The Double Resistance of the German Periodical <i>Die Zone</i> (1933–34) in Paris

Abstract

This article aims to explore the programme of the German-language anti-Nazi journal Die Zone, in which cultural criticism and political activism were inextricably intertwined. Published in Paris in 1933–34 as an exile periodical, it challenges the centre-periphery dichotomy by occupying a peripheral position with respect to the cultural and linguistic context to which they belong and wish to influence, while at the same time being able to rely on social and relational capital that would never be available to a platform belonging to a genuine (semi-)periphery. Taking into account the complexity of its positions, my investigation into Die Zone is therefore structured around three main questions. While exploring (1) the effectiveness of the journal as a platform for a community to engage in a double resistance, i.e. political action against both National Socialism and its own marginalization in French society, I equally examine (2) whether the editor-in-chief Emil Szittya could mobilize and channel the extensive network he had built in the context of the international avant-garde in the 1910s and 1920s. Finally, (3) I tackle the perception of Die Zone and those who made it by the French (general or professional) public.