Tzvetan Todorov no longer believes in avant-garde

In an interview with William Bourton the Franco-Bulgarian philosopher Tzvetan Todorov questions 'avant-garde' as a concept. "First, [it is do with] an elite which thinks and decides for the masses, who are by definition in the rear guard. ... Artists explore avenues known to them alone; they do not submit to the rationality of common sense, so they do not have to account to anyone. En politics, too, the Leninist concept sees the Party as the avant-garde of the proletariat. ...The masses do not know in which direction to go, so they must obey the initiatives taken by their avant-garde. ... We now know that the end result of this policy is catastrophe. The idea of democracy, what was deprecated one hundred years ago, now defines our political ideal. We no longer believe in the wisdom of the political avant-garde, but prefer, more humbly, to abide by the verdicts delivered by the people's suffrage."

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