Chapter 36 Chapter 6 Art 1914-1945 1

1 Fashion designers have always been jokingly called that they do not have rational analysis.But strange to say, their ability to predict the future direction of things is sometimes better than that of experts in predictive analysis.This phenomenon is rather a great mystery in history; it is a central issue for scholars who specialize in the study of cultural history.No matter who wants to explore the impact of the era of great turmoil on human high-level cultural activities—that is, high-level pure art, especially the art of the avant-garde—it is really necessary to study the mystery.Because it is generally believed that the emergence of avant-garde art years before the disintegration of bourgeois liberal society had foreseen this change (see Chapter 9 of The Age of Empires).By 1914, almost every art that could be included under the broad but ill-defined umbrella of "modernism" had appeared: whether it was cubism, expressionism, or expressionism. ), or futurism (futurism), at this time have come out one after another.Painting is pure abstraction, architecture emphasizes function and avoids decoration, music completely abandons tonality, and literature completely separates from tradition.

Today, many names on the list of "modernist masters" recognized by many people have already got rid of their immaturity in 1914. They not only have abundant creations, but some have already established families.Even the great poet Eliot, whose work was not published until 1917, was already a member of the London avant-garde literary circles - during this period, he co-authored with the American poet Pound, writing for Lewis (Blast), edited by Wyndham Lewis.These people became famous in the 1880s at the latest, but as modernist masters, their reputation remains unabated 40 years later.Although many young men and women who just emerged after the First World War, they can pass the test and jump into the cultural who's who of "modernist masters".But the phenomenon that the older generation still leads the generation is even more surprising. (As for Schouberg's successors - Alban Berg and Anton Webern - they can also be regarded as the generation of the 1880s. 〕

Therefore, in fact, in the established "orthodox" avant-garde art field, it seems that only two new things that appeared after 1914 can be cited: Dadaism and constructivism.The nihilistic color of the former gradually changed into surrealism in Western Europe, and it may be said to be its forerunner.The latter came from the east and was born in the land of the Soviet Union.Constructivism starts from the real object, escapes into the three-dimensional space skeleton and takes the structure with wandering nature as the top grade, and achieves the largest form of composition in the open-air modeling (such as giant wheels, large spoons, etc.).Its spiritual style was quickly absorbed by the architectural world and industrial design; the biggest absorber was the Bauhaus industry and design founded by American architect Gropius in Germany in 1919. College (described later).But among the masterpieces of Constructivism, the most ambitious projects were either never built (such as Tatlin's famous Leaning Tower, which was originally designed to celebrate the Communist International), or they were short-lived. Appeared briefly in early Soviet public ceremonies.In terms of its technique and style, although it is novel, the only achievement of constructivism lies in the inheritance and development of modernism in architecture.

The formation of Dadaism originated from a group of mixed exiles who were exiled in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916 (another group of exiles who were also in the same place at the time was a group of people led by Lenin who were waiting for the outbreak of revolution).Dadaism is a kind of protest they raised against the First World War and the society that gave birth to the evil results of this war. In the infinite depression and distress, there is a contradictory breath of nihilism. The object of protest also includes this void All art forms in a depressed society.Since it rejects all art, Dadaism naturally does not stick to any external image rules.However, in terms of performance techniques, they still borrowed some techniques from the avant-garde art (Cubism and Futurism) that arose before 1914.One of the most famous is the collage technique (collage), that is, all kinds of rags and pieces of paper, including picture fragments, are collaged together.Dadaism is basically open to all comers, but any thing that can make people who love traditional bourgeois artistic tastes have a cerebral hemorrhage can be included in the school.Shocking the world is the only way for Dadaists, and it is their highest centripetal cohesion.Therefore, in 1917, Marcel Duchamp (Marcel Duchamp, 1887～1968) exhibited the enamel urinal as "ready-made art" in New York, which fully embodies the essence of Dadaism. After returning from the United States, he immediately worshiped under the Dada family.However, he later went a step further, preferring to play chess, but silently refusing to engage in any art-related behavior, which is totally against the spirit of Dada.Because Dadaism is everything, but it is by no means a quiet and silent way.

