Marx and Engels as Polyglots

Karl Marx’s 1852 work The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte opens with the famous remark that men “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please.” He goes on to argue that whatever happens in the present time arises from and is a reaction to a political past. Recollecting and interpreting the past for present purposes requires a language. Such a language is not naturally given but needs to be socially constructed. What is more, its vocabulary and grammar stem from linguistic legacies of past ideologies. Marx draws in this regard an analogy, comparing acquisition of a political language with mastering a natural language: “a beginner who has learnt a new language always translates it back into his mother tongue, but he has assimilated the spirit of the new language and can freely express himself in it only when he finds his way in it without recalling the old and forgets his native tongue in the use of the new.

Russian nihilism and its reflection in selected antinihilistic novels

Tato práce pojednává o fenoménu ruského nihilismu a o jeho reflexi ve vybraných antinihilistických románech. Práce se nejprve zabývá ruským nihilismem a objasňuje jeho vznik, vývoj a projevy. Dále pojednává o antinihilistickém románu, zaměřuje se zejména na vysvětlení tohoto literárního jevu a jeho dobové přijetí i přijetí odbornou literaturou. Ohniskem práce je pak analýza čtyř vybraných antinihilistických románů. Analýza románů Otcové a děti Ivana Sergejeviče Turgeněva, Běsi Fjodora Michajloviče Dostojevského, Přelud Viktora Petroviče Kljušnikova a Není kam Nikolaje Semjonoviče Leskova se zaměřuje zejména na to, jakým způsobem je nihilismus v těchto románech prezentován.This thesis deals with a phenomenon of Russian nihilism and its reflection in selected antinihilistic novels. The thesis is focused on Russian nihilism and explains its origins, development and manifestations. It also aims to describe an antinihilistic novel and focuses mainly on explaining this literary phenomenon and its initial reception and reception in specialized literature. The main focus of the thesis is an analysis of four selected antinihilistic novels. Analysis of novels Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, Demons by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Mirage by Viktor Petrovich Klyushnikov and No Way Out by Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov focuses particularly on the presentation of nihilism in these novels.Ústav východoevropských studiíInstitute of East European StudiesFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

Reflections on the work of R.O. Šor: Materials from institutional archives

The work of Rozalija Osipovna Šor (1894-1939) is examined through materials held in the archives of institutions in which she worked. Particularly important is the text of her self-criticism of 1932 in which she examines the formation of her own ideas and the influences on her work. This is supplemented with reflections on her published work and new information about aspects of her contribution to Soviet linguistc thought in the 1920s and 1930s that have remained unexplored. This brings new light to bear on Šor’s work by illustrating her relationship to European linguistic thought and the development of Soviet intellectual life in the period of the ascendency of the ideas of Nikolaj Marr

Nihilismo, nihilistas. Sobre una posible fuente de Nietzsche

El artículo trata de las fuentes del concepto de «nihilismo» en Nietzsche. Es bien conocido que el término «nihilismo» adquiere un significado filosófico gracias a Nietzsche. Martin Heidegger y en menor medida Karl Löwith han contribuido luego a la transformación filosófica final del término. Sin embargo es igualmente bien conocido que Nietzsche no es el creador del término/concepto. La literatura secundaria sobre el tema nos informa que Nietzsche probablemente tomó prestado el término/concepto de la mediación literaria proporcionada por Turgeniev y Dostoevskij. El artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar que la reflexión de Nietzsche sobre el tema del nihilismo comenzó antes se su lectura de Dostoevkij (otoño-invierno 1884/1888) y al menos al mismo tiempo que él lee a Turgeniev (segunda mitad de los años 70). A fin de justificar esta retroactividad, el artículo mostrará fuentes nuevas e inexploradas en la Nietzsche-Forschung, tales como una novela escrita por Karl Gutzkow y un libro del teólogo Hermann Reuter

Nihilismo, nihilistas. Sobre una posible fuente de Nietzsche

The paper deals with the sources of Nietzsche’s concept of “nihilism”. It is well known that the term “nihilism” obtains a philosophical meaning thanks to Nietzsche. Martin Heidegger and to a lesser extent Karl Löwith have then contributed to the final philosophical transformation of the term. Nevertheless it is equally well known that Nietzsche is not the creator of the term/concept. The secondary literature on the topic informs us that Nietzsche probably borrowed the term/concept from the literary mediation provided by Turgenev and Dostoevskij. The paper aims at showing that Nietzsche’s reflection upon the theme of nihilism began well before his reading of Dostoevskij (autumn-winter 1887/1888) and at least at the same time as he read Turgenev (second half of the ‘70s). In order to justify this backdating, the paper will show new and unexlopered sources in the Nietzsche-Forschung such as a novel by the writer Karl Gutzkow and a book by the theologian Hermann Reuter.El artículo trata de las fuentes del concepto de «nihilismo» en Nietzsche. Es bien conocido que el término «nihilismo» adquiere un significado filosófico gracias a Nietzsche. Martin Heidegger y en menor medida Karl Löwith han contribuido luego a la transformación filosófica final del término. Sin embargo es igualmente bien conocido que Nietzsche no es el creador del término/concepto. La literatura secundaria sobre el tema nos informa que Nietzsche probablemente tomó prestado el término/concepto de la mediación literaria proporcionada por Turgeniev y Dostoevskij. El artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar que la reflexión de Nietzsche sobre el tema del nihilismo comenzó antes se su lectura de Dostoevkij (otoño-invierno 1884/1888) y al menos al mismo tiempo que él lee a Turgeniev (segunda mitad de los años 70). A fin de justificar esta retroactividad, el artículo mostrará fuentes nuevas e inexploradas en la Nietzsche-Forschung, tales como una novela escrita por Karl Gutzkow y un libro del teólogo Hermann Reuter

