Caligulism

English Etymology From en Caligula ism. The coining of this term is often attributed to Horace Walpole, who used it to describe Frederick, Prince of Wales, in a letter written on November 29, 1745, but in fact, the use of the term predates Walpole. Noun ~ Madness, especially when of an extravagant or sadistic nature. 2 169 The laſt token of your Caliguliſm ſhall be the Sacrifices vvhich he appointed of Pheaſants and Peacocks to his Deity: & accordingly your Friend the Author of the Friendly Debate hath ſacrificed a Pheasant, and I have ſacrificed a Peacock to your Divinity; and I hope it vvill be therefore henceforth and for ever to me propitious and favourable. en 1745 Letter to France Horace Walpole Alas! It would be endless to tell you all his Calligulisms. en 1991 Paul Valéry on War, Power, and Civlization Sergio Villani 32 By contrast, Valéry's "Caligulism" is, above all, a narcissistic attitude which aims to achieve conquest of the Self: such an attitude intensifies Self-awareness by meditating objectively on images of power. en 2018 A History of Modern Political Thought in East Central Europe Balázs Trencsényi; Michal Kopeček; Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič 360 A paradigmatic declaration of the break with socialist realism was the 1952 speech, at the Congress of Yugoslav Writers in Ljubljana, by Miroslav Krleža. Affirming the revolutionary role of art, he fervently denounced the dogmatism dominating Yugoslav cultural policies in the late 1940s as “aesthetic Caligulism,” arguing that “writing does not equal describing nor prescribing.”