As for surrealism, it also rejects all known art forms, and it is not difficult to be fascinated by the shocking expression techniques (described below).But it was more passionate about social revolution than Dadaism, so it was not just a passive expression of protest.Just looking at its birthplace in France, a country where there are popular theories, one can imagine this.In fact, we can assert that with the ebb of Dadaism in the early 1920s, Surrealism emerged.The former was conceived by war and revolution, and when the war ended and the revolution died down, the fashion gradually faded away.The latter has become the voice of art in the new era, "requiring the revitalization of human imagination based on the unconscious state exposed by psychoanalysis. And more emphasis on magic, chance, irrationality, symbols, and dreams." (Willett, 1978)

From a certain point of view, this is actually the re-emergence of romantic thought in twentieth-century guise (see Chapter 14), but it is more absurd and interesting than the former.Surrealism is not like the mainstream "modernist" avant-garde category, but like "Dada", it has little interest in formal innovation: no matter whether it is unconsciously composing articles, or randomly flowing out strings of words—the so-called "automatic writing" (automatic writing) or in the meticulous style of 19th-century scholars—such as the watch that melted in the desert outlined by Salvador Dali (1904-1989)—are not of surreal interest.Crucial to this is its acknowledgment of the infinite capacity of spontaneous imagination, regulated independently of the control of any rational system, to produce harmony out of fragmentation, cohesion out of dislocation, and out of the utterly irrational or even impossible. , generating the entirely necessary logic.Belgian painter Rene Magritte (1898-1967)'s "Castle in the Pyrenees" (Castle in the Pyve-nees) is carefully painted in a postcard-like style.The castle emerges from the top of a boulder, as if derived from it.Only the big rock, like a huge egg, floats between the sea and the sky, and it is also done with the same careful and realistic brushwork.

Surrealism is really a great innovation under the avant-garde art.Its novelty is evidenced by its ability to produce emotional responses of startle, puzzlement, and awkward laughter, even among the old-school avant-garde.Frankly speaking, this is exactly the author’s reaction to the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London (Iuternational Surrealist Exhibition) and the works of a Parisian friend’s Surrealist painter (the My friend insisted on using oil paintings to depict the internal organs of the human body with photo-like accuracy, which really puzzled me).However, looking back now, the results of this movement are extremely fruitful. Although its popularity is mainly in France and countries deeply influenced by France, its spiritual style has also influenced first-class poets in many countries: Aylu of France Eluard, Aragon, Lorca in Spain, Eastern Europe and Latin America - Cesar Vallejo in Peru, Pablo Neruda in Chile.Even years later, echoes can still be found in the "magical realist" writing style peculiar to the South American continent.Surreal graphics and imagination—such as Ernst (Max Ernst 1891-1976), Magritte, Miro (Joan Miro, 1893-1983), and even Dari—has become part of us, and even more so. It provided a real fertile ground for the central art of the 20th century, the film, unlike the earlier avant-garde art that has been dissipated. The film has indeed benefited a lot from Surrealism, not just Bunuel (Luis Bunuel, 1900— 1983), including Jacques Prevert (1900-1977), the most important playwright of this century.For Cartier-Bresson (Herri Cartier-Bresson, 1908-), his photo-journalism also owes a debt to Surrealism.

On the whole, all of these are the avant-garde revolution of high art and the pinnacle of its development.The object of this revolution is the collapse of the world, which occurred long before the world was actually broken.In these changing times, there are three things worth noting about this artistic revolution: Avant-garde art became part of established culture, at least assimilated into the veins of everyday life.What is more, it is highly politicized, more intensely than any high art in the world since the revolutionary age.We must not forget, however, that throughout this period it remained isolated from the tastes of the general public, even in the West—although it invaded ordinary life day by day, it was still Didn't realize how deep it was.At that time, the number of people who accepted it was of course more than the very few before 1914, but surrealism was still not an art form that was truly loved and consciously appreciated by the majority of people.

However, just because avant-garde art has become a central part of established culture does not mean that it has replaced classical and popular art.Its role is that of a complement and evidence that there is also a serious contemporary interest in cultural matters.In fact, the repertoire performed on the international opera stage at that time was similar to that of the Empire era, and it was still dominated by composers born in the early 1860s, such as Richard Strauss in Germany and Mascagni in Italy. (Mascagni), or earlier ones such as Puccini and Leoncavallo in Italy, Janacek in the Czech Republic, etc.The above-mentioned people all belong to the periphery of the "modern school".Broadly speaking, so far.

