In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

THE฀CONSTRUCTIVIS T MOMENT Literature฀stays ฀alive ฀by ฀expanding฀into ฀non-literature. —฀Viktor ฀Shklovsky This฀essa y฀is฀a฀response฀to฀a ฀call฀t o฀defin e฀th e฀stat e฀o f฀modernis t฀studies ,฀which I฀chos e฀to฀answe r฀agai n฀fro m฀th e฀socia l฀spac e฀of฀Detroi t฀—฀where฀modernism ,฀as a฀cultura l฀imperative ,฀vanishe s฀an d฀reappear s฀at฀rando m฀withi n฀th e฀rationalize d modernity฀tha t฀surrounds.฀Where฀the฀descent฀into฀productio n฀tha t฀frame s฀the฀previous ฀chapte r฀might฀b e฀see n฀a s฀an฀affirmative฀an d฀willful฀confrontatio n฀wit h฀th e engines฀o f฀modernity ,฀th e฀spatia l฀figur e฀fo r฀this฀essa y฀is฀the฀crossin g฀of฀borders between฀incommensurat e฀zones฀that฀hav e฀been฀constructed฀in฀Detroit' s฀relativel y short฀bu t฀convulsiv e฀history .฀Inspire d฀b y฀Detroit ,฀an d฀challenge d฀b y฀the฀man y฀experiences ฀o f฀mutua l฀exclusio n฀on e฀ha s฀when฀livin g฀there,฀I ฀wanted฀t o฀mak e฀the most฀unlikel y฀compariso n฀possibl e฀t o฀unvei l฀th e฀stake s฀o f฀a ฀radica l฀modernis m trapped฀within฀the฀productivist฀lifeworld .฀What฀resulted฀wa s฀a฀dual฀research฀project in฀which฀I ฀turned฀t o฀th e฀wor k฀o f฀E l฀Lissitzky,฀emblemati c฀o f฀radica l฀modernis m฀in its฀mos t฀formall y฀articulated ,฀Utopia n฀mode ,฀an d฀th e฀recen t฀developmen t฀o f฀th e experimental฀electronic฀musi c฀known฀as฀Detroit฀techno ,฀as฀examples฀of฀the฀mutua l permeability฀o f฀radica l฀for m฀an d฀moder n฀lifeworld .฀A ฀poetic s฀o f฀negativ e฀exem plarity ฀i s฀th e฀bridg e฀betwee n฀th e฀two ,฀draw n฀ou t฀i n฀contrastin g฀modernis t฀an d postmodern฀example s฀from฀Loui s฀Zukofsk y฀an d฀Jea n฀Day .฀This฀essay,฀then,฀i s฀an exercise฀i n฀disjunctio n฀a s฀muc h฀a s฀conjunction,฀a n฀attemp t฀a t฀th e฀reciproca l฀illumination ฀o f฀cultural฀possibilitie s฀tha t฀ough t฀t o฀hav e฀mor e฀to฀d o฀with฀eac h฀other, but฀becaus e฀of฀th e฀steril e฀framewor k฀o f฀assigne d฀cultura l฀values ,฀d o฀not .฀I ฀want , also,฀to฀continu e฀a฀cross-cultural฀discussion฀between฀Soviet฀modernis m฀and฀American ฀postmodernis m฀that฀I ฀have฀pursued฀sinc e฀my฀first฀contac t฀with฀Russia n฀Formalism .฀Detroit฀an d฀the฀poorl y฀understoo d฀Second฀World,฀i t฀turns฀out ,฀hav e฀more in฀common฀with฀eac h฀othe r฀than฀ma y฀have฀been฀supposed.฀Locating฀the฀Formalist devices฀of฀defamiliarization฀an d฀semantic฀shift฀i n฀a฀rationalized฀lifeworld฀that฀seems to฀ignor e฀the m฀certainl y฀argue s฀fo r฀th e฀continue d฀us e฀of฀bot h฀terms .฀Finally ,฀thi s essay฀i s฀an฀attempt฀t o฀construc t฀an฀example฀in฀an d฀of฀itself,฀as฀it฀challenge s฀an d FROM฀EL฀LISSITZKY฀TO DETROIT฀TECHNO 4 crosses฀ove r฀th e฀grea t฀divid e฀i n฀methodolog y฀between฀modernis m฀an d฀Cultura l Studies,฀seen฀on฀analogy฀t o฀a ฀border฀crossin g฀in฀Detroit. THE฀GREA T฀DIVID E Along฀wit h฀Genera l฀Motors '฀decisio n฀t o฀shif t฀thei r฀worl d฀head quarters ฀fro m฀it s฀previous฀location฀i n฀the฀midtow n฀Genera l฀Motors฀Building ฀t o฀th e฀downtow n฀Renaissanc e฀Center,฀an d฀t o฀mov e฀man y฀o f฀its฀oper ations ฀i n฀fro m฀outlyin g฀areas,฀real฀estat e฀values฀hav e฀gon e฀u p฀abruptl y฀i n Detroit,฀reversing฀decades฀of฀stagnation.1 ฀Housing฀values,฀particularly฀along the฀Woodwar d฀Corrido r฀an d฀th e฀downtown-Gross e฀Point e฀axi s฀o f฀Eas t Jefferson,฀hav e฀explode d฀i n฀anticipatio n฀o f฀th e฀relocatio n฀o f฀managemen t closer฀t o฀th e฀downtow n฀area. 2 ฀Eve n฀so ,฀a ฀commut e฀fro m฀nearb y฀suburb s such฀as฀Huntington฀Wood s฀and฀Gross e฀Pointe฀still฀involves,฀on฀a฀daily฀basis, a฀lesso n฀i n฀dystopi a...

Share