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Karl Kraus, satírico apocalíptico: Cultura y catástrofe en la Viena de los Habsburgo
El estudio de E. Timms diverge de la tradición al uso entre los críticos de Kraus que siempre han insistido en la unidad entre el hombre y su obra. El presente libro ofrece una lectura alternativa que saca a la luz las discrepancias entre la postura personal de Kraus y su voz satírica. La biografía de E. Timms recoge ese camino complejo, desentraña y analiza divergencias, y reconstruye la evolución histórica de un mundo y un escritor que son fundamentales para la historia europea.
417 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 30, 2018
It is books like this that have led me too cut back on my annual total (I am embarking on a recent biography of Brecht next and have two more biographies in line, of Weber and Habermas). This was long, using somewhat small print, and sprinkled with references to Die Fackel and untranslated German, this latter all too frequently leaving me in the lurch, much to my chagrin.
Still, it is a book well worth the effort as it reveals much about Kraus that should be known, fitting him into an intellectual circle that includes Walter Benjamin, Brecht, philosophers of language such as Wittgenstein and among prescient political commentators like Joseph Roth. The book, whether it intends to do so or not, also gives very good reason for Thomas Bernhard's loathing for Austrian elites and their awards, knowing they were not Nazism's "first victims" in the Anschluss but willing joiners. The scathing depiction of the antisemitic Roman Catholic Church and the feeble socialist parties would make any contemporary US citizen's skin crawl as Kraus's attacks on the missteps and attitudes of these and other groups and individuals reveal behaviors the tendencies to which the US of A is leaning. Reading this book is akin to watching the slow shedding of a civilized skin uncover the barbarian flesh beneath.
While Kraus was a trenchant commentator on and satirist of the movement toward fascism, his 1934 analysis Dritte Walpurgisnacht was not published until after the war. Timms spends the latter pages of his book going through the contents, making it clear to me at least that, if it had been published then, Kraus would not have lived until 1936, nor would anyone who might have published it. The work categorically grasped what was afoot and the way it would develop. For the second time in a mere forty years, Austria and its big brother Germany would be catastrophically defeated, led to their doom by allegiance to Der Fuhrer rather than the Kaiser. The aftermath is captured in a brief epilogue.
This was not an easy read, but worthwhile; I am glad to have completed it and think I understand the collapse of Europe in the post-WWI era much better. And have a much greater fear of what is presently unfolding in the West.
Still, it is a book well worth the effort as it reveals much about Kraus that should be known, fitting him into an intellectual circle that includes Walter Benjamin, Brecht, philosophers of language such as Wittgenstein and among prescient political commentators like Joseph Roth. The book, whether it intends to do so or not, also gives very good reason for Thomas Bernhard's loathing for Austrian elites and their awards, knowing they were not Nazism's "first victims" in the Anschluss but willing joiners. The scathing depiction of the antisemitic Roman Catholic Church and the feeble socialist parties would make any contemporary US citizen's skin crawl as Kraus's attacks on the missteps and attitudes of these and other groups and individuals reveal behaviors the tendencies to which the US of A is leaning. Reading this book is akin to watching the slow shedding of a civilized skin uncover the barbarian flesh beneath.
While Kraus was a trenchant commentator on and satirist of the movement toward fascism, his 1934 analysis Dritte Walpurgisnacht was not published until after the war. Timms spends the latter pages of his book going through the contents, making it clear to me at least that, if it had been published then, Kraus would not have lived until 1936, nor would anyone who might have published it. The work categorically grasped what was afoot and the way it would develop. For the second time in a mere forty years, Austria and its big brother Germany would be catastrophically defeated, led to their doom by allegiance to Der Fuhrer rather than the Kaiser. The aftermath is captured in a brief epilogue.
This was not an easy read, but worthwhile; I am glad to have completed it and think I understand the collapse of Europe in the post-WWI era much better. And have a much greater fear of what is presently unfolding in the West.
July 23, 2014
Karl Kraus is something of a phenomenon. You either love him or hate him. Personally I find his use of language exciting and his thoughts compelling. This book attempts to set his development as a journalist and satirist against the events of the decline and fall of the Hapsburg Empire. It concludes with a useful elucidation of Die letzen Tage der Menscheit and the development of Kraus' views as the war progressed.
May 30, 2011
Magisterial indeed, if a bit overwhelming.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews