Modern Times : Temporality in Art and Politics

Verso Books

Explore the radical critique of modernism and its postmodern appendix in Jacques Rancière's "Modern Times: Temporality in Art and Politics." This thought-provoking book delves into the interweaving of temporalities that define modern emancipation and artistic revolutions. Rancière challenges the conventional, linear view of time, revealing how it functions as a form of life and is intrinsically linked to societal hierarchies. Discover how the notion of historical necessity, often perpetuated by experts, governs our present. In contrast, Rancière highlights Emerson's vision of the new poet, which posits a radically different understanding of the modern era, particularly evident in the arts of movement like cinema and dance. These forms, at the dawn of the twentieth century, dissolved the binary between free and mechanical action, exposing the divergence between artistic and strategic revolutions. Summary: "Modern Times: Temporality in Art and Politics" by Jacques Rancière. Hardcover edition, 144 pages, written in English. Explores the concept of time in art and politics, critiquing modernist and postmodernist views and offering a new perspective on temporal plurality and its relation to social emancipation.