604 Reviews git Haas), Veza Canetti (Julian Preece), Rudolf Brunngraber (JiirgenHeizmann), Hans Carossa (Erich Unglaub), and the newly rediscovered novelist Friedo Lampe (Carsten Lange). There isdiscussion of how dramatists presented the abortion issue (Karin Theesfeld) and the naval mutinies at the end of the FirstWorld War (Sascha Kiefer). There is testimony to the ethnic diversity of Weimar culture in contributions on the?predominantly nostalgic?writings ofRussian exiles (Artem Lyssenko) and on socio-cultural tensions between Jewishauthors (Carsten Schapkow). Specific di mensions of thedebate about realism in the period are also explored with reference tophotography (Steve Giles), to the cultural significance of interiors and accessories (Sabine Kyora), to the practice of satire (Stefan Riegl), and tomythic constructions in the sense associated with Roland Barthes (Stefan Neuhaus). The volume also contains the speeches thatwere made on the occasion of the award of the Ernst Toller Prize to the young novelist JuliZeh in 2003. St John's College, Cambridge David Midgley Sacramental Realism: Gertrud von le Fort and German Catholic Literature in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich (1924-46). By Helena Tomko. (MHRA Texts and Dissertations, 68; Bithell Series ofDissertations, 31) London: Maney for theMHRA. 2007. xv+226 pp. ?35. ISBN 978-1-904350-36-1. In theAnglo-American world, the fieldof literature and theology has proven to be very fruitful.Some British and American institutions, including non-religious uni versities such as Boston University or theUniversity of Glasgow, have established highly visible and vital centres in order to foster the interdisciplinary dialogue. Scholars working on the intersections of religion and literature even have their own venues, including high-quality academic journals such as Literature and Theology and Religion and Literature. Unlike Britain and North America, Catholic theologians spearhead theproject inGermany, while literaryscholars tend toview this emerging fieldwith scepticism. Not surprisingly, theGerman theologian Georg Langenhorst recently lamented the dearth of a true dialogue between German literature profes sors and theologians. One of the reasons why many German scholars avoid tackling religious themes is their lack of theological literacy.And even though interdisci plinary research has been greatly emphasized inGerman higher education in recent years, literatureprofessors seem to be at odds with religious texts. Helena Tomko's impressive dissertation on Gertrud von le Fort may very well inspire at least a younger generation of German literature scholars to investigate religious themes and motifs, as well as important but often unjustly overlooked texts by authors, such as le Fort, whose works were influenced by their religious beliefs. In contrast tomany previous studies on this author, Tomko's monograph succeeds inaddressing the complexity of leFort's works by illuminating thepolitical, cultural, and religious contexts. By highlighting the broad spectrum of intellectual Catholicism during the Weimar Republic, ranging from progressive to reactionary, Tomko's book generates new insights, as Catholic thinkers of that era have often been viewed as being monolithically anti-modernist. Clearly, one of the strengths MLR, 104.2, 2009 605 of this study is the fact thatTomko is conversant with both the secondary literature on the author and her period, as well as with Catholic theology and thought during the Weimar Republic. By drawing on le Fort's intellectual and spiritual biography, Tomko offerscareful interpretations ofworks spanning fromHymnen an die Kirche (1924), her firstbook afterconversion toCatholicism, toDerKranz derEngel (1946), the authors most important publication of her inner emigration period. Interwoven with her analyses of le Fort's counter-cultural Catholic texts are autobiographical accounts aswell as excerpts from correspondences, which provide important details, especially regarding thepoetics of le Fort's works. The titleof thebook, Sacramental Realism, adequately conveys the paradoxical nature of leFort's poetological project, as it indicates the authors sacramental perception of reality,as well as her aesthetic Catholicism' (Wolfgang Braungart). In addition to providing balanced and some times critical readings of fivemajor works, Tomko provides a thorough discussion of theCatholic Reich debate during the 1920s and 1930s which is indispensable if one wants to understand le Fort's complicated view of national identity. Although this book mainly focuses on le Fort's textswhich emerged during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, readers interested in le Fort's literarypro duction after the Second World War will also benefit from Sacramental...