However, ballet, the traditional partner of opera, has undergone a new look. Driven by the great Russian opera producer Diaghilev (Sergei Diaghilev, 1872-1929), it has consciously become an avant-garde art medium, mainly in the first World War I period.Since his "Parade" (Parade) play was produced and staged in 1917 - a play designed by Picasso, composed by Satie, lyrics by Jean Cocteau, French Guillaume Apollinaire Writing program - decorative designs by Cubists such as French painters Braque (Georges Braque, 1882-1963), Gris (Juan Gris, 1887-1927); de Falla, Milhaud, Poulenc, etc., have since become "necessary for etiquette" and "indispensable for fashion" (de rigueur).At the same time, the dance and choreography also took on a modern look. Before 1914 (at least in one part of England), the "post Impressionist Exhibition" was scorned by the vulgar masses; wherever Stravinsky went, it caused a riot.Just as the Modern School exhibition caused a stir at the Armory Show in New York in 1913 and elsewhere.But after the war, ordinary mediocre people began to keep silent before the shocking display of the "modernism".It was a thoughtful, calculated, intentional declaration of independence, a farewell to the discredited pre-war world, a resolute statement of a cultural revolution.And through modern ballet, fully exploiting its unique fusion method-combining its appeal to those who think they are superior, with the charm of fashion, and the status of elite art-plus the new " Fashion Magazine (Vogue), so the avant-garde broke out, breaking the dike that has always blocked it. In the 1920s, a typical figure in the British cultural press wrote that thanks to Diaghilev's production, "the public has the opportunity to appreciate positively the designs of the most outstanding and often ridiculed painter of our time. He brought us Modern music that no longer weeps, modern painting that no longer provokes ridicule." (Mortimer, 1925)

Diaghilev's ballet is just one of the media that promotes the spread of avant-garde art.And avant-garde itself has many faces, which vary from country to country.Paris at the time, while continuing to monopolize elite culture, was increasingly reinforced by the influx of American self-exiled literati and artists after 1918—the generation of Hemingway, Scorr Fitzgerald, for example—but There is not only one avant-garde art spreading in the Western world, because the old world no longer has a unified high art.In Europe, Paris was fighting against the style of the Moscow-Berlin axis attack until the victories of Stalin and Hitler silenced or dismissed the Russian and German avant-garde.The remnants of the former Habsburg and Ottoman empires also followed their own artistic paths. Under the language barrier that no one cares about and no one is willing to systematically and seriously translate, they were isolated from the outside world for a long time until In the 1930s, anti-fascists went into exile.As for the two sides of the Atlantic, although the poetry of the Spanish department flourished, it had no international impact. It was not until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939 that this bouquet of flowers was revealed to the outside world.Even the most linguistically impenetrable art—image and sound—has a less international orientation than is commonly believed, if one compares the German composer Hindemith or the French Poulenc with their domestic and foreign works. You can know by comparing the reputation.Art lovers in British education are familiar with even the lesser-known figures of the Ecole de Paris between the two wars, but they are familiar with the most important German expressionists, such as Nolde, Franz Marc), but may never have heard of it. Among all the avant-garde arts, there are probably only two arts that are unanimously loved by those who call for the "new art" in all relevant countries: film and jazz music (jazz); and these two arts are also new world rather than old. product of the world.Before World War I, cinema, which had been inexplicably ignored by the avant-garde (see The Age of Empires), came to be embraced during the war. From then on, the avant-garde had to pay homage not only to the art form itself, but also to its greatest Charlie Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin), the representative