Remedying defective or deficient political agency: Cornel West's uses of the tragic1

Abstract

American culture has often been seen, particularly from the standpoint of Europe, as lacking a sense of the tragic. On the European view, this tragic deficit is the reason that Americans are more likely to act intemperately or with hubris. A critique of American culture for its lack of conscious engagement with tragedy figures prominently in the work of Cornel West. He argues that a broader American receptiveness to the tragedies of American history and life will result in a greater commitment to participate in public life for the purpose of relieving unnecessary suffering. In the first place, he sees tragedy as a means of fostering hopefulness and counteracting the tendency of citizens, particularly African‐Americans, to retreat to privatized modes of despair. Tragedy also functions in West's thought as a means of fostering a sense of solidarity across class and racial lines. Lastly, tragedy can heighten the appreciation of left intellectuals for the existential dimensions of political and social agency.