important, popular culture in the form of fairy tales, detective stories, and dime novels.

The MIT Press has previously published Ernst Bloch's Natural Law and Human Dignity and his magnum opus, The Principle of Hope . The Utopian Function of Art and Literature is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.

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The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) First Edition

• ISBN-10 0262022702
• ISBN-13 978-0262022705
• Edition First Edition
• Publisher Mit Pr
• Publication date October 30, 1987
• Language English
• Dimensions 5.91 x 1.06 x 8.9 inches
• Print length 300 pages
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mit Pr; First Edition (October 30, 1987)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262022702
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262022705
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.65 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.91 x 1.06 x 8.9 inches
• #1,938 in Architectural Criticism
• #11,084 in Literature
• #13,725 in Essays (Books)

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The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays Paperback – March 6 1989

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The aesthetic essays of the philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) belong to the rich tradition of cultural criticism represented by Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin. Bloch was a significant creative source for these thinkers, and his impact is nowhere more evident than in writings on art. Bloch was fascinated with art as a reflection of both social realities and human dreams. Whether he is discussing architecture or detective novels, the theme that drives his work is always the same—the striving for "something better," for a "homeland" that is more socially aware, more humane, more just.

The book opens with an illuminating discussion between Bloch and Adorno on the meaning of utopia; then follow twelve essays written between 1930 and 1973 on topics such as aesthetic theory, genres such as music, painting, theater, film, opera, poetry, and the novel, and perhaps most important, popular culture in the form of fairy tales, detective stories, and dime novels.

The MIT Press has previously published Ernst Bloch's Natural Law and Human Dignity and his magnum opus, The Principle of Hope . The Utopian Function of Art and Literature is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.

• Print length 356 pages
• Language English
• Publisher The MIT Press
• Publication date March 6 1989
• Dimensions 14.99 x 2.08 x 22.61 cm
• ISBN-10 0262521393
• ISBN-13 978-0262521390
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press; Reprint edition (March 6 1989)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 356 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262521393
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262521390
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 369 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.99 x 2.08 x 22.61 cm
• #2,420 in Metaphysics (Books)

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The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) Paperback – 6 Mar. 1989

The aesthetic essays of the philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) belong to the rich tradition of cultural criticism represented by Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin. Bloch was a significant creative source for these thinkers, and his impact is nowhere more evident than in writings on art. Bloch was fascinated with art as a reflection of both social realities and human dreams. Whether he is discussing architecture or detective novels, the theme that drives his work is always the same--the striving for "something better," for a "homeland" that is more socially aware, more humane, more just.

The book opens with an illuminating discussion between Bloch and Adorno on the meaning of utopia; then follow twelve essays written between 1930 and 1973 on topics such as aesthetic theory, genres such as music, painting, theater, film, opera, poetry, and the novel, and perhaps most important, popular culture in the form of fairy tales, detective stories, and dime novels.

The MIT Press has previously published Ernst Bloch's Natural Law and Human Dignity and his magnum opus, The Principle of Hope . The Utopian Function of Art and Literature is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.

• ISBN-10 0262521393
• ISBN-13 978-0262521390
• Edition Reprint
• Publisher MIT Press
• Publication date 6 Mar. 1989
• Language English
• Dimensions 14.99 x 2.08 x 22.61 cm
• Print length 360 pages
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ MIT Press; Reprint edition (6 Mar. 1989)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262521393
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262521390
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.99 x 2.08 x 22.61 cm
• 3,596 in Academic Philosophy
• 4,366 in Art Criticism

About the author

Ernst bloch.

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The utopian function of art and literature : selected essays

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• Notes on the translation and acknowledgments
• Introduction toward a realization of anticipatory illumination / Jack Zipes
• Something's missing : a discussion between Ernst Block and Theodor W. Adorno on the contradictions of utopian longing (1964)
• [pt. 1]. Art and society
• Ideas as transformed material in human minds, or problems of an ideological superstructure (Cultural heritage) (1972)
• The wish-landscape perspective in aesthetics : the order of art materials according to the dimension of their profundity and hope (1959)
• [pt. 2]. Art and Utopia --- The creation of the ornament (1973)
• The conscious and known activity within the not-yet-conscious, the utopian function (1959)
• The artistic illusion as the visible anticipatory illumination (1959)
• Marxism and poetry (1935)
• The fairy tale moves on its own in time (1930)
• Better castles in the sky at the country fair and circus, in fairy tales and colportage (1959)
• Building in empty spaces (1959)
• On fine arts in the machine age (1964)
• On the present in literature
• The stage regarded as a paradigmatic institution and the decision within it (1959)
• A philosophical view of the detective novel (1965)
• A philosophical view of the novel of the artist (1965)
• The representation of wish-landscapes in painting, opera, and poetry (1959)
• Selected bibliography
• Index of names and works.

