The 19th century has been influenced, particularly in France, by secularization of mentalities promoting "close" concerns to the detriment of "ultimate" concerns. 20th century kept going that way, it experimented the expansion of state intervention, technocracy and consequently an excessive specialization, partitioning thinking groups. In a segmented society, what shape can "culture" have, and what values does it convey? Is it necessarily the reflection of a conservative standardization or on the contrary, a conglomeration of very dissimilar component? And as a result: what is the form, the significance and the substratum of its counterculture?
Occultism fed an imaginary life's style that is completely underestimated or even denigrated nowadays. In deed few people know that during the 19th century, even Victor Hugo used to do "table-turning", that Emile Zola saw frequently Miss Henriette Couédon, "the Paradis' street seer", and that magical fights between Huysmans and Stanislas de Guaïta were relayed in the columns of the Figaro...
Thus, many great intellectual figures were influenced by occultism: André Breton, Antonin Artaud, Georges Bataille, Messmer, Baudelaire, Balzac, Poe, Yeats, Barbey d’Aurevilly, Goethe, Jung, Tolkien… and nowadays artist like Gigger (creator of Alien), Boorman, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Moebius, Led Zeppelin, David lynch claim (or claimed) a filiation to the occultist thought. Moreover what to think of productions as Fantastic Four, Buffy, Charmed, Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Harry Potter?
Protesting movement of the 19th century promoting a free spirituality, a return to nature (paganism, naturism, homeopathy, anthroposophy…) were the founding fathers of what was going to be the beat generation, hippies, punks, the Pulp, the gothic and satanic culture, the piercing, the heavy metal etc… All these underground movements seem to come from a same source: romanticism which tends to promote the realization of the individual to the detriment of the “mass reign” linked to democracy, to capital, to bourgeoisie.
For what reasons, occultism, esotericism and tradition have a political part “from the right-wing”, whereas their founding fathers were all Marxists, or anarchists?
Do countercultures and underground environments represent forerunner movements, systematically outside the society?
This one, in its eternal quest of new things, supported by the mass media dynamic, does it gather its ideas, toning them down, and for what reasons, inexorably, these movements join its “cyclone eye”? Answer by Philippe Rigaut, Stéphane François and Emmanuel Kreis in this 100-minutes debate.
The 19th century has been influenced, particularly in France, by secularization of mentalities promoting "close" concerns to the detriment of "ultimate" concerns. 20th century kept going that way, it experimented the expansion of state intervention, technocracy and consequently an excessive specialization, partitioning thinking groups. In a segmented society, what shape can "culture" have, and what values does it convey? Is it necessarily the reflection of a conservative standardization or on the contrary, a conglomeration of very dissimilar component? And as a result: what is the form, the significance and the substratum of its counterculture?
