Sympathy for the Occult
Ernst Bloch, Antifascism, and Marxist Debates on the Irrational
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21750492 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mikheil Kakabadze (0000-0003-3935-6365, Stockholm University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-33 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Aries (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1567-9896 • E-ISSN: 1570-0593 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15700593-tat00031 |
| OpenAlex | W4414305953 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
This article analyses Ernst Bloch’s (1885–1977) discourse on occultism in the interwar period and its reception among Marxist intellectuals. In particular, it draws attention to Bloch’s sustained treatment of “occultism” in Heritage of Our Times (1935), and illustrates how Bloch did not merely equate but rather negotiate various links between occultism, irrationalism, and fascism in a complicated manner. As such, the article seeks to contribute to the growing body of work that unsettles established scholarly perceptions around Marxism/critical theory’s relationship with esotericism. The article shows how Bloch’s treatment of the “occult” is more ambivalent than has previously been assumed, and further argues that Bloch’s understanding of occultism is inextricable from the greater effort at forging a Marxist theory of culture in the era of antifascism in the 1930s
Ambivalence · Appeasement · Marxist philosophy · Negotiation · Occult · Perception · Sympathy · Theosophy · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |