German Novelists of the Weimar Republic: Intersections of Literature and Politics

The Weimar Republic was a turbulent and fateful time in German history. Characterized by economic and political instability, polarization, and radicalism, the period witnessed the efforts of many German writers to play a leading political role, whether directly, in the chaotic years of 1918-1919, or indirectly, through their works. The novelists chosen range from such now-canonical authors as Alfred Döblin, Hermann Hesse, and Heinrich Mann to bestselling writers of the time such as Erich Maria Remarque, B. Traven, Vicki Baum, and Hans Fallada. They also span the political spectrum, from the right-wing Ernst Jünger to pacifists such as Remarque. The journalistic engagement of Joseph Roth, otherwise well known as a novelist, and of the recently rediscovered writer Gabriele Tergit is also represented. CONTRIBUTORS: PAUL BISHOP, ROLAND DOLLINGER, HELEN CHAMBERS, KARIN V. GUNNEMANN, DAVID MIDGLEY, BRIAN MURDOCH, FIONA SUTTON, HEATHER VALENCIA, JENNY WILLIAMS, ROGER WOODS KARL LEYDECKER is Reader in German at the University of Kent.
Contents: Heinrich Mann and the struggle for democracy / Karin V. Gunnemann – Hermann Hesse and the Weimar Republic / Paul Bishop – In defense of reason and justice: Lion Feuchtwanger's historical novels of the Weimar Republic / Roland Dollinger – The case of Jakob Wassermann: social, legal, and personal crises in the Weimar Republic / Karl Leydecker – Signs of the times: Joseph Roth's Weimar journalism / Helen Chambers – Ernst Jünger, the new nationalists, and the memory of the First World War / Roger Woods – Innocent killing: Erich Maria Remarque and the Weimar anti-war novels / Brian Murdoch – In "A far-off land": B. Traven / Karl S. Guthke – Weimar's forgotten Cassandra: the writings of Gabriele Tergit in the Weimar Republic / Fiona Sutton – Radical realism and historical fantasy: Alfred Döblin / David Midgley – Vicki Baum: "A first-rate second-rate writer"? / Heather Valencia – Hans Fallada's literary breakthrough: Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben and kleiner Mann - was nun? / Jenny Williams.