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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Plain Talk
By Mursi Saad El-Din
The 21st of February was celebrated as the International Mother Languages Day. When I received the UNESCO's report about this I was surprised, since I thought that it goes without saying that each country and people have their mother language and that there is no reason to underline such a fact. Ruskin was as eloquent as he was right: "Great nations write their autobiography in three manuscripts," he said, "the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others." Going through a recent publication entitled "Vienna Modernism: 1890-1910", I felt the truth of this statement.
The review delineated the development of modernism in all three areas mentioned by Ruskin while devoting a separate section to music. Though when we think of modernism we invariably think of Paris -- and indeed it was Paris cafe life that witnessed the coming into being of the modernist movement, with writers like James Joyce and William Carlos Williams, and artists like the impressionists, meeting and discussing their ideas there -- Vienna too had its grand literary and artistic cafe tradition.
Until 1897, when it closed down, the Briensteidl was one such popular meeting point, a hangout for "Jung Vien" (Young Vienna), and of such well-known writers and artists as Hermann Bahr and Hugas von Hoffman, as well as journalists and critics who wrote for the leading periodicals, including Moderne Dichtung. The demise of the Briensteidl, in fact, made quite an impact on Viennese cultural life; in this way, at least, Vienna resembles Cairo where Cafe Riche used to be the daily haunt of writers and artists.
What exactly was Viennese modernism, though? An artistic and cultural development that occurred in the two decades between 1890 and 1910, it was not until the 1960s that interest in the movement became widespread. The interest emerged, not from within but from abroad. Viennese modernism became the research topic of a number of American and European academics.
While researchers generally concede that Vienna was not the only place where Modernism came into its own, it was still "common practice to regard Vienna as the focal point of European Modernism".
Scholars believe that European Modernism reached its purest and most concentrated expression in Vienna at the turn of the century, with names like Frued, Schoenberg, Arthur Schnitzler and Gustave Mahler attached to the movement.
The publication deals with various aspects of Viennese Modernism. In one chapter, for example, we learn that while people were fascinated by the achievements of technology and industrialisation, there was also great concern about the limits of mechanisation, urbanisation and all the problems connected with them. As the general view of life became more rational, "the longing for irrationality found increasingly vehement expression".
State and society were moving from stability to instability. A major element of Viennese Modernism was its penchant for subjectivity, which highly-valued the individual. We are warned that it would be a mistake, though, to describe Viennese Modernism as an indigenous creation which bloomed in complete isolation from European culture. There were definite influences from outside. At the same time Viennese Modernism had considerable influence beyond the borders of Austria.
The main proponents of Viennese Modernism were the younger generation, mainly from the liberal middle class. It made a change from the usual aristocratic nature of Viennese society. Those young writers and artists came from the families of successful businessmen. They came from a homogeneous sector of the population, the highly informative review goes on to indicate. I have certainly learnt a great deal from this beautifully produced booklet. Austria to me now is not only Mozart and his festival, but many more cultural landmarks which make up an astoundingly rich and complex Austrian cultural heritage.
