rw irrf vrvirw 8 juiv tuc zoo o

c ,&son
MARX AND MONTAGE
I
r s wvs good to havo a now Klugo, piovidod you know
what lios in stoio loi you. His latost hln, Ncws jrcn !dcc|cgicu|
Antiquitysono nino houis longis dividod into thioo paits:
I. Maix and Eisonstoin in tho Sano Houso, II. All Things aio
Bowitchod Pooplo, III. Paiadoxos ol Exchango Socioty.

Runoui has it
that Klugo has hoio hlnod Eisonstoin`s z;z8 piojoct loi a hln voi-
sion ol Maix`s Cupitu|, whoioas in lact only Klugo`s hist pait doals with
this tantalizing nattoi. Tho iunoui has loon spioad ly tho sano poo-
plo who loliovo Eisonstoin actually wioto a skotch loi a hln on Cupitu|,
whoioas ho only jottod down sono twonty pagos ol notos ovoi a hall-yoai
poiiod.
z
And at loast sono ol thoso pooplo know that ho was onthusiastic
alout Joyco`s U|ysscs duiing nuch tho sano tino and 'plannod` a hln
on it, a lact that distoits thoii lantasios alout tho Cupitu| piojoct as woll.
Yot il Eisonstoin`s notos loi hln piojocts all lookod liko this until sono
ol thon woio tuinod into 'ioal`that is to say, hction oi naiiativo
hlns, it is only laii to wain viowois that Klugo`s 'ioal` hlns look noio
liko Eisonstoin`s notos.
Many inpoitant intolloctuals havoas it woio, posthunouslyondoisod
Maixisn: ono thinks ol Doiiida`s Spcctrcs cj Mur and ol Dolouzo`s unioal-
izod Crundcur dc Mur, along with any nunloi ol noio contonpoiaiy
witnossos to tho woild ciisis ('wo aio all socialists now`, otc.. Is Klugo`s
now hln a ioconnitnont ol that kind? Is ho still a Maixist? Was ho ovoi
ono? And what would 'loing a Maixist` noan today? Tho Anglo-Anoiican
ioadoi nay ovon wondoi how tho Goinans in gonoial now iolato to
thoii gioat national classic, with iunouis ol hundiods ol Cupitu| ioad-
ing gioups spiinging up undoi tho auspicos ol tho studont wing ol tho
Linkspaitoi. Klugo says this in tho acconpanying piintod nattoi: 'Tho pos-
silility ol a Euiopoan iovolution soons to havo vanishod, and along with
it tho loliol in a histoiical piocoss that can lo diioctly shapod ly hunan
o iv 8
consciousnoss`.

That Klugo loliovos in colloctivo podagogy, howovoi, and

in tho ioappiopiiation ol nogativo loaining piocossos ly positivo onos, in
what ono night call a iooiiontation ol oxpoiionco ly way ol a ioconstiuc-
tion ol 'loolings` (a koy oi tochnical toin loi hin: this is ovidont not only
in his intoipiotivo connonts on his vaiious hlns and stoiios, lut also
in such nassivo thooiotical volunos as his Ccscnicntc und Eigcnsinn
Histoiy and Olstinacywiitton in collaloiation with Oskai Nogt.
All ol thoso woiks loai on histoiy, and ol low countiios can ono say that
thoy havo livod so nuch vaiiod histoiy as Goinany. Balzac`s woik would
havo loon inpossillo without tho oxtiaoidinaiy vaiioty ol histoiical
oxpoiionco oncountoiod ly tho Fionch, lion iovolution to woild onpiio,
lion loioign occupation to ocononic ioconstiuction, and not oxcluding
unspoakallo sulloiing and lailuio along with wai ciinos and atiocitios.
Klugo`s stoiios, oi anocdotos, oi juits divcrssono thousands ol pagos ol
thondiaw on a conpaiallo nass ol histoiical iaw natoiial.
But histoiy is sonothing you havo to dig up and to dig in: liko Klugo`s
hoioino Gali Toichoit in Dic Putrictin, who litoially gots out hoi spado
and liantically oxcavatos, sciallling loi cluos to tho past in lonos and
potshoids. And not nocossaiily in vain: in anothoi hln, tho knoo ol a
Goinan soldioi`s skoloton tostihos and tolls sono 'usolul` wai stoiios.
Indood, Ncws jrcn !dcc|cgicu| Antiquity has its own shaio ol zany oi ovon
idiotic nonontsa paii ol actois ioading Maix`s inconpiohonsillo
pioso aloud and in unison to ono anothoi, a instiuctoi oxplaining
'liquidity` to a iocalcitiant pupil, and ovon a kind ol concluding satyi play
in which tho (iathoi tiiosono conodian Holgo Schnoidoi plays a vaiioty
ol Maix-inspiiod iolos, conploto with wigs, lalso loaids and othoi ciicus
paiaphoinalia. Foi as Klugo tolls us, 'wo nust lot Till Eulonspiogol pass
acioss Maix and Eisonstoin loth, in oidoi to cioato a conlusion allowing
knowlodgo and onotions to lo conlinod togothoi in now ways`.
q
Moanwhilo, on a loss joculai lovol, wo conliont a sonotinos intoi-
ninallo soiios ol talking hoadsEnzonsloigoi, Slotoidijk, Diotnai

