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Cultural Criticism in the Netherlands, 1933-1940
The Newspaper Columns of Menno ter Braak
Series: - Literary Modernism, Volume: 8
Author:
In Cultural Criticism in the Netherlands, 1933-40, Jacob Boas offers a broad selection of the newspaper columns of legendary Dutch cultural critic Menno ter Braak. Ter Braakâs columns are noteworthy not only for their distinctive treatment of disparate cultural components ranging from literature to the social sciences, but also for the light they throw on the extent to which politics intruded on the cultural sphere in the years prior to the outbreak of war.
Ter Braak set a standard for literary criticism of surpassing quality. Moreover, a staunch advocate of democracy, the critic joined the battle against fascism, urging fellow intellectuals to rise to the occasion. The âconscience of Dutch lettersâ killed himself on the eve of the German occupation, May 1940.
Ter Braak set a standard for literary criticism of surpassing quality. Moreover, a staunch advocate of democracy, the critic joined the battle against fascism, urging fellow intellectuals to rise to the occasion. The âconscience of Dutch lettersâ killed himself on the eve of the German occupation, May 1940.
Jacob Boas, Ph.D. (1977), University of California, Riverside, has published articles on various subjects, several books on the Holocaust and Writersâ Block, the Paris Antifascist Congress of 1935 (2016).
"[...] je inleiding gelezen: heel mooi en informatief, met heel veel sprekende details." â Vic van de Reijt.
"The introduction reads very well, mercurial yet solid." â Prof. Laureen Nussbaum.
"Erudite, highly readable, a sophisticated and welcome contribution to intellectual history.â- Prof. Anthony D'Agostino.
"[...] een heel mooi tijdsbeeld dankzij de artikelen die je hebt uitgekozen." - Ronald Rupp.
"I am thoroughly enjoying your book. I love the way it's laid out." - Craig Florence.
"The introduction reads very well, mercurial yet solid." â Prof. Laureen Nussbaum.
"Erudite, highly readable, a sophisticated and welcome contribution to intellectual history.â- Prof. Anthony D'Agostino.
"[...] een heel mooi tijdsbeeld dankzij de artikelen die je hebt uitgekozen." - Ronald Rupp.
"I am thoroughly enjoying your book. I love the way it's laid out." - Craig Florence.
Acknowledgments
Introducing Menno ter Braak (1902â1940)
