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The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature

Page 20

by Ayn Rand


  J

  Josephson, Matthew, as biographer of Victor Hugo

  K

  Karloff, Boris, movies of, as archetype of the Horror Story

  L

  Lady of the Camellias, The (Dumas fils), and imitations of

  Lang, Fritz: as director ; his film Siegfried as best of Romantic movies

  Language: as means of retaining concepts; function of, in converting abstractions into concretes

  Les Misérables (Hugo): theme of; plot-theme of; characterizations in

  Levin, Ira, the supernatural in writing of

  Lewis, Sinclair: and his characterization of Babbitt; choice of subject by; style of; as writer of Naturalistic school

  Libretto, its function in operas and operettas

  Liszt, Franz, his musical composition St. Francis Walking on the Waters

  Literary style: fundamental elements of; and choice of words; and choice of content; comparison of, in excerpts from two novels; as most complex aspect of literature, and as most revealing psychologically ; not an end in itself ; see also Style of novel

  Literature: by what means it re-creates reality; its integration of concepts to percepts; as ruler and term-setter in movies and television; Aristotelian principle of esthetics of ; novel as major literary form; and mind-body dichotomy that plagues it ; and basic premises of Romanticism and Naturalism regarding existence of man’s volition; and rules of Classicism; “serious” and popular, and the Horror Story ; eclectic shambles of today’s; nonexistence of today, as vital cultural movement; and presentation of man, prior to 19th century; modern, essential nature of man as represented in ; modern, return of, to art form of the chronicle ; as barometer of a culture ; selectivity of subject in, as cardinal aspect of; the ends and the means in, as worthy of each other; see also Fiction; Novel; Popular fiction; Thrillers

  Logic: how its destruction made modern art possible

  M

  Magic Mountain, The (Mann), as bad novel

  Maibaum, Richard, quoted on screenplays of Fleming’s novels

  Man: as a being of self-made soul; and his need of philosophy; art as his psycho-epistemological conditioner; as an end in himself

  Man Who Laughs, The (Hugo), characterization in

  Manifesto, dictionary definition of

  Mann, Thomas, and a bad novel

  Marguerite and Armand (ballet)

  Marty (Chayefsky), as work of modern Naturalism

  Maurois, André, as biographer of Victor Hugo

  Metaphysics: link between ethics and ; as science dealing with fundamental nature of reality ; and value-judgments; art as concretization of ; man’s need of ; of artist, and subject of his art work; of Naturalism ; music and dance as expressive of metaphysical view

  Metaphysics in Marble (Sures), magazine article

  Michelangelo, choice of subject by; his Pieta‘

  Mind, man’s: current assaults on

  Mitchell, Margaret, and plot structure in Gone With the Wind

  Modern art: disintegration of man’s consciousness as goal of; its practitioners and admirers; as demonstration of cultural bankruptcy of our age; and composite picture of man; and presentation of emotions dominating modern man’s sense of life; and moral implications of trend toward lower levels of depravity in

  Modern dance, characterized as neither modern nor dance

  Modern philosophy, as source and sponsor of modern art

  Moral sense of life: development of, in child; contribution of Romantic art to developing of ; and morality, differentiation between ; sins of adults toward child in developing of

  Moral treason, and art

  Morality: and moral sense of life, differentiation between ; and imposition of set of rules on the developing child; as a normative science ; mystical, social, subjective schools of

  Motion pictures: role of literature and visual arts in ; work of Fritz Lang as director; reason for failure to develop as great art

  Motivation, as a key-concept in psychology and in fiction

  Movies, and Romanticism

  Music: distinguished from other arts; pattern from musical perception to emotional response; psycho-epistemological nature of man’s response to ; role of sense of life in the response to ; hypothesis as to how and why it evokes emotions; mathematical nature of musical perception; metaphysical factors in enjoyment of; effects on mind of primitive and Oriental types; so-called “modern,” why it is not music; as related to the various performing arts

  Mysticism: primitive epistemology of; and esthetics ; of Plato, resurgence of, in later part of 19th century, and effect of on Romanticism

