Introduction
Marshall Berman was a Marxist humanist writer and an American philosopher. He was a professor at the City College of New York and also a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The book All That Is Solid Melts into Air, about modernism, was written by him. Marshall Berman examines the clash of classes, histories, and cultures and ponders our prospects for coming to terms with the relationship between a liberating social and philosophical idealism and a complex, bureaucratic materialism.
Summary
Berman encounters the central vagueness of modernism in his book “All That Is Solid Melts into Air.” In order to understand the world, men and women became objects of modernization so that they could cultivate it and make it their home. The author establishes an open-ended conversation with the reader so that he or she can make his or her own understanding of modernization, as explained in the book in three different stages. These different stages of modernity start with the first phase, which extends from the 16th to the 18th century. These were centuries when humans were trying to adopt modern life. The second stage of modernization began during the French Revolution and during the guerrilla war period (the 1790s). In the latter half of the 19th century, society became preoccupied with a nostalgic desire to gain knowledge about non-modern civilizations.
Encouraged by thinkers like Nietzsche, Rousseau, Goethe, Baudelaire, and Kierkegaard, the first three parts of the book identify the implications of the workings of these modernist thinkers. The first part of the book deals with the expression of Goethe’s Faust modernist quest, while the second phase of the book poses a question about how Marx’s Communist Manifesto’s relationship with bourgeois economies and modernist culture can be accounted for. After this, Berman explains Baudelaire’s work in terms of the idea that humans who are influential and powerful in economic and political spheres are most likely to be artistically creative. However, the last two sections of the book discuss the elements of modernism in terms of age, race, and gender in different locations. Meanwhile, Berman examined how important it is to explore modernization by looking at the cosmopolitan and imperial city of St. Petersburg. In the last section of the book, Berman explains how New York represented modern life imagined and ruined and how a modern man built his capacity.
Critical Perspective
The end of the 18th century was promising for humanity. New planets were discovered [Uranus, Saturn], music had been created by Mozart, the world’s furthest parts were conquered by great countries, the Rights of Man was approved after the French Revolution, etc. Times were saturated with scientific progress, marking events and inventions. Suddenly the world became smaller, much more accessible. Previously deadly illnesses were now curable, and countries previously feared were ruled. All was a promising great start. This continued until “Faust” was seduced by “Mephistopheles.” He sold his soul to spread himself endlessly (Marx & Engels, 1848).
I think it is remarkably clever to use someone else’s text, open it up, decode it, and reveal clear human evolution within those disturbing times through one person’s life, lived as most people did. It is sad, but then it is not the first time humanity has been forced, accidentally or intentionally, to develop, to evolve, to grow. “Goethe sees the modernization of the material world as a sublime spiritual achievement.” But then again, Faust, as a symbol of humanity, was previously saved by the church from his death. It does sound incredibly similar to the Dark Ages. Therefore, now, will humanity be saved by modernisation? By progress and development? Maybe it will, but somehow causing all material development and structural changes in the world, though as hard as ripping bandages off, is human.
It is man’s desire to control, to overpower, to be able to prove his superiority over nature. Accidentally, nature gave in by letting humans discover planets and cures. As humans are the developers of modernization, their spiritual and moral battles do not cease to exist. They might have been silenced for a while, but the “four ladies”—Need, Care, Want, and Guilt—occasionally make themselves noticed. This is a paradox in itself, as a moving and motivating development force sometimes slows the process by doubting itself. It is, therefore, self-destructive and obsolete. Environments, institutions, and all other people and things that are most dominant now may become obsolete in the next era. Even moving forces like developers may become obsolete. This is greatly illustrated by M. Berman by choosing appropriate historical events, facts, and people. Sooner or later, a regime, political system, or economic politics will be destroyed. That is probably the greatest tragedy of human development. And development, in general, will at a certain point become obsolete and halt.
The ending and beginning of the book involve the South Bronx, the area where Berman was born, raised, and transformed in the 1980s. Robert Moses was the guy who wanted to transform the area where Berman was raised; Moses wanted to build an Expressway without having legal documents. The interaction between Moses and Berman transformed Berman completely. The results were unimaginable, as Robert, along with other constructors, damaged government property in such a way that not even holes were left by the demolished blocks; arson attacks also had a huge impact, and they left. According to Moses, this was the act of modernism, in the act of modernity itself (Berman, M., 1988).
The modern urbanism represented by Berman has every single possible reason to demolish Moses. Rather, he did something more than nice. “Ordeal” is most commonly written in the first phase. He explained how the reactions and behaviors of a person change as he experiences new things in society. The person who demolished the area where Berman grew up is the same person who made some amazing buildings, themes, and amusement parks in New York. This created some confusion in the author’s mind about how the same person can be different in different situations. He concluded that as we move further toward modernization, we lose the ability to differentiate between positive and negative.
To describe modernity in a more effective way, Berman used the figure of Faust, who wanted to sell his soul in return for development and modernization. Throughout the book, Berman recommends that Faust be read dialectically, as a story about the need for improved technology and modernization. The figure shows that modernization is so important to Faust that he is willing to exchange his soul to have it in his life. The scenario above stated that modernization did come with negativity as well. Let’s recall that Robert Moses’ behavior, and the way modernization changed his priorities and encouraged him to act, were not legally right.
Pastoral modernism is one of the initial visions to be explored, which is discussed in the earlier work of Baudelaire. In most of his earlier works, he praised the bourgeoisie. There are no traces found in terms of dullness in this work but the realization of the idea in terms of political, artistic, and industrial future. The main motive of the work was the desire for human progress effectively with the help of art. The above-stated pastoral modernization claims that there is a positive relationship between spiritual modernization and materialism. This claims that people who are dynamic and highly intelligent in political and economic life are most open to artistic and intellectual creativity. While exploring the power and dominance of beauty, Baudelaire was not able to see the changing dynamics of society (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.).
“We don’t know how to use modernism” was one of Berman’s beliefs in the 20th century, even though, as he hastens to affirm, the 20th century might be one of the most creative eras in the history of the world and “we have missed or broken the connection between our culture and our lives.” Regarding this matter, at least, it is averred that they ordered these things much better in the 19th century when the relation of aesthetic modernism to social modernization is claimed to have been more creative, more dynamic, more dialectical, and more wonderful in every way. This, above all, is the reason why we should now be setting our sights backward—on Baudelaire’s Paris and Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg. There, apparently, the connection between “our culture” and “our lives” would have had much more to offer us than the dismal present. This mural would be depicted, more or less (one gathers), in the manner of the old “Ballad for Americans,” a cast of thousands representing successive waves of immigration, radical sects, and prosperous Bronx alumni who have made their mark in American life. Never for a moment does Berman suspect that his “modernist dream,” which seems to have been compounded of 1930’s-style post-office murals, Soviet-style Socialist Realism, and perhaps a bit of Southern California kitsch, represents everything that the modernist imagination has long ago repudiated.
Conclusion
After a critical analysis of the book, it is clear that although Berman has painted a colorful picture of Marxism and modernity, it still lacks in terms of missing elements like class and gender. The book is clarifying for those who have difficulty understanding post-modern society. In order to create a positive and structured outlook, Berman has consistently constructed ambient and dark visions of reality so that he could regain modernity and optimism, which is why it has been seen that sometimes he often contradicts the purpose of the book to provide a greater understanding of modernity. The book does not clearly clarify every facet of modernity, as the literature is insufficient.
References
Berman, M. (1988). All that is solid melts into air: The experience of modernity. Penguin Books. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/321260/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-by-marshall-berman/
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Modernism. https://www.britannica.com/art/Modernism-art
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61
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