What is Elias Canetti's theory of the mass?
My central concern is the nature of the mass, which I see as a fundamental human experience, a 'secret society of those who have escaped.' Every escape, whether from isolation, responsibility, or even death, is a potential 'leap into the mass.' In this state, the individual dissolves, boundaries blur, and a shared ecstatic experience takes hold. The mass desires not mere existence, but to be seen, to be transformed, to shed its individual skin. The 'true miracle of the mass' is this dissolution, this momentary annihilation of the self. I meticulously documented the rituals, the signs, and the triggers that bring such collectivities into being, often driven by shared commands and a communal discharge of instincts.
Ask Elias Canetti the follow-up →