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A Companion to the Works of Stefan George
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Edited by:
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With contributions by:
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2005
About this book
New, wide-ranging essays on the controversial poet, who was both a harbinger of Modernism and a critic of modernity.
Stefan George (1868-1933) is along with Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rainer Maria Rilke one of the pre-eminent German poets of the twentieth century. He also had an important, albeit controversial and provocative role in German cultural history. It is generally agreed that he played a significant part in the transition of German literature to Modernism, particularly in poetry. At the same time he was an outspoken critic of modernity. He believed that only anall-encompassing cultural renewal could save modern man. Although George is often linked with the l'art pour l'art movement, and although his artistic consciousness was formed by European aestheticism, his poetry and the writings that emerged from the poets and intellectuals he gathered around him in the George Circle are above all a scathing commentary on the political, social, and cultural situation in Germany at the turn of the century.
George, who was imbued with the idea of the poet as a prophet and priest, saw himself as the Messiah of a New Hellenism and a New Reich led by an intellectual and aesthetic elite consisting of men who were bonded together through their allegiance to a charismatic leader. Some of the values that George proclaimed, among them a glorification of power, of heroism and self-sacrifice, were seized upon by the National Socialists, and subsequently his writings and those of his circle were considered by some to be proto-fascist. It did not help his reputation that after the Second World War much of the criticism of his works was practiced by uncritical, hagiographic George worshippers. In recent years, however, there has been a renewed and unbiased interest among scholars and critics in George and his circle. The wide-ranging and original essays in this volume explore anew George's poetry and his contribution to Modernism, the relation between his vision of a New Reich and fascist ideology, and his importance as a cultural critic.
Jens Rieckmann is Professor of German at the University of California, Irvine.
Stefan George (1868-1933) is along with Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rainer Maria Rilke one of the pre-eminent German poets of the twentieth century. He also had an important, albeit controversial and provocative role in German cultural history. It is generally agreed that he played a significant part in the transition of German literature to Modernism, particularly in poetry. At the same time he was an outspoken critic of modernity. He believed that only anall-encompassing cultural renewal could save modern man. Although George is often linked with the l'art pour l'art movement, and although his artistic consciousness was formed by European aestheticism, his poetry and the writings that emerged from the poets and intellectuals he gathered around him in the George Circle are above all a scathing commentary on the political, social, and cultural situation in Germany at the turn of the century.
George, who was imbued with the idea of the poet as a prophet and priest, saw himself as the Messiah of a New Hellenism and a New Reich led by an intellectual and aesthetic elite consisting of men who were bonded together through their allegiance to a charismatic leader. Some of the values that George proclaimed, among them a glorification of power, of heroism and self-sacrifice, were seized upon by the National Socialists, and subsequently his writings and those of his circle were considered by some to be proto-fascist. It did not help his reputation that after the Second World War much of the criticism of his works was practiced by uncritical, hagiographic George worshippers. In recent years, however, there has been a renewed and unbiased interest among scholars and critics in George and his circle. The wide-ranging and original essays in this volume explore anew George's poetry and his contribution to Modernism, the relation between his vision of a New Reich and fascist ideology, and his importance as a cultural critic.
Jens Rieckmann is Professor of German at the University of California, Irvine.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Paul Bishop
Paul Bishop is Professor of German and Head of Department of German at the University of Glasgow.
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Contributor: Robert Vilain
ROBERT VILAIN is Senior Tutor and a Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford, UK, and Lecturer in German at Christ Church.
Topics
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Frontmatter
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
ix -
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Acknowledgments
xi -
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Standard Editions and References to the Works of Stefan George
xiii -
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List of Principal Works of Stefan George
xv -
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Introduction
1 - The Poetry
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Stefan George’s Poetics
25 -
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Stefan George’s Early Works 1890–1895
51 -
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In Praise of Illusion: Das Jahr der Seele and Der Teppich des Lebens: Analysis and Historical Perspective
79 -
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In Zeiten der Wirren: Stefan George’s Later Works
99 - Contexts
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Stefan George and Two Types of Aestheticism
127 -
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Master and Disciples: The George Circle
145 -
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Stefan George and the Munich Cosmologists
161 -
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George, Nietzsche, and Nazism
189 -
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Stefan George’s Concept of Love and the Gay Emancipation Movement
207 -
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Works Cited
231 -
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Notes on the Contributors
245 -
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Index
247
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
January 30, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781571136589
Original publisher:
Camden House
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781571136589
Keywords for this book
Stefan George
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
