Zwischen Herd und Wissenschaft, zwischen Skalpell und Betstuhl: Rezeption gesellschaftlich relevanter Diskurse in den ersten zwei Dekaden des 20.
Between Stove and Science, between Scalpel and Rosary. The Perception of Relevant Social and Political Discourses in Three Dramas by Moravian Authors

Summary/Abstract: The new scientific and social discourses which first appeared in the 19th century and caused the decomposition of seemingly solid social and political fundaments have been intensively perceived in different kinds of literature. In the first two decades of the 20th century the interest for these topics became evident as well in the writings of authors, whose works are usually labeled as “regional”. Drama represented an ideal medium for dealing with themes such as emancipation, equality of rights, ethics in natural sciences, or the boundaries of belief in progress etc. The basis for the analysis of the literary perception of these topics are three dramas written by Karl Hans Strobl, Ernst Lohwag and Hans Müller, authors whose life and work were in some way connected with Moravia. In their theatre plays “Die Starken” (1903), “Übergangsmenschen” (1903) and “Der Schöpfer” (1918), the above mentioned discourses are reflected in a very specific way. It is possible to find some analogies which indicate similar attitudes of these authors to the new fields of discourse. Especially these works, which are beyond the “great literature”, reflect probably in the most immediate way the public perception of the themes which were popular in those days. Due to the specific historic and social background of the three selected pieces they are an ideal mirror of the public opinion, all the more because the genre “drama” has always served as a suitable literary medium for the reflection of the current fields of discourses.

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