Master Document Template

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Master Document Template Copyright by Jacob Ivan Eidt 2004 The Dissertation Committee for Jacob Ivan Eidt Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Deus Absconditus: Gnosticism, the Secularization Process, and Philosophical Modernity in the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke Committee: Lars Gustafsson, Supervisor Kirsten Belgum, Co-Supervisor Lynn Wilkinson Herbert Hochberg Nina Berman Deus Absconditus: Gnosticism, the Secularization Process, and Philosophical Modernity in the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke by Jacob Ivan Eidt, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2004 Dedication/Dedicatoria Para Doña Jacoba Leiva de Rodriguez Fonseca. Por ella yo sueño con los angelitos. To my parents Jacob and Amanda for all of their love, support, encouragement and faith, without which I would not have gone far. And to Father Thomas J. Lalor, Dr. James Ronald Bartlett, and Dr. Joachim Pfeiffer for their inspiration and their example. Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Dr. Lars Gustafsson for his guidance and instruction, his poetic insight and most of all for his friendship. I would also like to thank the members of my committee Dr. Kirsten Belgum for her careful editing and constructive criticism as well as for her encouragement and engagement, Dr. Nina Berman for her help and interest in my research especially from so far away, Dr. Herbert Hochberg for his interdisciplinary openness and his patience in dealing with philosophical questions and literature, and Dr. Lynn Wilkinson for offering a comparativist view so central to my work. I would also like to thank Laura Sager for her patience, support, love and encouragement, which helped me more than she probably realizes, my friends Lara Ducate, Lisa Seidlitz, and the graduate students in the Department of Germanic Studies in Austin, who have made my stay in Austin a happy one, Soonnam Baek for her encouragement all the way from Korea, Victor Hugo Villarreal-Ramierez and Claudia Margarita Perez-Perez, who are always with me in spirit, the staff and students of the Texas Institute of English Proficiency, who also made my stay in Austin a happy and enriching experience, and of course my dear friends, Ivo Radeljic-Jakic, Alexei Rybakov, Michael Kleinherne, and Alessandra Nucifora, who are always close to my heart. v PREFACE Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of external signs, hands on to others feelings he has worked through, and other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them – Leo Tolstoy Since my earliest contact with German Literature I have been especially drawn to the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). With the passage of time I find that this initial fascination has not diminished. Quite to the contrary it has, not unlike Rilke’s many metaphors and poetic images, grown and evolved into something quite different from that which it originally set out to be. This dissertation is surely a product of this ongoing interest in Rilke and it is motivated most clearly by what I see to be the philosophical dimension of Rilke’s work. The degree and popularity of Rilke’s poetry never ceases to astonish me. Rilke’s cross-cultural and cross-generational appeal is especially striking in my own personal experience. In my teaching of German to undergraduate students I often notice that they cite Rilke as the one German poet that they not only have heard of but also have actually read and enjoy. Something in Rilke seems to speak to them on a very personal level1. I recently offered an English translation of the Letters to a Young Poet to a Korean friend as a gift. She replied, “Oh Rilke! I’ve read him. His poems are very popular in Korea.” This also seems to be the case in Japan.2 These examples are of course personal and anecdotal, however, it is not my purpose to account for Rilke’s popularity. My point is that I see a genuine and apparently translatable interest in Rilke’s work not shared on such a global scale by other German-speaking poets of his time. And it is my 1 For Rilke’s pop-culture appeal in the U.S. see John Mood’s “From Cheers to Change” – The Pop Rilke in Bauschinger and Cocalis’ Rilke-Rezeptionen, Rilke