The philosophy of parochialism / Radomir Konstantinović ; edited and with an introduction by Branislav Jakovljević ; translation by Ljiljana Nikolić and Branislav Jakovljević.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Konstantinović, Radomir, author.

Standardized Title:

Filosofija palanke. English

Language:

English

Serbian

Subjects (All):

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

Nationalism.

International relations.

Sociology, Rural.

Neighborhoods.

Philosophical anthropology.

Totalitarianism.

Nationalism--Serbia.

Serbia.

Physical Description:

vii, 356 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, [2021]

Summary:

The Philosophy of Parochialism is Radomir Konstantinovic's (1928-2011) most celebrated and reviled book. First published in Belgrade as 'Filosofija palanke' in 1969, it attracted keen attention and controversy through its unsparing critique of Serbian and any other nationalism in Yugoslavia and beyond. The book was prophetic, seeming to anticipate not only the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but also the totalitarian turn in politics across the globe in the first decades of the new century. With this translation, English-speaking audiences can at last discover one of the most original writers of eastern European late modernism, and gain an important and original perspective into contemporary politics and culture in the West and beyond. This is a book that seems to age in reverse, as its meanings become deeper and more universal with the passage of time. Konstantinovic's book resists easy classification, mixing classical, Montaigne-like essay, prose poetry, novel, and literary history. The word 'philosophy' in the book's title refers to the solitary activity of reflection and critical thinking, and is also paradoxical: according to the author, a defining characteristic of parochialism is precisely its intolerance toward this kind of self-reflexivity. In Konstantinovic's analysis, parochialism is not a simply a characteristic of a geographical region or a cultural, political, and historical formation-these are all just manifestations of the parochial spirit as the spirit of insularity.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: The Philosophy Of Parochialism / Radomir Konstantinovid

In Lieu of an Introduction: Style, the Highest Principle of Parochialism

The Ideal of Pure Poverty

The Spirit of Parochialism as the Spirit of a Tribe in Agony

Province, the Theater of Normativity

Absence of Tragedy: Sentimentalism and Sarcasm

Pamphletism against Tragedy

Happiness from Unhappiness as the Primordial Cause of Determinism

Atheism as the Principle of Publicness

Death and the Philosophy of Parochialism

Individualism as the Function of the Parochial Spirit

Lasting Infantilism of the Parochial Spirit

1. Ingenious madness

2. The end of the world

3. Infantile-romantic mythology of glorious destruction

4. Psychology, theater for the "youth"

Realism as Tribal Sacrifice to Deified Reality

Banality

The First Principle of Nothingness

Sensationalism

The Second Principle of Nothingness

Nihilism of the Dark Country

Nihilism of the Parochial Philosophy and Language

1. Nihilism of the "total" world

2. Nihilism of the status quo

3. Realistic nihilism

4. Aristocratic nihilism

5. Erotic nihilism

Disappointment in the Animal

Autumnal Nocturno and the "Worldly Malice" of the Parochial Spirit

Existence as Meaningless Work

Laziness as the Work of the Closed Parochial World

Naivete of the Parochial Spirit's Non-naivete

Traditionalism as Bad Conscience of a Non-Myth-Building Consciousness

Political County Fair Staged by Boredom

In Lieu of a Conclusion: No End to the End

NOTES

I. The Ideal of Organic Culture

II. Cyril the Philosopher

III. Les charmes de I'horreur and the Parochial Spirit

IV. From God toward Kin

V. Entropy of Earth as the Entropy of the Final Response

VI. Existence as "Starry Acting"

VII. The Experience of Poet Nastasijevic

VIII. Sincerity in the Service of Hatred toward the Genius

IX. Biological Irrationalism

The Future of the Cult of Form

X. "Dead Sweetheart" of the Parochial Spirit and Pornography

XI. Poet Vladislav Petkovic "Dis"

XII. Spirit-Nation against the Spirit

XIII. Serbian Nazism

Evil as Rejection of the Evil of Contradiction

The Poetics of Serbian Nazism

Serbian Nazism and Language

1. Totalitarianism and language reform

2. Attitude of Serbian Nazism toward the language.

Notes:

Translated from the Serbian.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780472132720

0472132725

OCLC:

1225193611

Publisher Number:

99988908318