The poetry of twilight, or a symphony of humanity: New reading and interpretation of the anthology The Twilight of Humanity [Menschheitsdämmerung]: A co-authored monograph

Abstract

The review concerns a coauthored monograph that examines the various aspects of the famous anthology of German Expressionist poetry — The Twilight of Humanity [Menschheitsdämmerung]. For the first time Kurt Pinthus is presented as the solo architect of this complex work of art designed to resemble a symphony. The reviewer notes the originality of the comparison with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and argues that the monograph discovers similarities not only on a larger scale but also on the level of specific details, i. e., the arrangement of the poems that enriches the meaning of an individual text through its placement in the new context of other poems. In addition to general comments about the structure of the anthology and its thanatological code, the researchers suggest independent interpretations of the poets (J. R. Becher, T. Däubler, and others) and their role in the orchestration of the anthology. Among the monograph’s very few flaws, the reviewer points out the book’s somewhat excessive reverence for Pinthus’s mythologising.