As many Telos readers know, July 1st marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme. Lasting over four months and resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties on each side, the battle was one of the bloodiest in human history. Ernst Jünger’s Sturm, set in the days before the Somme offensive, provides a vivid portrait of the front-line experiences of four German infantry officers and their company. Now available for the first time in English translation from Telos Press, Sturmpresents readers with a work of literature that will interest not only students of Jünger’s work and of World War I, but also any reader in search of a powerful story of war and its effects on the lives of the men who endure it.
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In “On the Political: Schmitt contra Schmitt,” Benjamin Arditi is occupied with the task of revitalizing Carl Schmitt, to open or retrace various interpretative paths that allow us to use Schmitt in trajectories that he did not envisage or did not pursue. Arditi takes his reader by the hand into an exploration of a series of issues arising from Schmitt’s theory: disputes regarding the bellicose nature of the political, the identification of politics in the political, the charge of formalism, and the normative dimension of order. Asymmetrical Warfare: Unconventional, nontraditional, or more precisely asymmetrical warfare has become the pervasive reality for the modern world. All realistic prognoses compellingly suggest it will remain so throughout the twenty-first century. The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernadino were no temporary aberration, or incidents of domestic political violence, but part of an increasingly normative pattern of asymmetrical warfare against the West. These events are inextricably related to the unconventional warfare and terrorism characterized by the conflicts extending from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to Africa. Isis, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram have become the common coinage of political discourse and news cycles. The controversy over the very terminology of the “War on Terror,” like that over the Obama Administration’s determination to close Guantanamo, illustrate the domestic as well as foreign policy implications of such developments. Meanwhile, Europe likewise faces both overt actions and indirect consequences of asymmetrical warfare. Russia’s proxy war in Ukraine and annexation of the Crimea, together with the massive Middle Eastern refugee influx, has thrust Europe into its own highly divisive disputes over its very cultural essence, political will, and future unity. Telos Press Publishing is pleased to announce that Ernst Jünger’s Sturm is now available for purchase. Order your copy today in our online store.
Translated by Alexis P. Walker Set in 1916 in the days before the Somme offensive, Ernst Jünger’s Sturm provides a vivid portrait of the front-line experiences of four German infantry officers and their company. A highly cultivated man and an acute observer of his era, the eponymous Lieutenant Sturm entertains his friends during lulls in the action with readings from his literary sketches. The text’s forays into philosophical and social commentary address many of the themes of Jünger’s early work, such as the nature of war, death, heroism, the phenomenon of Rausch, and mass society. Originally published in installments in the Hannoverscher Kurier in 1923, Sturm fell into obscurity until 1960, when it was re-discovered and subsequently re-published by Hans Peter des Coudres, a scholar of Jünger’s work. This translation—the first to be published in English—brings to the English-speaking world a work of literature of interest not only to students of Jünger’s work and of World War I, but to any reader in search of a powerful story of war and its effects on the lives of the men who endure it. Telos Editorial Associate Jay Gupta recently spoke with C.S. Soong on Pacifica Radio’s Against the Grain, a show about politics, society, and ideas. Their conversation turned to ethics, objective vs. subjective truth, and the manner in which war is reported in the media. Listen the full interview at the Against the Grain website here. |
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