Synopses & Reviews
The poet Stefan George (1868-1933) was one of the most important cultural figures in modern Germany. His poetry, in its originality and impact, has been ranked with that of Goethe, Holderlin, or Rilke. Yet George's reach extended far beyond the sphere of literature. During his last three decades, he attracted a circle of disciples who subscribed to his homoerotic and aestheticist vision of life and sought to transform it into reality. The works and thought of the circle profoundly affected the intellectual and cultural attitudes of Germany's educated middle class from the beginning of the twentieth century, and are thus crucial to Germany's cultural and intellectual history. The transition from the aestheticist, cosmopolitan values the circle embraced in the early 1900s to the more explicitly political and patriotic views many of its members espoused during the Weimar Republic both conditioned and reflected a momentous transformation in German thought. The intersection of culture and politics in the George Circle has received little attention in English-language scholarship until now. This volume includes contributions from major scholars in both English- and German-speaking countries. Its audience includes scholars and students of German languages and literature, German history, and reception of the classics, among other fields. Contributors: Adam Bisno, Richard Faber, Rudiger Gorner, Peter Hoffmann, Thomas Karlauf, Melissa S. Lane, Robert E. Lerner, David Midgley, Robert E. Norton, Ray Ockenden, Ute Oelmann, Martin A. Ruehl, Bertram Schefold. Melissa S. Lane is Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Martin A. Ruehl is University Lecturer in German at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Synopsis
A re-examination of the George Circle in the cultural and political contexts of Wilhelmine, Weimar, and Nazi Germany.
Stefan George (1868-1933) was one of the most important figures in modern German culture. His poetry, in its originality and impact, has been ranked with that of Goethe and H lderlin. Yet George's reach extended beyond the sphereof literature. In the early 1900s, he gathered around himself a circle of disciples who subscribed to his vision of comprehensive cultural-spiritual renewal and sought to turn it into reality. The ideas of the George Circle profoundly affected Germany's educated middle class, especially in the aftermath of the First World War, when their critique of bourgeois liberalism, materialism, and scholarship (Wissenschaft) as well as their call for new formsof leadership (Herrschaft) and a new Reich found wider resonance. The essays collected in the present volume critically re-examine these ideas, their contexts, and their influence. They provide new perspectives on the intersection of culture and politics in the works of the George Circle, not least its ambivalent relationship to National Socialism.
Contributors: Adam Bisno, Richard Faber, R diger G rner, Peter Hoffmann, Thomas Karlauf, Melissa S. Lane, Robert E. Lerner, David Midgley, Robert E. Norton, Ray Ockenden, Ute Oelmann, Martin A. Ruehl, Bertram Schefold.
Melissa S. Lane is Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Martin A. Ruehl is Lecturerin German Thought and Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.
Synopsis
The effects of the George Circle on early-twentieth-century intellectual and political life in Germany.
Synopsis
Stefan George (1868-1933) was one of the most important figures in modern German culture. His poetry, in its originality and impact, has been ranked with that of Goethe and Holderlin. Yet George's reach extended beyond the sphere of literature. In the early 1900s, he gathered around himself a circle of disciples who subscribed to his vision of comprehensive cultural-spiritual renewal and sought to turn it into reality. The ideas of the George Circle profoundly affected Germany's educated middle class, especially in the aftermath of the First World War, when their critique of bourgeois liberalism, materialism, and scholarship (Wissenschaft) as well as their call for new forms of leadership (Herrschaft) and a new Reich found wider resonance. The essays collected in the present volume critically re-examine these ideas, their contexts, and their influence. They provide new perspectives on the intersection of culture and politics in the works of the George Circle, not least its ambivalent relationship to National Socialism. Contributors: Adam Bisno, Richard Faber, Rudiger Gorner, Peter Hoffmann, Thomas Karlauf, Melissa S. Lane, Robert E. Lerner, David Midgley, Robert E. Norton, Ray Ockenden, Ute Oelmann, Martin A. Ruehl, Bertram Schefold. Melissa S. Lane is Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Martin A. Ruehl is Lecturer in German Thought and Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.