Revolt and Melancholy in Modernity: Michael Löwy and the Antinomies of Romanticism

Abstract

Inspired by the recent publication of the second edition of Revolt and Melancholy: Romanticism against Modernity, by Michael Löwy and Robert Sayre, the goal of this article is to problematize the importance of the question of romanticism in the work of the former author, situating it in the context of his singular interpretation of Marxism as a modern criticism of modernity, in line with the challenges of the present. It hypothesizes that the Löwyan vision of romanticism becomes fully intelligible when it is viewed in the light of his elastic conception of both modernity and Marxism, the latter understood as an “open” theory capable of “absorbing” elements of other modalities of social theory and thought.