Eagleton’s Theory Of Tragedy And Modern Self-identity

The book "Sweet Violence:the Idea of the Tragedy" mainly illustrates Eagleton’s theory of tragedy and it is the practice of his previous political culture theory comprehensively, reflects his criticism to modernity from the view of tragedy. His idea of tragedy is based on Marx’s theory. He understands the conflict of modern tragedy from the perspective of shortcomings of the capitalist system and this is the development of Marx’s theory of tragedy. In this book, Eagleton stresses that this is not a historical study of tragedy, but a political study of the tragedy. Eagleton deconstructs some of the traditional elements of tragedy by his new perspective, and criticizes many problems produced by modernity. This article is not a comprehensive study of his theory of tragedy, but a study of his theory from the perspective of modern self-identity and basing on this, it attempts to provide some references for studies on the modern self-identity.Eagleton think the most renowned tragic teleology is that of Hegel. For Hegel, philosophy itself is the result of a tragic condition. With growing social complexity and a deepening division of labour, society has now become unrepresentable by the sensuous image, and can be captured only by the concept. It is with Hegel above all that tragedy first becomes’essentialized’, reified to a spiritual absolute which presides impassively over a degraded everyday existence. The Kierkegaardian’suspension of the ethical’characterizes the figure of faith, not the figure of tragedy. The typical tragic hero, by contrast, remains steadfastly within the domain of the ethical. Formally speaking, Nietzsche’s tragic affirmation is not altogether different from Hegel’s. If Hegel regards tragedy with Apollonian satisfaction as reinforcing the sovereignty of Reason, Nietzsche sees it with Dionysian delight as exulting in the indestructibility of life, which the sacrifice of the individual simply enhances. For him, tragedy is the supreme critique of modernity, which is one reason why the subject looms so large in an age undistinguished for its actual tragic art. Engels and Marx’s tragedy is a social tragedy and it is the result of the confrontation between the old and the new social forces. It is the tragic conflict that there is an inevitable demand of history which is represented by the historical figures of progress but it is impossible to be realized under certain historical conditions.By the deconstruction of the concept of tragedy, Eagleton advocates substituting" the concept of "tragedy" by "the idea of the tragedy", as a result, greatly enriching and expansing the connotation of the tragedy, and moreover, laying foundations for introducing tragedy into real life and revolution. By breaking the limit of tragic hero’s aristocracy, everyone has the possibility of becoming a tragic hero. The reality of modern tragedy lies in:Firstly, the loss of the absolute value makes modern persons both free and not free at the same time because of the modern system; Secondly, the development of modern society has brought social progress but also causes large-scale disaster and the alienation of people that cannot be solved. So, the modernity is progressive but there are also contradiction, deadlock, self-undoing, which represent the dark underside of the of progress; In addition, massacre and other disaster, as the best examples of the modern society demonic evil, are produced from modernity itself rather than the external. Evil is destruction also contains a creative factor; Finally, tragedy provides a imaginative solution for unavoidable antinomy of freedom. The mode of "scapegoat" in tragedy serves to ease the social contradictions and block the revolutionary in ancient society. While, in addition, it also has the function of creating a new class and calling the revolution. As a radical overthrow and reconstruction of the social order, it has the function of creating and solving the social contradiction, but it also needs those who bled for the revolutions and it is also a tragedy. By illustrating the theory of tragedy, Eagleton finally succeeds to transform theory into practice and combine thought with revolution. While he can not agree with Enlightenment scholars’ idea that self is closed and abstract, he is very much agree with Marx and Hagel’s idea about "totality" and "subject". Because of the interdependence of the two, to maintain the "totality" is bound to maintain the "subject" ". Therefore, he criticizes post-modernism’s practice of demolition of the subject. He thinks that if the body can make people understand the hegemony of reason, then it is still the tool of reason, and it stands by the side of Descartes. And, the post-modernism deconstructs and lose the self, then it lose a stable self and also lost the foundation of the revolution and the foundation of social stability. In fact, the theory of post-modernism is one-sided, simple, and it is political inaction. Eagleton’s theory of identity is also based on Marx’s standpoint, but also understands the problem of identity from the practical point of view. He advocates the subject is unitied by the subjectivity and objectivity, the body is made by culture and nature, ethic and politics is also need to be unitied. He wants to build a common culture against duality caused by modernity and post-modern. The fundamental way to overcome the crisis of identity is the revolution. The problem of identity after all is a practical problem rather than a theoretical problem. Only in practice, people could understand and develop themselves and realize themselves. He tries to recover the main body from the standpoint of Marx doctrine, and believes that the essence of labor was the release and expression of human power. However, modern human history is the history of labor alienation. But in the capitalist system, people’s practice and theory separate with each other. Therefore, people could overcome the alienation in the new practical activities and realize themselves and their freedom only after the thorough change of the existing system. This fully reflects Eagleton’s criticism on political cowardice and inaction. He intends to restore the ties between culture and politics, morality and politics, and establish the combination of the tragedy and politics in his tragedy theory. Thus, there are strong practical and realistic significance of his tragedy theory, his theory of identity is also the Marx doctrine and the doctrine of the revolution. These views in some ways provide references for solving the modern crisis of self-identity.Through the analysis on the concept of Eagleton and a review of freedom, modernity, evil, revolution, we can promote the comprehension about social environment which leads to crises of modern self-identity and discover the root of identity crisis. Eagleton’s illustration about tragedy and revolution also provides a theoretical method to solve the identity crisis and it can confirm each other with Giddens’s life politics and other ideas.