Reconsidered, 1995. vi opinion that this fascination can be traced back, not to the beauty or innovation of his language (often lost in translation3) but to the force, relevance and accessibility of his ideas and images. I believe that it is the philosophical dimension of these ideas and images related to Gnostic ideas, and in particular the modern character of those Gnostic ideas, that makes Rilke so interesting for so many different people across so many different cultures. It is in any event the primary impetus for this dissertation and the motivation for my thoughts and ideas on the subject. My earliest discussions with Dr. Lars Gustafsson at the University of Texas about Rilke centered not only on specific historical-philosophical questions but also on the particular philosophical disposition that seems to emanate from the poems and their lyrical subject. There are numerous treatments of Rilke’s poetry that offer interpretations according to individual philosophers or specific schools of thought. But as Dr. Gustafsson has queried on many an occasion, “if Rilke poses the “same” philosophical question as another poet or thinker, can it really be entirely the same question?” I do not propose to find the exact thought that Rilke has in mind, however, Dr. Gustafsson’s observation lies at the heart of this study and it distinguishes it from other studies that have connected Rilke to philosophy. I believe that Rilke’s philosophical expression is unique and that it is fueled by certain not-so-unique Gnostic influences namely by the Gnostic notion of the Deus absconditus. However, before I can demonstrate this more clearly it is necessary to address the assumption that Rilke’s poetry does indeed have a philosophical dimension containing an identifiable structure. This seems to be an assumption that not everyone is prepared to make. This fact can be illustrated 2 For more on the popularity of Rilke in Asia see Mitzue Motoyoshi’s „Rilke in Japan und Japan in Rilke“ in Manfred Engel and Dieter Lamping’s Rilke und die Welt Literature, 1999. 3 For some insightful discussions on the difficulty of translating Rilke as well as a review of many of the English translations of Rilke’s poetry see William H. Gass’ Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation, 1999. vii with the celebrated example of Romano Guardini’s interpretation and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s criticism of it, which is the starting point of this dissertation. viii Deus Absconditus: Gnosticism, the Secularization Process, and Philosophical Modernity in the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke Publication No._____________ Jacob Ivan Eidt, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2004 Supervisors: Lars Gustafsson and Kirsten Belgum This dissertation looks at the philosophical impact of the religious and historical phenomenon known as Gnosticism on the poetry and thought of Rainer Maria Rilke. At the center of Gnostic ideology and myth is a view of human existence as driven by a profound dualism, a dualism which is the result of warring opposites, often characterized in terms of good and evil and of the spiritual and the material. This perspective on the human condition is a defining moment for the secularization process, modern thought and modern aesthetics. Rilke’s re-incorporation of Gnostic motifs is not simply an adoption of the dualistic Gnostic world-view but represents a reaction to it within the greater development and articulation of modern consciousness. Both the intellectual climate of Rilke’s age and his own assimilation of certain tropes and motifs reveal a structural affinity with Gnostic ideology and myth. It is the Gnostic Deus ix absconditus that drives the thought behind the three connected figures of God, the angels, and Orpheus. This study looks at these favored tropes in light of the Gnostic tendencies that found their way into the culture of turn of the century Europe via philosophy. It offers a perspective on Rilke as a truly modern poet regarding the content and dynamic of his ideas. This project presents a cultural-philosophical approach toward Rilke, which differs from previous studies in its attempt to link the dynamic of philosophical ideas and cultural reception through the evolution of connected poetic figures. Unlike other studies that often assume a pre-existing philosophical context from which to view Rilke, this study seeks to define a philosophical context through Gnosticism and its relationship to notions of modernity. x Table of Contents INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 Rilke and Philosophy ..................................................................................... 