New Histories of the World: Spenglerian Optimism

Abstract

The apparently pessimistic implications of Spenglerian analysis have often appealed to others who foresaw the end of Western civilization, but Spengler himself was less discouraged. Even if no great art, music or literature could be expected in these latter days, great engineering projects were possible, and to be admired. Nor was Western (“Faustian”) Culture and Civilization the only game in town: other Cultures, like the “Magian,” had been embedded and distorted by the dominant regimes, both Classical and Western, and could still be an inspiring presence. A similarly distorted Culture might still be growing in Russia. And even when all present Cultures were exhausted there would be hope of some new, unpredictable, emergence, for which I offer some imaginable examples drawn from contemporary fantasy, as well as the abiding presence of what Spengler usually thought “pre-cultural,” or “primitive” societies.