This article investigates the role of the “Sterne im Wasser” as the central leitmotif in Hermann Broch’s Die Unbekannte Größe (1933). As a plot device, the “Sterne im Wasser” motif fuels Broch’s construction and parody of the main character Richard Hieck’s mathematical world view. Richard’s failures to assign meaning to the “Sterne im Wasser” by means of mathematical reasoning mirror Broch’s critique of the narrowly discursive attempts at meaning-making, and especially logical positivism, that characterize the Viennese interwar period and the late modernist obsession with linguistic precision. Beyond the parodic dimension of Broch’s novel, however, the “Sterne im Wasser” motif also models the production of meaning via metaphor and self-consciously performs literature’s ability to create meaning where other discursive languages fail. What Broch regards as his least successful novel in fact delivers a powerful defence for the necessity of literature in the age of scientific precision.
{"title":"“Stars in the Water”: Hermann Broch’s <i>Die Unbekannte Größe</i> and the Language of Interwar Experience","authors":"Richard “Tres” Lambert","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.2","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the role of the “Sterne im Wasser” as the central leitmotif in Hermann Broch’s Die Unbekannte Größe (1933). As a plot device, the “Sterne im Wasser” motif fuels Broch’s construction and parody of the main character Richard Hieck’s mathematical world view. Richard’s failures to assign meaning to the “Sterne im Wasser” by means of mathematical reasoning mirror Broch’s critique of the narrowly discursive attempts at meaning-making, and especially logical positivism, that characterize the Viennese interwar period and the late modernist obsession with linguistic precision. Beyond the parodic dimension of Broch’s novel, however, the “Sterne im Wasser” motif also models the production of meaning via metaphor and self-consciously performs literature’s ability to create meaning where other discursive languages fail. What Broch regards as his least successful novel in fact delivers a powerful defence for the necessity of literature in the age of scientific precision.","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev004
Seth Howes
{"title":"Jeff Hayton. <i>Culture from the Slums: Punk Rock in East and West Germany</i>","authors":"Seth Howes","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev003
Peter Schweppe
{"title":"Jennifer M. Kapczynski and Caroline A. Kita, editors. <i>The Arts of Democratization: Styling Political Sensibilities in Postwar West Germany</i>","authors":"Peter Schweppe","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article analyzes Paul Scheerbart’s (1863–1915) fantastic literature, particularly his novel Lesabéndio (1913) and the utopian work Glasarchitektur (1914), focusing on the changes in visual culture from the nineteenth century onwards. As an author, Scheerbart stands on a cultural threshold, since the First World War marked a clear transition in European societies. The way that the panoramic view, glass architecture, and other attributes of nineteenth-century visual culture are present in Scheerbart’s works is illustrative of his position between the two forms of modernity before and after the war. The article also examines various readings of Scheerbart’s works, most importantly the remarks of Walter Benjamin. With its panoramas, dioramas, and eventually photography, twentieth-century visual culture was characterized by the significance of technology—a quintessential aspect of modernity that was examined by Benjamin. Scheerbart’s works entail key themes foregrounded by Benjamin, who develops them further into core motifs and concepts of his cultural theory.
{"title":"Glass Houses and Astral Societies as Models for a New Culture: Paul Scheerbart and Walter Benjamin","authors":"Essi Syrén","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.3","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyzes Paul Scheerbart’s (1863–1915) fantastic literature, particularly his novel Lesabéndio (1913) and the utopian work Glasarchitektur (1914), focusing on the changes in visual culture from the nineteenth century onwards. As an author, Scheerbart stands on a cultural threshold, since the First World War marked a clear transition in European societies. The way that the panoramic view, glass architecture, and other attributes of nineteenth-century visual culture are present in Scheerbart’s works is illustrative of his position between the two forms of modernity before and after the war. The article also examines various readings of Scheerbart’s works, most importantly the remarks of Walter Benjamin. With its panoramas, dioramas, and eventually photography, twentieth-century visual culture was characterized by the significance of technology—a quintessential aspect of modernity that was examined by Benjamin. Scheerbart’s works entail key themes foregrounded by Benjamin, who develops them further into core motifs and concepts of his cultural theory.","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev002
Ann Schmiesing
{"title":"Jakob Norberg. <i>The Brothers Grimm and the Making of German Nationalism</i>","authors":"Ann Schmiesing","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev001
Maria Mayr
{"title":"Nicole Coleman. <i>The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature</i>","authors":"Maria Mayr","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.rev001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In Sie kam aus Mariupol (2017), Natascha Wodin reconstructs her Ukrainian family history with special focus on her mother’s experience as a forced labourer in Nazi Germany and the debilitating effects of continued discrimination in postwar Germany. Wodin’s powerful narrative draws attention to a traumatized woman whose short life coincided with violent upheavals in twentieth-century Ukrainian, Russian, and German history. Based on approaches in memory studies and the archival turn, this article argues that several archives play a central role in this autofictional text: an urban archive of Mariupol that both documents and counteracts the repeated destruction of the city over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a collection of familial documents from Ukraine and Russia located primarily through online searches, and an archive that details the role of forced labour in Germany during the Second World War. The archive on forced labour challenges us to contemplate the kind of forgetting that has accompanied the public commemoration of the victims of Nazi Germany. Overall, Sie kam aus Mariupol exemplifies the role of literature, in particular autofictional texts of the postgeneration, in intervening in discourses on collective memory.
