Christian Modernism in an Age of Totalitarianism: T.S. Eliot, Karl Mannheim and the Moot(Historicizing Modernism)

With fascism on the march in Europe and a second World War looming, a group of Britain’s leading intellectuals – including T.S. Eliot, Karl Mannheim, John Middleton Murry, J. H. Oldham and Michael Polanyi – gathered together to explore ways of revitalising a culture that seemed to have lost its way. The group called themselves ‘the Moot’. Drawing on previously unpublished archival documents, this is the first in-depth study of the group’s work, writings and ideas in the decade of its existence from 1938-1947. Christian Modernism in an Age of Totalitarianism explores the ways in which an important and influential strand of Modernist thought in the interwar years turned back to Christian ideas to offer a blueprint for the revitalisation of European culture. In this way the book challenges conceptions of Modernism as a secular movement and sheds new light on the culture of the late Modernist period.

Table of Contents:
List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments 1 INTRODUCTION: THE MOOT AND MODERNISM Brief Overview of the Moot Political Modernism: Decadence and Revival The Moot as a Modernist Experiment The Moot, Modernism and Christianity Notes on Sources and Methodology 2 THE MOOT AND CIVILIZATIONAL CRISIS Introduction Christianity and Crisis The Moot and Crisis Conclusion 3 THE REBIRTH OF CHRISTENDOM Introduction New Beginnings Through a New Christendom Maritain’s neo-Thomism, Medieval Modernism and the Moot The Influence of Jacques Maritain’s True Humanism on the Moot Lessons from Medieval Christendom Planning for Freedom Conclusion: ‘Programmatic Modernism’, Prospects and Tensions 4 ‘WHY WE HATE THE GESTAPO’: LIBERALISM, TOTALITARIANISM AND THE THIRD WAY Introduction The Church, Community and State Conference, and Christian Totalitarianism The Moot on Liberalism and Democracy Engaging with the Political Alternatives Conclusion 5 CONFLICTS IN LIGHT OF MODERNISM: T. S. ELIOT AND KARL MANNHEIM IN DIALOGUE Introduction Eliot and Mannheim at the Moot Common Ground Clashes on the Transformation of Culture Conclusion 6 THE MOOT AS A REVITALISATION MOVEMENT Introduction Creating a Manifesto Oldham’s Councils The Formation of an Order New education, new man Channels of dissemination Revolutionary or reformist? Conclusion: The Moot’s failed revolution 7 CONCLUSION Modernist interpretive framing Theoretical gains Legacy of the Moot APPENDIX: LIST OF THE MOOT MEMBERS Regular members Visitors BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

About the Author :
Jonas Kurlberg is the Programme Manager of the MA in Digital Theology at Durham University, UK.