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Ernst Bloch, "The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays."

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Copyright (c) 1988 Charles F. Breslin

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The utopian function of art and literature: selected essays (studies in contemporary german social thought) - hardcover, bloch, ernst.

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• Publication date 1987
• ISBN 10  0262022702
• ISBN 13  9780262022705
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition number 1
• Number of pages 300

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The utopian function of art and literature, selected essays.

Book Description Softcover, 310 pages, very good condition; except 3-inch crease to top edge of rear cover and last couple pages; no internal marks. Seller Inventory # ThBlMI40

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The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays

Book Description Hard cover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Jacket is worn, particularly on the top and bottom edges with the top edge of the jackets spine being creased. Spine is sunned, not affecting legibility. Cover is lightly sunned along the top and bottom edges, otherwise cover is in good condition. The top edge of the text block is slightly smudges, not visible on pages. Spine is shaken, but binding is secure. Signature from previous owner on the front end page leaf, otherwise all other pages are clean and unmarked. Seller Inventory # 1143554

The Utopian Function of Art and Literature Selected Essays

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Publisher's cloth. Contains some underlining else near fine. The DJ in mylar is very slightly edgeworn. ; Studies In Contemporary German Social Thought; 5.9 X 1.05 X 8.9 inches; 310 pages. Seller Inventory # 41059

The utopian function of art and literature : selected essays; [by] Ernst Bloch ; translated by Jack Zipes and Frank Mecklenburg

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: good. Octavo in light green cloth; xliii, 310 pages ; 24 cm ; bibliographical references (pages 293-303) and index. "The aesthetic essays of the philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) belong to the rich tradition of cultural criticism represented by Georg Lukacs, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin. Bloch was a significant creative source for these thinkers, and his impact is nowhere more evident than in writings on art. Bloch was fascinated with art as a reflection of both social realities and human dreams. Whether he is discussing architecture or detective novels, the theme that drives his work is always the same -- the striving for "something better," for a "homeland" that is more socially aware, more humane, more just. The book opens with an illuminating discussion between Bloch and Adorno on the meaning of utopia; then follow 12 essays written between 1930 and 1973 on topics as diverse as aesthetic theory, genres such as music, painting, theater, film, opera, poetry, and the novel, and perhaps most important, popular culture in the form of fairy tales, detective stories, and dime novels." -- Back cover (jacket) ||Translated from German. Series: Studies in contemporary German social though. The first essay, Something's missing, was originally published in German in Gespr�che mit Ernst Bloch; the other essays are from Bloch's �sthetik des Vor-Scheins. Contents: Notes on the translation and acknowledgments -- Introduction: toward a realization of anticipatory illumination / Jack Zipes -- Something's missing : a discussion between Ernst Block and Theodor W. Adorno on the contradictions of utopian longing (1964) -- [pt. 1]. Art and society -- Ideas as transformed material in human minds, or problems of an ideological superstructure (Cultural heritage) (1972) -- The wish-landscape perspective in aesthetics : the order of art materials according to the dimension of their profundity and hope (1959) -- [pt. 2]. Art and Utopia --- The creation of the ornament (1973) -- The conscious and known activity within the not-yet-conscious, the utopian function (1959) -- The artistic illusion as the visible anticipatory illumination (1959) -- Marxism and poetry (1935) -- The fairy tale moves on its own in time (1930) -- Better castles in the sky at the country fair and circus, in fairy tales and colportage (1959) -- Building in empty spaces (1959) -- On fine arts in the machine age (1964) -- On the present in literature -- The stage regarded as a paradigmatic institution and the decision within it (1959) -- A philosophical view of the detective novel (1965) -- A philosophical view of the novel of the artist (1965) -- The representation of wish-landscapes in painting, opera, and poetry (1959) -- Selected bibliography -- Index of names and works.|| Aesthetics. Utopias. Literature -- Aesthetics. Esth�tique. Utopies. Aesthetics. Utopias. Marxist criticism. Aesthetics, Modern -- 20th century. Utopias. Art and society. An externally worn but tight and clean copy. Overall good+ with mild discoloration, fading and rubbing to cloth. No markings to text block. Lacks dust jacket. A well worn but perfectly functional copy. Binding is tight. Seller Inventory # 92200

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Utopian Fiction in China review

MCLC Resource Center is pleased to announce publication of Hang Tu’s review of Utopian Fiction in China: Genre, Print Culture and Knowledge Formation, 1902-1912 , by Shuk Man Leung. The review appears below and at its online home: https://u.osu.edu/mclc/book-reviews/hang-tu/ . My thanks to Nicholas Kaldis, our literary studies book review editor, for ushering the review to publication.

