Ancient and modern mythology in art and art theory

Abstract

The author of this study draws upon the works of prominent philosophers and art historians of the Russian ‘movement’ of the 1930s, namely M.A. Lifshits and D. (Georg) Lukacs, to differentiate between ancient and modern mythology. The former, it is argued, served to express profound truths in a fantastical, dark form, whereas the latter, as typified by modern irrationalist mythology, cultivates the dark and unconscious aspects of the human psyche, fostering a sense of distrust towards the truth. The present article's foundation is an analysis of T. Mann's work, which reveals the connection between modern mythology and fascist stupefaction of the people. For Mann, as for Lukacs (and Heidegger), art is an expression not so much of the artist's personal opinions as of his ‘way of being’; and the artist's ‘way of being’ awakens objective being and brings it onto the stage of art. In turn, objective being brings the artist onto the stage of life and shows what the artist and his creation are. This point is underestimated by Heidegger (whose ‘being’ does not coincide with the concept of ‘objective being’), whereas it is at the centre of Marxism. In the novel ‘Doctor Faustus’, T. Mann demonstrates how objective existence, the real history of the twentieth century brings the avant-garde artist to the stage and reveals the real meaning of his work. The author makes a comparison between the avant-garde myth of Adrian Leverkühn's art with Nazi Germany. The art of the avant-garde is a kind of ‘false rebellion’, the objective meaning of which is to supplant traditional values such as truth and beauty with a joy of destruction, thoughtless life and blind obedience. The ‘High Realism’ of M. Nesterov proves that the USSR won great victories due to the paradoxical free labour ‘in chains’ that spontaneously arose from the depth of the Soviet society.