Aloxandoi Klugo, Nucnricntcn uus dcr idcc|cgiscncn Antikc (Nows lion Idoological
Antiquity, vs, Fiankluit zoo8.
z
Thoso aio pullishod as Eisonstoin`s 'Notos loi a Filn ol Cupitu|`, tianslatod ly Macioj
Sliwowski, Jay Loyda and Annotto Micholson, in Octcbcr. Tnc First Dccudc, Canliidgo,
& 8;, pp. 8, thoy hist appoaiod in Octcbcr z, ;o, hoioaltoi nc.

Klugo, Nucnricntcn, p. q.
q
Klugo, Nucnricntcn, p. o.
jturs6:
Dath, Nogt and othoi authoiitiosas thoy conliont tho typical Klugo
intoiviow, pait pionpting, pait loading quostions, pait cioss-oxanining
his own witnossos. Wo glinpso a woiid piojoct ol Woinoi Schiootoi,
in which Wagnoi`s Tristun und !sc|dc is actod out thiough tho conict
on tho liidgo in Butt|csnip Pctcnkin ('tho ioliith ol Tiistan out ol tho
spiiit ol Potonkin`, along with oxcoipts lion opoias ly Luigi Nono
and Max Biand, not to spoak ol tho classics. Wo soo a shoit ly Ton
Tykwoi on tho hunanization ol oljocts, soquoncos on tho assassination
ol Rosa Luxonluig and, on a lightoi noto, an ovoning with Maix and
Wilholn Liolknocht. Many hln clips and stills aio intoipolatod, nostly
lion tho silont poiiod, and dianatic giaphics lion loth Maixian and
Eisonstoinian toxts nako it cloai that tho intoititlos ol tho silont poiiod
could lo oloctiilying indood, il iosuiioctod in lold coloui and dianatic
typogiaphy. It is Klugo`s own voision ol tho Eisonstoinian 'nontago ol
attiactions` (this hlnnakoi night say 'ol loolings`. Viowois unaccus-
tonod to his piacticos nay woll hnd this an unloliovallo hodgo-podgo.
But thoy too can ovontually loain to navigato this piodigious sito ol oxca-
vation: not yot a lull-odgod and piolossionally oiganizod nusoun, this
is an innonso dig, with all kinds ol pooplo, anatoui and spocialist aliko,
nilling aiound in vaiious statos ol activity, sono nopping thoii liows
oi oating a sandwich, othois lying lull-longth on tho giound in oidoi to
liush diit lion a jawlono, still othois soiting vaiious itons into tho
appiopiiato loxos on tallos sholtoiod ly a tont, il not taking a nap oi loc-
tuiing a novico, tioading a naiiow path so as not to stop on tho ovidonco.
It is oui hist contact with idoological antiquity.
Eiscnstcins vcrsicn
Anong tho noio iocognizallo liagnonts is, to lo suio, that 'now woik
on a liliotto ly Kail Maix`, tho 'hln tioatiso` which was supposodly
Eisonstoin`s noxt piojoct altoi Octcbcr, tho allogod hln ol Cupitu|. As
always, Eisonstoin`s notos aio so nany iooxions on his own piactico,
past and lutuio, chaiactoiistically, thoy io-ioad his own woik as a pio-
giossion ol loins, liko piogioss in sciontihc oxpoiinontation. Thoio is
no point loaving this naicissisn unacknowlodgodit is tho souico ol
nuch ol tho podagogical and didactic oxcitonont and onthusiasn ol his
wiitings, lut wo do not nocossaiily havo to accopt his own assossnonts
ol his caiooi, ospocially sinco thoy vaiiod gioatly thioughout his lilo.
z iv 8
Hoio, loi oxanplo, ho will ioad his woik in toins ol alstiaction: as tho
piogiossivo conquost ol alstiaction lion Pctcnkin thiough Octcbcr to
tho cuiiont piojoct. (Wo night havo pioloiiod hin to chaiactoiizo it
as tho onlaigonont ol his hlnic conquost ol tho concioto to includo
alstiaction, lut novoi nind. Piodictally, wo novo lion tho iising lions
in Pctcnkin to that 'tioatiso on doity` which is tho icons]idols soquonco
in Octcbcr.

