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Tuesday, 13 February 2007 17:48 |
| | David Forbes |
For something that, once printed, retains its form unless destroyed, books can change remarkably over time.
Of course, it is not the book itself that changes, but our perception of it. What once seemed remarkable and revelatory can, years later, become mundane when we gaze upon the pages once again.
Or, we can find that the pages hold new insights, perhaps not all as glittering or perfect as we once thought, but still holding their measure of brilliance. Perhaps they even have more depth and nuance than we appreciated at first glance.
So
it is with Jacques Barzunís ìFrom Dawn to Decadence: 500 years of
Western Cultural Life from 1500 to the presentî (Random House, 912 pp.
$20.00), a very readable dash from 1500 to 2000 that links our
revolutionary ìmodern timesî together culturally rather than
chronologically. In doing so, he lays out that our modern times are in
fact ìdecadent,î though not for the reasons many of todayís sputtering
cultural critics would label them such.
Barzun, who will
turn 100 this November, has been publishing books since the 1930s. A
towering literary and cultural critic, heís written on practically
everything. This book, originally released in 2000 (the current edition
contains some minor revisions), is intended to be his masterwork, and
he spent most of the 1990s laboring on it.
The result is
impressive ñ and, as it holds up after many readings, should be
required for anyone wishing to gain a better perspective on our own
times. Despite its dismissal by many, history is essential not because
it is a collection of dry facts and figures, but because it tells us
how we got where we are and points to where we are going.
I first came
upon ìFrom Dawn to Decadenceî at the end of my high school years.
Always interested in history and culture, I ended up tearing through
it, impressed by the wit and the extremely quick style.
Donít be daunted
by the page count, the way the book is divided makes it easy to take in
however the reader wishes and by connecting the march of history
through ideas and people, Barzun makes it all easy to grasp.
Opening with the
religious revolution of the Reformation, Barzun proceeds through the
glittering cultural, social and economic achievements, and subsequent
revolutions that have marked the last five centuries.
The organization
of this quest must also be mentioned. Recurring ideas (naturalism,
democracy, etc.) are bolded, with convenient arrows pointing to
previous or future pages where these memes arise again. Almost every
page glitters with quotes, many of which have been mostly forgotten.
This is by far the best method Iíve ever seen for laying out a tome
such as this one.
This is all very well and good ó but what about the decadence?
After all, it
was hearing about Barzunís critique of todayís world that first got me
interested in the book. I found myself nodding along with much of it
the first time I read it, but am left with a slightly different view
now.
Barzunís
complaints about modern society have often led to him being pigeonholed
as a conservative. This isnít really accurate. While he does defend the
traditional classics of Western thought and literature (and the need to
study and understand them), he also lays into the ideas of absolutism
popular among many conservatives as intellectually lazy.
He instead
revels in the ìmongrelî nature of Western culture and chides such
critics that ìUnity does not mean uniformity ñ and identity is
compatible with change.î
≠
When Barzun
means decadence, he means a lack of productive new thought, a lack of
direction and a surplus of remakes, ìpost-ì and ìanti-ì ideas instead
of truly new ones.
He holds the
1960s out as one of the least decadent eras in the 20th century because
society once again buzzed with concern over ideals, innovative music
and art developed.
If some of his
advice is traditionalist, the traditions are so old that they seem
radical once more. His suggestion to scrap the idiotic ìpublish or
perishî mentality at universities, return the focus to teaching
students and save research primarily for the end of oneís career (a
time more likely to produce masterworks bolstered by years of careful
consideration) is an excellent one.
He likewise
busts the concept of artistic and intellectual equality. Everyone may
have creative urges after all, but it takes a new perspective and a
provably uncommon will to actually do something with it.
Still, upon a
second reading, I must offer a somewhat more jaundiced eye than before
to this bookís final section. Barzun simply doesnít get some parts of
modern society on the micro (and occasionally the macro) level. Asides
about how (horror of horrors) public drunkenness isnít as punished as
it once was just donít impress me as signs of horrendous decadence.
It is well to
remember, however, that Barzun was born and raised in an era that few
alive still remember. He began his academic career when Calvin Coolidge
sat in the Oval Office, he remembers being shelled by the Germans in
France ñ in World War I. All in all, heís adapted to the panoply of
changes since then remarkably well.
But the major
insight ñ that our society today is witnessing a sincere lack of
innovative ideas, that the old answers just arenít working, but no one
can think of anything to do but recycle them. It is a problem that
affects all sides political debate ñ and, with the Westís expansions,
now every corner of the globe.
This, on second
reading, hasnít changed one bit. ìFrom Dawn to Decadenceî is all the
more valuable because of its perspective. This has happened before.
Indeed, just before the outbreak of the Renaissance, the institutions
of the medieval era were witnessing a similar decline.
Sooner or later,
everyone realizes that they need something new. By the thousands they
will try new answers. Most will fail. Some will work. Others still will
open up whole new worlds of possibility.
The ancient
Chinese uttered ìMay you live in interesting timesî as a curse. So we
find ourselves cursed in these days. Such times are filled with
troubles, chaos and even destruction. Which way they tilt remains to be
seen. Do we face a new Renaissance or a new Dark Age?
Read Barzun and
find a potential apocalypse that needs no hellfire-wielding Jesus or
psychedelic Quetzalcoatl to come out of the sky and conveniently end
our troubles. Itís the same old question, come back to haunt us.
Renaissance or Dark Age? The choice, as always, is up to us.
ï
David Forbes, who writes book reviews and covers news for the Daily Planet, may be contacted at marauderAVL-at-hotmail.com.
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