1 A Note on Translation, Selections, Etc.
PART 1
1933
1 Morgensternâs Enchanted World
1 The Spirit of Hieronymus Bosch
2 A People and Its Myth
1 Emigrants about Germany
3 André Malraux: La Condition Humaine
PART 2
1934
4 Jakob Wassermann
5 The Place of the Newspaper Critic
1 A New Yearâs Meditation
6 Hitlerâs Mein Kampf
7 The German Writer Heinz Liepmann Under Arrest
1 A Worrisome Precedent
8 Literary Awards
1 The Nobel Prize in Particular
â1.1âIvan Bunin, Mityaâs Love
2 Objective and Subjective
3 Prizewinners
4 Ivan Bunin
5 Lyrical Decay
9 The Novel as Document
1 The Significance of Max Havelaar
â1.1âObjections to the documentary Novel
10 Art and the Art of Storytelling
11 Hero Worship
1 Carlyleâs âLiving Rockâ
2 No Recipe for Heroes
3 The Book and the Newspaper
12 Races
1 Race as Self-glorification
2 Horizontal-Vertical
3 Apologia for Jewry, Lack of Self-criticism
13 Writing as Enchantment
1 Literature and Advertising
â1.1âWriters Who Have âNothing to Sayâ
2 Persuasion and Poverty of Ideas
14 Conversation with Erika Mann
15 The Simple Style
16 Le Chemin des Dames
1 The Writing Woman and Her Genre
â1.1âPossibilities and Limits
2 âWomanâ and âLadyâ
17 The European Spirit
1 A Gathering of Intellectuals in Paris
2 Thinking European:Â a Concern of Intellectuals 69
3 Politics Non Grata
4 Pros and Cons
18 The Simple Task
1 Weekly Masterpieces in the Haagsche Post
2 Disadvantages of the Reviewing Patent
19 Objective Criticism
1 Dr. Ritterâs Case for Mediocrity
2 What Is âDescriptionâ?
3 45% Subjectivity
20 Temporary Illiteracy
1 The Benefit of Not Reading
2 A Monster of Civilization:Â Homo Lector
3 When Reading becomes Dangerous
4 One Book, One Person!
21 Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844â1934
1 Misconstruing His Personality
2 Nietzscheâs Race Problem
3 Nietzsche and the Antisemites
4 The Appropriation
PART 3
1935
22 Ethics of the Weapons Industry
1 Nations Will Always Abuse Their Weapons
2 The Benefits of War
23 The War Film Okraina (a Film by Boris Barnet)
Dames
Othello
26 Popular History (i)
1 Good and Bad Popularization
27 Popular History (ii)
1 Historical Materialism
â1.1âHistorical Materialism and Its Usefulness for the Historian
ââ1.1.1âNo Deadly âImpartialityâ
28 Max Havelaar:Â Multatuliâs Timeless Book, 1869â1935
1 The Meaning of Max Havelaarâs Readability
29 Writersâ Congress in Paris (I)
1 Paris, June 24
30 Writersâ Congress in Paris (ii)
1 Paris, 25 June
1.1âThe Problem of Individualism Goes Begging
ââ1.1.1âWhat Is Gideâs Future?