Thoso nononts aio thon to lo soon as ossay-liko voitical

intoiiuptions in a hoiizontal naiiativo, and this is piocisoly why tho
EisonstoinJoyco discussion is iiiolovant hoio.
Connontatoisand not only Klugo hinsollhavo lastonod on tho jot-
ting, 'a day in a nan`s lilo` as tho ovidonco loi lolioving Eisonstoin to
havo inaginod a plot soquonco liko that ol Joyco`s Bloonsday.
o
Latoi on,
thoy noto tho addition ol a socond 'plot lino`, that ol social iopioduction
and 'tho houso-wiloly viituos" ol a Goinan woikoi`s wilo`, along with
tho ionindoi: 'thioughout tho ontiio pictuio tho wilo cooks soup loi hoi
iotuining husland`, tho unspocihod 'nan` ol tho oailioi soquonco having
logically onough locono a woikoi. This allogod ioutino cioss-cutting
to which ono should piolally add tho day in tho lilo ol a capitalist oi
a noichantis loing iuninatod at tho voiy sano histoiical nonont
whon, as Annotto Micholson points out, Dziga Voitov is hlning Mun
witn u Mcvic Cuncru.
;
It is tiuo: 'Joyco nay lo holplul loi ny puiposo`, notos Eisonstoin. But
what lollows is uttoily dilloiont lion tho 'day in tho lilo ol` loinula.
Foi Eisonstoin adds: 'lion a lowl ol soup to tho Biitish vossols sunk ly
England`.
8
What has happonod is that wo havo loigotton tho piosonco,
in U|ysscs, ol chaptois stylistically quito dilloiont lion tho day`s ioutino
loinat. But Eisonstoin has not: 'In Joyco`s U|ysscs thoio is a ionaikallo
chaptoi ol this kind, wiitton in tho nannoi ol a scholastic catochisn.
Quostions aio askod and answois givon`.

But what is ho ioloiiing to

whon ho says, 'ol this kind`?
It is cloai that Klugo alioady knows tho answoi, loi in his hlnic discus-
sion ol tho notos, tho pot ol soup has locono a watoi kottlo, loiling away
and whistling: tho inago iocuis at sovoial nononts in tho oxposition

nc, p. o.
o
nc, p. z;.
8
nc, p. z;. This onignatic ioloionco is itsoll ioloioncod in tho longoi quoto lion
p. z givon lolow.

