Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) was one of the great German-Jewish writers of the twentieth century, re... more Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) was one of the great German-Jewish writers of the twentieth century, recognized as a major figure in the German avant-garde before the First World War and as one of the leading intellectuals during the Weimar Republic. Trained as a ...
One of the signal works of Czech modernist prose, Richard Weiner's volume of stories Lítice [The ... more One of the signal works of Czech modernist prose, Richard Weiner's volume of stories Lítice [The Furies], was published in 1916. 1 The stories largely reflect Weiner's experience of active service on the front in Serbia. Weiner had suffered a nervous breakdown in early 1915 and had been discharged as a consequence, and Lítice is commonly described as the first work of Czech literature to respond to the experience of modern combat in the Great War (WIDERA 2001: 48). Given the early date the volume appeared, and the role one presumes it must have played for Weiner as a way of confronting his traumatic experience on the front, one might expect the stories to focus on themes now familiar in cultural representations of modern warfare: the horrors of battle, the fragility of life, and the thin veneer separating civilization from barbarism. Such topoi-not to say: clichés-indeed play some role in Lítice, yet they are hardly Weiner's central concern. Rather than shock, horror, and the suspension of humane modes of conduct, the War serves Weiner as setting for uncanny situations that are not so very different from those he explores in other early prose works set before or outside the War. 2 "Uncanny" (unheimlich) should be understood here in the technical sense, for the degree to which a story such as Kostajnik-one of the most important texts contained in Lítice-anticipates the central concerns of Freud's famous essay, published three years after Lítice, is in fact nothing short of uncanny. 3 Since similar claims are commonly raised with reference to Franz Kafka's works as well, we may be dealing here with one of those elective affinities between Weiner and Kafka, often declared yet rarely examined in any detail. 4 One may be tempted to explain this thematic congruity between three great, early twentieth-century authors by means of appeal to a 'Zeitgeist': the uncanny was "in the air", so to
complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Ko... more complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Kobylians ́ka’s texts and her personality. Yet this work lacks the detailed and nuanced depiction of the cultural milieu where Kobylians ́ka had been formed as a writer and an intellectual. Ladygina selectively refers to some episodes of Kobylians ́ka’s biography—her polemics with populists and her professional rivalry with Natalia Kobryns ́ka. Nonetheless, these are not the only influential factors. It is essential that Kobylians ́ka’s feminist attitudes were influenced by her communication with Sofia Okunevs ́ka and Lesia Ukrainka. Also, Natalia Kobryns ́ka is not only a rival but also a mentor whose influence on the forming of Kobylians ́ka’s range of interests cannot be overestimated. The notion of nation as a cultural project emerges as a result of reading Nietzsche as well as communication with Lesia Ukrainka, who strongly denounces the populist concept of simplicity and understandability of “literature for people” and thus provinciality and inferiority of Ukrainian culture. Kobylians ́ka’s modernism should be considered in light of a rebellion of the younger generation, whose literary searching nevertheless make an impact on the older generation of writers—Ivan Franko’s “Withered Leaves” and Kobryns ́ka’s modernist short stories are examples. Still, a significant contribution of Yuliya V. Ladygina to interpreting Kobylians ́ka’s prose texts includes the contextualization of her ideological and aesthetic searches and taking into account the process of Kobylians ́ka’s identity formation.
complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Ko... more complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Kobylians ́ka’s texts and her personality. Yet this work lacks the detailed and nuanced depiction of the cultural milieu where Kobylians ́ka had been formed as a writer and an intellectual. Ladygina selectively refers to some episodes of Kobylians ́ka’s biography—her polemics with populists and her professional rivalry with Natalia Kobryns ́ka. Nonetheless, these are not the only influential factors. It is essential that Kobylians ́ka’s feminist attitudes were influenced by her communication with Sofia Okunevs ́ka and Lesia Ukrainka. Also, Natalia Kobryns ́ka is not only a rival but also a mentor whose influence on the forming of Kobylians ́ka’s range of interests cannot be overestimated. The notion of nation as a cultural project emerges as a result of reading Nietzsche as well as communication with Lesia Ukrainka, who strongly denounces the populist concept of simplicity and understandab...