of the world, pays homage to him (almost all self-respecting modern poets pay homage to Chaplin); the artist himself also began to invest in film production, especially in Weimar Germany and Soviet Russia. For the most part, it really monopolizes the production of local films. Therefore, the canonical products of "art films" appeared in various places during the period of great turmoil. Molecular admiration is mainly created by such avant-garde people. For example, "Battleship Potemkin" (Battleship Potemkin) filmed by the great Russian director Eisenstein in 1925 is recognized as an unprecedented masterpiece. Anyone who has watched this work The audience will never forget the scene where the Cossack soldiers shot all the way and captured the Odessa (Odessa) steps-the author is one of the audience, and he watched it in an avant-garde theater in the central square of London in the 1930s. Someone He once praised the plot of this film as "the classic of all silent films, and may even be the most influential six minutes in the entire film history." (Manvell 1944, pp. 47-48) Since the mid-1930s, intellectuals have begun to appreciate French films with a populist flavor, such as Rene Clair, Jean Renoir (son of the great painter Renoir), Marcel Carne, the former surrealist Puvi , and Auric, a former member of the progressive music cartel Les Six.These productions, as non-intellectuals like to criticize, look less interesting; although their artistic value is obviously lower than that of the products that millions of people (including intellectuals) watch every week in increasingly luxurious movie theaters. High (i.e. Hollywood movies).On the other hand, shrewd Hollywood entertainment businessmen are as sensitive as Diaghilev, immediately sniffing out the huge profits that avant-garde art may bring.At the time, Carl Laemmle of United Studios, perhaps the least intellectually interesting of the Hollywood moguls, took the opportunity to recruit a host of new talent and imbibe new ideas when he revisited his native Germany every year.As a result, the typical products produced by its studios, that is, horror films such as "Frankenstein" (Frankenstein) and "Dracula" (Dracula), etc., are sometimes nothing but replicas of German expressionist originals.Central European directors such as Lang, Lubitsch, and Wilder also crossed the ocean to come to the United States; almost all of these people belonged to the "high-level intellectual group" in their own countries, and they also had a major impact on Hollywood itself.As for the western flow of technical talents, such as Freud (Karl Freund 1890-1969) and Shi Fangdan (Eugen Schufftan, 1893-1977), their contributions are not to mention.The direction of development of film and popular art will be discussed further later. As for the "jazz" in the "Jazz Age", it originated from African-American music, blended with syncopated dance music, and deviated from the traditional instrumental arrangement technique, which immediately set off enthusiastic responses in the avant-garde art world.The reason for this is not entirely in the advantages of jazz itself, but more because this style of expression is another symbol of modernity, representing the break between the machine age and the old age.Simply put, this is another manifesto of the Cultural Revolution—the photo of the members of the Bauhaus is a photo with a saxophone.However, although jazz has been recognized as a major contribution of the United States to 20th century music, the true lovers of jazz works were limited to a very small number of intellectual circles (whether avant-garde or not) until the second half of the 20th century.At that time, those who really loved jazz often belonged to a very small minority—for example, the author himself became a jazz musician after the jazz master Duke Ellington (Duke Ellington) came to London in 1933. fan. Although modernism has many faces, those who want to prove that they are both culturally educated and able to keep up with the times between the two wars will hang on the name of "modernism".Regardless of whether they have actually read, seen, heard, or even liked these master works recognized by everyone at that time, it would be unthinkable if they could not make a big deal of it and quote the classics—such as Eliot, Pound, Joyce, Lawrence, etc., were