Hanns Eisler routinely expressed his discontent with the state of music and society in the late 1920s in Die Rote Fahne—an organ of the Marxist revolutionary organization, the Spartakusbund, to which he often contributed. His 1928 essay “Man baut um,” among the most notable of these writings, declares that the high expenditures in art—such as the construction of a fourteen-million Mark opera house—to be the result of capitalist greed rather than a reflection of the desire for musical performances, as had been suggested. Although the cost of the new venue is the subject in this satirical passage, this contains a secondary accusation. With a grotesque sense of amusement, he suggests that schoolchildren are certainly content to go without breakfast because they understand the importance of the opera building. In doing so, he sheds light on the human consequences of material desires. Caustic accusations regarding various aspects of musical culture are a common occurrence in Eisler’s writings, particularly in the years surrounding his break with his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg—1924-1927. During this time, not only did Eisler become increasingly vocal in his printed critiques, but his ideologies became apparent in his compositional style as well. This thesis contends that two of his musical parodies between 1924 and 1927, Palmström (1924) and Zeitungsausschnitte (1925-1927) contain satirical criticisms of contemporary musical consumption and content, which are paralleled in his published prosaic critiques.

<p>Certain Swiss authors, such as Gottfried Keller, Robert Walser, Friedrich Durrenmatt, and Max Frisch, are more frequently translated into English than others. To this day, Adolf Muschg has belonged to the latter; his texts have been translated, but into Eastern European languages rather than English. I decided to translate him because his prose appeals to a wide audience and deserves to be introduced to English-speaking readers. Muschg has concerned himself with literature and its related fields for many years. Contemporary Swiss and international issues are directly confronted in his writings, where he also analyzes the individual's relationships with culture and society. Not only does he use a variety of themes, but also an array of narrative techniques and structural elements. Diversity is extremely important when considering a text for translation, because the more diverse the author's writing style is, the more interesting and challenging the translation task will be. After having read a selection of Muschg's short prose, the stories "Besuch in der Schweiz II and "Wullschleger Country" caught my interest, because of the similarities In themes. The central figures in both stories come from different backgrounds: Swiss and German in the first; Swiss and Thai in the second. Thus Switzerland is observed from the perspective of natives and foreigners; by employing these opposing points of view Muschg can also voice his criticism of the respective culture and society. Adolf Muschg's texts challenge the translator due to the cultural contexts of his themes and the structural variety of his style; I attempted to consistently incooperate these aspects in my translations. In addition, by discussing the difficulties associated with these aspects in a detailed commentary, it becomes evident how much the translation process has to rely on interpretation, or else not every textual element is accounted for.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

This thesis examines the planning and organization of the Munich 1972 and Seoul 1988 Olympic Games with a specific focus on how the South Korean and West German governments attempted to use the Games to positively change their images abroad. Both countries attempted to distance themselves not only from their own war torn pasts, but also from their Communist counterparts, East Germany and North Korea. The West German government (and the Munich Olympic Committee) hoped to create a “peaceful” and “carefree atmosphere” that would directly counter images of Nazism, and the South Korean government (and the Seoul Olympic Committee) sought to use the Olympics to legitimize a military dictatorship and prove the country’s economic growth following the Korean War. By giving the Games so much importance, however, both governments transformed the Olympics into a flashpoint for international and domestic conflicts, and unforeseen events, such as the Black September terrorist attack, the South Korean democracy movement, and North Korea’s demands to co-host the Games, changed and defined the public images of both the Games and their host countries.

Founded in 1918 following the carnage of World War One until the Nazi takeover of 1933, the Weimar Republic is widely renowned as a bastion of freedom and democracy that existed only briefly between the reigns of two authoritarian regimes. The Weimar period witnessed an unprecedented prosperity of art and culture, with tremendous advancements in the fields of literature, the visual arts, and film. However, the remnants of the old Empire persisted within the new Republic, and new fascist factions rose to prominence within German society. Artists that lived through the era, both liberal and conservative, observed and provided their opinions on this phenomenon that would culminate in the advent of Nazi Germany. The purpose of this paper is to examine works of art across genres and by different artists, establish a connection with the fascist trends in Weimar Germany, and understand the attitudes of each respective artist towards the decline of German society into illiberalism and barbarism. I argue that artists anticipated fascist political and cultural developments in the years prior to the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, and look at the various artists in the realms of literature, the visual arts, and film.