1 The Philosophical Contexts of Rilke Scholarship.......................................... 7 Methodological Considerations.................................................................... 18 Gnosticism as Method.................................................................................. 22 A New Philosophical Context: Gnosticism and Secularization .................. 28 The Secularization Process..........................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Die Schlafende Laura
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyre_%28PSF%29.png Literatur-Gattungen Man unterscheidet drei Gattungen in der Literatur Lyrik – Gedichte Dramatik – Theaterstücke Prosa/ Epik – Epen, Romane, Kurzgeschichten © Claudius Mühlhäusler 2013 Definition Lyrik Lyrik ist die zum Spiel der Lyra (Leier) gehörende Dichtung/ Poesie ( ~ Songtexte, Lyrics) Als Lyrik bezeichnet man Dichtung in Versform Lyrik ist häufig bildhaft-metaphernreich, rhetorisch stark strukturiert, rhythmisiert, manchmal gereimt und (seltener) mit Musik verbunden In einem Gedicht spricht das lyrische Ich, nicht der Dichter © Claudius Mühlhäusler 2013 Schema 1. Einleitung Autor, Titel, Typ, Entstehungszeit, Epoche, Thema [Typ: Gedichtart (Sonett, Ode, Haiku usw.) und Themenstellung des Gedichts (Naturgedicht, Liebesgedicht usw.)] [subjektives] Vorverständnis, Deutungshypothese 2. Hauptteil 2.1 Inhaltsangabe Sinnabschnitte , Thema, Titelbezug, lyrisches Ich, … 2.2 Formale Analyse: Aufbau, rhythmische Form Strophengliederung (wie viele …), Metrum, Reimschema, Kadenz 2.3 Sprachliche Analyse: Sprachform, Klanggestalt … Sprachliche Auffälligkeiten, Stilmittel und deren jeweilige Funktion … Melopoeia: Klang/ Phanopoeia: Bild/ Logopoeia: Begriff/ Syntax: Grammatik 2.4 Inhaltliche Analyse: Detailanalyse Lineare oder aspektorientierte Analyse, Zusammenhänge, Auflösung der Bilder, Metaphorik…, wechselseitige Beziehungen von Form und Inhalt … 2.5 Fazit: Deutung des ganzen Gedichts, Einordnung in Zusammenhänge Intention(en) des Autors, nachvollziehbare Deutung (biographisch,
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: Conceptual Personae 1
    NOTES Introduction: Conceptual Personae 1. Duc De La Rochefoucauld, Moral Maxims and Reflections in Four Parts: Written in French by the Duke of Rochefoucault, Now Made in English (London: M. Gillyflower, 1694), no. CCCLXXX. 2. Odo Marquard, In Defense of the Accidental: Philosophical Studies, trans. Robert M. Wallace (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991). 3. Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy: Verse Translation and Commentary, Vol. 1: Inferno, ed. and trans. Mark Musa (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996), 7.84 [p. 65]. 4. Francesco Petrarch, “Preface: To the Noble and Distinguished Azzo Da Correggio,” Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul: A Modern English Translation, vol. 1, ed. and trans. Conrad H. Rawski (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1991), p. 1. An early fifteenth-century English translation of a small part of the work survives in Cambridge University Library MS Ii. VI.39; see F. N. M. Diekstra, ed., A Dialogue between Reason and Adversity: A Late Middle English Version of Petrarch’s De Remediis (Assen: Royal Vangorcum, 1968). 5. Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, trans. G. H. McWilliam (London: Penguin, 1972), p. 127. 6. John Gower, Confessio Amantis, VI.1569–70, in The English Works of John Gower, 2 vols., ed. G. C. Macaulay, EETS e.s. 81–82 (London: Oxford University Press, 1900; reprinted 1979). 7. John Lydgate, Fall of Princes, ed. Henry Bergen, EETS e.s. 121–24 (London: Oxford University Press, 1924–27; reprinted 1967), 1.54; Thomas Malory, The Works of Sir Thomas Malory, vol. 3, ed. Eugene Vinaver, rev. P. J. C. Field (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), p.
