Dora Anđelković

Professor Monika Bregović

Department of English, University of Zadar

2 December 2017

Anti-Modernism

1. Placing Anti-Modernism into context

In order to be able to properly discuss the subject of Anti-Modernism it is essential to place

this term within certain historical limits since its usage is somewhat ambiguous, that is the

meaning of the term tends to vary depending on the context it is used in. For example, it is not

rare to find the term antimodernism used as a reference to any negative sentiment towards

what can be seen as the modern world. The subject of this paper is Anti-Modernism as a set

of critical views of a period labelled as Modernism. Such a definition, in which Anti-

Modernism is primarily seen as a reaction to Modernism, suggests the need to define what is

meant by the term Modernism. In this case it refers to the period starting with the ideas

created and developed during the Age of Reason in the 18th century and ending with the self-

proclaimed period of postmodernism (Lyotard) which is believed to differ from the first wave

of modernism and defined as the period in which we live in today. Any notion which could

potentially be seen as antimodernist and which does not fall into this distinction will not be

the subject of this paper.

2. What is Anti-Modernism?
The question which follows in the analysis of Anti-Modernism is the very nature of the term.

To give a proper answer to this question it is necessary to recognize the way in which Anti-

Modernism views Modernism. In the view of the organization of Anti-Modernism as a

historical concept it is perhaps more appropriate to label it as a tendency rather than as a

movement, despite the fact that the term movement could be applied to a smaller number of

its protagonists. Rather than being a product of a single mind later spread to the wider realms

of consciousness, ideas and thoughts are noted to be in free circulation which is one of the

main arguments in favour of a view of Anti-Modernism as a tendency. Another point in this

direction concerns the wide range of fields where Anti-Modernism has spread its influence

including: the variety of views ranging from philosophical through scientific to ideological

points of views, numerous artefacts, motives in poetry and visual arts, as well as different

texts which connect philosophy, ideology and poetry, etc. What separates Anti-Modernism

from the other concepts which we label as tendencies is its negative notion, the idea that it

originated as a critical reaction to a previous historical period. Furthermore, Anti-Modernism

is a phenomenon wider and more stable and lasting than the ones usually categorized as

tendencies. Finally, one of the characteristics attributed to the antimodernist concept is the one

of irrationality recognized most prominently through its opposing relationship with the

rationality, as well as the institutions and doctrines of Modernism.

3. What does Anti-Modernism entail?

Next to be discussed on the topic of Anti-Modernism is its content. This will be done through

a better look on who exactly are the antimodernists. The most obvious, but also the most

accurate way to define them is as the ones whose thoughts, words and actions exhibit

antimodernist tendencies. None of them, here classified as antimodernists, viewed themselves

as such and neither did the term antimodernist exist as a part of their consciousness. It is only

now, in retrospective, that we can talk about their views and thoughts as having antimodernist

notions and characteristics. This is now possible through comparison of works and thoughts

of many different philosophers, ideologists and poets where we can recognize and

acknowledge numerous similarities to the point where it would be possible to characterise

them as predictable. One of those similarities, and perhaps one of the most obvious ones, is

that they all represent certain statements and ideas regarding the historical state of modernity.

When taken as a separate term Modernism itself unveils itself to be a complex term, and

consequently any imaginable conception of it has to follow a rather complex structure format

as well to the point that it resembles a description. Following the same pattern, all of what was

said in the previous sentence can be also contributed to Anti-Modernism. One of the

specificities of these antimodernist descriptions is the fact that they often cross the boundaries

of objective view in a way that they tend to include orders, prescriptions, advice and

guidelines for its reconstruction. By further exploring these descriptions it becomes evident

that they all follow an identical scheme, the scheme which is an anti-thesis of a kind. At the

centre of this scheme is Modernism, which is at both of its sides surrounded by two opposing

states, although this particular antithesis is not always necessarily two-sided. For example,

this scheme could very well be reduced to Modernism and its anti-thesis in the form of Post-

Modernism while still functioning properly. What is important to emphasise is the fact that

the anti-thesis is always established and integrated into a certain time period and therefore the

relationship between its constituents is also always time-based. Apart from this particular

scheme, all antimodernist statements tend to include the thoughts on the explanations of the

relationship between Modernism and its opposing states. They reflect on the reasons their

differences construct them to the point of being anti-thesis. In these evaluations the criticism

is inevitably pointed in the direction of Modernism, or, in certain cases the criticism is not
present at all, but is rather replaced with the approval of the opposing characteristics of other

periods and states.

4. Who are anti-modernists?

After giving a brief insight in the concept of Anti-Modernism it would be perhaps beneficial

to exemplify some of the people we regard as being anti-modernists. One of them is certainly

Ezra Pound, American poet who moved to Western Europe at the beginning of the 20th

century and who occupied himself with themes characteristic for the anti-thesis between Anti-

Modernism and Post-Modernism such as civilisation and culture, progress and conservatism,

or democracy and hierarchy and so on. In his own thoughts on these questions and pluralities

he identified himself as a person and poet of a liberal view, advocating the values of the West

until 1920s. It is from mid-twenties that the antimodernist motives start to appear in his works

which he created during his stay in Italy. Through these works it is noticeable that Pound’s

view on the individualism and democracy of the Western world is increasingly negative and

that he directly starts to exhibit the interest for Mussolini’s political activities. Another

prominent, also American-born, author who can be connected to the concept of Anti-

Modernism is T. S. Eliot, who as did Pound, immigrated to Europe. In his long poem The

Waste Land he demonstrates the futility of the Western civilisation which seems to be

represented as something left only in fragments and whose full meaning and purpose has been

long ago destroyed. Thomas Mann, German novelist, published in 1918 an essay under the

title Reflections of an Unpolitical Man in which is evident that he was introduced to the

antimodernist thoughts and motives and in which he praised some of the people deeply

associated with the concept of Anti-Modernism. Mann created this essay during the time of

war and in its wake and through it he expressed his positive attitude towards the aim and
purpose of war as he saw and defined himself at the time as a German patriot. In this essay

Mann also brings closely together the terms of revolution and conservatism. Some of the

authors who also had similar ideas close to the term conservative revolution were writer Ernst

Jünger, ideologist Edgar J. Jung and publicist Arthur Moeller van den Bruck. Their works are

abundant with antimodernist motives, and although they were all closely related to the

mentioned term of conservative revolution it was not rare that their thoughts and sentiments

differed and opposed one another. The Anti-Modernism presented in these works is not

always of the same type; while in the works of some of the mentioned authors it is passive

and stays in the realm of reflexion, in others, as in the case of conservative revolutionists, it

represents itself as militant with a notion of active participation.

5. Conclusion

As a term Anti-Modernism represents a complex idea, and while it can be discussed from

many points of view, its main characteristic stays the same – it is primarily a reaction to the

period of Modernism. Every individual has its own specific view of this period, criticising it

for various reasons, having theories and advice on how to reconstruct it. For this reason Anti-

Modernism remains a field for further discussion and exploration, its complexity giving an

abundance of material for detailed studies and examinations, preferably through the variety of

different authors, thinkers, philosophers, etc.

Works cited:
Kravar, Zoran. Antimodernizam, 2004, Zagreb

Lyotard, Jean-François. La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir, 1979, Paris