Distraction Therapy – Embracing Emotional Depth and Imagination

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In this episode, we explore how metamodernism can benefit from the insights of two influential movements in the history of Western culture: the English Romantic Poets and the German Romantic Philosophers. We will discuss how these movements, despite their differences, share some common themes that resonate with the metamodern sensibility, such as emotional depth, imagination, nature, spirituality, and transcendence. We will also explore how these themes can be expressed and integrated in metamodern creative practice and sensemaking.

Metamodern cultural theory and practice can draw significant insights from both the English Romantic Poets and the German Romantic Philosophers. These two movements, while distinct in their contexts and expressions, share common themes that resonate with the metamodern ethos. Here are some key learnings that metamodernism can take from these Romantic traditions:

English Romantic Poets:

Emotional Depth: The English Romantic Poets, such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, placed a strong emphasis on the emotional and subjective experience. They celebrated intense emotions as a source of aesthetic experience and truth. Metamodernism can adopt this focus on emotional authenticity and depth, countering the postmodern detachment with a renewed emphasis on affective engagement.

Imagination and Creativity: The Romantics viewed imagination as a powerful force for creating new realities and transcending the mundane. This aligns with metamodernism’s embrace of imaginative and creative ways to construct meaning, blending the real with the fantastical to explore new possibilities.

Integrative and Holistic Thinking – Learning From German Romantic Philosophers:

Unity and Wholeness: German Romantic philosophers like Friedrich Schlegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling sought to reconcile opposites and create a sense of unity. They aimed to integrate reason and emotion, nature and culture, and individual and society. Metamodernism can learn from this integrative approach, seeking to synthesise diverse perspectives and experiences into a coherent and holistic framework.

Dialectical Method: The German Romantics employed a dialectical method, recognising the dynamic interplay of conflicting forces and ideas. This method can inform metamodernism’s oscillation between modern and postmodern sensibilities, embracing contradiction and complexity as part of the process of meaning-making.

Re-enchantment and Spiritual Renewal – Learning From the English Romantic Poets:

Re-enchantment of the World: The English Romantics sought to re-enchant the world, finding wonder and mystery in nature and the human experience. Metamodernism can draw on this sense of re-enchantment to counteract the disenchantment often associated with postmodernism, fostering a sense of awe and transcendence in the everyday.

Nature and the Sublime: The Romantics’ reverence for nature and the sublime experience of its vastness and beauty can inspire metamodern practices that reconnect with the natural world and seek to cultivate an ecological consciousness.

Pursuit of Idealism and Authenticity – Learning From the German Romantic Philosophers:

Idealism: German Romantic philosophy is characterised by a pursuit of idealism, where reality is seen as a reflection of the mind’s creative power. This can inform metamodernism’s pragmatic idealism, balancing aspirational goals with practical realities.

Authenticity: Both English and German Romantics valued authenticity, a genuine expression of the self in harmony with the world. Metamodernism can incorporate this quest for authenticity, encouraging sincere and meaningful engagement with both personal and communal identities.

Cultural Critique and Social Transformation – Learning From Both Traditions:

Cultural Critique: Romanticism often included a critique of contemporary society, industrialisation, and materialism. Metamodernism can build on this critical stance, addressing contemporary issues such as consumerism, digital fragmentation, and social disconnection, while offering constructive alternatives.

Social and Political Engagement: The Romantics were engaged with the social and political issues of their time, advocating for individual freedom and social justice. Metamodernism can continue this legacy by promoting social and political engagement that seeks to create a more equitable and compassionate society.

Metamodern cultural theory and practice can learn from the English Romantic Poets and German Romantic Philosophers by embracing emotional depth, imaginative creativity, integrative thinking, re-enchantment, idealism, authenticity, cultural critique, and social transformation. These elements can help metamodernism navigate the complexities of the contemporary world with a renewed sense of meaning, connection, and hope.

Track Listing:

• John Keates – Ode to a Grecian Urn
• Shakespeare – Sonnet No3
• William Blake – Songs of Experience Band Seven
• Wordsworth – The World Is Too Much With Us
• Sun Rain and Spookfish – Ideas of Light
• Nils Frahm – Lagrimagua
• Emeralds – The Cycle of Abuse
• Dylan Henner – The Peach Tree Next Door Grew Over Our Fence
• Myna Cycles – Echo Descending
• Alexandre Desplat – Arrivée En France
• Neil Cowley – She Lives In Golden Sands (Sad City Remix)
• Tom Adams – Particle VIII (The Light Before The Rain)
• Terry Riley – In C 9
• Johann Johannsson – Blind Massage
• Ludwig Goransson – Ground Zero
• Anna Drubich – The World Expects Answers
• Arthur Moon – Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!
• BSS – Westernpark
• Kaitly Aurelia Smith & Emile Mosseri – Moon In Your Eye