This, by far, is the most difficult reading we have had for this class! I'm going to try to make sense of it, but I'll probably find out tomorrow that missed the boat completely.
First, Habermas starts by saying that "modernity revolts against the normalizing functions of tradition; modernity lives on the experience of rebelling against all that is normative" (100). So far, so good. This parallels directly with what we have been reading about and discussing in class. However, throughout the article, it seems to me that he's trying to assert that, while modernity relates to art, "aesthetic modernity is only a part of cultural modernity in general" (104). Habermas wants to emphasize that there is much more to modernity than just what we can view with the naked eye.
According to Habermas, our world has also experienced cultural modernity in many aspects. The way we function as a society, the things we devote our attention to versus the things that are unimportant; these are all affected by modernity. Over a hundred years ago, our world did not pay much attention to homosexuality. Now, it has become a huge controversial topic that is frequently discussed. This demonstrates a type of social/cultural modernity we have seen occur over time.
Habermas also brings forth the concept of 'neoconservatism'. "Neoconservatism shifts onto cultural modernism the uncomfortable burdens of a more or less successful capitalist modernizations of the economy and society. The neoconservative doctrine blurs the relationship between the welcomed process of societal modernization on the one hand, and the lamented cultural development on the other" (102). Basically, it exemplifies modernity because it's a new form of conservatism that presents new ways to view political and economical situations in society.
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