    [Show full text]
  • Seminarplan GK Sommer 2021
    Seminarplan Grundkurs Neuere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft Robert Schütze Sommersemester 2021 Montag, 10.00–12.00 Online-Kurs (optional mit Präsenzanteilen) Organisatorisches Wofür bekomme ich meine CP? Um den Grundkurs am Ende des Semesters kreditiert zu bekommen, absolvieren Sie erfolgreich die folgenden vier Kursbausteine: 1. Jede Woche finden Sie im Moodle-Kurs eine Online-Lerneinheit, die Sie Schritt für Schritt bearbeiten. Einen Großteil der Zeit werden Sie dabei in die Lektüre von Texten und in kleinere schriftliche Aufgaben (z.B. Blog-Einträge) investieren. Jede Lerneinheit schließt mit einem Quiz, in dem Sie mindestens 80% der Punkte erreichen müssen. Sie können das Quiz beliebig oft wiederholen und sich auch die einzelnen Abschnitte der Lerneinheit gern mehrfach ansehen. Außerdem brauchen Sie eine Lerneinheit auch nicht am Stück ›durchpauken‹. Manchmal empfiehlt es sich, zwischendurch zu unterbrechen, eine Kaffeepause einzulegen und später fortzusetzen. Generell ist es sinnvoll, schriftliche Aufgaben zunächst am eigenen Rechner in einem Textverarbeitungsprogramm vorzuschreiben, zu speichern und dann per Copy-and-Paste in Moodle einzufügen, um spontanem Datenverlust wegen einer instabilen Internetverbindung vorzubeugen. Für jede Lerneinheit gibt es eine Frist, die Sie im Abschnitt der jeweiligen Woche nachschauen können und bis zu der Sie die Einheit abgeschlossen haben sollten. Ihre schriftlichen Abgaben lese ich selbstverständlich durchgängig. Sie werden allerdings in der Regel keinen individuellen Kommentar und keine Bewertung bekommen. Dafür stelle ich Ihnen stets eine Musterlösung oder einen Video-Kommentar zur Verfügung, mit dem Sie Ihre Eingaben vergleichen können. Außerdem werden wir einen Teil der Aufgaben in unseren Treffen (entweder per Zoom oder auf dem Campus) besprechen. Sollten Sie weitere Fragen haben, sind Sie herzlich eingeladen, diese im Forum des Moodle-Kurses zu stellen.
    [Show full text]
  • Core Reading List for M.A. in German Period Author Genre Examples
    Core Reading List for M.A. in German Period Author Genre Examples Mittelalter (1150- Wolfram von Eschenbach Epik Parzival (1200/1210) 1450) Gottfried von Straßburg Tristan (ca. 1210) Hartmann von Aue Der arme Heinrich (ca. 1195) Johannes von Tepl Der Ackermann aus Böhmen (ca. 1400) Walther von der Vogelweide Lieder, Oskar von Wolkenstein Minnelyrik, Spruchdichtung Gedichte Renaissance Martin Luther Prosa Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen (1530) (1400-1600) Von der Freyheit eynis Christen Menschen (1521) Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587) Das Volksbuch vom Eulenspiegel (1515) Der ewige Jude (1602) Sebastian Brant Das Narrenschiff (1494) Barock (1600- H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen Prosa Der abenteuerliche Simplizissimus Teutsch (1669) 1720) Schelmenroman Martin Opitz Lyrik Andreas Gryphius Paul Fleming Sonett Christian v. Hofmannswaldau Paul Gerhard Aufklärung (1720- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Prosa Fabeln 1785) Christian Fürchtegott Gellert Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Drama Nathan der Weise (1779) Bürgerliches Emilia Galotti (1772) Trauerspiel Miss Sara Samson (1755) Lustspiel Minna von Barnhelm oder das Soldatenglück (1767) 2 Sturm und Drang Johann Wolfgang Goethe Prosa Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774) (1767-1785) Johann Gottfried Herder Von deutscher Art und Kunst (selections; 1773) Karl Philipp Moritz Anton Reiser (selections; 1785-90) Sophie von Laroche Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim (1771/72) Johann Wolfgang Goethe Drama Götz von Berlichingen (1773) Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz Der Hofmeister oder die Vorteile der Privaterziehung (1774)