Recent years have seen a certain tendency to refer to Kafka as a 'Czech' author -a curious design... more Recent years have seen a certain tendency to refer to Kafka as a 'Czech' author -a curious designation for a writer whose literary works, without exception, are composed in German. As the preceding chapter describes, Kafka indeed lived most of his life in a city where Czech language and society gradually came to predominate over the German-speaking minority, and Kafka -a native German-speaker -adapted deftly to this changing social landscape. Referring to Kafka as Czech, however, is inaccurate, explicable perhaps only as an attempt to counterbalance a contrasting simplification of his complicated biography: the marked tendency within Kafka scholarship to investigate his work exclusively in the context of German, Austrian or Prague-German literary history. The Czech socio-cultural impulses that surrounded Kafka in his native Prague have primarily figured in Kafka scholarship through sociological sketches portraying ethnic animosity, lack of communication and, at times, open violence between the two largest linguistic communities in the city. These historical realities have given rise to the persistent image of a 'dividing wall' between the Czech-and Germanspeaking inhabitants of Prague, with the two populations reading different newspapers, attending separate cultural institutions and congregating in segregated social venues. This image of mutual indifference or antagonism has often made the question of Kafka's relation to Czech language and culture appear peripheral. Yet confronting the perplexing blend of proximity and distance, familiarity and resentment which characterized inter-linguistic and intercultural contact in Kafka's Prague is a necessary challenge. Kafka himself (as well as many of his closest friends, such as Max Brod) actively defied the ethnic and cultural barriers characterizing early twentieth-century Prague by associating with Czech writers, following Czech cultural periodicals and attending Czech theatre presentations. Yet even Kafka's references to Czech culture show moments of striking intimacy surrounded by prominent
Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) was one of the great German-Jewish writers of the twentieth century, re... more Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) was one of the great German-Jewish writers of the twentieth century, recognized as a major figure in the German avant-garde before the First World War and as one of the leading intellectuals during the Weimar Republic. Trained as a ...
One of the signal works of Czech modernist prose, Richard Weiner's volume of stories Lítice [The ... more One of the signal works of Czech modernist prose, Richard Weiner's volume of stories Lítice [The Furies], was published in 1916. 1 The stories largely reflect Weiner's experience of active service on the front in Serbia. Weiner had suffered a nervous breakdown in early 1915 and had been discharged as a consequence, and Lítice is commonly described as the first work of Czech literature to respond to the experience of modern combat in the Great War (WIDERA 2001: 48). Given the early date the volume appeared, and the role one presumes it must have played for Weiner as a way of confronting his traumatic experience on the front, one might expect the stories to focus on themes now familiar in cultural representations of modern warfare: the horrors of battle, the fragility of life, and the thin veneer separating civilization from barbarism. Such topoi-not to say: clichés-indeed play some role in Lítice, yet they are hardly Weiner's central concern. Rather than shock, horror, and the suspension of humane modes of conduct, the War serves Weiner as setting for uncanny situations that are not so very different from those he explores in other early prose works set before or outside the War. 2 "Uncanny" (unheimlich) should be understood here in the technical sense, for the degree to which a story such as Kostajnik-one of the most important texts contained in Lítice-anticipates the central concerns of Freud's famous essay, published three years after Lítice, is in fact nothing short of uncanny. 3 Since similar claims are commonly raised with reference to Franz Kafka's works as well, we may be dealing here with one of those elective affinities between Weiner and Kafka, often declared yet rarely examined in any detail. 4 One may be tempted to explain this thematic congruity between three great, early twentieth-century authors by means of appeal to a 'Zeitgeist': the uncanny was "in the air", so to
complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Ko... more complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Kobylians ́ka’s texts and her personality. Yet this work lacks the detailed and nuanced depiction of the cultural milieu where Kobylians ́ka had been formed as a writer and an intellectual. Ladygina selectively refers to some episodes of Kobylians ́ka’s biography—her polemics with populists and her professional rivalry with Natalia Kobryns ́ka. Nonetheless, these are not the only influential factors. It is essential that Kobylians ́ka’s feminist attitudes were influenced by her communication with Sofia Okunevs ́ka and Lesia Ukrainka. Also, Natalia Kobryns ́ka is not only a rival but also a mentor whose influence on the forming of Kobylians ́ka’s range of interests cannot be overestimated. The notion of nation as a cultural project emerges as a result of reading Nietzsche as well as communication with Lesia Ukrainka, who strongly denounces the populist concept of simplicity and understandability of “literature for people” and thus provinciality and inferiority of Ukrainian culture. Kobylians ́ka’s modernism should be considered in light of a rebellion of the younger generation, whose literary searching nevertheless make an impact on the older generation of writers—Ivan Franko’s “Withered Leaves” and Kobryns ́ka’s modernist short stories are examples. Still, a significant contribution of Yuliya V. Ladygina to interpreting Kobylians ́ka’s prose texts includes the contextualization of her ideological and aesthetic searches and taking into account the process of Kobylians ́ka’s identity formation.
complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Ko... more complicated narrative techniques of both Fedor Dostoevskii and Ivan Turgenev have an impact on Kobylians ́ka’s texts and her personality. Yet this work lacks the detailed and nuanced depiction of the cultural milieu where Kobylians ́ka had been formed as a writer and an intellectual. Ladygina selectively refers to some episodes of Kobylians ́ka’s biography—her polemics with populists and her professional rivalry with Natalia Kobryns ́ka. Nonetheless, these are not the only influential factors. It is essential that Kobylians ́ka’s feminist attitudes were influenced by her communication with Sofia Okunevs ́ka and Lesia Ukrainka. Also, Natalia Kobryns ́ka is not only a rival but also a mentor whose influence on the forming of Kobylians ́ka’s range of interests cannot be overestimated. The notion of nation as a cultural project emerges as a result of reading Nietzsche as well as communication with Lesia Ukrainka, who strongly denounces the populist concept of simplicity and understandab...
Recent years have seen a certain tendency to refer to Kafka as a 'Czech' author -a curious design... more Recent years have seen a certain tendency to refer to Kafka as a 'Czech' author -a curious designation for a writer whose literary works, without exception, are composed in German. As the preceding chapter describes, Kafka indeed lived most of his life in a city where Czech language and society gradually came to predominate over the German-speaking minority, and Kafka -a native German-speaker -adapted deftly to this changing social landscape. Referring to Kafka as Czech, however, is inaccurate, explicable perhaps only as an attempt to counterbalance a contrasting simplification of his complicated biography: the marked tendency within Kafka scholarship to investigate his work exclusively in the context of German, Austrian or Prague-German literary history. The Czech socio-cultural impulses that surrounded Kafka in his native Prague have primarily figured in Kafka scholarship through sociological sketches portraying ethnic animosity, lack of communication and, at times, open violence between the two largest linguistic communities in the city. These historical realities have given rise to the persistent image of a 'dividing wall' between the Czech-and Germanspeaking inhabitants of Prague, with the two populations reading different newspapers, attending separate cultural institutions and congregating in segregated social venues. This image of mutual indifference or antagonism has often made the question of Kafka's relation to Czech language and culture appear peripheral. Yet confronting the perplexing blend of proximity and distance, familiarity and resentment which characterized inter-linguistic and intercultural contact in Kafka's Prague is a necessary challenge. Kafka himself (as well as many of his closest friends, such as Max Brod) actively defied the ethnic and cultural barriers characterizing early twentieth-century Prague by associating with Czech writers, following Czech cultural periodicals and attending Czech theatre presentations. Yet even Kafka's references to Czech culture show moments of striking intimacy surrounded by prominent
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
The Integrity of the Avant-Garde: Karel Teige and the Biography of an Ambition, 2024
Gold Open Access eBook of my monograph on Karel Teige and the theory of the interwar European Ava... more Gold Open Access eBook of my monograph on Karel Teige and the theory of the interwar European Avant-Garde. In addition to Teige, major figures examined include Walter Benjamin, Le Corbusier, Georg Lukács, and Jan Mukařovský.
Uploads
Papers by Peter Zusi