The following remarks are designed to accompany Friedrich Kittler's essay “Wagner's Furious Host” (”Wagners Wildes Heer”) that is part of this issue of Cultural Politics. The goal is not to offer an overview or address all the aspects of Kittler's analysis. Rather, I want to focus on an obsession that runs through the essay much like the Furious Host invoked by Kittler's title storms through German woods at night. This obsession is the revolution—not just any revolution, but the great, final revolution, the ultimate revolution that renders all future revolutions obsolete, a revolution such as the one that plays out at the end of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, one that burns worlds, kills its own children, and puts all gods to rest.
Given that we are dealing with Wagner, this is an obvious topic that places Kittler in crowded and illustrious company. After all, one of...