the catchy vocabulary of the British "literary youth" in the first half of the 1930s.What's more interesting is that the cultural pioneers of various countries are also rewriting or re-evaluating the "past" at this time to meet the requirements of contemporary art.They told the British that Milton (Milton) and Tennyson (Tennyson) must be completely forgotten, and the object of worship should be replaced by John Donne (1572-1631).The most prestigious critic in Britain at that time, F.R. Leavis of Cambridge, even compiled a new "canon" for British novels, or the so-called "big tradition", which is related to the tradition of the same strain. completely opposite.Because throughout the ages, all literary creations that do not fall into the eyes of this critic have been removed from the list, including all works of Dickens (Dickens), and only "Hard Times" (Hard Times) has been lucky; Until then, the novel was considered a minor work of the great writer. As for Spanish painting lovers, now Murillo has been relegated to the sidelines, replaced by El Greco who must be admired and praised.What's more, anything related to the age of capital and the age of empire (except avant-garde art) was not only neglected and rejected, but also swept out of the house and disappeared from then on. The prices of academic paintings in the 19th century not only plummeted, but remained virtually unattended until 1960, all the more indicative of this drastic change of dynasty (in contrast, the Impressionists and later Modernists rose in value, but not by much. ).In the same way, anyone who praises Victorian architecture in the slightest is deliberately offensive to "true" good taste and smacks of reactionary groups.Even the author himself, who grew up surrounded by great buildings of the liberal bourgeoisie—Vienna’s old capital, the “Inner City”, is rich and rich because of them—has been under the influence of the cultural atmosphere of the new era, Affected by a habit, these old buildings are considered to be either artificial, ostentatious, or even both.However, it was not until the 1950s and 1960s that they were truly wiped out in "mass", which can be described as the most costly decade in the history of modern architecture.Because of this, until 1958, the "Victorian Society" (Victorian Society) was established, trying to preserve the buildings from 1840 to 1914.This is more than 20 years after the establishment of the "Georgian Group" (Georgian Group), whose purpose is to preserve the heritage of the 18th century whose fate is not as miserable as this period. The impact of the avant-garde style on commercial films also shows the footprint of "modernism", which has penetrated into daily life.However, its actions are oblique, still through the production and production channels that the general public does not regard as "art", and finally judged according to certain a priori criteria of aesthetic value: mainly through public propaganda, industrial design, commercial graphics, etc. Art and daily necessities.Therefore, among the masters of modernism, the famous tubular chair (tubular char, 1925-1929) of the Hungarian-American architect and designer Marcel Breuer has a sense of style and aesthetic tasks at the same time ( Giedion, 1948, pp. 488-1995).But this chair is popular in the modern world, but it does not appear as an avant-garde statement, but its simple and practical design-easy to move and stackable.But it is undeniable that in less than 20 years after the outbreak of the First World War, urban life in the western world was already full of imprints of modernism. Even in the United States and Britain, it seemed that modernism was completely unacceptable in the 1920s. and lay at its feet.The streamlined style, starting from the 1930s—regardless of whether it fits or not—has swept the design of various products in the United States, and it corresponds to the Italian futurism."Art Deco", which originated from the "Paris Exposition of Decorative Arts" in 1925, brought modernist geometric polygonal lines (angularity) and abstract style into family life. The paperback revolution in the modern publishing industry in the 1930s—Penguin Books (Penguin Books) also held the banner of the avant-garde printing genre of Jan Tschichold (1902-1974).However, the offensive of modernism still