The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism [Hardcover]

Pascal Bruckner (Author), Steven Rendall (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691143765 | ISBN-13: 978-0691143767 | Publication Date: February 1, 2010

Fascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, imperialism--the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt. And, indeed, since the Holocaust and the end of World War II, Europeans in particular have been consumed by remorse. But Pascal Bruckner argues that guilt has now gone too far. It has become a pathology, and even an obstacle to fighting today's atrocities. Bruckner, one of France's leading writers and public intellectuals, argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities. The West has no monopoly on evil, and has destroyed monsters as well as created them--leading in the abolition of slavery, renouncing colonialism, building peaceful and prosperous communities, and establishing rules and institutions that are models for the world. The West should be proud--and ready to defend itself and its values. In this, Europeans should learn from Americans, who still have sufficient self-esteem to act decisively in a world of chaos and violence. Lamenting the vice of anti-Americanism that grips so many European intellectuals, Bruckner urges a renewed transatlantic alliance, and advises Americans not to let recent foreign-policy misadventures sap their own confidence. This is a searing, provocative, and psychologically penetrating account of the crude thought and bad politics that arise from excessive bad conscience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a critique of the West's postcolonial self-flagellating tendencies that is both fascinating and repellent, prize-winning French novelist and essayist Bruckner (Tears of the White Man) offers a broad defense of neoliberal democracy as a force for progress, enlightenment, and emancipation. In polemical tones, the author identifies how the aftermath of WWII and postcolonial liberation movements spawned a pathology of remorse and guilt corrupting the European self-image that was maintained by its own intelligentsia and by a variety of immigrants, Islamists, and Arabs. Though the book offers insightful analyses of how discourses of guilt and self-hatred can serve to mask self-glorification and assertions of cultural superiority, it is marred by a monolithic, often Franco-centric view of Europe, a tendency toward overgeneralization, and an almost total disregard for how global economic concerns and practices are linked to international dissatisfactions with the behavior of Western democracies. Nonetheless, as a work that takes seriously the challenges posed by multiculturalism and the changing face of Europe, it is a worthy attempt to resuscitate the ideals of progressive enlightenment, political action, and civic pride. (Mar.)
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Review

The Tyranny of Guilt is one of the landmark books of our time. With humour, depth, breadth, restraint and great insight Bruckner diagnoses an infuriating era. . . . Pascal Bruckner's short book is one of the most vital published in recent years. If the civilisation which it explains survives then I suspect his book will have played as important a part as any piece of writing could in determining that outcome. -- Douglas Murray, Literary Review



That Bruckner's talents defy classification might help to account for the relatively understated reception of his work on this side of the Atlantic. This situation is likely to change soon: along with The Tyranny of Guilt, Princeton University Press will also publish Perpetual Euphoria. . . . Bruckner is a bold and eloquent and important thinker. -- Richard Wolin, New Republic



[The Tyranny of Guilt] is a work of bracing lucidity and exhilarating perception. . . . Europe needs to rethink its attitude towards its past if it is to build a more inclusive and dynamic future. As this exceptional book so emphatically shows, guilt is a luxury we can no longer afford. -- Andrew Anthony, The Observer



When it comes to the sweaty metabolism of guilt, Bruckner is perhaps the most accomplished anatomist since Nietzsche. (He is also, like Nietzsche, an extraordinary stylist, commanding a sinewy, memorably epigrammatic prose.) . . . Ferociously intelligent, passionately argued, stylistically brilliant. -- Roger Kimball, National Review



As a result of his literary background and immersion in the fiery French essayist tradition, he writes in a sparkling prose, captured well here by his translator, Steven Rendall. The resulting tone is redolent for Anglo-Saxon readers of an earlier era, when social critics like Marx or Nietzsche conveyed their ideas with combative gravitas. Beneath Bruckner's eloquence is a serious message: we remain prisoners of a white guilt whose victim is its supposed beneficiary. . . . [T]his is a stirring and important book. -- Eric Kaufmann, Prospect



Mr. Bruckner cites literary figures, journalists and intellectuals throughout the Western world making the case that whatever punishment the West has been made to suffer--e.g., the horrors of 9/11--are merely well deserved. -- Wall Street Journal



Bruckner's book is controversial at times, but he does a wonderful job of combining passionate writing with a well-argued critique of modern Europe. -- Library Journal



[Pascal Bruckner's] angry book could change a whole civilization's opinion, if only that civilization had sense enough to pay attention. -- Robert Fulford, National Post



In the end, Bruckner's real theme is something deeper and broader: Western guilt and the resulting lack of self-belief. Again, he sees the origins of this in a guilty conscience, and there is an echo here of debates sixty or more years ago over Communism. -- Geoffrey Wheatcroft, National Interest



[M]agnificent. -- Standpoint Magazine



These provocative statements undergird Bruckner's brilliant polemic arguing that European remorse for the sins of imperialism, fascism, and racism has gripped the continent to the point of stifling its creativity, destroying its self-confidence, and depleting its optimism. -- Daniel Pipes, National Review Online



Bruckner shows how selective we are about teaching history and how our media is obsessed with only one struggle (Israel/Palestine) while ignoring others (Sudan/Darfur). The essay, translated into clear American English, is provocative, scholarly and accessible. -- Julia Pascal, The Independent



In Pascal Bruckner's recent essay The Tyranny of Guilt, we finally get an argument that should move those ready away from the masochistic acceptance of blame for every bad thing in the world. -- Stanley Crouch, Daily Beast



