The Misattributed 'Time of Monsters': Unpacking Gramsci's Viral Quote
In an era where geopolitical certainties are rapidly dissolving, a particular phrase has emerged as a popular shorthand for the chaos of modern times. "The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters" is widely attributed to Antonio Gramsci, the former Italian Communist party leader. This line has been quoted extensively over recent months, appearing in speeches by a rightwing Belgian prime minister, a leftwing British political leader, an Irish central banker, and even in the title of a BBC Reith lecture by author Rutger Bregman.
On social media platforms like Instagram, influencers urge their followers not to "let the monsters win," while on LinkedIn, business consultants analyze the "Gramsci gap" in corporate strategy. The phrase powerfully encapsulates the sense of repulsion and disbelief many feel towards current events, from political turmoil in the White House to conflicts in Ukraine. It evokes imagery from Goya's etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters and resonates with contemporary pop culture, such as the Demogorgon in Stranger Things.
The True Origins of the Quote
However, there is a significant problem: Gramsci never actually wrote or said these exact words. After his imprisonment by the Italian fascist government in November 1926, Gramsci filled notebooks with his thoughts on political theory, philosophy, and linguistics. In the original Italian, he wrote: "In questo interregno si verificano i fenomeni morbosi più svariati," which translates to "In this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear" in the widely used 1971 translation by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. An alternative 1996 edition by Joseph Buttigieg uses "morbid phenomena" instead, but neither version mentions monsters.
The first recorded English use of "time of monsters" in connection with Gramsci appears in a 2010 New Left Review article by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, titled A Permanent Economic Emergency. When questioned about this poetic refashioning, Žižek claimed he did not recall the specifics but believed he borrowed the term from another source. Indeed, a French version of the phrase predates Žižek's usage, with economist Gustave Massiah writing "dans ce clair-obscur surgissent les monstres" ("in this twilight monsters arise") in a 2003 essay, and similar phrasing appearing in Le Monde as early as 1996.
Why Gramsci's Ideas Remain Potent Today
Despite the misattribution, Gramsci's ideas continue to hold significant relevance. Published posthumously in 1947, the Prison Notebooks were written during periods when Gramsci was allowed pen and paper in his cell. These works distill his thoughts on why a socialist revolution did not occur in Italy before the fascist takeover, leading to his key concept of hegemony. This theory posits that the ruling class maintains power not only through coercion but also through the intersection of popular and high culture, intellectual discourse, and civil society.
In continental Europe, Gramsci's cultural turn inspired student revolutionaries in 1968, while in Britain, Marxist sociologists like Stuart Hall applied it to analyze Thatcherism in the 1980s. However, his ideas have also been co-opted by far-right thinkers, such as Alain de Benoist of France's Nouvelle Droite. This influence is evident in strategies like Steve Bannon's assertion that "all politics is downstream of culture," and in figures like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who applied Gramsci's ideas in his master's thesis on Poland's Solidarity movement.
The Impact of the Misquote
While the "time of monsters" quote has captured the imagination of contemporary politicians and thinkers, some experts argue it strips Gramsci of his activist zeal. Peter Thomas, a historian of political thought at Brunel University London, notes that monsters are seen as exceptional phenomena that appear without explanation, potentially shutting down deeper analysis. Instead of merely being outraged by figures like Trump, Thomas suggests we should strive to understand the conditions that produced them.
Before his imprisonment, Gramsci spent two years in revolutionary Russia, witnessing firsthand the possibility of a new world emerging despite struggles. This experience fueled his belief in eventual victory, a perspective that may be harder to maintain today. As Gramsci's ideas continue to be debated and misquoted, his legacy endures, reminding us of the importance of critical thought in navigating turbulent times.