failed to hit everything directly; it was not until after World War II that the so-called international style of modernist architecture swept across the urban landscape.Although its main trumpeters and practitioners, such as Gropius, Kebisiye, Mies van der Rohe, Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright), etc., have been active for a while.Prior to this, with some exceptions, the vast majority of public buildings, including the civilian housing plans built by the left, rarely showed the claws of modernism (it was generally believed that the left was socially conscious The new building, should express closeness).The only effect is that they all express an extreme distaste for the moldings of buildings. In the 1920s, the "red" Vienna, where the working class lived, was heavily rebuilt. Most of the architects responsible for it were unknown in the history of architecture.But at the same time, the secondary items in daily life are rapidly changing their appearance under the impact of modernism. How much of this phenomenon is due to the popularity of arts-and-crafts, and the influence of Art Nouveau, in which pioneer art took the lead in the production of everyday objects; Russian (constructivist) influences, some of whom deliberately reached out to the masses to revolutionize mass-produced design; and how much of it was due to the purity of modernism, which is not compatible with modern domestic technology (such as kitchen design)?These questions must be left to art history to decide.The factual development is as follows: a short-lived institution, established mainly for the purpose of serving as a political and artistic avant-garde center, set the stylistic theme of architecture and applied arts for two generations.This is the Bauhaus, the art and design school of Weimar Germany and later Dessau (1919-1933).The history of the school lived and died with the Weimar Republic, and it was disbanded by the National Socialists after Hitler took power.People in the art world associated with the Bauhaus seem to be reading a who's who of high art from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains: including Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Feininger ( Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Malevich, El Lissitzky, Moholy-Nagy, and many others.The influence of Bauhaus has not only reached the above talents - since 1921 - even deliberately left the old craftsmanship and (avant-garde) art tradition, turned to practical and industrial production design, such as the car body ( Gropius), airplane seats, advertising graphic design (a hobby of Russian compositionist Lissitzky), etc.Let's not forget that during the crazy inflation in Germany in 1923, the design of the 1 million and 2 million mark bills also had to be counted. The Bauhaus was considered subversive at the time, as evidenced by its historical discord with politicians who disliked it.In fact, in times of catastrophe, "serious" art has always been swayed by a political mandate of one kind or another.By 1930, this trend had even affected the United Kingdom and the United States.The former was still a safe haven for social and political stability in the storm of European revolution at that time; while the latter was far from the battlefield of war, but not far from the Great Depression.The political mission, of course, is not limited to aligning with the left - although it is indeed difficult in the eyes of fierce art lovers, especially when they are still young, to accept the fact that creative genius should not be in step with progressive thought.However, the actual situation is not the same, especially in the literary circles. Extremely reactionary ideas—sometimes turned into fascist practical methods—are not uncommon in Western Europe.Whether at home or in exile, the British poets Eliot and Pound, the Irish poet Ye Yi, the Norwegian novelist Kunt Hamsun (1859-1952)-Hamsun was a fanatical supporter of the Nazis- The British novelist Lawrence, as well as the French novelist Celine (Louis Ferdinand Celine, 1884-1961), etc., are actually outstanding figures of this type of writers.However, the talents from all walks of life in Russia's exile cannot be casually classified as "reactionary" (although some of them are indeed so, or have changed so).For the emigrants who refused