Germany, the First World War, and Cultural Trauma | Perspectives on a Lifeworld in Time of Catastrophe

Richard Schaefer

ISBN 10: 1640141960 / ISBN 13: 9781640141964

Published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2026

About this Item

Germany, the First World War, and Cultural Trauma | Perspectives on a Lifeworld in Time of Catastrophe | Richard Schaefer | Buch | Englisch | 2026 | Boydell & Brewer Ltd | EAN 9781640141964 | Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, 36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr[at]libri[dot]de | Anbieter: preigu.

Seller Inventory # 136193149

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Germany, the First World War, and Cultural Trauma | Perspectives on a Lifeworld in Time of Catastrophe
• Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1640141960
• ISBN 13: 9781640141964
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 18D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 18 millimeters depth
• Weight: 540 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Bücher

About this title

Synopsis

Uses the concept of the lifeworld to explore how sociologist Eugen Rosenstock, revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, novelist Hermann Hesse, and artist Käthe Kollwitz navigated the catastrophic effects of the First World War in Germany.


What happens when the deep assumptions used for making sense of things can no longer be relied on, when faith in the world itself comes into question? At such times, we speak of catastrophe, an experience of profound disorientation that challenges the very core of identity. This book analyzes how a quartet of figures-the sociologist Eugen Rosenstock, the revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, the novelist Hermann Hesse, and the artist Käthe Kollwitz-reckoned with the shattering of identity in Germany, where the First World War, defeat, and revolution touched off profound, and competing, attempts to rethink identity. It explores how these figures wrestled with the calamity confronting Germany from the perspective of the lifeworld, a concept that refers to the tacit assumptions and cognitive routines that keep us feeling secure and oriented in the world. In a series of case studies, it examines how these figures struggled with a loss of faith in the fragile presumption of continuity with the world as they had known it. The lifeworld offers a way to understand the convulsive effects of cultural trauma on the deep structure of human sense-making and an innovative way to rethink Germany's transition from the Kaiserreich to the Weimar Republic.

About the Author

RICHARD SCHAEFER is Professor of History at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.