  Myths of religion

  N

  Naturalism: and anti-value orientation in work of art ; type of argument in evaluating work of art; and objection to plot of novel as artificial contrivance ; and denial of existence of man’s faculty of volition ; and assumption of mantle of reason and reality; disintegration of; Shakespeare as spiritual father of; journalistic approach of Naturalist writers; and substitution of statistics for standard of value ; and element of characterization ; final remnants of, with nothing to say about human existence ; Romanticism outlasted by; value in a Naturalist’s work and in a Romanticist’s; and imitator’s; and end of, with WW II; as man’s new enemy in art in later part of 19th century ; as dedicated to negation of art; and substitution of the collective for the objective; basic metaphysical premise of; doctrines of literary school of; and “compassionate” studies of depravity

  Ninety-Three (Hugo): Introduction to, by Ayn Rand ; as uniquely “Hugo-esque,”; appraisal by two of Hugo’s biographers of; man’s loyalty to values as theme of; characterization in ; and integration of theme and plot; grandeur as leitmotif of

  Notre-Dame de Paris (Hugo), characterization in

  Novel: essential attributes of ; theme of ; plot of ; characterization of ; style of; as major literary form; shortcomings resulting in a bad novel; as recreation of reality; plot-theme of; and integration of major attributes of; top-rank Romantic novelists; second-rank Romantic novelists ; relation of thrillers to novels of serious Romantic literature; Victor Hugo as greatest novelist in world literature; and start and culmination of illustrious line of Romantic novelists in 19th century; and the Naturalist; see also Fiction; Popular fiction; Thrillers

  O

  Objectivism: passim

  Objectivist, The, magazine

  O’Hara, John: style of; as best of Naturalism’s contemporary survivors

  Olympio ou la Vie de Victor Hugo (Maurois), appraisal of Ninety-Three in

  One Lonely Night (Spillane), style of

  O’Neill, Eugene, as imitator of Dumas fils, in Anna Christie

  On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music (Helmholtz)

  Opera, function of music and libretto in

  Oriental music Painting: distinguished from other arts; role of sensory and conceptual factors in; color harmony in

  P

  Pantomine: dance distinguished from; classified as non-art

  Performing artist: his task ; basic principles applicable to

  Performing arts: relation to primary arts psycho-epistemological role of; application of basic artistic principles to inversion of ends and means in

  Philosophy: as determinant of trends of world; of life, and full conceptual control; and setting of criteria of emotional integrations ; man’s need of; of man, as chosen by his mind or by chance; love as expression of; of artist, truth or falsehood of; and art, relationship between ; its practical importance ; the consequences of default in; Aristotle’s esthetics of literature ; modern, as swamp breeding ground of aborted art; dominated by doctrines of irrationalism and determinism ; since Renaissance, retrogression of, to mysticism of Plato; Romantic movement in, as unrelated to Romanticism in esthetics; new schools of, as progressively dedicated to negation of; antirational, and emotions dominating modern man’s sense of life

  Photography: as not an art

  Pieta‘ (Mich
elangelo)

  Plot of novel: as essential attribute ; definition of; as dramatization of goal-directed action ; Naturalists’ objection to, as artificial contrivance ; and presentation of conflict of values; serving same function as steel skeleton of skyscraper; and events, as expressing meaning of novel; as not represented by physical action divorced from ideas and values; and premise of man’s possession of faculty of volition; plotlessness, and premise of man’s lack of volition; and antagonism of today’s esthetic spokesmen toward Romantic premise in; and top-rank Romantic novelists; and second rank of Romantic novelists ; and popular fiction; and imitators of Romanticists

  Plot-theme of novel ; as core of its events ; and top-rank Romantic novelists

  Poe, Edgar Allan, as modern ancestor of the Horror Story

  Poem, basic attributes of

  Popular fiction: common-sense ideas and values as base of; and absence of explicitly ideational element ; categories of ; contemporary examples of best writers of; characteristics of writing below top level of; “slick-magazine” type of ; and the Horror Story