In his essay, “Musik und Musikverständnis” (1927), Hanns Eisler (1898-1962) wrote that "the evaluation of a piece of music calls for the understanding of the elements of harmony, polyphony, and form," and that one who is not privy to this understanding will "be in the same situation as one who hears a speech in Chinese, without an understanding of Chinese.” Eisler maintained that music could be rendered intelligible through “a gradual rebuilding of musical culture.” This new musical culture, which he believed could only occur after the proletariat seized societal power from the bourgeoisie, would promote musical education and encourage the composition of intelligible music. Although Eisler had composed music for the proletariat throughout his career, the creation of the German Democratic Republic facilitated his participation in educating the proletariat in aspects of traditionally bourgeois culture. One key example of this was his composition Das Vorbild [The Example] (1952). This thesis presents the first detailed analysis of Das Vorbild and demonstrates it as representative of Eisler’s musical and societal aspirations—particularly concerning education. Analysis of the working manuscripts for Das Vorbild in conjunction with Eisler’s writings reveals a piece that embodies the utopist aspirations of this Marxist composer. In light of this analysis, I contend that Das Vorbild is representative of Eisler’s work toward a new musical culture within a socialist society.

Because of his Swiss origin and background, Max Frisch has personally experienced the confinements imposed upon the individual by the expectations and demands of society as well as of a national government. He treats the theme of confinement in many of his works, but especially in his prose. In agreement with the spirit of his generation, Frisch rejects the claim of society upon the individual to conform or to become an integral part of a collective. All human relations which impose upon his way of thinking or acting are rejected and regarded as "claims of imprisonment." Marriage, class consciousness and government are three forms of imprisonment which serve and enforce the good order of society, but which also obstruct and almost prevent the possibility for the individual to develop his potential. This point of view as such is not new in the literature of the twentieth century; however, Frisch does not treat the subject of individualization in an aggressive manner, as do many other contemporary writers. On the contrary, he sees the solution to the problem of confinement in the defensive attitude of the individual who recognizes and accepts reality, whatever this recognition and acceptance may imply. Frisch's three heroes try to escape the threefold prison mentioned above: Stiller denies his own personality and chooses' a new "I"; Homo Faber elevates technique and progress and depends upon the power of cybernetics to guide his actions; Gantenbein tries to escape reality by playacting different roles or fantasized stories and situations: "ich stelle mir vor..... (I imagine....). All three fail in their attempt to escape and return to their imprisonment, only to recognize too late that, "Urn die Welt zu ertragen, um stand zu halten sich selbst, um am Leben zu bleiben" (in order to suffer the world, to suffer oneself, in order to stay alive) one should face reality in a defensive manner. If reality does not measure up to one's ideals or expectations, the responsibility for change rests upon the shoulders of the individual, each at his own place and within his abilities. In this thesis I examine the reasons for the breakdown in the relations of these three heroes with their environment and compare and contrast their behavior with one another. This is preceded by an attempt to establish the reason why Frisch preoccupies himself so intensely with the theme of confinement and the role which his Swiss background plays in his ideology. The following three novels were chosen for this study: Stiller, Roman, Fischer Bucherei, Frankfurt a/Main und Hamburg, 1970; Homo Faber, Ein Bericht, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a/Main, 1969; and Mein Name sei Gantenbein, Roman, Fischer Bucherei, Frankfurt a/Main and Hamburg, 1968. Besides these three novels extensive references are made to Frisch's diary, Tagebuch 1946-1949, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a/Main, 1965.

My thesis compares two plays: Dantons Tod by Georg Büchner (1813 – 1837) and Die Sache Danton by Stanisława Przybyszewska (1901 – 1935). Despite the difference of their origin and the time the plays were written, Büchner and Przybyszewska both show a very strong interest for the same genre and share the same literary theme, which is expressed by the common topic of the French Revolution. The main purpose of my thesis is to compare Büchner’s Dantons Tod (1835) and Przybyszewska’s Die Sache Danton (1928). Even though the playwrights show spiritual affinity and somewhat similar views on the revolution, meaning it is needed for changing the existing social structure; in their works they depict their protagonist very differently. While the characters in Büchner’s play present a deterministic view of the world and history, Przybyszewska’s characters actively engage to cause change. Whereas the end result is the same, Danton dies, the female characters in Przybyszewska, despite the love for their men, define their femininity and view of the world from within and not merely in relation to their men. Przybyszewska’s male characters are more idealistic and persevering than those of Büchner.