    [Show full text]
  • GRM 341 – Middle Ages to Modernism German Literature and Culture Before 1918 Frühlingssemester 2016 – 12:40-1:30 – a 326 Wells
    GRM 341 – Middle Ages to Modernism German Literature and Culture before 1918 Frühlingssemester 2016 – 12:40-1:30 – A 326 Wells Instructor: Dr. Lynn L. Wolff, Assistant Professor of German Office: B265 Wells Phone: 517-353-3269 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Mondays 13:30-14:30, Wednesdays 10:30-11:30, and by appointment Kurs-Überblick und Lernziele: In Deutsch 341 werden Sie sowohl literarische Texte als auch Kunstwerke vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne lesen, besprechen und schriftlich bearbeiten. Sie werden auch kreativ arbeiten: Gedichte schreiben, Bilder und Texte zusammenstellen und Geschichten entwerfen. Sie werden auch über den historischen Kontext lesen, damit Sie die Werke besser verstehen können. In diesem Kurs werden Sie Ihre Kenntnisse über die deutschsprachige Literatur und Kultur vertiefen, indem Sie Texte lesen und ausführlich besprechen. Durch Gruppenarbeit und Schreibaktivitäten werden Sie lernen, Ihre Meinungen zu verschiedenen Themen zu formulieren und zu äußern. Während Sie in der Klasse alle vier Fertigkeiten üben werden, werden Lesen und Schreiben durch Aktivitäten und Aufsätze besonders betont. Sie werden auch Ihren Wortschatz durch das Erlernen von neuen Vokabeln erweitern. Course Description and Goals: Alongside its content focus, this course is also conceived as a continuation of your previous language training. To help facilitate the transition from intermediate- level language courses to advanced coursework in German, we will work intensively on all four skill areas: reading a wide array of original German texts; writing several essays on assigned topics, with occasional peer review and partner work to encourage a dynamic writing and editing process, and keeping a daily journal; listening to film, audio, and of course in the classroom every day; speaking informally, in conversation with the instructor and your fellow students, and more formally, in class presentations.
    [Show full text]
  • Gina, Steamers on the Havel, I Made My Landing on an Island Where..., and Both Day and Evening Now Began to Seep by Georg Heym
    Transference Volume 5 Issue 1 | Fall 2017 Article 11 2017 Gina, Steamers on the Havel, I made my landing on an island where..., and Both day and evening now began to seep by Georg Heym William A. Ruleman III Tennessee Wesleyan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, East Asian Languages and Societies Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, Linguistics Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Poetry Commons, and the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Ruleman, William A. III (2017) "Gina, Steamers on the Havel, I made my landing on an island where..., and Both day and evening now began to seep by Georg Heym," Transference: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 11. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference/vol5/iss1/11 William Ruleman Georg Heym Gina Gina All round you the scents of the spacious steppes still blow, The air of Polish summers, the surge and shiver Of the wheat fields, when, along the river, Work gangs shoulder on, huge rafts in tow. Deep as black autumnal wells that rise Alone to pierce the early morning’s grays, Such are your eyes, which, with their distant gaze, Shun narrow streets for starry winter skies. And you were made to mount a steed wild and free, Meant for a ride some night when dangers flare, Your Tschapka shining with gilt finery While underneath it flows your fine black hair And bright as silver gleams our weaponry When the white eagle sails the moonlit air.