31 Russian Literature
1 Where Does Literature Belong?
32 Our Humanity
1 Humanity âClose to Homeâ
2 The Individual and His Meaning of Life
33 Huizingaâs Defense of Culture
34 Helping Writers!
35 Aphorisms (i)
1 Between Flaubert and Nietzsche
36 André Gideâs the Immoralist
1 Synopsis (Provided by Ter Braak)
2 The Autobiography
PART 4
1936
37 Eros as Rebel
1 Lawrence as Author of âShocking Wordsâ
38 Thomas Mann under Fire
1 An Attack on His Position by Schwarzschild
1.1âBetween Third Reich and Emigration
39 Thomas Mann Speaks
1 Declares his opposition to Hitlerâs Germany
1.1âHatred of Jews Concerns Europe and the Higher Levels of German Culture
40 About Franz Kafka (i)
1 A First-rate Jewish Writer
â1.1âHis style and existential predicament
2 A World of His Own
3 Gate, Gatekeeper, Man of the Country
41 Emigration Embraced
1 Falling from Germany, Love of Germany
â1.1âA Novel on the Frontier of Two Countries
2 The Surprise of the Unknown
3 Falling into the Netherlands
42 Unemployment
1 Crisis in the Work Ethic
â1.1âThe Generation of War Children
2 Laborâs Don Quixote
43 Freudâs Impact
1 European Intellectual Life Inconceivable without Freud
â1.1âNot âFreudismâ but Critical Gratitude
44 Humanist
1 Erasmusâ Struggle in Behalf Tolerance
â1.1âHis life in Letters
2 Warring Instinct of the Pacifist
45 History or Criticism?
1 Objectivity v. Subjectivity
46 Committee of Vigilance of Anti-National Socialist Intellectuals
1 Defense of Intellectual Freedom
47 Paradoxical Democracy
1 Prohibition of Die Pfeffermühle
2 Democracy as Weakness and as Strength
48 Thomas Mann No Longer German
1 The Final Phase of a Development
â1.1âNobel Prize without Fatherland
PART 5
1937
49 Thomas Mann v. Bonn
1 Open Letter to the German Academic Establishment
â1.1âResponse to âthe Betrayal of the Intellectualsâ
2 Honorary Doctorate Rescinded
3 National Socialism and War
50 Machiavelli
1 His Breviary for Rulers
2 The Trajectory of a Book
3 Realism v. Idealism
51 Ranking
1 A Militant Construct Par Excellence
2 Subjectivity of the Ranking Construct
52 About Franz Kafka (ii)
1 End and Beginning
â1.1âMaster of the Dream
2 Jew, German, Czech, Prague
3 âDecadent without Decadenceâ
4 The Dream
5 Kafka v. Freud
53 Aphorisms (ii)
1 Differences between a Court and Sermonizing Culture
54 Suicide and the Writer
55 Ortega as Erasmus
1 Historical Reason v. Cartesianism
2 Politicians and Intellectuals Have Different Tasks
3 The United States of Europe Not a Utopian Dream
4 âImbecilesâ of Left and Right
PART 6
1938
56 Diderotâs Dilettantism
1 An Undogmatic Mind without Prophetic Gestures
2 Diderot as Mentor and Writer for Pleasure
57 Tarentella
1 Jeanette MacDonald in a Musical Spy Film
58 Literator and Writer
59 Nobel Prize for Pearl S. Buck
60 In Memorium Lev Shestov (1866â1938)
61 Homo Ludens
1 Huizingaâs Work about the Play Element in Culture
â1.1âThe Cultural Historian and the Problem of Play and Seriousness
2 Learned Foray into Nomansland
PART 7
1939
62 Book Reviewer and Book Critic
63 The Average
1 Bartje as the Measure of All Things
â1.1âThe Cobbler and His Last
2 Hanseatics v. Pirates
64 German and European Future
1 A Book about the Education of Youth in the Third Reich
â1.1âThe Totalitarian System in Pedagogy
2 How Will Youth Respond?
3 From the family to the Hitler Youth
65 Thomas Mann in Our Country
1 He seeks respite at the North Sea
â1.1âModerate optimism of a pessimistic temperament
66 The Construct Civilization
1 On the Frontier of Civilization and Culture
â1.1âErasmus as Moralist
2 The Concept Steeped in History
3 About Spitting
4 Repression and Domestication
5 Erasmus:Â Nose-blowing and Sneezing
67 The Importance of Being Earnest
1 Wildeâs Earnestness
68 At Freudâs Death
1 The Viennese Doctor Succeeded Queen Victoria
â1.1âEInfluence through Intellectual Integrity
2 Two Eras
3 Freud Fought for His Truths
PART 8
1940
69 Selma Lagerlöf Deceased
1 The Author of Gösta Berling
â1.1âThe Book That Made Her Famous
2 Her Masterpiece
3 Selma Lagerlöf in Real Life
4 On Writing
70 Rauschningâs Book Seized
1 The Opinion of the Translators
2 One Chapter Omitted
71 The Merchant of Venice
1 The Meaning of Shylock
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 1933 Hitler, in the Lordâs Image
Appendix 2 1934 Einsteinâs Worldview
Appendix 3 1935 Discourse on Freedom
Appendix 4 1937 National Socialism as a Doctrine of Rancor
Appendix 5 1938 Betrayal of the Flags
Appendix 6 1939 Hitlerâs Own Words
Appendix 7 1939 Ter Braakâs Journal 1939
Bibliography
Index
Introducing Menno ter Braak (1902â1940)
