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Carl Sternheims Die Hose : Humor and Satire in its Historical Context. USA or Germany: Which nation has existed longer?. USA: 1776 Germany 1871 What was happening in “Germany” before 1871?. The German Empire (Wilheminian Germany) 1871-1918. Wilhelm I. Wilhelm II. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Carl Sternheims Die Hose: Humor and Satire in its
Historical Context
USA or Germany: Which nation has existed longer?
• USA: 1776
• Germany 1871
• What was happening in “Germany” before 1871?
The German Empire (Wilheminian Germany) 1871-
1918
Wilhelm I
Wilhelm II
Carl Sternheim’s Die Hose (1910)
• The first of a cycle of comedies entitled “Aus dem bürgerlichen Heldenleben” (From the Heroic Life of the Bourgeois)
Social Developments in Wilheminian Germany
• Shift from agrarian to industrial society
• Growing city Populations
• Technological change, emerging mass culture, higher literacy rates
The shift from an “estates-based society” to a class system
• The aristocracy, the bourgeoisie(middle class), the proletariat(working class).
• The “feudalization” of the bourgeoisie: mimicry of the aristocracy in the interest of social climbing/success.
• Paternalistic authority, militarism, honor codes
The Subject (written 1914)
Satirical Cartoon from 1897
der Pöbel: the rabble
Die Menge: the masses
das Volk: the people
Philosophy and The Arts
• Friedrich Nietzsche: Perspektivismus
• Fin de siécle Berlin and Vienna: artistic innovation and experimentation
• Max Reinhardt’s directing at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin: 1905-1930
• Socially conscious/critical art
Franz Marc, “Der Tiger” 1912
Social Movements
• The Workers’ movement and the Rise of the Social Democratic Party
• Increasing Strikes and conflict between business managers and labor force
Women’s Rights
• Helene Stöcker’s Essay “die moderne Frau” (1893)
• The restrictions of “Kinder, Küche, Kirche”
• The growing suffrage movement in the early 20th century
Women’s clothing
New, less restrictive clothing in 1903
Jews in Germany in the Wilheminian Era
• Jews: roughly 1% of the German population in 1900
• Many Jews were relatively integrated into German society.
• Anti-Semitism was a European phenomenon not necessarily specific to Germany at the time.
• Carl Sternheim was Jewish
Farce and Satire
• Definitions• What aspects of
Wilheminian society does the play critique or ridicule?
• To what extent is the critique applicable to US society in 2009?
“die Hose” Frankfurt, 1986