Das preuβische Phantasma. Imaginationen von Preuβen in der deutschen Literatur des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts

Since the mid-19th century, Prussia has been mythologised as a vigorous European superpower, which played a pivotal role in the political, socio-economic, intellectual and cultural life of Europe in general and Germany in particular. Conceived as it was as a progressive, enlightened and efficiently-run state as well as a centre of reaction, militarism and imperialism, the legacy of Prussia is profoundly ambivalent. This Janus-faced status has not only become a point of controversy in historiography. As a historical, but mystified inheritance, Prussia has occupied a prominent place in European literature and more particularly in German intellectual and literary discourse to this day, often as a projection screen or orientation point for the author's personal ideas, aspirations and diagnoses of the contemporary intellectual, political and artistic climate. This research project aims to map and analyse the Prussian phantasm as a textual and literary construction in 20th- and 21st-century German intellectual and literary discourse, focusing on three distinct key moments in the multifaceted reception of Prussia and its myth: the period of the First World War and the early Weimar Republic, the post-1945 period, and more particularly the ideological juxtaposition of GDR and FRG, and the post-1989 period. The main question that will guide this project is: how is the Prussian phantasm being (de)constructed, staged, exploited or questioned against these different political and ideological backdrops? Textual close readings of exemplary cases will investigate how literary and literary-philosophical texts reactivate Prussia and its myth to engage in political, philosophical and (inter)artistic debates. Thus, this project will not only supply innovating insights into the work of the selected authors, but it will also provide a critical reflection on fundamental aspects of the intellectual history of Germany.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Toegankelijkheid:Closed