Emancipacija riječju i slikom

In der Arbeit handelt es sich um Prozess der Frauenemanzipation in dem sozialistischen Jugoslawien, wobei verschiedene Medienkampagnen eine wichtige Rolle spielten. Hier zeige ich die Möglichkeiten zur Propagandamanipulation in jugoslawischen Frauenzeitschriften der 50-er, 60-er und 70-er Jahre.The thesis will retrospect the process of women's emancipation in former Yugoslavia. Since media campaigns and propaganda manipulation are of crusial importance in the process mentioned, I would like to point out the main strategies for solving so-called question of women's rights. In this analysis I use some women's magazines from the period of construction of sozialism in Yugoslavia

La Russie souterraine : l'émergence de l'iconographie révolutionnaire russe (1855-1917)

La présente thèse étudie la production et la consommation d’images par les révolutionnaires russes avant 1917. L’auteur soutient que l’iconographie révolutionnaire russe émane d’un long processus au cours duquel les révolutionnaires se sont appropriés et ont subverti certaines images et stratégies visuelles, ainsi que leurs moyens de production, déjà disponibles au sein de la culture qu’ils avaient entrepris de transformer. Cette appropriation est comprise comme une tentative d'insuffler une cohérence idéologique à un mouvement révolutionnaire en émergence et, ce faisant, en proie à une relative désorganisation. L’auteur montre comment l’usage de portraits et de stéréotypes visuels joua un rôle important dans la construction de l’identité et de la conscience révolutionnaires, d’une part, et comment un certain imaginaire révolutionnaire fut cristallisé dans la culture visuelle contemporaine, d’autre part.This dissertation studies the production and consumption of images by Russian revolutionaries prior to 1917. The author argues that Russian revolutionary iconography emanates from a long-term process in which revolutionaries appropriated and subverted the images, means of production and visual strategies already available in their surrounding cultural context. This cultural borrowing is analyzed as an attempt of the revolutionaries to give an ideological coherence to an emerging but still disorganized political movement. The author shows how portraits and visual stereotypes have been fundamental in the construction of the revolutionary identity and consciousness, on one hand, and how a certain revolutionary imagination have been crystallized in the contemporary visual culture, on the other hand

Ignazio Silone. L'alternativa umana nei tre romanzi dell'esilio

Il lavoro svolge un'analisi trasversale dei tre romanzi dell'esilio siloniani, Fontamara, Vino e pane e Il seme sotto la neve partendo da un'affermazione dell'autore rilasciata allo Smith College di New York nel 1960, circa il fatto che i protagonisti dei romanzi successivi a Fontamara sono una "filiazione" dello Sconosciuto, un personaggio del primo romanzo. Silone in questo modo crea un rapporto diretto tra i vari romanzi: questo rapporto si delinea a tutti gli effetti come una proposta esistenziale, che noi abbiamo chiamato "alternativa umana", basandoci su un brano di Uscita di Sicurezza, e che abbiamo definito in due modi, da un lato come opposizione ai meccanismi alienanti del potere e delle istituzioni, dall'altro come affermazione della possibilità di un rapporto onesto tra gli individui, che vada al di là del sotterfugio e dell'utilitarismo. In questa proposta risiede il grande valore della scrittura siloniana

Ėsfir' Il'inična Šub, madre del documentario found footage

Ėsfir' Šub, antesignana del cinema documentario sovietico attiva dagli anni Venti agli anni Quaranta, ha il pregio artistico di esser riuscita a creare film di importante valore storico-culturale a partire da pellicole e spezzoni d’archivio caduti in oblio. Così come Ėsfir' Šub ha ricreato su film la storia del proprio paese – e non solo – in questa tesi si proverà a ricostruire la carriera di una regista troppo spesso dimenticata: Ėsfir' Šub può vantare di esser stata il perno creativo dell’avanguardia costruttivista sovietica nel cinema e di aver insegnato ad Ėjzenštejn la pratica del montaggio. Tale studio propone perciò un’esplorazione dei processi creativi che hanno permesso ad Ėsfir' Šub di veicolare una narrativa fortemente personalizzata e ideologica utilizzando unicamente (o quasi) filmati d’archivio. In ultima istanza, lo scopo di questa ricerca sarà quello di cogliere un parallelismo tra i gesti del filologo e il processo creativo della regista, oltre che di provare l’influenza artistica che il lavoro di Šub ha esercitato sui cineasti di generazione successiva alla sua, determinando concretamente il motivo per il quale Ėsfir' Šub dovrebbe essere maggiormente ricordata e apprezzata