Bruckner's originality lies in taking the narcissism of Western guilt and using the old distinction between repentance, where one resolves to find absolution by doing better, and remorse, where one wallows in perpetual penitence, to create a synthesis of great explanatory power. -- Nick Cohen, The Australian



As the Obama administration and congressional Democrats work to make the United States a more European-style society, The Tyranny of Guilt arrives at the right time (and kudos to Princeton University Press for publishing such a bracing, politically incorrect book). Pascal Bruckner, who remains a man of the left in some sense, recognizes the true genius of the West--and the capacity of its brightest minds to forget that genius or, worse, condemn it. -- Brian Anderson, New Criterion



[Bruckner's] basic thesis is that the entire western world is addicted to wallowing in guilt about the past, and that the root of it all is roughly religious--stemming from the notion of original sin. Bruckner's most vivid illustration of our addiction to guilt is that so many thinkers and commentators could greet the murder of 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, with cries of 'we had it coming.' -- Irish Independent



Bruckner, a French intellectual, argues brilliantly if controversially it's high time the West lighten up, bring historical perspective to itself, celebrate its more prosperous institutions, and stop hamstringing its relations with other groups. -- Miriam Cosic, Australian



It's no put-down of Pascal Bruckner's latest book to say I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed the Daily Express, although his canvas is bigger and his style more literary and erudite. . . . In this work, [Bruckner] has many shrewd insights into contemporary Europe. -- Tara McCormack, Spiked



Pascal Bruckner has written a passionate meditation that many, especially on the Left, will find provocative. One might even hope that this little book will awaken European thinkers from their dogmatic slumber and lead them to consider the advantages and disadvantages of history for European civic life. -- Daniel DiSalvo, Society

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691143765
• ISBN-13: 978-0691143767
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's the Matter with the Elites?, May 19, 2010

By 

Eric Mayforth (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism (Hardcover)

"The whole world hates us, and we deserve it: that is what most Europeans think, at least in Western Europe". That quote is the thesis of this book by French thinker Pascal Bruckner that examines anti-Western guilt and neurosis in Europe (and, to a lesser extent, America) today.

Elites on both sides of the Atlantic are animated by hatred of the West and denounce it vehemently in an attempt to make the West feel eternally guilty for its past wrongs, and think that anyone who stands up for Western Europe or nations such as Israel or the United States is beyond the pale of respectability.

Bruckner sees in this attitude an inverted superiority complex, a sort of "You don't realize how evil Europe, America, and Western Civilization are and I do, therefore I'm more moral and enlightened than you are" type of preening narcissistic grandstanding.

The author acknowledges the West's crimes, but states that Europe, unlike Islam, is "like a jailer who throws you into prison and slips you the keys to your cell", bringing the world both despotism and liberty. For example, the West did not invent slavery, but played a major role in its abolition. Bruckner states that no country was not founded on crime and coercion, but only the West's crimes are remembered by the elites, who have one set of rules for designated victim nations and another, more stringent set for designated oppressor nations.

Bruckner thinks that Europe's guilty conscience stems from a desire to withdraw after the horrors of the twentieth century. Europe, he believes, does not feel that it any longer has the moral authority to stand up to evil, so instead it tolerates the evil around it, leading it to "take up residence in a peaceful hell".

The author provides suggestions for Europe to get out of its funk, such as having a statute of limitations for past offenses that have been repented of--being forever chained to the past injects emotional paralysis and does not free one to live in the present.

Bruckner examines European anti-Semitism, and closes this remarkable volume by comparing France to the United States, showing that America does not have the anti-West mindset to the same degree that Europe does.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, August 9, 2010

By 

Zophorian - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism (Kindle Edition)

This is just the kind of book I like to read coming out of Europe. It is critical of the Intellectual Class of the continent and critical of America as well. Both the US and the EU need to work together in the world today and that means compromise. The US needs to cool its heals but keep its conviction and passion. Europe needs to stop sulking and second guessing and do something. Bruckner says as much in this book.

It is a fairly easy read not requiring the reader to have a background in philosophy or theory to follow his message. It is a bit Franco-centric but he is French and his original audience was the French, so that is easily excusable-- and if you can't stand that you can just skip one of those middle chapters and not miss too much.

Though I don't agree with him completely, I agree more often than I don't. I also am quite fond of some of the intellectuals that he criticizes-- especially Derrida--, but I have always seemed to like their theory and philosophy much more than their politics. Their politics seem to be a bit detached from reality and idealistic (or, if you want to be unflattering about it: wimpy and indecisive when it comes to actual actions and specific circumstances) and this is what Bruckner points out.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Reason to Appreciate the French, March 21, 2011

By 

Federal Farmer (Montgomery, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism (Hardcover)

Bruckner analyzes the source of Western civilization's current suicidal tendencies and finds them largely in the colonial experience. He owes up to the mistakes and crimes that the countries of Western Europe (and America) have made, but points out that the West not only stops its bad behavior, such as slavery, communism, colonialism, and fascism, but also creates a dominant discourse that prevents backsliding. What other civilization has that track record, to paraphrase Bruckner. Western guilt is designed to prevent another holocaust or abuse of third world countries, but it goes too far, failing to protect and celebrate the good that the West has produced. He is observant and complementary about the United States without gushing. He also notes that the current conflict between the West and the rest ultimately lay in the realm of ideas. Bruckner's writing is among the best I've ever encountered, and in some ways it is the best book I have ever read. His statements, quotes and expressions are not only brilliant and insightful, but are also expressed more artfully than you will see, well, anywhere else. You will underline half of some pages, the quotes are so spot on. He simply has a greater grasp of language than most authors of any stripe.
Highest recommendation.