Kirk Denton, MCLC

By Shuk Man Leung

Reviewed by Hang Tu

MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright May, 2024)

Shuk Man Leung, Utopian Fiction in China: Genre, Print Culture and Knowledge Formation, 1902-1912 Leiden: Brill, 2023, Xiii + 306 pp. ISBN: 978-90-04-68038-8 (Hardcover).

May 1, 2024 was a strange day to reflect on the theme of utopianism. On university campuses across America, anger and frustration was rife among participants of protests and counter-protests. The violence of the Middle East crisis spilled over into the American public, sharpening partisan divisions in an already polarized country. In such an atmosphere of mutual recriminations and accusations of political crimes, many would dismiss any utopian vision as naïvely, if not recklessly, pedantic, a pale intellectual legacy discussed in seminar rooms. Indeed, throughout the post-pandemic world, regional wars, power rivalries, and the law of the jungle have been taking over. East and West, dystopian sentiment was ascendant—the shared affect of those confronting various failed utopian projects with bitter resignation and cynicism. A second decade into the twenty-first century, to borrow from Enzo Traverso’s apt phrase, we find ourselves in an era that suffers the “eclipse of utopia,” one without visible, thinkable, or imaginable alternatives. Hence, isn’t it simply anachronistic to still be speaking about utopia today?

In Utopian Fiction in China: Genre, Print Culture and Knowledge Formation, 1902-1912 , Shuk Man Leung, a scholar of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong, takes readers back to the turn of the twentieth century when utopianism still held significance for Chinese intellectuals, fiction writers, and the general public. Based on sources in Chinese, English, and Japanese, Utopian Fiction in China wanders through the late Qing utopian imagination as depicted in various aesthetic, literary, and political texts. Leung’s point of departure is Liang Qichao’s 梁啟超 (1873-1929) publication of The Future of New China (新中國未來記) in 1902, a political novel that declared the birth of modern utopian fiction in China. After the failed Hundred Days Reform (1898), much of the Confucian revivalist ambition to restore the ancient rule of the “three golden ages” had already faded away. But unlike his teacher Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858-1927), who never abandoned his antiquarian nostalgia, in his The Future of New China Liang Qichao announced a New Fiction project (新小說), introducing a brand-new literary device, a translated genre, and a new knowledge formation at the forefront of Western evolutionary thinking. Notwithstanding the abundant utopian imaginaries contained in the Confucian legacy, Leung argues that the traditional Chinese vision of paradise (樂園) was not “modern” in the sense that it advocated a retreat into the past. By contrast, Liang’s utopian fiction projected a futuristic and prospective view of China—a distant future not yet realized but that could potentially be achieved through conscientious socio-political reforms. More specifically, the exiled scholar drew inspiration from the 1888 American novel Looking Backward and the 1886 Japanese political fiction Plum Blossoms in the Snow (雪中梅). In Liang’s vision, China by 1962 would emerge as a rising world power—a prosperous and unified Confucian nation-state with a constitutional monarchy. Liang’s deployment of what David Der-wei Wang names “future perfect tense,” as Leung suggests, “exemplified the thematic and structural features of the new generic system and endorsed the utopian imagination as a new mode of writing” (34). In conjunction with his meditation on fiction and “politics” (群治, which Leung glosses as “Government of the People”), Liang hoped that utopian fiction could reformulate people’s minds through four key effects it could have on the reader: “‘incense-burning’ ( xun 薰 [censing/thurification]), ‘immersion’ ( jin 浸), ‘stimulation’ ( ci 刺), and ‘elevation’ ( ti 提)” (53).

Echoing Foucault’s epistemology of ruptures. Leung highlights the radical novelty of utopian fiction and its distinct difference from traditional xiaoshuo 小說. In ancient China, the genre was associated with “‘miscellaneous events’ ( zashi 雜事)” and “‘insignificant remarks’ ( suoyu 瑣語),” as well as “‘unusual hearsay’ ( yiwen 異聞)” and “‘the gossip of the street’ ( jietan xiangyu daoting tushuo 街談巷語道聽途說)” (43-44). All these derogatory classificatory categories indicate that xiaoshuo was on the margins of the Confucian “order of things”—the canonical bibliographical categories of “‘classics’ ( jing 經), ‘historical records’ ( sh i 史), ‘philosophical writings’ ( zi 子), and ‘belles-lettres’ ( ji 集)” (34). Yet in contrast to xiaoshuo as flawed historical records, the generic system of New Fiction constructed by Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei was “an epistemic discourse derived from Western scientific knowledge” (41). As a new instrument of knowledge production, fiction was no longer a peripheral genre but rather became critical to political reform and scientific education.

