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C « H « A « P « T « E « R 9 The Conventio n o f Innovation an d th e End of the Futur e In 1980 , th e Germa n philosophe r Jiirge n Haberma s pro nounced thi s verdict on modernism: "Modernism is dominant but dead." Habermas's dictu m describe s the ironic fate o f the avant garde . Vanguardists strov e t o transfor m thei r culture , an d b y th e middle o f the twentiet h century , th e vanguar d nemesis , th e gentee l cul ture , had been destroyed. A new culture emerged in which advance-guar d influence wa s strong , bu t i t wa s no t th e cultur e envisione d b y radica l innovators. In part, the avant guard had succeeded . But their success was also their dissolution. 1 At th e en d o f th e twentiet h century , th e languag e o f th e avan t gard e was often stil l used. But the realit y was that many alienated vanguardist s had bee n coopte d b y thei r culture , innovatio n ha d becom e convention , and few intellectuals still believed in the idea of a future cultura l redemp tion . 171 172 • TH E EN D O F TH E AVAN T GARDE , 1965-199 5 Alienation to Integratio n The argumen t of this work is that by the 1960 s the avant garde had bee n appropriated int o American cultur e and that this appropriation destroye d the movement . Th e objectio n coul d b e raised , a s I hav e noted, tha t thi s integration signalle d a victory for th e avan t garde . Th e countercultur e and ne w lef t coul d b e pointe d t o a s example s o f ho w avant-gard e idea s entered mainstream culture and transformed society . The counterculture , it coul d b e argued , destroye d th e stuffy , conformis t cultur e o f the 1950 s and opene d t o young people new vistas of consciousness an d possibilitie s of lifestyle. Th e ne w left , on e coul d maintain , challenge d th e Col d Wa r ideology and brought an end to the Vietnam War . This argumen t ha s cogency . Members o f th e las t American vanguar d certainly contributed t o the ideology of the new left an d th e countercul ture , an d man y took part i n these movements . Allen Ginsber g an d Gar y Snyder participate d i n th e 196 7 Huma n Be-i n a t Golde n Gat e Par k i n San Francisco. In 1968 , Ginsberg joined th e protest agains t the Vietna m War a t th e Democrati c Nationa l Conventio n i n Chicag o an d chante d mantras to keep the peace between demonstrators and the police. Daniel Moore's Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, a combination of commun e an d theate r fo r th e Berkele y hippi e community , illustrate d the avant-gard e influence s o n th e counterculture . Moore' s opera s com bined music, dance, ritual, and Eastern philosophy with drug use, ideas of sexual liberation , an d contemporar y politica l an d ecologica l concerns . Moore sai d hi s purpose wa s to brin g abou t a "consciousness revolution " that he explicitly contrasted with Marxist ideas of revolution. This revolution , h e believed , woul d creat e a ver y differen t world . "Th e Floatin g Lotus," Moore declared , "i s an idea projecte d int o th e futur e whe n war s peter out , wit h peopl e livin g i n seclusio n i n th e mountains , whos e lif e style is a synthesis of all art forms, all human experience." The goa l of an integrated ar t an d lif e wa s part o f Moore's vision , a s it wa s o f other s i n the 1960s. 2 But th e movement s o f th e 1960 s reall y demonstrate d th e sam e pro cesses o f cooptatio n b y an d absorptio n int o consumptio n communitie...

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