to accept the Bolsheviks held very different political views. Nevertheless, we can say that the politics that attracted the avant-garde in the years after the world wars and the October Revolution were of the left, and often of the revolutionary left—in the thirties and forties, and in the anti-fascist years Even worse.In fact, due to the war and revolution, many Russian and French avant-garde movements that had nothing to do with politics before the war have since become politically colored - but at the beginning, most Russian avant-garde people were not very enthusiastic about the October gale .Following the influence of Lenin, which brought Marxism back to the Western world and became the only important theory and ideology of social revolution, it also led the avant-garde to accept what the National Socialists quite rightly called "cultural Bolshevism". (Kultur-bolshewismus) new faith.The rise of Dadaism was for revolution; its successor, Surrealism, faced the only problem of which revolutionary route to take—and the vast majority of its disciples chose Tolo instead of Stalin. Tsky.The Moscow-Berlin alliance was based on shared political sympathies that had a major impact on Weimar culture.Mies van der Rohe designed a monument for the German Communist Party in memory of the assassinated Spartacist leaders Liebknecht and Luxemburg.Gropius, Taut (Bruno Taut, 1880-1938), Kobisier, Hannes Meyer, and the entire "Bauhaus Brigade" were commissioned by the Soviets to design— Against the backdrop of the Great Depression at that time, the Soviet Union was obviously much more attractive to these Western architects, no matter in terms of ideology or the future of the architectural profession—even the German film industry, which was basically not politically charged at this time. It also began to be radical, as evidenced by the actions of the great director Pabst (G. W. Pabst, 1885-1967).Pabst was obviously more interested in describing women than in expressing political things, and later he willingly served under the wings of the Nazis.But back in the last years of the Weimar Republic, he directed some of his most radical productions, including Brecht's Three Penny Opera with Weill. The sad thing is that there is no distinction between left and right, regardless of the political ideals they are dedicated to, modern artists are rejected by the authorities and the masses-and the enemy attacks them fiercely.With the exception of Italian fascism, which was influenced by futurism, the emerging totalitarian government, regardless of left or right, prefers old-style behemoth-like buildings and street scenes in architecture, passionate and magnificent performances in painting and sculpture, and exquisite classical works on the stage. Delicate performances emphasize the acceptability of ideas in literature.Hitler himself was a frustrated artist. He finally found a young and capable architect, Albert Speer, and finally, with his help, he realized his huge and incomparable creative concept.And Mussolini, Stalin, and General Franco, although they did not have such personal artistic ambitions, they all built large buildings in the style of dinosaurs.Therefore, the avant-garde art of Germany and Russia could not survive under the new regimes of Hitler and Stalin.Germany and Russia, which were the pioneers of all major advanced arts in the 1920s, almost disappeared from the cultural stage. Looking back now, we can see more clearly than in the past, how much harm the rise of Hitler and Stalin has done to culture.Avant-garde art is deeply rooted in the revolutionary soil of Central and Eastern Europe; the fine seeds of art seem to grow on lava-ridden volcanoes.The reason for this is that the official attention (i.e., material support) given to art revolutionaries by the cultural authorities, not purely from politically revolutionary regimes, was greater than that of the conservative regimes they replaced—even if their political authorities were not enthusiastic about art itself.Anatol Lunacharsky, the "Commissar for Enlightenment" of the Soviet Union, actively encouraged the creation of avant-garde art, although Lenin's own artistic taste was biased toward tradition. The Prussian social-democratic government before being ousted by the more factional German Third Reich in 1932 also encouraged the radical conductor Otto Klemperer, so that many opera houses in Berlin became 1928-1931 A showcase for the most advanced music of the year.But in addition to this factor, the turmoil of the times seems to have inexplicably deepened the sensitivity of art, and made the enthusiasm of people living in Central and Eastern Europe deepen and sharpen.What they see in their eyes and feel in their hearts is not a beautiful world, but a cruel world.And it is the cruel reality and tragic consciousness behind this cold and tragic feeling that made some artists who were not outstanding at first unexpectedly reveal a bitter rhetoric of criticism and criticism.如美国的特拉文（B．Traven），原是一名主张无政府的天涯浪子，一度与1919年短命的慕尼黑苏维埃共和国有些关系。此时却拿起笔来，动人地描述了水手与墨西哥的故事——休斯顿（John Huston）导演，亨佛莱·鲍嘉（Humphrey Bogart）主演的《马德雷山脉宝藏》（Treasure of theSierra Madre），即是以特拉文的故事为蓝本拍摄的。若无这部作品，特拉文大概会默默无名终了一生。但是一旦艺术家失去了他的视野，不再感到人世的苦难荒谬不可忍受，他的苦涩动力也就随之失去，所余者只有技术上的柔情，却失去了内在激情。如德国讽刺大家格罗茨（George Grosz）于1933年移居美国后的创作就是如此。 大动乱时代的中欧前卫艺术，很少表达出“希望”的感觉，虽然其献身政治革命的同志，却在意识信念的鼓舞之下，对未来充满乐观热情。这些地方前卫艺术的最大成就，多数在希特勒和斯大林上台之前即已完成。“对希特勒，我实在无话可说。”奥地利的讽刺大家克劳斯，就曾对希特勒政权如此讥讽，然而当年第一次世界大战时，他可是滔滔不绝（Kraus，1992）。这些艺术作品的创作背景，是末日的动荡与悲情，包括柏格的歌剧《伍采克》（Wozzek于1926年首次演出）、布莱希特与韦尔合作的《三分钱歌剧》及（马哈哥尼城的兴衰）（Mahagonny，1931）、布莱希特与艾斯勒合作的《采取的手段》（Die Massnahme，1930）、巴伯尔的小说《红色骑兵》（RedCavalry，1926）、爱森斯坦的电影《战舰波将金号》、德布林（Alfred Doblin）的小说《柏林亚历山大广场》（Berlin－Alexanderplatz，1929）。而哈布斯堡帝国的倒塌，也造成众多文学杰作潮涌，从克劳斯的惊世剧作《人类文明末日》，到哈谢克的诙谐作品，还有罗斯《忧伤的悲歌》（Radetskymarsch 1932），慕席尔（Robert Musil）不断自我反思的作品《无行之人》（Man without Qualities，1930）等等皆是。终20世纪，没有任何政治事件，曾在创作的心灵上激起过如此大的波澜。唯一的例外，也许也只有爱尔兰的革命与内战（1916－1922年），还有墨西哥的革命（1910-1920年）——俄国革命却不曾——曾分别借着前者的剧作家奥凯西（O'Casey），以及后者的壁画家（此事象征意义更甚），以它们个别的方式，激发本国艺术创作。这一个注定倾覆的帝国，隐喻着另一个本身也注定幻灭崩离的西方精英文化：这幅意象，长久以来便已在中欧想象心灵的阴暗角落潜伏。旧有秩序的告终，在大诗人里尔克（Rainer Maria Rilke，1875-1926）的《杜伊诺哀歌》（Duino Elegies，1913－1923）中获得宣泄。另一位以德文创作的布拉格作家——卡夫卡（FranzKafka，1883-1924）——则以更绝对的方式，表达出人类那全然不可理解的困境：个人的与集体的。卡夫卡的作品，几乎全是在其身后出版面世。 因此，这个艺术，乃是 创造于世界溃散的日子， 诞生于地基崩离的时刻。 以上是古典学者暨诗人豪斯曼（A．E．Housman）的诗句，他与前卫创作之间，自然是背道而驰（Housman，1988，p．138）。这门艺术的观照角度，是“历史守护神”（angel ofhistory）的观点。而这名守护天使，根据犹太裔德籍马克思派学人士本杰明（Walter Benjamin，1892－194）的观点，正是克利画作《新天使》（Angelus Novus）中的那一位： 他的脸庞面向过去。我们所认为属于一连串的事件，在他眼中，却只是一桩单一的大灾难，其中的残骸灰烬，不断堆积，直到他的脚下。哦，但愿他能留下，唤醒死者，修补那已毁的残破碎片！但是从乐园的方向，却起了一阵暴风，如此狂厉凛冽，吹得天使的双翅无法收起。狂风使他无力招架，不断地将他送往未来之境。他背向着未来，脚下的残灰却快速增高，一直进入天际。这股狂暴的大风，就是我们称作进步的狂飙啊。（Benjamin，1971，pp．84－85） 在崩离瓦解地带以西的地方，悲剧及大祸难逃的意识虽然稍轻，可是未来的前途同样黯淡如谜。在这里，虽有大战的创伤累累，但是与过去历史的相连感却不曾明显断裂。一直到了30年代，那个萧条、法西斯俱生，以及战争日近的10年间方才改观。即使如此，如今回溯起来，当时西欧知识分子的情绪心灵，似乎不似中东欧那般彷徨迫切，希望的感觉也浓厚得多。而他们在中欧的同僚，此刻正从莫斯科到好莱坞，四处飘零、散落、隔绝；或在东欧，陷于失败及恐怖的魔掌之下噤声无语。居于西欧的他们，却觉得自己仍在捍卫那虽然尚未毁灭，却备受威胁的价值观念；并为一度曾活跃于其社会的思想意识，重新点燃火炬——若有必要，甚至可以进行改造以图存留。我们在第十八章将会看见，当时西方知识界之所以对苏维埃联盟的所作所为如此盲目，主要是出于一种迷信，认为它依然是代表“启蒙理性”对抗“理性解体”的一大力量，象征着“进步”的原始单纯意义，它的问题远比本杰明所说，“从乐园吹来的那股狂风”为少。只有在极端反动分子中间，才可以发现那种“世界已陷入不可理解悲剧”的末世意识；或如当时英国最伟大的小说家沃（Evelyn Waugh，1903－1966）的笔下，世事已成斯多葛禁欲派（stoics）的一幕黑色喜剧；或更如法国小说家塞利纳所描述——甚至包括好讥嘲的犬儒在内——人世间均犹如一场噩梦。虽然当代英国年轻前卫诗人中最杰出的奥登，也认为历史是悲剧的深刻感受——《西班牙，美术之乡》（Spain，Palais des Beaux Aits）——然而以他为中心的那群前卫团体，却觉得人类的困境并非不可接受。英国前卫艺术家中给人深刻印象者，莫过于雕刻大家亨利·摩尔（Henry More，1898－1986）以及作曲家布里顿（BenjaminBritten，1913-1976）。但论其二人给人的感受，仿佛只要世界危机不去打扰他们，他们就可以让它从旁边掠过。可是世界的危机，毕竟不曾放过一人。 而前卫艺术的概念，在当时依然仅限于欧洲的文化领域及其外围地带。甚至在这里，艺术革命的开拓先锋们也仍旧渴慕地引颈望向巴黎，有时甚或伦敦——伦敦此时的分量虽轻，却足令人惊异不已。而纽约则不是期盼的目标。这种现象表示，在西半球的领域以外，非欧洲的前卫圈子几乎完全不存在；而它在西半球的存在，却与艺术实验和社会革命牢不可分。那时，它的最佳代表莫过于墨西哥革命的壁画家，画家们的意见，只有在斯大林与托洛茨基两人上有分歧，对于墨西哥革命分子萨帕塔与列宁两人，却共同爱戴。墨西哥画家里韦拉（Diego Rivera，1886－1957）就曾坚持将萨帕塔和列宁的像，绘入他为纽约洛克菲勒中心新大厦所绘制的壁画中——此画是装饰艺术的一大胜利，仅次于克莱斯勒大楼（ChryslerBuilding）——惹得洛克菲勒家族大为不快。 但是对非西方世界的多数艺术家而言，根本的问题却在“现代化”而非“现代主义”。作家们如何才能将本国本地的日常语言，转化成富有变化、包罗万象，适用于当代世界的文学用语。正如19世纪中期以来的孟加拉人（Bengalis）在印度所做的改革一般，文学男子（在这个新时代里，或许包括文学女子在内）如何才能以乌尔都（Urdu）语创作诗词，而不再依赖一向以来凡作诗非以古典波斯文不可的文学传统，如何以土耳其文，取代那被凯末尔革命扔入历史垃圾箱的古典阿拉伯文（同时一并被扔掉的，还有土耳其的毡帽和女子面纱）。至于那些有悠久历史的古老国度，该当如何处理它们的固有传统，如何面对那些不论多么优雅引人，却不再属于20世纪的文化艺术？其实单抛弃传统一事，就具有十足的革命意味；相比较之下，西方那此起彼落，以这一波现代化对抗那一波现代化的所谓“革命”，愈加显得无谓甚或不可理解。然而，当追求现代化的艺术家同时也是政治的革命者时，这种情况更为显著——事实上的情况也多是如此。对于那些深觉自己的使命（以及自己的灵感来源），乃是“走入群众”，并描述群众痛苦，帮助群众翻身的人来说，契诃夫（Chekhov）与托尔斯泰（Tolstoy）两人，显然比乔伊斯更符合他们的理想典型。甚至连从20年代起即已耽于现代主义的日本作家（极可能是接触意大利“未来派”而形成），也经常有一支极为强烈的社会主义或共产“普罗”中坚部队（Keene，1984，chapter 15）。事实上，现代中国的头号大作家鲁迅（1881－1936年），即曾刻意排斥西式典型，却转向俄罗斯文学，因为从中“看见了被压迫者的善良的灵魂、的辛酸、的挣扎。”（编注：引自鲁迅中《祝中俄文字之交》）（Lu Hsun，1975，p．23） 对于大多数视野并不仅限于本身传统，也非一味西化的非欧洲世界创作人才而言，他们的主要任务，似乎在于去发现、去揭开、去呈现广大人民的生活现实。写实主义，是他们的行动天地。