{"title":"Unsettling German Memory Culture: The Role of Archives in Natascha Wodin’s <i>Sie kam aus Mariupol</i>","authors":"Friederike Eigler","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.1","url":null,"abstract":"In Sie kam aus Mariupol (2017), Natascha Wodin reconstructs her Ukrainian family history with special focus on her mother’s experience as a forced labourer in Nazi Germany and the debilitating effects of continued discrimination in postwar Germany. Wodin’s powerful narrative draws attention to a traumatized woman whose short life coincided with violent upheavals in twentieth-century Ukrainian, Russian, and German history. Based on approaches in memory studies and the archival turn, this article argues that several archives play a central role in this autofictional text: an urban archive of Mariupol that both documents and counteracts the repeated destruction of the city over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a collection of familial documents from Ukraine and Russia located primarily through online searches, and an archive that details the role of forced labour in Germany during the Second World War. The archive on forced labour challenges us to contemplate the kind of forgetting that has accompanied the public commemoration of the victims of Nazi Germany. Overall, Sie kam aus Mariupol exemplifies the role of literature, in particular autofictional texts of the postgeneration, in intervening in discourses on collective memory.","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medical romance features health care heroes and heroines in a central love story. This article analyzes two contemporary literary examples of the popular but neglected genre of German medical romance, Julya Rabinowich’s Herznovelle (2011) and Irena Brežná’s Schuppenhaut: Ein Liebesroman (2010). This article argues that medical romance performs agile cultural work that ambivalently locates discourses of desire, race, and gender within popular, literary, and medical cultures. Through a range of literary and autofictional strategies, both works reveal how medical romance can reflect and produce bourgeois sexuality and whiteness in contemporary culture. Foregrounding their narrators’ appropriation of colonial imagery, I show that Herznovelle and Schuppenhaut open up critical questions about approaches to decolonization in German studies and medical culture.
{"title":"The Education of Desire: Unsettling Sexuality, Gender, and Racial Politics in Contemporary Medical Romance","authors":"Katja Herges","doi":"10.3138/seminar.59.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3138/seminar.59.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"Medical romance features health care heroes and heroines in a central love story. This article analyzes two contemporary literary examples of the popular but neglected genre of German medical romance, Julya Rabinowich’s Herznovelle (2011) and Irena Brežná’s Schuppenhaut: Ein Liebesroman (2010). This article argues that medical romance performs agile cultural work that ambivalently locates discourses of desire, race, and gender within popular, literary, and medical cultures. Through a range of literary and autofictional strategies, both works reveal how medical romance can reflect and produce bourgeois sexuality and whiteness in contemporary culture. Foregrounding their narrators’ appropriation of colonial imagery, I show that Herznovelle and Schuppenhaut open up critical questions about approaches to decolonization in German studies and medical culture.","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135348390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-12DOI: 10.1353/sfs.2023.a900292
Sonja Fritzsche
{"title":"New Perspectives on Contemporary German Science Fiction ed. by Lars Schmeink and Ingo Cornils (review)","authors":"Sonja Fritzsche","doi":"10.1353/sfs.2023.a900292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2023.a900292","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44556,"journal":{"name":"SEMINAR-A JOURNAL OF GERMANIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79316504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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