Abstract

In the Eighteenth Brumaire, Marx used the concept of repetition as an interpretation of both historical events and historical narrative. The repetition of actual and symbolic actions also involves a transformation of those events into their opposites. Just as Louis Bonaparte was the farcical reversal of the tragic Napoleon 1, Marx was the theoretical inversion of Hegel. This notion of repetition and reversal was the concept of revolution. Marx was self -conscious of his dual role as antagonist to Louis Bonaparte and as author who brought events and their meaning to conceptual consciousness and transformation. Marx resolved the antithetical drama of tragedy and farce by ironically merging uncle and nephew into one. Marx's historical text, then, brought about a mental revolution by implicitly offering an alternative to the destruction of the previous comedies