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Shows German Science Fiction's connections with utopian thought,
and how it attempts Zukunftsbewaltigung: coping with an uncertain
but also unwritten future. Since its beginnings, German Science
Fiction (or SF) has engaged with social change and technological
progress, often drawing from utopian thought. The writer Kurd
Lasswitz challenged the authoritarian Wilhelmine order; later, film
director Fritz Lang provided a searing critique of Weimar society.
Meanwhile utopian thinkers like Ernst Bloch and Herbert Marcuse
insisted on the possibility of hope, even in the face of
totalitarianism. During the Cold War, German utopian writing and
filmmaking were vital both as a warning and as a creative imagining
of possible futures. More recently, as rapid scientific and
technological advances have continued, literary and cinematic
responses have become increasingly dystopian in outlook, reflecting
fears connected with globalization, advances in artificial
intelligence and genetic engineering, and persistent challenges
like climate change, hunger, migration, and terrorism. This book
explores German SF's responses to the question how humanity can
match technological advances with social, ethical, and moral
progress. It surveys German utopian thought and the German SF
tradition-both literary and cinematic-providing close readings of
selected works that paradoxically reflect boundless optimism for
the possibility of change and increasing pessimism in its
likelihood. English translations are provided throughout. Building
on its rich tradition but now confidently entering the mainstream,
German SF attempts Zukunftsbewaltigung: coping with an uncertain
but also unwritten future.
New Perspectives on Contemporary German Science Fiction
demonstrates the variety and scope of German science fiction (SF)
production in literature, television, and cinema. The volume argues
that speculative fictions and explorations of the fantastic provide
a critical lens for studying the possibilities and limitations of
paradigm shifts in society. Lars Schmeink and Ingo Cornils bring
together essays that study the renaissance of German SF in the
twenty-first century. The volume makes clear that German SF is both
global and local-the genre is in balance between internationally
dominant forms and adapting them to Germany's reality as it relates
to migration, the environment, and human rights. The essays explore
a range of media (literature, cinema, television) and relevant
political, philosophical, and cultural discourses.
In an attempt to counteract the doom and gloom of the economic
crisis and the politicians' overused dictum that 'there is no
alternative', this interdisciplinary collection presents a number
of alternative worlds that were conceived over the course of the
last century. While change at the macro level was the focus of most
of the ideological struggles of the twentieth century, the real
impetus for change came from the blue-sky thinking of scientists,
engineers, architects, sociologists, planners and writers, all of
whom imagined alternatives to the status quo. Following a roughly
chronological order from the turn of the nineteenth century to the
present, this book explores the dreams, plans and hopes as well as
the nightmares and fears that are an integral part of alternative
thinking in the Western hemisphere. The alternative worlds at the
centre of the individual essays can each be seen as crucial to the
history of the past one hundred years. While these alternative
worlds reflect their particular cultural context, they also inform
historical developments in a wider sense and continue to resonate
in the present.
An extensive look at historical, literary, and media
representations of '68 in Germany, challenging the way it has been
instrumentalized. In Germany, the concept of "1968" is enduring and
synonymous with the German Student Movement, and is viewed,
variously, as a fundamental liberalization, a myth, a second
foundation, or an irritation. The movement's aims -
radicalre-imagination of the political and economic order and
social hierarchy - have been understood as requiring a "long
march." While the movement has been judged at best a "successful
failure," cultural elites continue to engage inthe construction of
1968. Ingo Cornils's book argues that writing about 1968 in Germany
is no longer about the historical events or the specific objectives
of a bygone counterculture, but is instead a moral touchstone, a
marker ofsocial group identity meant to keep alive (or at bay) a
utopian agenda that continues to fire the imagination. The book
demonstrates that the representation of 1968 as a "foundational
myth" suits the needs of a number of surprisingly heterogeneous
groups, and that even attempts to deconstruct the myth strengthen
it. Cornils brings together for the first time the historical,
literary, and media representations of the movement, showing the
motivation behindand effect of almost five decades of writing about
1968. In so doing, Cornils challenges the way 1968 has been
instrumentalized: as a powerful imaginary that has colonized every
aspect of life in Germany, and as symbolic capitalin cultural and
political debates. Ingo Cornils is Professor of German Studies at
the University of Leeds.
An extensive look at historical, literary, and media
representations of '68 in Germany, challenging the way it has been
instrumentalized. In Germany, the concept of "1968" is enduring and
synonymous with the German Student Movement, and is viewed,
variously, as a fundamental liberalization, a myth, a second
foundation, or an irritation. The movement's aims -
radicalre-imagination of the political and economic order and
social hierarchy - have been understood as requiring a "long
march." While the movement has been judged at best a "successful
failure," cultural elites continue to engage inthe construction of
1968. Ingo Cornils's book argues that writing about 1968 in Germany
is no longer about the historical events or the specific objectives
of a bygone counterculture, but is instead a moral touchstone, a
marker ofsocial group identity meant to keep alive (or at bay) a
utopian agenda that continues to fire the imagination. The book
demonstrates that the representation of 1968 as a "foundational
myth" suits the needs of a number of surprisingly heterogeneous
groups, and that even attempts to deconstruct the myth strengthen
it. Cornils brings together for the first time the historical,
literary, and media representations of the movement, showing the
motivation behindand effect of almost five decades of writing about
1968. In so doing, Cornils challenges the way 1968 has been
instrumentalized: as a powerful imaginary that has colonized every
aspect of life in Germany, and as symbolic capitalin cultural and
political debates. Ingo Cornils is Professor of German Studies at
the University of Leeds.
New essays on the works and themes of Hesse, one of the most
perennially relevant and widely-read German authors. Today, forty
years after Timothy Leary's suggestion that hippies read Hermann
Hesse while "turning on," Hesse is once again receiving attention:
faced with ubiquitous materialism, war, and ecological disaster, we
discover that these problems have found universal expression in the
works of this master storyteller. Hesse explores perennial themes,
from the simple to the transcendental. Because he knows of the
awkwardness of adolescence and the pressures exerted on us to
conform, his books hold special appeal for young readers and are
taught widely. Yet he is equally relevant for older readers,
writing about the torment of a psyche in despair, or our fear of
the unknown. All these experiences are explored from the
perspective of the individual self, for Hesse the repository of the
divine and the sole entity to which we are accountable. This volume
of new essays sheds light on his major works, including Siddhartha,
Der Steppenwolf, and Das Glasperlenspiel, as well as Rosshalde,
Klingsors letzter Sommer, Klein und Wagner, and the poetry. Another
six essays explore Hesse's interest in psychoanalysis, music, and
easternphilosophy, the development of his political views, the
influence of his painting on his writing, and the relationship
between Hesse and Goethe. Contributors: Jefford Vahlbusch, Osman
Durrani, Andreas Solbach, Ralph Freedman, Adrian Hsia, Stefan
Hoeppner, Martin Swales, Frederick Lubich, Paul Bishop, Olaf
Berwald, Kamakshi Murti, Marco Schickling, Volker Michels, Godela
Weiss-Sussex, C. Immo Schneider, Hans-Joachim Hahn. Ingo Cornilsis
Professor of German at the University of Leeds.
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