A Return to Romanticism?

[nittanylion302]

For those who don't know, Romanticism was a period between 1820-1900 that included American Transcendentalism. It was a period of the return to nature and the elevation of all that was "natural." It was a reaction to the harsh scientific rationalism of the early industrial revolution in the late 18th century.

The romantic period included a heavy dose of nationalism and elevated interest in mysticism and the unknown.

more info from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism)

Could this new "all natural" movement in foods and increased blind American nationalism be connected? What about the massive increase in church sizes? The feeling americans need a leader who shares their religious beliefs?

What could it be a reaction to? A reaction to progress from the space age? The fear of nuclear winter?

Hmm...

[Kathara]

For those who don't know, Romanticism was a period between 1820-1900 that included American Transcendentalism. It was a period of the return to nature and the elevation of all that was "natural." It was a reaction to the harsh scientific rationalism of the early industrial revolution in the late 18th century.

The romantic period included a heavy dose of nationalism and elevated interest in mysticism and the unknown.

more info from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism)

Could this new "all natural" movement in foods and increased blind American nationalism be connected? What about the massive increase in church sizes? The feeling americans need a leader who shares their religious beliefs?

What could it be a reaction to? A reaction to progress from the space age? The fear of nuclear winter?

Hmm...

Romanticism never left. Post modernity is derived from it.

[mippus]

Romanticism never left. Post modernity is derived from it.

True, and post-modernism is also derived from modernism, classicism, ancient times, realism, ...

[Kathara]

True, and post-modernism is also derived from modernism, classicism, ancient times, realism, ...

Actually, I would say that modernism is derived from classicism. Post modernism opposes modernism.

Theoretically speaking. Practically, any current has a lot of influences.

[mippus]

Is the difference between modernism and postmodernism not far more complex than opposition? I think the opposition lies in the extent to which they adhere to "the big stories", but otherwise, the essence of postmodernism is that it has no real essence :).

[Jennywocky]

Is the difference between modernism and postmodernism not far more complex than opposition? I think the opposition lies in the extent to which they adhere to "the big stories", but otherwise, the essence of postmodernism is that it has no real essence.

That is my understanding of it. Different factions seem to fight to define it but postmodernism itself by definition prevents any definitive label being attached to it... as no viewpoint really holds precedent over another.

(It's sort of like an Ni wonderland that way.)

In itself, it is sort of a rejection of modernist thought (hence "post-")... but maybe better said, it goes beyond modernist thought?

Yes, I think generally one might say we see a return to some form of romanticism... the return to love of nature (as opposed to modernism) and the increase of interest in mysticism and the transcendent.

Even the fantasy market (which I connect crassly to all this, I suppose, but it is still a small facet/indicator of it) has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 30-40 years; that stuff used to confined to children's pastimes and modernist adults poo-poo'ed it, now mysticism and focus on fantasy is part of adult pop culture.

[V Profane]

Could this new "all natural" movement in foods and increased blind American nationalism be connected? What about the massive increase in church sizes? The feeling americans need a leader who shares their religious beliefs?

The "all natural" food thing is interesting. It's a bunch of holier than thou psudo-scientists and health freaks preaching to the plebs, and it's also the, often misanthropic, environmentalists, too. Some of it's probably ordinary conspicuous consumption and snobbery ("Joe Blow eats processed meat and doesn't even know what mange tout is!").

The religion part? Well (talking out of my arse here); Christianity was kind of conflated with patriotism/nationalism during the McCarthy era (what a dick). I'm sure the atomisation of society and the lack of safety net for many millions of Americans contributes to the perpetuation of religious faith.

There's also the trend that learning and education for any reason other than financial gain tends to be ignored. Scientific literacy (and possibly language literacy) is low among the general public. Only a minority claim to be confident in the validity of evolution despite it being one of the most supported (by evidence) scientific theories. This will partly be because it's contradictory to some religious doctrine, but I think mainly because of ignorance; there aren't that many 'Young Earth' types, are there? It's not helped by the piss poor standard of mainstream journalism. Junk science stories, mostly press releases via PR companies to promote products, are reported daily, often with the same ones coming around every year. This also goes for shit like 'The Secret' and Sylvia Brown being the kind of fantastic nonsense that gets uncritically promoted on a regular basis. It's no wonder people get the feeling that scientists sit around dreaming shit up to pay for their next Ferrari Sexerossa.

It takes time and effort to become knowledgeable enough to make informed decisions, and that is discouraged passively (more cheap/easy/available/fun stuff to do instead) and actively (Fox News, to conflate a specific culprit and wider trend) by the media most consume blithely everyday.

Part of the 'President has to be hot for Jesus' thing, I think, comes down to trying to get some sort of trust established. Sure an element of it will be 'Gods way is the only way is the American way', but since contemporary politics is so synonymous with obfuscation and damn lies, literally preaching from the same page gives voters some sense of confidence in their leaders. The desperate hope that even if they screw them on all their election promises, they won't turn the country into some kind of 'immoral' dystopia (atheists don't believe in anything/have no morals/eat babes).


Of course, I'm not an American, or particularly well read, so that might all be total bullshit.

[nittanylion302]

Romanticism never left. Post modernity is derived from it.

You don't think the space age, margarine, and the love affair with "the nuclear age" and dreamy futures about flying cars and moon space stations by 1999 are not Romantic?

I would say they are quite the opposite.

[Ferrus]

Post modernity is derived from it.
I would question that - I would see postmodernism as attempting to transcend the classical-romaticist dualism, and thus being as opposed to romaticism as classicism. Romanticism still exalts a specific set of value judgements, even if they are highly individualised.

[immortalmack]

Could this new "all natural" movement in foods and increased blind American nationalism be connected? What about the massive increase in church sizes? The feeling americans need a leader who shares their religious beliefs?

What could it be a reaction to? A reaction to progress from the space age? The fear of nuclear winter?

Hmm...
1. the food is processed to high heaven and diabetes, cancer and cholesterol will menace many Americans.

2.People are tired of the commercialization of every damn thing and also their future is not so bright anymore so they look to divinty for simpler times that have past. Also age is a factor.

3.Politics has played on religious hearts since Homer, maybe before.