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Aestheticized Politics , 1 or the Long Shadow of Ernst Jünger's “Old Testament?”
Author(s) -
Hasselbach Karlheinz
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0730.2000.d01-4.x
Subject(s) - politics , bourgeoisie , aestheticism , shadow (psychology) , philosophy , technocracy , literature , aesthetics , art , law , psychoanalysis , psychology , political science
In his “Old Testament,” inasmuch as its legacy crystallizes in the essay The Worker (1932), Jünger conceives of an anti‐bourgeois, technological society whose signature is the rule of soldier cum technocrat. Without renouncing its theories, the author appears to reverse himself in his subsequent writings, notably in the fictitious works On the Marble Cliffs (1939) and Heliopolis (1949). However, the aestheticism of the essay also informs his later fiction, both casting doubt on the nature of the reversal and handicapping a proper appreciation of the author's politics. It will be argued that, while Jünger's aesthetic perception of reality has evolved intact from his “Old Testament,” there is sufficient evidence in both his writing and conduct to contradict the captivating notion that aestheticized politics equals fascism.