nc, p. .
;
nc, p. z;, ln .
jturs6:
(Eisonstoin`s notos piojoctod in giaphics on tho intoititlos, in such a way
that this plain oljoct is 'alstiactod` into tho voiy synlol ol onoigy. It loils
inpationtly, vohonontly it donands to lo usod, to lo hainossod, it is
oithoi tho whistling signal loi woik, loi woik stoppago, loi stiikos, oi olso
tho notoi-powoi ol a wholo lactoiy, a nachino loi lutuio pioduction . . .
Moanwhilo, this is tho voiy ossonco ol tho languago ol silont hln, ly insist-
onco and iopotition to tiansloin thoii oljocts into laigoi-than-lilo synlols,
a piocoduio intinatoly iolatod to tho closo-up. But this is also what Joyco
doos in tho catochisn chaptoi, and U|ysscs`s hist gioat alhination, tho
hist thundoious 'yos`, conos hoio and not in Molly`s closing woids: it is
tho piinal loico ol watoi stioaning lion tho iosoivoii into Dullin and
ovontually hnding its way indonitally to Bloon`s laucot.
o
(In Eisonstoin
tho oquivalont would lo tho nilk sopaiatoi ol Tnc Ccncru| Linc.
Tnc Ccrnun wcrkcrs wijc
It is at this point that wo glinpso what Eisonstoin ioally has in nind
hoio: sonothing liko a Maixian voision ol Fioudian lioo association
tho chain ol hiddon links that loads us lion tho suilaco ol ovoiyday lilo
and oxpoiionco to tho voiy souicos ol pioduction itsoll. As in Fioud, this
is a voitical plungo downwaid into tho ontological alyss, what ho callod
'tho navol ol tho dioan`, it intoiiupts tho lanal hoiizontal naiiativo and
stagos an associativo clustoi chaigod with alloct. It is woith quoting
Eisonstoin`s lull notation at this point:
Thioughout tho ontiio pictuio tho wilo cooks soup loi hoi iotuining hus-
land. ns Could lo two thonos intoicut loi association: tho soup-cooking
wilo and tho hono-iotuining husland. Conplotoly idiotic (all iight in tho
hist stagos ol a woiking hypothosis: in tho thiid pait (loi instanco, associa-
tion novos lion tho poppoi with which sho soasons lood. Poppoi. Cayonno.
Dovil`s Island. Dioylus. Fionch chauvinisn. Figurc in Kiupp`s hands. Wai.
Ships sunk in tho poit. (Olviously, not in such quantity!! ns Good in its
non-lanalitytiansition: poppoiDioylusFigurc. It would lo good to covoi
tho sunkon English ships (accoiding to Kushnoi, o vs so with
tho lid ol a saucopan. It could ovon lo not poppoilut koiosono loi a stovo
and tiansition into ci|.

o
Soo 'U|ysscs in Histoiy`, in Tnc Mcdcrnist Pupcrs, London and Now Yoik zoo;.

nc, p. z. Ol tho soup-cooking, Eisonstoin has notod: 'tho houso-wiloly viituos"

ol a Goinan woikoi`s wilo constituto tho gioatost ovil, tho stiongost olstaclo to a
iovolutionaiy upiising. A Goinan woikoi`s wilo will always havo sonothing wain
loi hoi husland, will novoi lot hin go ccnp|ctc|y hungiy. And thoio is tho ioot ol hoi
nogativo iolo which slows tho paco ol social dovolopnont. In tho plot, this could tako
tho loin ol nct s|cp", and tho noaning ol this on a woild scalo"`: nc, p. z8.
q iv 8
Eisonstoin pioposos to do hoio what Biocht tiiod loi in tho colloo dolato
on tho sulway in Kun|c Wunpc: to tiaco tho visillo synptons lack to
thoii alsont (oi untotalizallo causos. But tho dianatist`s attonpt is
hijackod ly oui inovitallo attontion to tho chaiactois aiguing, whoioas
Eisonstoin ains, howovoi ciudoly ('conplotoly idiotic`, lut just a hist
dialt, to diaw tho wholo diipping conplox up into tho light as a non-
tago ol inagos. (Tho noio appiopiiato cioss-ioloioncos woio always
Bonjanin`s onission ol connontaiy in tho Aicados constollations,
and ovon Pound`s idoogiansloth ol thon also piojocts ol a kind ol
synchionic histoiical iopiosontation. Eisonstoin`s inovitallo thooiiza-
tion ol what ho calls 'discuisivo hln` contios on 'do-anocdotalization`
as tho contial piocoss hoio, and thon hnds its analogy in 'tho woiking
thooiy ol ovoitonos"`
z
which ho was to dovolop a yoai latoi in his ossay,
'Tho Filnic Fouith Dinonsion`, in which a loinulation in toins ol
'physiological stinuli` will sook to displaco tho widoly accoptod Russian
Foinalist doctiino ol tho ionowal ol poicoption, ol aosthotics` cstruncnic,
'naking stiango`. Hoio thoio would lo not only a conict lotwoon tho
tonpoiality ol hln (nontago and tho sinultanoity ol tho causal links oi
associations, lut also a tonsion lotwoon tho alloctivo and tho cognitivo.
Thus ho wiitos ol Tnc Ccncru| Linc:
This nontago is luilt, not on paiticulai doninants, lut takos as its guido
tho total stinulation thiough all stinuli. That is tho oiiginal nontago con-
plox within tho shot, aiising lion tho collision and conlination ol tho
individual stinuli inhoiont in it.

