An Overview of the Reception of Oswald Spengler in Croatia

»Pregled recepcije Oswalda Spenglera u Hrvatskoj« prati sekundarnu literaturu – uglavnom članke – o filozofu poznatom kao piscu Propasti Zapada. Hrvatska kritika osvrće se direktno na Spenglera od 1924. Do 1938. godine. Ovdje su spomenuti članci Ivana Esiha, Julija Makanca, Artura Kullyja, Milana Šufflaya, Josipa Horvata, Vladimira Vukovića, Ante Lovrića, Frana Šojata, Mirka Kus-Nikolajeva i Zdenka Vernića. U razdoblju koje slijedi sve do 90-tih godina XX. stoljeća recepcije o Spengleru gotovo nema, osim sporadičnog navođenja. Na prijelomu stoljeća zamjetan je probuđeni interes za Spenglera, jer se ne pojavljuju samo članci o filozofu (autora Ivana Devčića, Rajka Odobaše i Josipa Vrbošića), nego i prvi prijevodi Spenglerovih djela na hrvatski jezik (čovjek i tehnika, 1991, prevela Vera Moskovi_ i Propast Zapada, 1998/2000, preveo Nerkez Smailagić). Dok je novija recepcija potaknuta aktualnošću Spenglerovih misli u okviru globalizacijskih procesa, dotle je starija recepcija zaokupljena prikazom njegova djela te kritičkim osvrtom ili odobravanjem Spenglerovih radikalnih misli o društvu i ratu. U toj se recepciji posebno ističe hrvatski filozof povijesti Julije Makanec koji ukazuje na anticipatorsku ulogu Spenglera za budući razvoj metafizike, mada se od njega kritički distancira u ulozi obrane humanističkog poimanja čovjeka. Makanec također ukazuje na zapostavljenost čovjeka kao individuuma u povijesti – kod Hegela i Spenglera – koja se treba ispraviti u sintezi Kantove individualističke etike i filozofske koncepcije povijesti. Ovaj pregled, međutim, ustanovljuje nedostatnost dosadašnjeg pristupa Spengleru, jer se filozof nigdje ne tematizira u cjelini njegovog opusa, nego ostaje i danas autor Propasti Zapada.»An Overview of the Reception of Oswald Spengler in Croatia« follows secondary sources, mainly articles, on the philosopher known as the author of Decline of the West. Croatian critics directly discuss Spengler’s work between 1924 and 1938. Reference is made to articles by Ivan Esih, Julije Makanec, Artur Kully, Milan Šufflay, Josip Horvat, Vladimir Vuković, Ante Lovrić, Fran Šojat, Mirko Kus-Nikolajev and Zdenko Vernić. In the subsequent period, almost to the nineteen-nineties, there is almost no reception, exception being made for sporadic references. As of the turn of the century there has been a notable revival of interest in Spengler’s work, including not only articles on the philosopher (by Ivan Devčić, Rajko Odobaša and Josip Vrbošić), but also the first Croatian translations (Man and Engineering, 1991, translated by Vera Mosković, and Decline of the West, 1998/2000, translated by Nerkez Smailagić). Whereas recent reception has been promoted by the topical quality of Spengler’s thought within the scope of globalization processes, less recent reviews present his work along with a critical review or approval of Spengler’s radical thoughts on society and war. In the latter case, the outstanding review is that by the Croatian philosopher of history Julije Makanec, who drew attention to Spengler’s anticipatory impact on the future development of metaphysics, although Makanec expresses his reserves in defending the humanistic understanding of man. Makanec also draws attention to the neglect of man as an individual in history – inHegel and Spengler’s works – to be corrected in the synthesis of Kant’s individualistic ethics and philosophical conception of history. However, the present review establishes the inadequacy of past approaches to Spengler’s work, because the philosopher is never thematically analyzed with regard to his overall output but still remains the author of Decline of the West