Berman Modernity

The 1983 Novel, ‘All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity’ written by Marshall Berman is a book which informs the individual of modernity. Berman digs deep into the history of modernity using the experience of previous generations to engage a richer knowledge of modernity, which has been lost over the generations. Berman attempts to make the reader feel at home in this world, which is defined by modernity, by utilizing knowledge, which is apparent throughout the course of history by utilising Goethe’s ‘Faust’.

The Introduction of the book “Modernity: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” 1 of six linked essays which re-examines modernity essentially serves as an idea to re-examine modernity. Berman suggests that several ideas,

Berman states “even the self’s destruction will be an integral part of its development” this further reinforce Berman concept of ever growing ever evolving modern life. Berman uses examples of characters that embody the ever-evolving development, changes and ideals, which has consistently changed path and sculpted the future. Berman then goes on to talk of the first metamorphosis: The Dreamer. This metamorphosis gives insight to an earlier idea stated by Berman that “problems are not his alone”, furthering the idea that Goethe’s Faust embodies the journey, which is captured through this ever-evolving character. “Let's plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will -- it's only action that can make a man.” This quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Faust” states what we do now shapes the future from all that is acquired will change how this evolving world operates. This statement can help further understand Berman’s central idea that past continues to shape

This metamorphosis shows a world in we are shaping, one where destruction is as much of part of shaping progress as creation. Berman states that Faust strives to change not only his own life but also that of others. This idea is one that is hugely influential to the now and the political views, which defines the nation state within which we live and abide to. These three metamorphosis act as stages along a journey to the present which absorb more and more knowledge through history and discoveries, attempting to destroy the old world and create the new, Pablo Picasso simply states “Every act of creation is an act of destruction.” Simply defining the journey to the ‘new