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Dancing Ourselves to Death: The Subject of Emma Goldman's Nietzschean Anarchism

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 12; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14747731.2014.971542

1474-774X

Chris Rossdale,

Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinary Research

AbstractThis article draws together two lively and provocative radical theorists, Emma Goldman and Friedrich Nietzsche, and suggests that a reading at their intersections can inspire political thought, action, and resistance in particular ways. The argument is framed through and productive of a particular archetype which emerges from a reading of these thinkers, that of The Dancer. Both Goldman and Nietzsche have been noted for their affect-laden reflections on dance, as an image of the subject which evades capture within the frameworks of discipline, morality, and ressentiment and which instead commits to a ceaseless and creative insurrection of- and- against the self. Here, I argue that through this image of The Dancer we can conceptualise a form of critical or anarchic subjectivity which can provocatively interpret and inspire radical political action. In the article I look at some of the ways in which dance has formed an important component of radical politics. However I also argue that dance as understood in the terms established through Goldman and Nietzsche moves beyond corporeal performance, indicating a more general ethos of the subject, one of perpetual movement, creativity, and auto-insurrection. I also reflect on the difficulties involved in the idea of 'self-creation'; as we can see from the more problematic dimensions of Goldman's thought, creation is an ethically and ontologically ambiguous concept which, when affirmed too easily, can serve to mask the subtleties by which relations of domination persist. With this in mind, the article goes on to discuss what it might mean to 'dance to death', to negotiate the burden of transvaluation, limitless responsibility, and perpetual struggle which these two thinkers evoke, in the service of a creative and limitless radical political praxis.EXTRACTO - Este artículo junta dos teóricos radicales muy animados y provocativos: Emma Goldman y Federico Nietzsche y sugiere que dar una lectura a sus intersecciones puede inspirar pensamiento político, acción y resistencia en formas particulares. El argumento está enmarcado a través de un arquetipo particular y productivo que emerge más de una lectura de estos pensadores que del Bailador. Tanto Goldman como Nietzsche han sido conocidos por sus reflexiones cargadas de afecto sobre el baile, como una imagen del sujeto que evade captura dentro de un marco de disciplina, moral y amargura y quien, por el contrario, se compromete con una insurrección creativa y sin fin de y contra sí mismo. Aquí se argumenta que a través de esta imagen del Bailador podemos conceptualizar una forma de subjetividad crítica o anárquica que puede interpretar provocativamente e inspirar acción política radical. En el artículo damos un vistazo a algunas de las formas en que la danza se ha tornado en un componente importante de políticas radicales. No obstante, también se argumenta que la danza, entendida en los términos establecidos a través de Goldman y Nietzsche, se mueve más allá de su desempeño corporal, indicando una actitud más general del sujeto, una de perpetuo movimiento, creatividad y auto-insurrección. También se reflexiona sobre las dificultades involucradas en la idea de la "auto creación"; como podemos ver a partir de las más problemáticas dimensiones del pensamiento de Goldman, la creación es un concepto ética y ontológicamente ambiguo que, cuando se afirma con demasiada facilidad, puede servir de máscara a sutilezas bajo las que persisten relaciones de dominación. Teniendo esto en cuenta, el artículo pasa a discutir lo que puede significar "bailando hasta morir", para negociar la carga de transvaloración, responsabilidad sin límites y conflicto perpetuo que evocan estos dos pensadores, en beneficio de una práctica política radical creativa y sin límites.Keywords: Emma GoldmanFriedrich Nietzscheanarchismresistancepolitical subjectivityself-creation Notes†Various drafts of this article were presented at the 'Confronting the Global' conference at the University of Warwick in 2011, the 'A New Initiative' reading group at the University of Warwick in 2012, and the 'Anarchism Research Group' at Loughborough University in 2014. It is far stronger for the generous contributions of colleagues at these events, as it is for the suggestions of Aggie Hirst and James Brassett.1 Cautioning against focusing too much on the specifics of Nietzsche's political pronouncements, Lewis Call suggests that we think more generally in terms of the 'Nietzsche effect'. Call cites Ansell-Pearson arguing that the most fertile spaces are not Nietzsche's 'overt pronouncements … but rather in their "style(s)", in their attempt to communicate a philosophy of the body, in their disclosure of the metaphoricity of philosophical discourse, and in the exemplary way in which they are seen to deconstruct the logocentric bias of western thought and reason' (Call, Citation2002, p. 35, citing Ansell-Pearson, Citation1993, p. 29).2 Sasha was Goldman's name for Alexander Berkman, her lover, and closest comrade.3 On the origin of the quote 'if I can't dance it's not my revolution', see Shulman (Citation1991).4 Goldman was deported from the USA in 1919.5 See Goldman (Citation1970a, pp. 402–403) and also Ferguson (Citation2013, pp. 164–166).6 Indeed, a recently published book reflecting on the Idle No More protests is entitled 'The Winter We Danced' (The Kino-nda-niimi Collective, Citation2014).7 For a carefully nuanced account of Goldman's problematic encounter with race, see Ferguson (Citation2013, pp. 211–241). On the contested relationship between anarchism and 'human nature', and for critiques of this humanism, see Newman (Citation2007), May (Citation1991), and Jun (Citation2012).Additional informationChris Rossdale is based at Royal Holloway, University of London. He specialises in international political theory, security studies, and the politics and philosophy of resistance, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Warwick.