  Possessed, The (Dostoevsky), characterization in

  Primitive music

  “Progressive” education, hippies as products of

  Psycho-epistemology: definition of; in art as illustrated by characterization in literature; and concretization of cognitive abstractions ; and concretization of normative abstractions; and metaphysical views of artist ; and process of communication between artist and viewer or reader; of artist, and style of his art work; role of in man’s musical responses ; art as the conditioner of; consonant with reality and man’s nature

  Q

  Quo Vadis (Sienkiewicz): as top-rank Romantic novel ; characterizations in

  R

  Rand, Ayn: hypothesis on nature of man’s response to music; favorite form of dance; goal of writing of; projection of an ideal man as motive and purpose ; portrayal of a moral ideal as end in itself ; what is not the purpose of; and irrelevancy of questions about primacy of the novelist or the philosopher in her writing ; and basic test for any story; defining and presenting conditions making possible an ideal man; presentation of Man as an end in himself ; Naturalism, as literary school diametrically opposed to; selectivity in regard to subject ; as Romantic Realist ; manifesto of, as stated by Howard Roark in The Fountainhead, quoted; and esthetic principle of Aristotle; and present state of our culture

  Reality: man’s acquiring and retaining his knowledge of ; man’s applying his knowledge of; art as selective re-creation of, according to artist’s metaphysical value-judgments ; metaphysics as science dealing with fundamental nature of; and an art work’s support or negation of one’s fundamental view of; religion as attempt to offer comprehensive view of; and artist’s metaphysical evaluation of facts; stylizing of, by artist ; novel as re-creation of; Romanticism’s break with; psycho-epistemology consonant with facts of

  Reason: its relation to man’s survival; modern philosophers’ war against

  Religion: beginning of art as adjunct to; mythology of, as concretization of its moral code; as primitive form of philosophy ; myths of; and Romanticists

  Robinson, Bill

  Rolland, Romain, as romanticizing Naturalist writer

  Romanticism: and value orientation in work of art; and recognition of man’s faculty of volition ; practically non-existent in today’s literature ; antagonism of today’s esthetic spokesmen toward Romantic premise in art; destruction of, in esthetics; of 19th century, and influences of Aristotelianism and capitalism; as rebellion against Classicism; primacy of values brought to art by; and irony of definition declaring it as based on primacy of emotions ; and break with reality; philosophers as contributors to confusion surrounding term; definition of, as volition-oriented school ; and top-rank Romantic novelists and playwrights ; and second rank of Romantic writers; and writers with mixed premise of volition; philosophically as crusade to glorify man’s existence ; psychologically experienced as desire to make life interesting; virtues and potential flaws of, as seen in popular literature ; and movies and television ; and attempt to eliminate from Romantic fiction; altruist morality as archenemy and destroyer of; final remnants of; outlasted by Naturalism; value in a Romanticist’s work and in a Naturalist’s ; and end of great era of, with WW I; remnants of, in popular media; and escape into the supernatural ; and coming of age, with rebirth of reason and philosophy; as great new movement in art in 19th century; treated as bootleg merchandise ; and development of moral sense of life

  Rosemary’s Baby (Levin), use of the supernatural in

  Rostand, Edmond, as top-rank Romantic playwright

  Royal Ballet, performance of Marguerite and Armand

  Ruy Blas (Hugo)

  S

  Satire, legitimate, contrasted with “tongue-in-cheek” thrillers

  Scarlet Letter, The (Hawthorne), as top-rank Romantic novel

  Schelling, Friedrich

  Schiller, Friedrich, as top-rank Romantic playwright

  Schopenhauer, Arthur

  Scott, Walter, as Romantic novelist

  Sculpture: of Ancient Greece and of Middle Ages, difference in presentation of man in; nature of, and relation to other arts