    [Show full text]
  • Großstadtlyrik - Unterrichtsmappe
    Unterrichtsmaterialien in digitaler und in gedruckter Form Auszug aus: Großstadtlyrik - Unterrichtsmappe Das komplette Material finden Sie hier: School-Scout.de © Copyright school-scout.de / e-learning-academy AG – Urheberrechtshinweis Alle Inhalte dieser Material-Vorschau sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Das Urheberrecht liegt, soweit nicht ausdrücklich anders gekennzeichnet, bei school-scout.de / e- learning-academy AG. Wer diese Vorschauseiten unerlaubt kopiert oder verbreitet, macht sich gem. §§ 106 ff UrhG strafbar. Titel: Unterrichtsmappe: Großstadtlyrik Reihe: Gesammelte Unterrichtsbausteine 57710 Bestellnummer: Kurzvorstellung: Diese Lyriksammlung behandelt herausragende Werke der Großstadtlyrik. Sie bietet ein Vorwort zu den Kernmerkmalen und der Geschichte der Großstadtlyrik, eine Einführung in die Analyse von Gedichten, Steckbriefe zu den behandelten Autoren, Arbeitsblätter, eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten rhetorischen Mittel und ein abschließendes Quiz. Sämtliche Elemente lassen sich ausdrucken und direkt im Unterricht einsetzen. Natürlich gibt es zu allen Aufgaben auch Musterlösungen. Einzelne Abschnitte sind dabei auch für die Nach- und Vorbereitung zu Hause geeignet. Der modulare Aufbau mit kleinschrittigen Arbeitsblättern dient besonders der Binnendifferenzierung. Kreativaufgaben sorgen für zusätzliche Vertiefung und ermöglichen verschiedene Formen der Freiarbeit. Die Quellentexte zu den Gedichten Erich Kästners und Hildegard Wohlgemuths sind aus lizenzrechtlichen Gründen leider nicht enthalten! Inhaltsübersicht: •
    [Show full text]
  • Sei Mir Gegrüßt, Du Ewiges Meer! HEINRICH HEINE Meergruß
    Sei mir gegrüßt, du ewiges Meer! Heinrich Heine M eergruß.............................................. II Rainer maria rilke Lied vorn M eer............................... 13 Johann Gottfried Herder Von der bildenden Kraft der Meere ....................................................................... 14 Johann Gottfried Herder Von den wahren Meeres­ bewohnern ..................................................................... 17 ERNST STADLER Resurrectio................. 19 Friedrich N ietzsche Im grossen Schweigen................. 20 Joseph von Eichendorff Die Nachtblume................... 21 Charles Baudelaire Der Mensch und das Meer............ 22 Friedrich N ietzsche Nach neuen Meeren................... 23 Wir gehen am Meer im tiefen Sand, Die Schritte schwer und Hand in Hand. Theodor storm Meeresstrand........................................ 27 Ferdinand freiligrath Sandlieder............................... 28 Heinrich heine »Das Fräulein stand am Meere«........... 31 Max dauthendey »Wir gehen am Meer im tiefen Sand« . 32 Peter Hille Seegesicht...................................................... 33 Ludwig TiECK Das Himmelblau...................................... 34 RAINER MARIA RILKE Sonntag.......................................... 33 wolfgang borchert Muscheln, Muscheln................... 37 Eduard von Keyserling Zu zweien schwimmen.......... 38 klabund Das M eer........................................................... 44 Thomas mann Ruddenbrooks.......................................... 45 kurt Tucholsky Dreißig Grad.....................................
    [Show full text]
  • Political Theology and Secularization Theory in Germany, 1918-1939: Emanuel Hirsch As a Phenomenon of His Time
    Harvard Divinity School Political Theology and Secularization Theory in Germany, 1918-1939: Emanuel Hirsch as a Phenomenon of His Time Author(s): John Stroup Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Jul., 1987), pp. 321-368 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1509576 . Accessed: 18/11/2013 17:40 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . 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]. Cambridge University Press and Harvard Divinity School are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Harvard Theological Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:40:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HTR80:3 (1987) 321 -68 POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND SECULARIZATION THEORY IN GERMANY, 1918-1939: EMANUEL HIRSCH AS A PHENOMENON OF HIS TIME * John Stroup Yale Divinity School According to Goethe, "writing history is a way of getting the past off your back." In the twentieth century, Protestant theology has a heavy burden on its back-the readiness of some of its most distinguished representatives to embrace totalitarian regimes, notably Adolf Hitler's "Third Reich." In this matter the historian's task is not to jettison but to ensure that the burden on Prot- estants is not too lightly cast aside-an easy temptation if we imagine that the theologians who turned to Hitler did so with the express desire of embracing a monster.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relevance of Hermeneutics to the Study of Ideology Lammi, Walter (The American University in Cairo)
