The utopian function of art and literature
Subtitle: selected essays
By: Ernst Bloch ; translated by Jack Zipes and Frank Mecklenburg.
Series: Studies in contemporary German social thought
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 1988
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
Subjects: Aesthetics.; Utopias.
Description: 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.
Notes: Bibliography: p. [293]-303.
The first essay, Something's missing, was originally published in German in Gespräche mit Ernst Bloch; the other essays are from Bloch's Ästhetik des Vor-Scheins.
Includes index.