  Selectivity, as a basic principle of the arts

  Sense of life: definition of ; and integrating mechanism of the subconscious; and rational philosophy; dominated by fear ; formed by process of emotional generalization ; and early value-integrations; as integrated sum of a man’s basic values; and adolescence ; matching conscious convictions, in fully integrated personality ; transition from guidance by, to guidance by conscious philosophy; and conflict between conscious convictions; changing and correcting of ; profoundly personal quality of; relation of, to personality; as sense of one’s own identity ; as integration of mind and values; love and art, as special province and expression of; of artist, and control and integration of his work ; of viewer or reader, and response to work of art; projecting of, in subject and style of work of art; and intellectual approach, difference between, in response to work of art; and evaluation of work of specific writers; role of in music; role of in dance; Aristotelian h century guided by; of Romanticists, and cultural atmosphere of 19th century; of modern man, emotions dominating; see also Moral sense of life

  Serling, Rod, as Naturalist writer, and as Romanticist

  Shakespeare, William: choice of subject by; as spiritual father of Naturalism

  Siegfried (Fritz Lang), as best of Romantic movies

  Sienkiewicz, Henryk: as writer of top-rank Romantic novel; and characterizations in Quo Vadis

  “Slick-magazine” type of Romanticists

  Soul: man as a being of self-made soul; art as the technology of

  Spillane, Mickey: reasons for liking work of; style of, in One Lonely Night ; as top-rank writer of popular fiction; thrillers of

  St. Francis Walking on the Waters (Liszt), a musical composition

  Stage director: nature and demands of his role

  Style of art work: as expression of view of man’s consciousness ; as product of artist’s psycho-epistemology ; response of man to; as most complex element of art ; and so-called “painterly” school; Cubism ; importance of, to artist and to reader or viewer; and psycho-epistemological sense of life

  Style of novel: as a major attribute ; as means by which other attributes are presented; comparison of, in excerpts from two novels; see also Literary style

  Stylization, see Selectivity

  Subject of art work: as expression of view of man’s existence ; artist’s choice of ; and projection of view of man’s place in universe ; selectivity in, as cardinal aspect of art

  Sullivan, Louis H., principle of architecture of

  Symbolism of primitive terror in presentation of man

  T

  Tap dancing

  Television: physical action in dramas of; and Romanticism ; The Twilight Zone, series on; The Avengers, British series on

  Theater: legitimate vs. illegitimate inno
vations in

  Theme of art work, as link uniting subject and style

  Theme of novel: as essential attribute; purpose of novel defined by; presented in terms of action; as core of its abstract meaning; and top-rank Romantic novelists ; and second rank of Romantic novelists; and popular fiction; in modern literature

  Thrillers: “tongue-in-cheek,” ; as detective, spy, or adventure stories ; conflict as basic characteristic of; as simplified version of Romantic literature; relation of, to novels of serious Romantic literature ; humor in “tongue-in-cheek” thrillers ; social status of, and gulf between the people and their alleged intellectual leaders; modern intellectuals’ rush to the bandwagon of; as dramatization of abstraction of moral conflict; as spectacle of man’s efficacy ; and ultimate triumph of the good

  Tolstoy, Leo: choice of subject by; evaluating work of; as Naturalist writer

  Twilight Zone, The, series on TV, as symbolic projection of remnants of Romanticism

  V

  Value-judgments, metaphysical: as foundation of moral values; of artist, and selective re-creation of reality ; as base of ethics ; derived from an explicit metaphysics

  Values: conflicts of; art as concretization of; primacy of, brought to art by Romanticists; common-sense values distinguished from conventional; moral, child’s learning concept of

  Venus de Milo

  Vermeer, Jan: choice of subject by; style of

  Verne, Jules, as writer of science fiction

  Victor Hugo (Josephson), appraisal of Ninety-Three in

  “Violence Can be Fun,” article in TV Guide on The Avengers, quoted

  Volition: man’s possession of, as premise of Romanticism ; man as not possessed of, as premise of Naturalism ; and importance of establishing as function of man’s rational faculty; confusion on, between esthetic Romanticists and “Romantic” philosophers; full commitment to premise of, by Romantic writers; commitment to premise of, by writers in regard to existence but not to consciousness ; commitment to premise of, by writers in regard to consciousness but not to existence

  W

  War and Peace (Tolstoy)

  Web and the Rock, The (Wolfe), style of

 

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