Aussteigen um 1900: Imaginationen in der Literatur der Moderne ed. by Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer and Paul Michael Lützeler

Abstract

Reviewed by: Aussteigen um 1900: Imaginationen in der Literatur der Moderne ed. by Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer and Paul Michael Lützeler Raymond L. Burt Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer and Paul Michael Lützeler, eds., Aussteigen um 1900: Imaginationen in der Literatur der Moderne. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2021. 588 pp. In Iris Murdoch's The Sea, the Sea, the protagonist is told, "Civilization is terrible, but don't imagine that you can ever escape it." This volume, inspired by Monte Verità, one of the most influential free-thinker colonies at the beginning of the twentieth century, proves that many succeeded and, indeed, had a lasting effect on Western civilization. In one of the essays, Astrid Dröse and Friedrich Vollhardt provide a succinct assertion: "'Aussteiger' sind ein signifikantes, sozialhistorisches Phänomen der 'Modernitätskrise um 1900'" (332). [End Page 107] The thematic coherence and interdisciplinary approach of this volume provide a useful resource for a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. While the title of this volume indicates a focus on literature, the scope is much greater. The essays are organized into three sections of approximately the same length. The first covers music, dance, medicine, lifestyle, and experimental communities under the topic of cultural phenomena. The second covers literature, and the third is on the author Hermann Broch. Paul Michael Lützeler's opening essay bridges all three sections by providing information about the founding of Monte Verità, the major figures of the movement, the force of inspiration provided by Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra, the major writers influenced by the ideals of the colony, and Broch. Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer's 89-page essay documents the near-scriptural stature that Zarathustra exerted on the assortment of "influencers" in fin-desiècle Germany, Austria, and Switzerland who rejected the social norms of the age. Among these are Gusto Gräser, who withdrew from society to live in a cave, clothed himself as an ancient prophet, lived on alms, and wandered the German countryside preaching pacifism and alternative lifestyles. Perhaps most influential were Ida Hofmann and Henri Oedenkoven, the founders of the Monte Verità community near Ascona, Switzerland, which existed from 1900 to 1920 and provided a center for a variety of reform movements, including vegetarianism, nudism, theosophy, and homeopathic medicine. In 1913, Rudolf von Labin, a pioneer in modern dance, propagated his theories of self-realization and liberation through dance by setting up a dance school at Monte Verità, influencing expressionist dancers like Mary Wigman and Nina Hard. The other essays in this section flesh out the breadth of this spirit of reform and the rejection of the status quo, articulating its manifestation in music, medicinal practices, and experimental alternatives to city planning, as exemplified by the "Gartenstadt" Hellerau, near Dresden. Given the title of the second section, "Aussteigen in der Literatur der klassischen Moderne," one might expect treatments of Wiener Moderne writers such as Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and perhaps even Peter Altenberg. Surprisingly, these essays examine the literary influence of the "Aussteiger" phenomenon in the works by later writers: Hermann Hesse, Robert Musil, and Max Frisch. Of particular interest is Irmgard Wirtz's essay, which introduces the hundreds of letters of Emmy Hennings of Dadaism fame as a fruitful source in understanding her literary work that also provides [End Page 108] unique insight into the life of this multifaceted artist. The essay gives special attention to her extensive correspondence with Hermann Hesse. The essay mentioned earlier by Dröse and Vollhardt casts a critical eye on Christian Kracht's 2012 novel Imperium stirred up twenty-first century sensibilities with its depiction of the most extreme of the radical reform movements, August Engelhardt's coconut utopia in the South Seas. The third section, "Aussteigen bei Hermann Broch," deviates from the concept of the Aussteiger articulated in the first two-thirds of this volume. Lützeler poses the question: "Was haben die Lebensreformer auf dem Monte Verità im frühen 20. Jahrhundert mit Hermann Broch zu tun?" (33). Broch did not visit Monte Verità, nor did he withdraw from society voluntarily. Lützeler, a Broch scholar and biographer, points instead to Broch's conversion from Judaism to Catholicism and to his two...