German Studies LITERATURE, 1880 TO THE PRESENT DAY By ALAN BEsT, Senior Lecturer in German in the UniversityofHull* I. GENERAL LITERARY HISTORIES AND SURVEYS. Deutsche Literatur: eine Sozialgeschichte. 9· Weimarer Republik - Drittes Reich: Avantgardismus, Parteilichkeit, Exit: 1918-1945, ed. Alexander von Bormann and Horst Albert Glaser, Reinbek, Rowohlt, 4IO pp., contains 28 contributions on various literary and cultural aspects. Clearly not for those who like their criticism sanitized, the merit of this study is the integration of individual works into the context of social currents. 'Great novels' (Zauberberg, Matte, Berlin Alexanderplatz, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) are supplemented by portraits of H. Mann and Brecht. Traditional, exotic and 'volkisch-nationalsozialistische Erzahlliteratur' provide self-contained thematic stepping-stones coalescing neatly into a cogent and highly readable account. Titles, dates, etc., abound, but the social background is well set and the growing politicization of the literary public in Weimar is traced. The careful sectioning with clear headings provides easy signposts through individual articles. From avant-garde to continuity in Austrian literature, the reader is given a clear pattern to follow. The bibliography is extensive and clearly defined and there are detailed 'Zeittafel' and indexes. This is a useful companion to Professor Ritchie's study on National Socialist litera­ ture (see below). Die Literatur der DDR, ed. Hans-Jiirgen Schmitt, Munich, Hanser, 588 pp., is structured in three major sections: 'Literatur und Politik im Sozialismus', 'Gattungen, Publikum und Institutionen', and 'Phasen der Literaturentwicklung'. It is a thor­ ough, balanced and on the whole sensible presentation, with .. notes, bibliography and a good index. Gunter Hartung, Literatur und Asthetik des deutschen Faschismus. Drei Studien, Berlin, Akademie, 3I4 pp. MOVEMENTS AND PERIODS. A. W. Barker, '"Der groBe Uberwin­ der". Hermann Bahr and the rejection of Naturalism', MLR, 78:6 I 7-30. H. Steinecke, '"Verwandlungskiinstler"? Zur Literatur­ kritik desjungen Wien', Fest. Sokel, pp. IOI-I6. JIG, I4, I982, no. 2, includes D. Sternberger, 'Panorama des Jugendstils', I2-30, and T. C. Hamlin, 'Demonic eroticism in J ugendstil', 3 I-54· Passion and Rebellion: the Expressionist Heritage, ed. Stephen Eric Bronner and Douglas Kellner, London, Croom Helm, xii + 468 pp., seeks a 'new *I am grateful to the University of Hull for a grant facilitating my work on this contribution. Literature, 188o to the Present Day encounter with Expressionism' which, the editors claim, 'has remained shrouded in relative obscurity'. They stress Expressionism as a 'socio-cultural movement' and the 22 contributions range over literature and theatre, cinema, music and dance and painting. Kellner's very readable introduction seeks to define Expressionism and explain why its epicentre was German. 'It was the cultural tradition and the peculiar development of German industrial capital­ ism ... not any nebulous Teutonic soul'. There are four articles on 'Society and Politics', studies on Wedekind's Fruhlings Erwachen, early Expressionist poetry, the 'new Man', Kafka and Doblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz. As a conclusion Bronner contributes 'Expressionism and Marxism: towards an aesthetic of emancipation' (4I I-53), with thoughts on Lukacs, Bloch, and Brecht. There are many illustrations. This is a useful volume and survey for student and specialist. A. P. Dierick, 'Culture, colportage and Kitsch in Kasimir Edschmid's Die sechs Mundungen', Seminar, I 9: I 77-g3. B. Keith-Smith, "'Stupor mundi" or German Icarus? On the structure and main figure of Lothar Schreyer's novel Der Falkenschrei', NGS, I I: I-30. Wolfgang Paulsen, Deutsche Literatur des Expressionismus (Germanistische Lehr­ buchsammlung, 407), Berne, Lang, 234 pp., is the thorough, stimulat­ ing study one would expect. The major features and forces are represented in brief, but telling accounts. Kurt Moser, Literatur und die 'Groj3e Abstraktion'. Kunsttheorien, Poetik und 'Abstrakte Dichtung' im STURM I9Io-1930 (Erlanger Studien, 46), Erlangen, Palm & Enke, 329pp., examines 'Kunstkonzepte im Sturm vor I9I4', 'August Stramm'' '"Strammepigonen" und Wortkunsttheorie, I 9 I s-30'' and 'Einige Positionen der "Wortkunst" im Sturm'. His aim is to reconstruct the 'Wortkunsttheorien' of the Sturm circle and their origins from the poetological and theoretical positions, emphasizing the interdependence of theory and literary texts, especially with regard to Stramm. He deals competently with the major issues. Other authors given detailed treatment include Behrens, Bliimner, Schreyer, and Schwitters. R. W. Sheppard, 'The early reception of the expressionist anthology Der Kondor: a documentation and analy­ sis', L}b, 24: 20g--34. I d., 'Tricksters, carnival and the magical figures of Dada poetry', F MLS, I 9: II6-25. I d., 'Raoul Hausmann's annota­ tion of Die Aktion. Marginal notes on some contributory sources to Dada in Berlin', GLL, 37:24-40. W. Friihwald, 'Der Heimkehrer auf der Biihne. Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertolt Brecht und die Erneuerung des Volksstiickes in den 20er Jahren', IASL, 8: I6g--99. Anton Kaes, Weimarer Republik. Manifeste und Dokumente zur deutschen Literatur I9I8- I9J3, Stuttgart, Metzler, liii + 709 pp., has properly attempted to allow the multiplicity of moods, directions and complexes to rub shoulders in a 'cultural map' whose 'Knotenpunkte' allow the spirit of .