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Rationality and the Poet
Recollections of Bertolt Brecht and Selected Writings
Series: - Historical Materialism Book Series, Volume: 359
Rationality and the Poet is a lively account of the discussions between the young Bertolt Brecht and the Marxian Political Economist Fritz Sternberg. Set in the late Weimer Republic, these reminiscences chart the rise and fall of the friendship between the poet and the theoretician, from their initial encounters and Brechtâs induction into Marxist political economy to their increasing tensions over the Soviet Union. Sternberg charted an independent position between the Second and Third Internationals and remains a largely undiscovered theorist of the period spanning the end of the First World War to the Cold War. In this volume a number of his writings have been selected from the period of his most intensive friendship with Brecht to highlight the versatile and independent socialist cast of Sternbergâs mind.
Here published in English for the first time, Rationality and the Poet casts a new light on the development of Brechtâs politics and the relationship between society and drama that informed his art.
Here published in English for the first time, Rationality and the Poet casts a new light on the development of Brechtâs politics and the relationship between society and drama that informed his art.
Fritz Sternberg was a major German author on political economy, author of the classic Imperialism (1929) and Brechtâs âfirst teacherâ in Marxism.
Helga Grebing (1930â2017) was a historian and political scientist.
Joel Rasbash has translated a number of German works for the Historical Materialism Book Series, most recently Alex Demirovicâs The Nonconformist Intellectual: From Critical theory to the Frankfurt School.
Helga Grebing (1930â2017) was a historian and political scientist.
Joel Rasbash has translated a number of German works for the Historical Materialism Book Series, most recently Alex Demirovicâs The Nonconformist Intellectual: From Critical theory to the Frankfurt School.
Translatorâs Preface
Introduction
âHelga Grebing
Recollections of Bertolt Brecht
Appendix 1: The Decline of Drama: Letters to a Dramatist by Mr. X
Appendix 2: Extract from Der Imperialismus
Appendix 3: Dialogue â Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Sternberg and Erwin Piscator
Appendix 4: Sternberg on Shakespeareâs Julius Caesar
Appendix 5: Note on Ruth Berlau
Appendix 6: Letter to Heinz Paechter 15 July 1963
Appendix 7: Entry in Brechtâs Work Journal
Appendix 8: Letter from Lucinde Worringer 18 August 1956
The Social Lessons of the German Revolution for the Reconstruction of Palestine (1918)
Der Imperialismus and the Critics (1929)
Fascism and the Middle Classes (1932)
Draft of an Economic Programme of the Fourth International (1933)
The Sociology of Repression: Karl Marx and the Centenary of Freud (1961)
Chronology of Rationality and the Poet
Biographical Information
References
Index
Introduction
âHelga Grebing
Part 1: Rationality and the Poet
Recollections of Bertolt Brecht
Appendix 1: The Decline of Drama: Letters to a Dramatist by Mr. X
Appendix 2: Extract from Der Imperialismus
Appendix 3: Dialogue â Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Sternberg and Erwin Piscator
Appendix 4: Sternberg on Shakespeareâs Julius Caesar
Appendix 5: Note on Ruth Berlau
Appendix 6: Letter to Heinz Paechter 15 July 1963
Appendix 7: Entry in Brechtâs Work Journal
Appendix 8: Letter from Lucinde Worringer 18 August 1956
Part 2: Selected Writings
The Social Lessons of the German Revolution for the Reconstruction of Palestine (1918)
Der Imperialismus and the Critics (1929)
Fascism and the Middle Classes (1932)
Draft of an Economic Programme of the Fourth International (1933)
The Sociology of Repression: Karl Marx and the Centenary of Freud (1961)
Chronology of Rationality and the Poet
Biographical Information
References
Index
This book is especially relevant for general readers with an interest in 20th-century socialism, communism, Bertolt Brecht, and related topics. It is also well-suited for institutions and libraries focused on areas such as 20th-century German cultural history, dramaturgy, socialist and communist movements, and critical theory.