1 A Note on Translation, Selections, Etc.
PART 1
1933
1 Morgensternâs Enchanted World
1 The Spirit of Hieronymus Bosch
2 A People and Its Myth
1 Emigrants about Germany
3 André Malraux: La Condition Humaine
PART 2
1934
4 Jakob Wassermann
5 The Place of the Newspaper Critic
1 A New Yearâs Meditation
6 Hitlerâs Mein Kampf
7 The German Writer Heinz Liepmann Under Arrest
1 A Worrisome Precedent
8 Literary Awards
1 The Nobel Prize in Particular
â1.1âIvan Bunin, Mityaâs Love
2 Objective and Subjective
3 Prizewinners
4 Ivan Bunin
5 Lyrical Decay
9 The Novel as Document
1 The Significance of Max Havelaar
â1.1âObjections to the documentary Novel
10 Art and the Art of Storytelling
11 Hero Worship
1 Carlyleâs âLiving Rockâ
2 No Recipe for Heroes
3 The Book and the Newspaper
12 Races
1 Race as Self-glorification
2 Horizontal-Vertical
3 Apologia for Jewry, Lack of Self-criticism
13 Writing as Enchantment
1 Literature and Advertising
â1.1âWriters Who Have âNothing to Sayâ
2 Persuasion and Poverty of Ideas
14 Conversation with Erika Mann
15 The Simple Style
16 Le Chemin des Dames
1 The Writing Woman and Her Genre
â1.1âPossibilities and Limits
2 âWomanâ and âLadyâ
17 The European Spirit
1 A Gathering of Intellectuals in Paris
2 Thinking European:Â a Concern of Intellectuals 69
3 Politics Non Grata
4 Pros and Cons
18 The Simple Task
1 Weekly Masterpieces in the Haagsche Post
2 Disadvantages of the Reviewing Patent
19 Objective Criticism
1 Dr. Ritterâs Case for Mediocrity
2 What Is âDescriptionâ?
3 45% Subjectivity
20 Temporary Illiteracy
1 The Benefit of Not Reading
2 A Monster of Civilization:Â Homo Lector
3 When Reading becomes Dangerous
4 One Book, One Person!
21 Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844â1934
1 Misconstruing His Personality
2 Nietzscheâs Race Problem
3 Nietzsche and the Antisemites
4 The Appropriation
PART 3
1935
22 Ethics of the Weapons Industry
1 Nations Will Always Abuse Their Weapons
2 The Benefits of War
23 The War Film Okraina (a Film by Boris Barnet)
Dames
Othello
26 Popular History (i)
1 Good and Bad Popularization
27 Popular History (ii)
1 Historical Materialism
â1.1âHistorical Materialism and Its Usefulness for the Historian
ââ1.1.1âNo Deadly âImpartialityâ
28 Max Havelaar:Â Multatuliâs Timeless Book, 1869â1935
1 The Meaning of Max Havelaarâs Readability
29 Writersâ Congress in Paris (I)
1 Paris, June 24
30 Writersâ Congress in Paris (ii)
1 Paris, 25 June
1.1âThe Problem of Individualism Goes Begging
ââ1.1.1âWhat Is Gideâs Future?