Tho thooiy ol 'ovoitonos` tondod not only to loiogiound tho lodily natuio
ol shooi looling'tho pnysic|cgicu| quu|ity ol Dolussy and Sciialin`lut
also, ly way ol tochnical nusical toins liko 'doninant` and tho contia-
puntal, along with 'visual` ovoitonos and undoitonos, to stako out tho
conploxity ol this wholo 'louith dinonsion` itsoll, which has inspiiod
so nuch contonpoiaiy activity in so-callod alloct thooiy. It soons piol-
allo that tho old nyth ol tho 'poisistonco ol vision`tho piovious inago
sulsisting liioy on tho iotina as tho now poicoption conos to ovoi-
lay and thon ioplaco it, a concoption which has its nusical analoguo
in podal pointssuggosts a possillo synthosis lotwoon tho tonpoial
succossion ol cinona and tho contonts ol tho individual inagos. But
z
nc, pp. o;.

Eisonstoin, 'Tho Filnic Fouith Dinonsion`, in Fi|n Fcrn, Now Yoik q, p. o;.
jturs6:
it doos not iosolvo tho tonsion that tho nost highly dovolopod nodols
ol alloct ontoitain with tho cognitivo contont ol thoso conploxos, oi in
othoi woids tho Maixian attontion to tho pioduction, distiilution and
consunption at woik lohind tho phonononological suilaco ol ovoiyday
lilo and oxpoiioncogoing lohind tho sconos, as Maix dosciilos it in
Cupitu|. Tho old piollon ol didactic ait is not solvod hoio, unloss wo aio
to think that knowlodgo ol capitalisn is at ono with iago (Pctcnkin oi
that tho constiuction ol socialisn is at ono with a sullino joy, as in tho
tianscondontal vision ol tho nilk sopaiatoi in Tnc Ccncru| Linc.
Klugo doos not tiy to iopioduco tho poppoi soquonco, lut ho doos do
sonothing with anothoi Eisonstoinian notil:
wonan`s stocking lull ol holos and a silk ono in a nowspapoi advoitisonont.
It staits with a joiky novonont, to nultiply into o paiis ol logsRovuo,
Silk, Ait. Tho hght loi tho continotio ol silk stocking. Tho aosthotos aio loi
it. Tho Bishops and noiality aio against.
q

But Klugo`s iathoi docoiativo iohoaisal ol this nulti-dinonsional
social oljoctho night also havo includod Kiacauoi`s Busly Boikoloy-
liko 'nass oinanont`scaicoly ioachos tho allogoiical conploxitios
Eisonstoin hinsoll ultinatoly glinpsod:
On this lovol, ono could solvo:
Ein Puur scidcnc Strunpjcait.
Ein Puur scidcnc Strunpjcnoiality.
Ein Puur scidcnc Strunpjcconnoico and conpotition.
Ein Puur scidcnc StrunpjcIndian wonon loicod to inculato tho silk cocoon
ly caiiying thon in tncir urnpits!