    The Relevance of Hermeneutics to the Study of Ideology Lammi, Walter (The American University in Cairo) This paper concerns the contribution of hermeneutics to the study of ideology. It would be ironic if the hermeneutical paradigm were exhausted in this field, since modern hermeneutics may have begun precisely as an answer to the question of ideology in the form of theological dogmatism.1 I will briefly discuss the hermeneutical approach to ideology under two rubrics: the ‘hermeneutical circle’ and ‘historical consciousness’. I suggest that hermeneutics not only provides needed correctives to contemporary ideology studies, but also open paths to deeper understanding. In overcoming the epistemological and ideological blinders of most ideology studies, the hermeneutical paradigm directs us to what Gadamer calls the ‘hermeneutical situation’, which means “finding the right questions to ask.”2 The ‘hermeneutical circle’ Concepts of ideology have a tendency to expand to the conclusion that all thinking is ideological, for reasons having usually to do with the Marxist conviction that thought is a ‘superstructure’ on the basis of the material ‘substructure’ of society, which it must necessarily reflect. In this case any distinction between ideology and philosophy collapses. On the other hand, attempts to rein the concept in may oversimplify the phenomenon. To take one example, limiting the meaning of ideology to a “consciously held set of political beliefs”3 targets critique effectively but elicits scorn from those for whom ideology refers to beliefs and assumptions that remain below the level of conscious thought.4 The variety of meanings for the term ‘ideology’ is legion, but two epistemological problems in particular are common to most of them.
    [Show full text]
  • Strategies of a Master Teacher of Poetry
    Thomas Merton: Strategies of a Master Teacher of Poetry by Gloria Kitto Lewis Thomas Merton thought of himself as not only a Cistercian monk and poet, but very importantly as a student and teacher. As he wrote in his journal in May 1962. ''I usually ignore this element of my vocation, but obviously I am a writer, a student and teacher as well as a contemplat ive of sorts. and my solitude, etc .. is that of a writer and teacher, not of a pure hermit." 1 Merton writes very little directly about his ideas about education and his experiences as teacheroftheology and literature. Yet, recently, a few scholars working with Parker Palmer and others in a relatively new field called spiri­ tuality of education have begun exploring Merton's education theories and pedagogical applications. As Merton was a teacher and student of poetry, one rich source for initial study is the tapes of four­ teen classes in 1965-66 at the Abbey in Gethsemani for the novices on the poetry of three mystic poets. Blake, Hopkins, and Rilke. Some of these tapes are housed in the collection at the Thomas Merton Center, while others have been published by Credence Cassettes. Merton's teaching of Rainer Maria Rilke was particularly focused and lively because, as his journal notes reveal, he was giving special attention to Rilke in his private studies at the time he was presenting Rilke's work to his students. Merton's classes on Rilke give valuable insights into Merton as master teacher of poetry. The purpose of his poetry classes on Rilke and the other poets was threefold.
    [Show full text]
  • An Interpreter's Guide to Rainer Maria Rilke
    Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Honors Projects Theatre Arts, School of 1968 An Interpreter's Guide to Rainer Maria Rilke Joseph A. Leese '68 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/theatre_honproj Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Leese '68, Joseph A., "An Interpreter's Guide to Rainer Maria Rilke" (1968). Honors Projects. 13. https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/theatre_honproj/13 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ©Copyright is owned by the author of this document. 1I111nols Wesleyan Un'1"v. LloI'lU'!elll Bloomington, Ill. 61701 An Interpreter's Guide to I Rad.ner Maria; Rilke by Joseph A. Leese # "RCHIVE,s PT Submitted for Honors Work In the Department of Speech Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, Illinois 1968 �rrrnors Wesleyan Vniv. Libraries Bloomington, Ill. 61701 Accepted by the Department of Speech of Illinois Wesleyan University in fulfillment of the requirement for departmental honors. ��:'�lQ� Proje t Adnser Dedicated to Dr.
    [Show full text]