The Impertinent Self : A Heroic History of Modernity / Josef Früchtl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Früchtl, Josef, Author.

Series:

Cultural Memory in the Present

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (272 p.)

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The Impertinent Self provides a philosophical and cultural theory of modernity by constructing a parallel between the philosophical self and the hero figure found in certain cinematic genres. Früchtl argues that modernity is not unified and should be conceived as a phenomenon consisting of three strata: the classical, the agonist, and the hybrid. He demonstrates this by following a dual trajectory: the shift in the concept of the self from German idealism to Romanticism and so-called postmodernism, and the evolution of the hero figure in the Western and in crime and science fiction movies. Früchtl takes a clear position within the ongoing discussion in the humanities and social sciences about modernity, a discussion that, in light of the work of Foucault, Lyotard, and Habermas, has too often neglected the importance of Romanticism. Similarly, he embraces the role of film and popular culture in modern society.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction: Heroes Like Us

Hegel, The Western, and Classical Modernity

1. The Myth and the Frontier

2. The Hero in the Epochs of the Mythical and the Bourgeois

3. The End of the Individual

4. The End of the Subject

Romanticism, Crime, and Agonal Modernity

5. The Return of Tragedy in Modernity

6. Heroes of Coolness and the Ironist

Nietzsche, Science Fiction, and Hybrid Modernity

7. Heroic Individualisms and Metaphysics

8. Superhumans, Supermen, Cyborgs

9. Heroes of the Future

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Names

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 31. Jan 2022)

ISBN:

1-5036-2680-6

OCLC:

1294423489