Degeneration

"Degeneration" by Max Nordau is a landmark work of social and cultural criticism that captured the anxieties of the fin de siècle. Nordau diagnoses a pervasive sense of decline in modern society, attributing it to the rapid pace of industrialization, urbanization, and social change. He examines various forms of art, literature, and philosophy, identifying symptoms of degeneration in what he perceives as their departure from classical norms of beauty, reason, and morality.

Nordau critiques the avant-garde movements of his time, arguing that they reflect a pathological condition of the nervous system, marked by hysteria, neurasthenia, and a general weakening of the will. His polemical analysis of artists and writers made "Degeneration" a controversial bestseller, sparking heated debates about the direction of modern culture. Though controversial in its own time, Nordau's work remains a crucial document for understanding the intellectual climate of the late 19th century and the widespread anxieties about modernity and social decay.

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