Perhaps Bertolt Brecht's most obvious intention in connection with the theater was to help change the economic conditions, under which the people in a capitalistic society live. But, according to him, this could only be possible if the people were to develop a critical attitude and awareness of the contradictions that exist in such a society, in which "exploiters exploit the exploited", to put it in Brecht's straightforward terminology. It was his goal in the theater to help the spectator achieve this critical attitude. However, it was his opinion that this could only be done by rejecting the traditional theater of illusion, in which the spectator identifies completely with the characters and is "manipulated" by the supposed feelings of the hero and by the supposed necessity in the order of occurrences and by the supposed necessity of the occurrences themselves. To be critical means, of course, that not only are the feelings of the spectator involved, but also his thoughts. In order to introduce thought into the spectator, it was necessary for Brecht to break the spectator's illusion that he was participating in the actions on stage and that these actions were real. This led to the most significant of Brecht's theater contributions, which in English is perhaps, best called alienation. Actually, it is more accurate to say that his particular use of this element was his contribution. That is to say that his application of certain illusion-destroying techniques was not simply for aesthetic purposes, but rather for societal purposes. Each of Brecht's "alienations" leads in fact, in the ideal theater situation, to a revealing of some contradiction in the depicted societal conditions. It was my goal in this thesis to analyze the "alienation" as a countermovement to the theatrical illusion. In order to do this, it was necessary to analyze the theatrical illusion as well, which comprises the first part of the thesis. The second part is concentrated on "alienation". On a critical basis of acceptance and rejection of two selected thinkers on the subject of illusion I was able to arrive at a concept of illusion, which would also encompass Brecht's own writings concerning the topic. Since Brecht did not research the concept of illusion in a systematic manner, it was discovered in the course of researching his writings that Brecht was referring to two different phenomena with the same word, "illusion" Further, I discovered that it was possible to divide his "alienation" techniques into two different types, which corresponded to the limitation and hindrance respectively of the two types of illusion. I also attempted to construct a step-by-step process, through which the spectator goes whenever an "alienation" appears in a drama by Brecht. This "alienation-process" begins with application of the "alienation" and proceeds to the hoped for change in society. In the third and last part of the thesis I analyzed the main medium of "alienation" which is the language itself. This was done with the purpose in mind of researching Brecht's "alienation" method where it would be most fruitful. And since I was limited to the written text (a live presentation would reveal less of Brecht than of the director of the play), it was obviously the most appropriate research object for this purpose. In order to simplify it for the reader, I limited by references to specific dramas as much as possible to one play, namely "The Good Woman of Sezuan".

Gerhart Hauptmann, whose naturalistic period embraced the years 1885-1906, gave the world a negative picture of the woman who by her demeanor or actions destroys a man. In this thesis a distinction is drawn between lower class, unsophisticated women like Lene Thiel or Hanne Sehäl and more highly educated and somewhat emancipated women such as Anna Mahr and Hanna Elias. The former type destroyed the man through more coarse or brutal methods while the latter naturally employed a higher degree of sophistication exercising their destructive influence. Moreover, the former type married the men they subsequently ruined whereas the latter did not. The one aspect which unites all of the Hauptmann women in these works was the destructive influence, and the corresponding weakness of the men. The hopelessness of the situation in which the men found themselves was one of the important characteristics of Naturalism. No defender of women's emancipation, Hauptmann scorned the enlightened, educated women by making them just as unsuccessful as their less educated and unsophisticated counterparts. This point was made more distinctly in a Hauptmann drama of a later period entitled Insel der Grossen Mutter which appeared in 1924. The history of the time indicates the presence of a significant movement in the field of women's emancipation in Europe. Many of the models for Hauptmann's women were taken from real life. With the possible exception of Anna Mahr in Einsame Menschen, Hugh Garten's assertion that Hauptmann's women "are closer than men to the irrational forces of life" appears true. This exception may also be one of the finest characterizations of Hauptmann. The intrigant is remembered as one of the contributions of this commanding figure of German literature.

In this thesis an attempt is made to show the impression World War I made on the mind of a young German author. I have tried to interpret his outlook on war and to show how he could arrive at such a seemingly sordid statement as "living is killing". In 1920 a relatively unknown member of the Reichswehr published an account of World War I that soon became a bestseller. The book was In Stahlgewittern, its author Ernst Jünger. It was followed two years later by Der Kampf als inneres Erlebnis. Their common subject was war. The success of the two novels served to catapult Ernst Jünger from being a highly decorated officer of the war, but otherwise widely unknown, into the limelight of fame. It opened the doors for him to the intellectual and literary circles of Germany and later on of Europe. Although the subject of both works specifically pertains to World War I, almost the whole length of which the author had seen on the western front, their scope is much wider. Jünger attempts to show how he sees war in general. To make this clear he deals lengthily with the word of Heraklit of war as the father of all things. At the time that Jünger published these books which show war as a positive experience, the general literary feeling in Europe was still strongly anti-war. Nevertheless he managed not only to voice his opinion, but also to use these works especially as the starting point of an immensely successful and prolific literary career. Even though Ernst Jünger does not deny the horrors and atrocities of war, his books are an apotheosis of the subject. Paradoxically, war to him is the one thing that will serve to perpetuate the human race. This is achieved in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest. In war a new elite or new "race" is born. Just as war has fathered it, it in turn will be responsible for the following generations. Race, in Jünger's sense, is not a biological term, rather a philosophical experience. To survive, and to create the new man, the soldier has again to be made aware of his past. Only by linking his prehistoric existence with modern man and modern man's accomplishments, will he be able to form this new race. Blood, i.e. instinct rather than reasoning, originality rather than the stifling process of learning, is modern man's only means for survival. Especially with this theory Jünger came dangerously close to the world of ideas of National-Socialism. Even though Jünger was opposed to the crude ideology of the Nazis, he did little to defend his works against their use and exploitation. This, as well as his own ideas about war, has made him one of the most controversial German writers of the twentieth century.