Leung demonstrates her point by delving into the generic system of New Fiction, “treating it as a new genre in the late Qing period” (37). Thus, chapter 2 explores the utopian imagination in various sub-genres, such as political fiction, science fiction, and idealistic fiction. In both Liang’s The Future of New China and Bao Tianxiao’s (包天笑 1876-1973) “The Future History of Air Warfare” (空中戰爭未來記), the authors deployed an alternative, hypothetical historical narrative to project a utopian future. Meanwhile, the utopian dimension of New Fiction was also manifested in its political relevance. Chapter 3 discusses the political function of the late Qing fictional universe. Drawing inspiration from Rudolf Wagner’s notion of the Chinese public sphere, Leung describes how a flourishing fiction industry was created by a multitude of political actors, including fiction writers, commercial publishers, and seasoned politicians. All of them saw fictionalized narratives as a valuable channel to criticize the Qing regime and spread societal enlightenment among readers of lower social status. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 continue to explore the intertwining of utopian fiction with various political ideals. While Liang’s The Future of New China developed out of his consistent dialogue with evolutionary thinking, Cai Yuanpei’s (蔡元培 1868-1940) “A New Year’s Dream” speaks of an anarchistic utopia and other writers’ discussion of colonization represented a desire to establish an ideal, borderless Chinese nation. Together, these cases illustrate how fiction served as a powerful medium for engaging with utopian political visions in the late Qing era.

Overall, Leung’s book is an important addition to the scholarly exploration of the late Qing utopian imagination. Eminent intellectual historians such as Wang Fan-sen, Peter Zarrow, and Chang Hao have forcefully argued that there was a powerful utopian strain in modern Chinese intellectual thinking, with significant political implications: Peter Zarrow delves into “the utopian impulse” among May Fourth radicals; Chang Hao uncovers the perilous connections between perfectionist thinking and totalitarianism; and Wang Fan-sen explores the affective torrent of “boredom” (煩悶) behind utopian visions. Meanwhile, a number of literary scholars have explored how fiction rose to become a powerful genre to reflect on and intervene in utopian political thinking during the late Qing era. Whereas David Der-wei Wang takes note of the “repressed modernities” of late Qing fiction, Cheng Pingyuan delves into the “narratological evolution” of modern Chinese fiction, and Catherine Yeh traces the transnational migration of the political novel from West to East. Together, their analyses shed light on why and how fiction ascended to become the predominant genre of the twentieth century. Above all, this rich scholarship demonstrates the interconnectedness of literary experimentation and intellectual reflection in the modern Chinese context.

Meanwhile, the absence of a utopian imaginary in our contemporary political landscape begs the question: What lessons can we glean from the extensive history of utopian thought in modern times? Since Sir Thomas More coined the term “utopia” in his 1516 pamphlet, it has consistently evoked notions of hope, progress, and dreams of a perfect world in Western intellectual thinking. For generations of social reformers and political activists, the idea of utopia helped inspire the Enlightenment optimism of Henri de Saint-Simon, and the revolutionary momentum eulogized by Karl Marx as “the poetry of the future.” Yet in today’s discordant and divisive political discourses, (what passes for) the harmony and prosperity integral to a utopian imaginary seem to rest on the repression of diversity, the curtailment of privacy, and the ruthless suppression of others. In this regard, would-be utopian thinkers find themselves increasingly overshadowed by a rising discourse of dystopia, or a critical evaluation of the failed utopian experiments of the twentieth century, from communism to fascism. Similarly, when we turn to the contemporary Chinese literary context, one finds, in contrast to the robust utopian visions of late Qing thinkers, that dystopian fiction has become predominant and few works can be properly categorized as “utopian.” The eclipse of utopia neither vindicates the dystopian vision nor condemns the political naïveté of utopian thinkers. But it points toward a paradoxical incongruity rooted in the etymological origin of “utopia”: Thomas More’s imaginary island oscillates between utopia (“no place,” from the Greek οὐ “not” and τόπος “place”) and eutopia (“good place,” from the Greek εὖ “good” and τόπος). For the contemporary reader who can find no place to project a positive futuristic imagination, Shuk Man Leung’s Utopian Fiction in China: Genre, Print Culture and Knowledge Formation, 1902-1912 serves as a nostalgic paean to the utopian origin of Chinese modernity.

Hang Tu National University of Singapore

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