The politics of tragedy and democratic citizenship / by Robert C. Pirro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pirro, Robert Carl

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tragic, The--Political aspects.

Tragic, The.

Political psychology.

Physical Description:

242 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Continuum, 2011.

Summary:

Public officials, journalists and ordinary citizens frequently use words such as "tragedy" and "tragic" when trying to make sense of burdensome events and painful setbacks. Political theorists and philosophers have long used the example of Greek tragedy and notions of the tragic to reflect on the nature and promise of democracy in. modern life. This book offers a way "to understand the deep connections between these two seemingly disparate discourses of tragedy and considers how tragedy has been used by major political actors, public intellectuals and creative artists, including Vaclav Havel. Nelson Mandela, Cornel West and Christa Wolf, to promote democratic activism, foster civic solidarity, and build national identity in post-Communist Czechoslovakia, post-apartheid South Africa, post-unification Germany and other polities experiencing massive changes in our time. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Politics of Tragedy: An Introduction and Overview 1

Section I Tragedy and Political Agency

Chapter 2 Vaclav Havel: The Political Uses of Tragedy in the Aftermath of Communism 27

Chapter 3 Italian Neorealism: Tragic Cinema in the Aftermath of Fascism 51

Chapter 4 Cornel West: Tragedy and the Fulfillment of American Democracy 74

Section II Tragedy and Political Solidarity

Chapter 5 Nelson Mandela: Tragedy in a Divided South Africa 99

Chapter 6 9/11: Tragedy and Theodicy as American Responses to Suffering 116

Section III Tragedy and Political Identity

Chapter 7 Botho Strauss: Goatsong in a Democratic Key? 141

Chapter 8 Christa Wolf: Greek Tragedy and German Democracy 157

Chapter 9 Michael Schorr's Schultze Gets the Blues: German Borrowings from the New World African Tragic 171

Chapter 10 Conclusion: Anticipating a Different Kind of Sixties Tragedy 186.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781441165251

1441165258

9781441166531

144116653X

OCLC:

651488553