Glass Houses and Astral Societies as Models for a New Culture: Paul Scheerbart and Walter Benjamin

Abstract

This article analyzes Paul Scheerbart’s (1863–1915) fantastic literature, particularly his novel Lesabéndio (1913) and the utopian work Glasarchitektur (1914), focusing on the changes in visual culture from the nineteenth century onwards. As an author, Scheerbart stands on a cultural threshold, since the First World War marked a clear transition in European societies. The way that the panoramic view, glass architecture, and other attributes of nineteenth-century visual culture are present in Scheerbart’s works is illustrative of his position between the two forms of modernity before and after the war. The article also examines various readings of Scheerbart’s works, most importantly the remarks of Walter Benjamin. With its panoramas, dioramas, and eventually photography, twentieth-century visual culture was characterized by the significance of technology—a quintessential aspect of modernity that was examined by Benjamin. Scheerbart’s works entail key themes foregrounded by Benjamin, who develops them further into core motifs and concepts of his cultural theory.