31 Russian Literature
1 Where Does Literature Belong?
32 Our Humanity
1 Humanity âClose to Homeâ
2 The Individual and His Meaning of Life
33 Huizingaâs Defense of Culture
34 Helping Writers!
35 Aphorisms (i)
1 Between Flaubert and Nietzsche
36 André Gideâs the Immoralist
1 Synopsis (Provided by Ter Braak)
2 The Autobiography
PART 4
1936
37 Eros as Rebel
1 Lawrence as Author of âShocking Wordsâ
38 Thomas Mann under Fire
1 An Attack on His Position by Schwarzschild
1.1âBetween Third Reich and Emigration
39 Thomas Mann Speaks
1 Declares his opposition to Hitlerâs Germany
1.1âHatred of Jews Concerns Europe and the Higher Levels of German Culture
40 About Franz Kafka (i)
1 A First-rate Jewish Writer
â1.1âHis style and existential predicament
2 A World of His Own
3 Gate, Gatekeeper, Man of the Country
41 Emigration Embraced
1 Falling from Germany, Love of Germany
â1.1âA Novel on the Frontier of Two Countries
2 The Surprise of the Unknown
3 Falling into the Netherlands
42 Unemployment
1 Crisis in the Work Ethic
â1.1âThe Generation of War Children
2 Laborâs Don Quixote
43 Freudâs Impact
1 European Intellectual Life Inconceivable without Freud
â1.1âNot âFreudismâ but Critical Gratitude
44 Humanist
1 Erasmusâ Struggle in Behalf Tolerance
â1.1âHis life in Letters
2 Warring Instinct of the Pacifist
45 History or Criticism?
1 Objectivity v. Subjectivity
46 Committee of Vigilance of Anti-National Socialist Intellectuals
1 Defense of Intellectual Freedom
47 Paradoxical Democracy
1 Prohibition of Die Pfeffermühle
2 Democracy as Weakness and as Strength
48 Thomas Mann No Longer German
1 The Final Phase of a Development
â1.1âNobel Prize without Fatherland
PART 5
1937
49 Thomas Mann v. Bonn
1 Open Letter to the German Academic Establishment
â1.1âResponse to âthe Betrayal of the Intellectualsâ
2 Honorary Doctorate Rescinded
3 National Socialism and War
50 Machiavelli
1 His Breviary for Rulers
2 The Trajectory of a Book
3 Realism v. Idealism
51 Ranking
1 A Militant Construct Par Excellence
2 Subjectivity of the Ranking Construct
52 About Franz Kafka (ii)
1 End and Beginning
â1.1âMaster of the Dream
2 Jew, German, Czech, Prague
3 âDecadent without Decadenceâ
4 The Dream
5 Kafka v. Freud
53 Aphorisms (ii)
1 Differences between a Court and Sermonizing Culture
54 Suicide and the Writer
55 Ortega as Erasmus
1 Historical Reason v. Cartesianism
2 Politicians and Intellectuals Have Different Tasks
3 The United States of Europe Not a Utopian Dream
4 âImbecilesâ of Left and Right
PART 6
1938
56 Diderotâs Dilettantism
1 An Undogmatic Mind without Prophetic Gestures
2 Diderot as Mentor and Writer for Pleasure
57 Tarentella
1 Jeanette MacDonald in a Musical Spy Film
58 Literator and Writer
59 Nobel Prize for Pearl S. Buck
60 In Memorium Lev Shestov (1866â1938)
61 Homo Ludens
1 Huizingaâs Work about the Play Element in Culture
â1.1âThe Cultural Historian and the Problem of Play and Seriousness
2 Learned Foray into Nomansland
PART 7
1939
62 Book Reviewer and Book Critic
63 The Average
1 Bartje as the Measure of All Things
â1.1âThe Cobbler and His Last
2 Hanseatics v. Pirates
64 German and European Future
1 A Book about the Education of Youth in the Third Reich
â1.1âThe Totalitarian System in Pedagogy
2 How Will Youth Respond?
3 From the family to the Hitler Youth
65 Thomas Mann in Our Country
1 He seeks respite at the North Sea
â1.1âModerate optimism of a pessimistic temperament
66 The Construct Civilization
1 On the Frontier of Civilization and Culture
â1.1âErasmus as Moralist
2 The Concept Steeped in History
3 About Spitting
4 Repression and Domestication
5 Erasmus:Â Nose-blowing and Sneezing
67 The Importance of Being Earnest
1 Wildeâs Earnestness
68 At Freudâs Death
1 The Viennese Doctor Succeeded Queen Victoria
â1.1âEInfluence through Intellectual Integrity
2 Two Eras
3 Freud Fought for His Truths
PART 8
1940
69 Selma Lagerlöf Deceased
1 The Author of Gösta Berling
â1.1âThe Book That Made Her Famous
2 Her Masterpiece
3 Selma Lagerlöf in Real Life
4 On Writing
70 Rauschningâs Book Seized
1 The Opinion of the Translators
2 One Chapter Omitted
71 The Merchant of Venice
1 The Meaning of Shylock
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 1933 Hitler, in the Lordâs Image
Appendix 2 1934 Einsteinâs Worldview
Appendix 3 1935 Discourse on Freedom
Appendix 4 1937 National Socialism as a Doctrine of Rancor
Appendix 5 1938 Betrayal of the Flags
Appendix 6 1939 Hitlerâs Own Words
Appendix 7 1939 Ter Braakâs Journal 1939
Bibliography
Index
All interested in the confluence of culture, history, and politics in the turbulent decade of the 1930s: literary and cultural historians, literary critics, historians proper.