Cosmopolitanism And The Formation Of New York Intellectuals

New York Intellectuals were a group of Jewish writers who coalesced around a little magazine called Partisan Review. Coming from the immigrant ghettos, they moved to the center of American Intellectual life. Their prominence was mainly associated with the development of postwar period. However, on certain fundamental issues, their minds had been set in their formation period. This thesis aims to interpret the formation of New York Intellectuals under their cultural values and intellectual standards, among which the cosmopolitanism is the most basic. It will show how cosmopolitan values have had a great influence on New York Intellectual's formation and their trek from radicalism to liberalism.Cosmopolitanism in this thesis emphasizes cultural change and diversity. It is against the eradication of cultural differences and also to their preservation in parochial forms. Particular cultures and subcultures are viewed as repositories for insights and experiences that can be draw upon for a more comprehensive outlook on the world. Besides, it emphasizes the fluidity of human identity and people's remarkable capacity to forge new identities in diverse cultural sources. Central to the idea was a spirit of openness to variety and to change and of striving for a fuller understanding of the world.The thesis will be conducted in four chapters and be arranged chronologically. The first chapter provides the background of New York Intellectual's birth, covering both their personal lives and professional ambitions. As outsiders of both cultures, that of their fathers and the American mainstream, they had accepted Bourne and Brooks' ideas, wishing to promote a mature and sophisticated culture in a cosmopolitan perspective.The second chapter analyzes the reasons why New York Intellectuals joined in the Communist Party and how they interpreted Marxism. The Community Party provided excitement, brotherhood and, very importantly, opportunity. Marxism was understood as cosmopolitanism and encouraged constant change. Marxism provides the literature a method and value system. The most important transformation of the Partisan Review circle will be explored in the third chapter. In this chapter, Partisan Review, the journal that voiced the ideas of the group, would turn to anti-Stalinism which was the main characteristic of New York Intellectual group. The reasons will be examined culturally and politically. Cosmopolitan perspective was what brought Partisan Review circle into frictions with the cultural programs of the Communist Party. The same value will be analyzed in the political events, such as Moscow Trials, which brought out the conclusion that Stalin had betrayed the original Marxism of cosmopolitan value and become a totalitarian.In the fourth chapter, the reasons that New York Intellectuals gave up their radicalism and embraced the American society will be further developed. First of all, it will go over the romance between modernism and Marxism which was the persistent effort of Partisan Review in the radical years. Their ambitions to find direction and values for aimless freedom will be shown in the historical context. Secondly, it will argue that New York City became much more cosmopolitan than before. The "Push-and-Pull" finally led New York Intellectuals back to the promised world.In conclusion, New York Intellectuals are a special group in the American intellectual history. Their cosmopolitan values developed out of their own ethnic experiences and the changing environment of the 1930s and 1940s America greatly influenced the development of American politics, literature and other aspects of American life, and contributed to the rightward shift of American society in the late 20^th century.