Search results for ""author svetlana boym""

From political debates about global free markets to local free lunches, today the word 'freedom' is in danger of becoming a distorted and tired cliche. In "Another Freedom", Svetlana Boym explores the rich history of the idea of freedom, from its origins in ancient Greece through the present day, suggesting that our attempts to imagine freedom should occupy the space of not only 'what is' but also 'what if'. Beginning with notions of sacrifice and the emergence of a public sphere for politics and art, Boym expands her account to include the relationships between freedom and liberty, modernity and terror, political dissent and creative estrangement, and love and freedom of the other. While depicting a world of differences, Boym affirms lasting cross-cultural solidarities with the commitment to passionate thinking that reflection on freedom requires. "Another Freedom" is filled with stories that illuminate our own sense of what it means to be free, and it assembles a truly remarkable cast of characters: Warburg and Euripides, Pushkin and Tocqueville, Kafka and Osip Mandelshtam, Arendt and Heidegger, and an imagined encounter between Dostoevsky and Marx on the streets of Paris. What are the limits of freedom and how can it be imagined anew? Reflecting upon her experience as a Leningrad native transplanted to the United States, Boym dares to ask whether American freedom can be transported across the national border. With these questions in mind, Boym attempts to reinvent freedom as something 'infinitely improbable' - yet nevertheless still possible. By offering a fresh look at the strange history of this idea and opening a new arena of inquiry, "Another Freedom" delivers a nuanced portrait of freedom's unpredictable occurrences and unexplored plots, one whose repercussions will be felt well into the future.

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The word "freedom" is so used and abused that it is always in danger of becoming nothing but a cliche. In "Another Freedom", Svetlana Boym offers us a refreshing new portrait of the age-old concept that plays such a crucial role in today's politics. Exploring the rich cross-cultural history of the idea of freedom, from its origins in ancient Greece to the present day, she argues that our attempts to imagine freedom should occupy the space of not only "what is" but also "what if". Beginning with notions of sacrifice and the emergence of a public sphere for politics and art, Boym expands her account to include the relationships between freedom and liberation, personal and political freedom, modernity and terror, and public dissent and creative estrangement. While depicting a world of differences, she affirms lasting solidarities based on the commitment to the public sphere and passionate thinking that reflections on freedom require. To do so, Boym assembles a remarkable cast of characters: Aeschylus and Euripides, Kafka and Mandelstam, Arendt and Heidegger, and a virtual encounter between Dostoevsky and Marx on the streets of Paris. By offering a fresh look at the strange history of this idea, "Another Freedom" delivers a nuanced portrait of freedom, one whose repercussions inform our present and future.

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