This hnal dotail loads us lack to tho anocdotal lovol, which was supposod
to havo loon noutializod in tho now 'discuisivo` hln languago: yot it is
suioly what givos its piquancy to this voitical nontago, just as Dovil`s
Island and Dioylus lond tho poppoi soquonco its lito. And in lact, tho
notos aio alioady lull ol anocdotal dotail, ol 'loliovo-it-oi-not` juits divcrs
that load us to tho voiy hoait ol capital. I liko this ono: 'Sonowhoio in tho
Wost. A lactoiy whoio it is possillo to pinch paits and tools. No soaich ol
woikois nado. Instoad, tho oxit gato is a nugnctic chock point.`
o
Chaplin
q
nc, p. z

nc, p. ;.
o
nc, p. z.
o iv 8
would havo likod tho spoctaclo ol nuts and lolts, hannois and wionchos,
ying out ol tho woikois` pockots.
Antiquitics
Eloctivo alhnitios: Klugo`s own woik is voiy nuch anocdotal in this sonso,
tho naiiativo doullo-tako, tho unoxpoctod punctun at tho hoait ol what
lookod at hist liko a lanal occuiionco, a tasto loi tho incongiuity that is
alstiactod into his doalings with tho gioat idoas. Dolouzo`s nagnihcont
loinula'a cloan-shavon Maix, a loaidod Hogol`would not lo alion
to hin, as ho tiiolossly suggosts now iocodings ol tho stoiootypical hoiit-
ago on his own toins: tho lutuio ioconstiuction ol oxpoiionco, linding
allocts and knowlodgo togothoi in now ways.
It is a lutuio which donands tho constitution ol an antiquity appiopiiato
to it. Yot is this 'idoological antiquity` not sinply anothoi way ol saying
that Maix, and with hin Maixisn, is outnodod? Tho conic soquoncos
ol Klugo`s hln, tho young couplo at vaiious nononts in histoiy toinont-
ing oach othoi with a koianic iocital ol Maix`s alstiactions, night load
us to think so. Noi is Eisonstoin non-outnodod oithoi, with his laggago
ol old-lashionod nolodiana, old-lashionod silont hln, old-lashionod
nontago. Lonin and intoititlos! Itsoll a sooningly dioaiy piospoct loi a
digital postnodoinity . . .
Yot ono dinly iononlois Maix`s own loolings loi antiquity: Pionothous
and Aiistotlo`s thooiy ol valuo, Epicuius and Hogol`s thoughts on Honoi.
And thon thoio is tho quostion with which tho gioat 8; dialt intioduc-
tion to tho Crundrissc lioaks oll: 'tho dilhculty lios not in undoistanding
that Giook ait and opic pootiy aio lound up with coitain loins ol social
dovolopnont. Tho dilhculty is that thoy still givo us aosthotic ploasuio and
aio in coitain iospocts iogaidod as a standaid and unattainallo nodol.`
;

Maix was anything lut nostalgic, and ho undoistood that tho polis was
a linitod and thoioly contiadictoiy social loination to which ono could
scaicoly iotuin, and also that any lutuio socialisn would lo lai noio
conplox than capitalisn itsoll, as Raynond Willians onco olsoivod.
Foi tho concopt ol antiquity nay havo tho lunction ol placing us in sono
now iolationship with tho Maixian tiadition and with Maix hinsollas
;
Maix and Engols, Cc||cctcd Wcrks, vol. z8, Now Yoik 8o, p. q;.
jturs6: ;
woll as Eisonstoin. Maix is noithoi actual noi outnodod: ho is classi-
cal, and tho wholo Maixist and Connunist tiadition, noio oi loss oqual
in duiation to Athons`s goldon ago, is piocisoly that goldon ago ol tho
Euiopoan lolt, to lo iotuinod to again and again with tho nost lowil-
doiing and lanatical, pioductivo and contiadictoiy iosults.
8
And il it
is oljoctod that it would lo an alonination to glanoiizo an oia that
includod Stalinist oxocutions and tho staivation ol nillions ol poasants,
a ionindoi ol tho lloodinoss ol Giook histoiy night also lo in oidoi
tho otoinal shano ol Mogaia, lot alono tho no loss aloninallo nisoiios
ol slavo socioty as such. Giooco was Spaita as nuch as Athons, Sicily
as nuch as Maiathon, and tho Soviot Union was also tho doathknoll ol
Nazisn and tho hist sputnik, tho Pooplo`s Ropullic ol China tho awak-
oning ol countloss nillions ol now histoiical suljocts. Tho catogoiy ol
classical antiquity nay not lo tho loast pioductivo lianowoik in which a
glolal lolt ioinvonts an onoigizing past loi itsoll.
8
Sonothing liko this is what Potoi Woiss`s Acstnctics cj Rcsistuncc can lo said to
lo attonpting.