The philosophy of parochialism

367 Pages·2021·2.298 MB·English

by  Radomir Konstantinović

The Philosophy of Parochialism

The Philosophy of Parochialism
Radomir Konstantinović
EditEd and with
an introduction by
Branislav Jakovljević
translation by
Ljiljana Nikolić and
Branislav Jakovljević
University of Michigan Press
Ann Arbor
English translation copyright © by the University of Michigan 2021
All rights reserved
For questions or permissions, please contact [email protected]
Published in the United States of America by the
University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid- free paper
First published October 2021
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication data has been applied for.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021945460
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021945460
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 13272- 0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12934- 8 (e- book)
Originally published as Filosofija palanke (Belgrade, 1969).
The translation of this work was funded in part by the Hellman Foundation.
Cover photograph: Portrait of Radomir Konstantinović (1983),
by Dušan N. Milovanović.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction by Branislav Jakovljević 1
The Drone of Dialectics:
On Parochialism and Deprovincialization / 1
The PhilosoPhy of Parochialism
by Radomir Konstantinović 23
In Lieu of an Introduction:
Style, the Highest Principle of Parochialism / 25
The Ideal of Pure Poverty / 29
The Spirit of Parochialism as the Spirit of a Tribe in Agony / 32
Province, the Theater of Normativity / 35
Absence of Tragedy: Sentimentalism and Sarcasm / 39
Pamphletism against Tragedy / 45
Happiness from Unhappiness as the Primordial
Cause of Determinism / 50
Atheism as the Principle of Publicness / 54
Death and the Philosophy of Parochialism / 57
Individualism as the Function of the Parochial Spirit / 65
Lasting Infantilism of the Parochial Spirit / 70
1. Ingenious madness / 70
2. The end of the world / 74
3. Infantile- romantic mythology of glorious destruction / 78
4. Psychology, theater for the “youth” / 80
Realism as Tribal Sacrifice to Deified Reality / 88
vi / contEnts
Banality— The First Principle of Nothingness / 92
Sensationalism— The Second Principle of Nothingness / 95
Nihilism of the Dark Country / 98
Nihilism of the Parochial Philosophy and Language / 109
1. Nihilism of the “total” world / 110
2. Nihilism of the status quo / 110
3. Realistic nihilism / 113
4. Aristocratic nihilism / 120
5. Erotic nihilism / 122
Disappointment in the Animal / 126
Autumnal Nocturno and the “Worldly Malice”
of the Parochial Spirit / 130
Existence as Meaningless Work / 137
Laziness as the Work of the Closed Parochial World / 142
Naivete of the Parochial Spirit’s Non- naivete / 149
Traditionalism as Bad Conscience of a
Non- Myth- Building Consciousness / 153
Political County Fair Staged by Boredom / 162
In Lieu of a Conclusion: No End to the End / 167
notEs 175
I. The Ideal of Organic Culture / 175
II. Cyril the Philosopher / 180
III. Les charmes de l’horreur and the Parochial Spirit / 195
IV. From God toward Kin / 202
V. Entropy of Earth as the Entropy of the Final Response / 214
VI. Existence as “Starry Acting” / 225
VII. The Experience of Poet Nastasijević / 232
VIII. Sincerity in the Service of Hatred toward the Genius / 245
contEnts / vii
IX. Biological Irrationalism— The Future of the Cult of Form / 253
X. “Dead Sweetheart” of the Parochial Spirit and Pornography / 266
XI. Poet Vladislav Petković “Dis” / 280
XII. Spirit-Nation against the Spirit / 287
XIII. Serbian Nazism / 300
Evil as Rejection of the Evil of Contradiction / 301
The Poetics of Serbian Nazism / 308
Serbian Nazism and Language / 313
1. Totalitarianism and language reform / 313
2. Attitude of Serbian Nazism toward the language / 317
Editor’s Notes 327
Works Cited 351
Digital materials related to this title can be found
on the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL:
https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.5639665

Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Hellman Foundation for its support for my project “Prov-
ince without Borders,” without which this translation would not have been
possible. Also, I want to thank Ljiljana Nikolić, who produced the first draft
of this translation, for her professionalism, dedication, and punctuality.
Ljubiša Matić’s help with archival research was crucial for compiling the
bibliography, and I owe him a huge thanks for his patient and careful work
on identifying sources cited in The Philosophy of Parochialism. I am very
much indebted to Milica Konstantinović for her support and patience with
this project, and in general for her labors on preserving and promoting the
work of her late husband. I never had a chance to meet Radomir in per-
son. We spoke on the phone when I started my work on this project. I was
grateful to him then, as I am now, for his permission to translate his book.
This translation was long in coming, and over the years I had many conver-
sations with friends and colleagues who helped me with my work on The
Philosophy of Parochialism: Sreten Ugričić, Branka Arsić, Davor Beganović,
Branko Romčević, and many others. I want to thank my editor LeAnn Fields
for taking up a project outside of theater and performance studies. Most of
all, I am grateful to my family for the endless gift of their love.
— branislav JakovlJEvić