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RACE and ROMANTIC VISIONS: a TRAGIC READING by Adam Culver

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RACE and ROMANTIC VISIONS: a TRAGIC READING by Adam Culver RACE AND ROMANTIC VISIONS: A TRAGIC READING by Adam Culver A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Baltimore, Maryland April, 2015 Abstract My dissertation explores a set of creative intersections between romanticism, black political thought, and Nietzschean philosophy. In so doing it asks two overarching questions. First, how do different ethical theories, philosophies of time and history, and conceptualizations of subjectivity and community suggest contending ways of understanding the roles that race and race-making play in modern life? Second, how can reflective black experiences of modernity shed light on discussions in political theory about the relationship between theory and history, the significance of identity, identification, and difference in democratic life, and the complex interrelations between affect, ethics, culture, and politics? Ultimately, I argue that a tragic vision of an unbalanced world neither governed by providence nor readily susceptible to human mastery provides a valuable lens through which to assess contemporary racial politics. Articulated through a series of engagements with the works of Sophocles, Immanuel Kant, Johann Herder, W. E. B. Du Bois, Friedrich Nietzsche, and James Baldwin, such a vision incorporates the crucial insights of the romantic vision (as found in Herder and Du Bois) regarding embodied subjectivity, the importance of belonging, and the deep plurality of values and cultural perspectives; but it resists romanticism’s organic social ontology and providential image of time. It emphasizes instead the creativity of becoming, elements of real uncertainty in life and action, and the importance of practices that foster existential affirmation. Tragic wisdom calls attention to the contingent, time-bound character of life and urges us to accept and affirm our entanglements in the inexorable flux of creation and destruction that gives shape to the world. It does so to encourage us to participate in those processes with less existential rancor. The point of tragic wisdom is to help us better care for the world, not abandon it; although skeptical of appeals to Revolution and Redemption, a tragic sense is not one of passive resignation, despair, or political quietism. Instead, by urging respect for the contingent, paradoxical, and unpredictable in life, tragic wisdom teaches a lesson of modesty and responsiveness out of which a noble ethic of solidarity, care for the world, and militant struggle may arise. Faculty Readers: William E. Connolly, P. J. Brendese, Jane Bennett, Hollis Robbins, N. D. B. Connolly ii Acknowledgments Writing a dissertation can often feel like a very lonely undertaking, but of course no dissertation is an individual accomplishment. This project would have been impossible without the support I received from my wonderful friends, family, and faculty mentors. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my advisor William E. Connolly, whose passion for thinking served as a constant source of inspiration when times got tough. Needless to say, without his guidance, hard work, and insightful feedback, this dissertation simply would not have been possible. Michael Hanchard’s mentorship throughout this process was invaluable as well; together, he and Professor Connolly enriched my understanding of the world we live in and the challenges we must confront, and they expanded my horizons in ways that I hope are evident in this work. I am also grateful to P. J. Brendese, who read and gave detailed, indispensible comments on every chapter—the enthusiasm and care with which he did so was extraordinary. So too has been the mentorship of Hollis Robbins, who not only helped me become a better thinker but also taught me a great deal about how to approach teaching and undergraduate education with the appropriate mix of care and professionalism. Special thanks are owed as well to Jane Bennett for agreeing to serve on my dissertation committee at the last minute, for her fantastic feedback on the second chapter, and for her guidance over the years. I would like to thank N. D. B. Connolly for agreeing to serve on the committee and for his intellectual generosity and curiosity. I would also like to thank the many people who commented on or contributed to this project, including Alexander Livingston, Jake Greear, Noora Lori, Michael McCarthy, Jen Addis, Melina Garibovic, Murad Idris, Mike Newall, Nils Kupzok, Jishnu Guha-Majumdar, Serra Hakyemez, and my students in “Political Violence and Modernity” from the Spring 2015 semester at MICA. Lastly, I would like to thank my loving, supportive, and truly remarkable parents: my mother Rosemary R. Haggett and stepfather Gordon K. Haggett, and my father David Culver and stepmother Gloria Chepko. My sincerest thanks to all of you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Herder’s Romantic Vision: Organicism, Pluralism, and Belonging . 31 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 31 The Enlightenment Vision and the Romantic Reaction ..................................................... 36 The Romantic Subject .................................................................................................................... 41 The Romantic Subject of Belonging .......................................................................................... 43 A Pluralism of Nations ................................................................................................................... 46 Pluralism and Belonging ............................................................................................................... 50 Pluralism, Language, and Sympathetic Understanding ..................................................... 55 Enlightenment and Empire .......................................................................................................... 61 Nationalism and Expressivism ................................................................................................... 64 Conclusion: The Romantic Vision and the Perils of Homesickness ............................... 73 Chapter 2: Kant contra Herder: Race, Reason, and Universal History ................ 85 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 85 Herder and Fascism ........................................................................................................................ 90 History and/as Teleology ........................................................................................................... 102 Anthropology and the Imperative of Realization .............................................................. 125 Kant’s Theory of Race: A Brief Overview and Summary.................................................. 132 Conclusion: Cosmopolitan Visions .......................................................................................... 151 Chapter 3: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Romantic Vision: Race and Democratic Development ......................................................................................................................... 163 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 163 “Bismarck Was My Hero” ............................................................................................................ 173 The Politics of Volk ....................................................................................................................... 182 “The Conservation of Races” and/as Romantic Black Nationalism ............................. 195 “What, then, is a race?” ................................................................................................................ 210 “The question is, then: how shall this message be delivered…?” ................................. 223 Conclusion: Pluralism, Sympathy, Micropolitics ................................................................ 238 Chapter 4: Race and Tragic Visions: Sophocles, Nietzsche, Baldwin ................ 251 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 251 Racial Politics in Tragic Times .................................................................................................. 258 The Tragic World of Sophocles ................................................................................................. 275 Between Us Friends (and Enemies) ........................................................................................ 291 Tragedy and Second Sight .......................................................................................................... 307 The Tragic Joy of Friedrich Nietzsche and James Baldwin ............................................. 312 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 342 iv Introduction My new path to a "Yes." —Philosophy, as I have hitherto understood and lived it, is a voluntary quest for even the most detested and notorious sides of existence. From the long experience I gained
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