<p>This dissertation explores the meaning of art and religion in fin-de-siècle Vienna through the symphonies of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and the philosophical and dramatic works of the poet Siegfried Lipiner (1856-1911). Using as a framework aesthetic discourses concerning the ability of music to be "read" as a narrative text, this study highlights the significant role of both poet and composer in the cultural and intellectual world of Vienna at the end of the nineteenth century. In this study, I compare and contrast Lipiner's vision of religious renewal with the redemptive narratives in the programs of Mahler's first four symphonies, which were composed during a period when the poet and composer shared a close friendship and intellectual exchange. Furthermore, I also discuss Mahler and Lipiner's works in relation to the writings of the Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1835), the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), and the composer and cultural critic, Richard Wagner (1813-1883), demonstrating how the images of the heroic martyr, the Übermensch and the Volk, play a role in the re-conception of man's relationship to the divine, which is central to Mahler and Lipiner's idea of redemption. However, I also claim that the political and cultural climate of Vienna around 1900 played an important role in their interpretation of these ideas. Despite their public conversion and cultural assimilation, Mahler and Lipiner's Jewish heritage distinctly shaped their interest in artistic-religious redemption both to cope with their own personal feelings of alienation in the society in which they lived, and as a cure for the existential malaise of their time. This study demonstrates not only the significant impact of Lipiner's aesthetic-religious philosophy on Mahler's music, but also portrays their vision of redemption as an re-envisioning of man's relationship to God, which stands in contrast to the modern trend of secularism, and reflects a little-explored dimension of aesthetic and religious culture in fin-de-siècle Vienna.</p> / Dissertation

English: In this thesis I examine the concept of satirical silence as the compositional principle of Karl Kraus’s drama Die letzten Tage der Menschheit to demonstrate the ways in which the features of modern satire introduce the recipient to the construction of its critique. In Kraus’s drama, silence manifests itself twofold: as a reaction to the First World War and as the only remaining form of satire in the context of public war-euphoria and the widespread use of the press and war-coverage as propaganda tools. From the interruption of Kraus’s periodical Die Fackel at the beginning of the war to the satirical treatment of the homefront in his drama, Kraus’s silence represents a performance of imposed powerlessness. By approaching Kraus’s drama with Walter Benjamin’s concept of storytelling, I analyze satirical silence as an appropriate aesthetic response to the prevailing social conditions and thus to the changing character of the public sphere in modern society. Benjamin’s concept of storytelling and his description of incommunicability as a characteristic of post-war society are at the center of my analysis of modern satire as a reception-based literary practice. Given that satire is a social conversation practice between satirist and recipient, I argue that Kraus’s use of drama as a medium for reprocessing the First World War is built upon the ability of the dramatic form to show how silence emerges as the result of a break between the conversation partners of satire. German: In dieser Arbeit beschreibe ich das Konzept des satirischen Schweigens als Gestaltungsform von Karl Kraus’ Drama Die letzten Tage der Menschheit, um hierin die Züge der modernen Satire in der Hinwendung zum Rezipienten zur Formulierung der satirischen Kritik zu erweisen. Das Schweigen manifestiert sich in Kraus’ Drama sowohl als Reaktion gegenüber dem Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkrieges, wie auch als die einzig verbleibende Gestaltungsform der Satire angesichts des Verlusts ihres Publikums an den Kriegsenthusiasmus und die propagandistisch gestimmte mediale Berichterstattung. Von der Unterbrechung der Publikation seiner Zeitschrift Die Fackel zu Beginn des Krieges hin zur Dokumentation der Heimatfront in seinem Drama bekundet das Schweigen des Satirikers eine Ausdruckskraft in der erzwungenen Ausdruckslosigkeit. Mit Walter Benjamins Konzept des Erzählens analysiere ich das satirische Schweigen als angemessene ästhetische Reaktion auf die gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten und somit veränderten Umstände der öffentlichen Rezeption in der modernen Gesellschaft. Benjamins Konzept des Erzählens sowie seine Beschreibung der Unmitteilbarkeit der Nachkriegsgesellschaft bilden die theoretische Fundierung meiner Analyse der modernen Satire als rezeptionsästhetische Kategorie. Ausgehend von dem Verständnis der Satire als ein soziales Gespräch zwischen Satiriker und Rezipient, sehe ich Kraus’ Zuwendung zum Drama als Medium der Aufarbeitung des Ersten Weltkrieges in dem dramatischen Vermögen begründet, das Schweigen als Bruch der Gesprächsteilnehmer, als Bruch der Beziehung von Satire und Öffentlichkeit zu dialogisieren. / Graduate / 2020-09-25