Synopses & Reviews
One hundred years after Austrian satirist Karl Kraus began writing his dramatic masterpiece,
The Last Days of Mankind remains as powerfully relevant as the day it was first published. Krausandrsquo;s play enacts the tragic trajectory of the First World War, when mankind raced toward self-destruction by methods of modern warfare while extolling the glory and ignoring the horror of an allegedly andldquo;defensiveandrdquo; war. This volume is the first to present a complete English translation of Krausandrsquo;s towering work, filling a major gap in the availability of Viennese literature from the era of the War to End All Wars.
Bertolt Brecht hailed The Last Days as the masterpiece of Viennese modernism. In the apocalyptic drama Kraus constructs a textual collage, blending actual quotations from the Austrian armyandrsquo;s call to arms, peopleandrsquo;s responses, political speeches, newspaper editorials, and a range of other sources. Seasoning the drama with comic invention and satirical verse, Kraus reveals how bungled diplomacy, greedy profiteers, Big Business complicity, gullible newsreaders, and, above all, the sloganizing of the press brought down the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the dramatization of sensationalized news reports, inurement to atrocities, and openness to war as remedy, todayandrsquo;s readers will hear the echo of the fateful voices Kraus recorded as his homeland descended into self-destruction.
Review
and#8220;Edward Timms meticulously interprets this major writerand#8217;s most complex period of literary, cultural, and political activity, providing what amounts to an entire cultural history of the period.and#8221;and#8212;Professor Gilbert Carr, Trinity College Dublin
Review
and#8220;Timms establishes himself as the premier Kraus scholar writing in English.andnbsp;. . . Marked by impeccable scholarship and fine style.andnbsp; . . Essential.and#8221;
Synopsis
Kraus s iconic WWI drama, a satirical indictment of the glory of war, now in English in its entirety for the first time
One hundred years after Austrian satirist Karl Kraus began writing his dramatic masterpiece, The Last Days of Mankind remains as powerfully relevant as the day it was first published. Kraus s play enacts the tragic trajectory of the First World War, when mankind raced toward self-destruction by methods of modern warfare while extolling the glory and ignoring the horror of an allegedly defensive war. This volume is the first to present a complete English translation of Kraus s towering work, filling a major gap in the availability of Viennese literature from the era of the War to End All Wars.
Bertolt Brecht hailed The Last Days as the masterpiece of Viennese modernism. In the apocalyptic drama Kraus constructs a textual collage, blending actual quotations from the Austrian army s call to arms, people s responses, political speeches, newspaper editorials, and a range of other sources. Seasoning the drama with comic invention and satirical verse, Kraus reveals how bungled diplomacy, greedy profiteers, Big Business complicity, gullible newsreaders, and, above all, the sloganizing of the press brought down the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the dramatization of sensationalized news reports, inurement to atrocities, and openness to war as remedy, today s readers will hear the echo of the fateful voices Kraus recorded as his homeland descended into self-destruction."
Synopsis
Kraus's iconic WWI drama, a satirical indictment of the glory of war, now in English in its entirety for the first time " A] superb translation."--Bill Marx, Arts Fuse
One hundred years after Austrian satirist Karl Kraus began writing his dramatic masterpiece, The Last Days of Mankind remains as powerfully relevant as the day it was first published. Kraus's play enacts the tragic trajectory of the First World War, when mankind raced toward self-destruction by methods of modern warfare while extolling the glory and ignoring the horror of an allegedly "defensive" war. This volume is the first to present a complete English translation of Kraus's towering work, filling a major gap in the availability of Viennese literature from the era of the War to End All Wars.
Bertolt Brecht hailed The Last Days as the masterpiece of Viennese modernism. In the apocalyptic drama Kraus constructs a textual collage, blending actual quotations from the Austrian army's call to arms, people's responses, political speeches, newspaper editorials, and a range of other sources. Seasoning the drama with comic invention and satirical verse, Kraus reveals how bungled diplomacy, greedy profiteers, Big Business complicity, gullible newsreaders, and, above all, the sloganizing of the press brought down the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the dramatization of sensationalized news reports, inurement to atrocities, and openness to war as remedy, today's readers will hear the echo of the fateful voices Kraus recorded as his homeland descended into self-destruction.
Synopsis
In this second volume of Karl Kraus: Apocalyptic Satirist, Edward Timms takes up Krausand#8217;s story in November 1918, when the satirist responded to the creation of the new republics with a defiant hope, invoking international law against the dual threat of reactionary politics and irresponsible media. While contemporaries like Walter Benjamin regarded Kraus as heroically isolated, this book places him within a dynamic field of cultural production. Timms highlights the court cases Kraus pursued with his lawyer Oskar Samek and the theatrical projects that earned him Brechtand#8217;s friendship.In the final section of the book, the author refutes the legend that Kraus responded with stunned silence to Hitlerand#8217;s seizure of power. His career culminated in Third Walpurgis Night, an analysis of Nazi ideology that has proved enduringly influential. Timms concludes that Krausand#8217;s lifelong critique of the media, combining Orwelland#8217;s political radicalism with Joyceand#8217;s linguistic playfulness, incisively anticipates the propaganda techniques of our own age.
Synopsis
Krausandrsquo;s iconic WWI drama, a satirical indictment of the glory of war, now in English in its entirety for the first time
About the Author
The Austrian Jewish author Karl Kraus (1874andndash;1936) was the foremost German-language satirist of the twentieth century. As editor of the journal Die Fackel (The Torch) he conducted a sustained critique of propaganda and the press, expressed through polemical essays, witty aphorisms, and resonant poems. Edward Timms, founding director of the University of Sussex Centre for German-Jewish Studies, is best known for his two-volume study Karl Krausandmdash;Apocalyptic Satirist. The title of his memoirs, Taking Up the Torch, reflects his long-standing interest in Krausandrsquo;s journal. Fred Bridgham is the author of wide-ranging studies in German literature, history, and the history of ideas. His translations of lieder and opera include Hans Werner Henzeandrsquo;s The Prince of Homburg for performance by English National Opera.