Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth CenturyPrinceton University Press, 2003 - 337 pagini Both a political history and a moral critique of the twentieth century, this is a personal and impassioned book from one of Europe's most outstanding intellectuals. Identifying totalitarianism as the major innovation of the twentieth century, Tzvetan Todorov examines the struggle between this system and democracy and its effects on human life and consciousness. Totalitarianism managed to impose itself because, more than any other political system, it played on people's need for the absolute: it fed their hope to endow life with meaning by taking part in the construction of a paradise on earth. As a result, millions of people lost their lives in the name of a higher good. While democracy eventually won the struggle against totalitarianism in much of the world, democracy itself is not immune to the pitfall of do-goodery: moral correctness at home and atomic or "humanitarian" bombs abroad. Todorov explores the history of the past century not only by analyzing its spectacular political conflicts but also by offering moving profiles of several individuals who, at great personal cost, resisted the strictures of the communist and Nazi regimes. Some--Margarete Buber-Neumann, David Rousset, Primo Levi, and Germaine Tillion--were deported to concentration camps. Others--Vasily Grossman and Romain Gary--fought courageously in World War II. All became exemplary witnesses who described with great lucidity and humanity what they had endured. This book preserves the memory of the past as we move into the twenty-first century--arguing eloquently that we must place the past at the service of a just future. |
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... moral critique of the twentieth century , this is a personal and impassioned book from one of Europe's most outstand- ing intellectuals . Identifying totalitari- anism as the major innovation of the twentieth century , Tzvetan Todorov ...
... Preserving the Past 113 The Control of Memory 113 The Three Stages 119 Testimony , History , and Commemoration 129 Moral Judgment 134 Master Narratives 142 The Achievement of David Rousset 148 CHAPTER 4 The Uses of Memory 159 The Frying ...
... Moral Correctness ' 187 History and Myth 197 History and the Law 205 The Achievement of Romain Gary 213 CHAPTER 6 The Perils of Democracy The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombs 228 228 Kosovo : The Political Context 237 Military Intervention ...
... moral , and political history , with a special interest in the history of ideas . What counted most in the twentieth century- what allows you to make sense of it- depends of course on who you are . For an African , for example ...
... moral attitudes from it . Is memory necessarily a good thing ? Is forgetting always a curse ? Does the past always help us to understand the present , or can it serve to confuse our view of the here and now ? Are all uses of the past ...
Alte ediții - Afișează-le pe toate
Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov,Cvetan Todorov Previzualizare limitată - 2016 |
Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov Nu există previzualizare disponibilă - 2003 |
Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov Nu există previzualizare disponibilă - 2005 |
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