The Café Society
In Fin de Siècle Vienna, the cultural circles were very small and overlapping; "any of the city's cultural leaders could make the acquaintance of any other without difficulty, and many of them were in fact close friends despite working in quite distinct fields of art, thought, and public affairs." [1]
Ludwig Wittgenstein and Friends , LOC.org
Rejection of Traditional Bourgeoisie ValuesAs a collective group, Schoenberg and his contemporaries questioned and rejected traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, and social organization of daily life. Industrialization brought about new economic, social, and political conditions of a new, modern world. For the sons of the haute bourgeoisie, there was a common idea---to reject, to break with the falseness of the past and look for a new way to express themselves. They "revolted against the aesthetic culture in which they were reared." [2] The "status that the fathers had purchased by their business labors meant little to the sons. ...To the fathers, it seemed immoral that the sons should reject the values of the society in which they themselves had struggled to obtain an identity." [1]
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Cafe Griensteidl, 1957, LOC.org
Vienna Salon and Café SocietyVienna's cafe society was unique. "People met and discussed ideas in select coffee houses such as Cafe Griensteidl or Cafe Central." They also met in salons. "Salons [developed] as cultural, rather than social or religious institutions." [4] Unlike the other major cities of Europe such as London [, Paris,] and Berlin, thoughts and ideas were interconnected and shared by the group.
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Traditional Values of the Haute Bourgeoisie:1. Hierarchical society, concerned with society as a whole;
2. Rational Man; "The values which this society cherished were reason, order and progress, perseverance, self-reliance and disciplined conformity to the standards of good taste and action. The irrational, the passionate and the chaotic were to be avoided at all costs." [1] 3. Reliance on traditional values, embraced past, traditional means of organizing arts, literature, music; 4. Eclectic styles, randomly 'borrowed' from the past. Emphasis of superficial, excessive decoration; |
Modern Values of the Café Society:1. Democratic society, concerned with the individual;
2. Psychological New Man; Led by Sigmund Freud, the modern man was "eager not only to examine others, but even more to examine themselves---and not just outward appearances, but the inner world." [4] 3. Broke from tradition, rejected previous norms to invent new inner expression, new ways of thinking about the world; 4. Rejected mixtures of styles, fought for purity in arts. Opposed excessive decoration, all things superficial; Sought truth and expression in the arts; |