Brecht on Art and Politics

Description

This volume contains new translations to extend our image of one of the twentieth century's most entertaining and thought provoking writers on culture, aesthetics and politics. Here are a cross-section of Brecht's wide-ranging thoughts which offer us an extraordinary window onto the concerns of a modern world in four decades of economic and political disorder. The book is designed to give wider access to the experience of a dynamic intellect, radically engaged with social, political and cultural processes. Each section begins with a short essay by the editors introducing and summarising Brecht's thought in the relevant year. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents General Introduction and Acknowledgements Part One: Early Writings and Polemics 1914-1928 Introduction 1 Extracts from the 'Augsburg War Letters' 2 From the 1920 Notebooks 3 On Habitual Patriotism 4 On Expressionism and Dadaism 5 On German Literature 6 Mood and Opinion 7 Let's Get Back to Detective Novels! 8 On Being a Suitable Spectator 9 On Art and Socialism 10 Literary Judgements 11 An Argument with Thomas Mann 12 Challenging Bourgeois Culture 13 On Poetry 14 On Politics and Art 15 Republication Forbidden! Part Two: Culture and Society 1927-1933 Introduction 16 The Piscator Experiment 17 Primacy of the Apparatus 18 New Dramatic Writing 19 The Individual's Experience of the Apparatus in the Foreground 20 Conversation about Classics 21 Defence of the Lyric Poet Gottfried Benn 22 Suspicion of a New Tendency in Modern Philosophy 23 Theory of Pedagogies 24 On New Criticism 25 Ideas and Things 26 Who Needs a World-View? 27 On the Function of Thought 28 What is Progress? 29 Dialectics 30 On the Critique of Ideas 31 Theses on the Theory of Superstructure 32 Key Points in Korsch, pp. 37 and 54 33 Use of Truth 34 Einstein-Freud Part Three: Nazism and Anti-Fascism 1933-1939 Introduction 35 Extracts from 'Unpolitical Letters' 36 Fascist Slogans 37 On Restoring the Truth 38 In the Fight Against Injustice Even Weak Weapons Are of Use 39 Five Difficulties in Writing the Truth 40 A Necessary Observation on the Struggle Against Barbarism 41 On the Question of Whether Hitler Is Being Honest 42 From the English Letters 43 Speech at the Second International Writers' Congress for the Defence of Culture 44 Platform for Left-wing Intellectuals 45 Speech on the Power of Resistance of Reason 46 Speech on the Question Why Such Large Parts of the German People Support Hitler's Politics 47 On My Attitude to the Soviet Union 48 On the Moscow Trials 49 The Greatest of All Artists 50 Why are the Petty Bourgeoisie and Even the Proletariat Threatening to Turn to Fascism? 51 On the Theatricality of Fascism 52 The Last Word Part Four: Realism and Formalism 1938-1940 Introduction 53 The Expressionism Debate 54 Breadth and Variety of the Realist Mode of Writing 55 Socialist Realism 56 The Struggle Against Formalism 57 On Non-representational Painting 58 Notes on the Realist Mode of Writing 59 The Crime Novel Part Five: Brecht and German Socialism 1942-1956 Introduction 60 On the Declaration of the 26 United Nations 61 The Other Germany: 1943 62 Report on the Situation of Germans in Exile 63 Where I Live 64 Statement to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in Washington, 1947 65 Conversations with Young Intellectuals 66 Bringing the World Peace at Last 67 The Emblem of the Berliner Ensemble 68 The Arts in Upheaval 69 Concerning the Accusation of Formalism 70 Notes on the Discussion about Formalism 71 What is Formalism? 72 The Discussion about The Condemnation of Lucullus 73 Open Letter to German Artists and Writers 74 Notes on the Barlach Exhibition 75 On the Death of Stalin 76 Erwin Strittmatter's Katzgraben 77 Theses on the Faustus Discussion 78 Concerning 17 June 1953 79 The Urgent Need for a Major Discussion 80 Declaration by the German Academy of Arts 81 Preface to Turandot 82 The Volkskamtner 83 Peace is the Be-all and End-all 84 On the Criticism of Stalin Select Bibliography Index of Names and Key Terms