The first critical anthology of major programmatic texts of cultural journalism from the crucial period known in Germany as the Vormärz, the time before the March Revolutions of 1848.
Cultural journalism-a broad category of periodical writing encompassing criticism, reporting on the arts, popular culture, politics, and society-was one of the most dynamic fields of German intellectual activity in the nineteenth century, particularly during the crucial period in Germany's history known as the Vormärz, leading up to the March revolutions of 1848. Many of the most prominent German writers, among them Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Börne and Goethe, were active in cultural journalism during this period of increasing nationalism and clamor for a unified, democratic Germany on one hand and absolutist repression, including censorship, on the other.
This critical anthology is the first collection, in English or German, of major programmatic texts of German cultural journalism from the period. It provides complete texts or excerpts, many for the first time in English, along with critical introductions to each text by a leading scholar in German Studies or a related field. It reveals the richness and dynamism of the period's discussion of the status and function of journalism and its significance for politics, aesthetics, historiography and philosophy. Of interest to scholars in German Studies, media and book history, and those working on the history of political journalism, the book is also well suited for undergraduate and graduate courses on European literature, history and media studies.
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction - Sean Franzel and Michael Swellander
I. NEW BEGINNINGS: JOURNALISTIC PROGRAMS
1. J. F. Cotta recruits Jean Paul to contribute to the inaugural issue of a
new belletristic journal and Jean Paul offers readers a vision of its end
(1807) - Sean Franzel
Jean Paul, "Farewell Speech on the Occasion of the Future End of the Morning
Pages"
2. The Berlin Evening Pages takes to the stage of Berlin publishing (1810) -
Volker Mergenthaler
Heinrich von Kleist, "Introduction"
3. Joseph von Görres exhorts the German press to cultivate an independent
spirit (1814) - Sean Franzel
Joseph Görres, "The German Newspapers"
4. Lorenz Oken evaluates the current situation of scientific review journals
in Isis or Encyclopedic Journal (1818) - Christiane Arndt and Nicholas Saul
Lorenz Oken, "On Criticism and Review Journals"
5. Ludwig Börne elaborates his vision of a public sphere where nothing is
off limits (1818) - Michael Swellander
Ludwig Börne, "Introduction" to The Scale
6. Johann Peter Hebel returns to editing his yearly calendar The Rhenish
Family Friend after a four-year absence (1819) - Michael Swellander and
Ilinca Iurascu
Johann Peter Hebel, "The Rhenish Family Friend's Preface"
II. EDITING, CRITICISM, AND THE BUSINESS OF JOURNAL LITERATURE
7. Helmine von Chézy reports from Napoleonic France and highlights the
achievements of women writers (1803, 1805, 1820) - Karin Baumgartner
Helmine von Chézy, Introductions to
French Miscellanies
Life and Art in Paris
Iduna
8. F.A. Brockhaus surveys the market for yearly anthologies in his
Conversations-Lexicon and advertises his own print products in the process
(1820) - Nicola Kaminski
Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, "Pocketbook and Almanac Literature in Germany"
9. The Polytechnic Journal advertises new high-speed printing technology for
the uneven German print market (1826) - Petra S. McGillen
Andreas Bauer and Friedrich Koenig, "High Speed Presses of Mssrs. Bauer and
König in Oberzell near Würzburg"
10. Wilhelm Hauff picks apart contemporary belletristic journals (1827) -
Petra S. McGillen
Wilhelm Hauff, "The Belletristic Journals in Germany"
11. Willibald Alexis offers readers topics for conversation about
present-day Berlin (1831, 1838) - Lynne Tatlock
Willibald Alexis, "Walks through Berlin"
"Berlin in its New Form"
12. In his satirical entertainment journal Berliner Don Quixote, Adolf
Glaßbrenner digs graves for journals and anticipates the burial of his own
(1832-33) - Carlos Spoerhase and Pauline Solvi
Adolph Glaßbrenner, "The Graveyard of Journals"
Final Article from Berliner Don Quixote
13. The publishers Carl Joseph Meyer and Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer
attempt different journal projects in the face of censorship (1830s) -
Kirsten Belgum
Carl Joseph Meyer and Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, selections from The
House Friend and The People's Friend
14. Ernst Keil founds the revolutionary journal The Lighthouse before
turning to the less political format of the domestic journal The Garden Arbor
(1846, 1853) - Kirsten Belgum
Ernst Keil, selections from The Lighthouse and The Garden Arbor (with
Ferdinand Stolle)
15. Karl Gutzkow skeptically evaluates contemporary illustrated journal
literature (1834) - Shane D. Peterson
Karl Gutzkow, "Penny Literature"
16. Heinrich von Kleist's Berlin Evening Pages anticipates the journalistic
applications of telegraphy almost forty years before the technology is
introduced for the first time in German newspaper publishing (1810) - Jake
Fraser
Heinrich von Kleist, "Useful Inventions: Proposal for a Projectile Post"
Bernhard Wolff, announcement of introduction of telegraphic dispatches
(1849)
III. JOURNALISM AS CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
17. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe insists on journals' role in the development
of world literature (1828) - Daniel Purdy
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Foreign Relations"
18. Therese Huber leaves her mark on the Morning Pages for the Educated
Classes as editor and contributor (1817) - Christine Lehleiter
Letters from Therese Huber to Paul Usteri
Therese Huber, "Can a Female Novelist Depict Men, and Is a Man Fit to Serve
as the Hero of a Novel?"
19. August Lewald and Gustav Kühne introduce European society to Germany in
Europe, Chronicle of the Educated World (1836-1846) - Nora Ramtke
August Lewald, selections from Europe
F. Gustav Kühne, "Foreword," Europe (1846)
20. From Parisian exile, Arnold Ruge sees the future of political discourse
in journals rather than books (1844) - Michael Bies
Arnold Ruge, "Plan for the German-French Yearbooks"
21. Heinrich Börnstein publishes a new journal in Paris for German émigrés
(1843) - Sean Franzel
Heinrich Börnstein, selections from Forward!
IV. JOURNALISM UNDER CENSORSHIP AND POLITICAL EMANCIPATION
22. The German Confederation, and then the Grand Duchy of Baden, pass press
laws of differing liberality (1819 and 1831) - David Meola
The Press Law of the German Federal Assembly, Sept. 20, 1819
Press Law for the Grand Duchy of Baden, December 28, 1832
23. From beyond the grave,August von Kotzebue writes letters to the editor
of the Literary Weekly critiquing censorship (1820) - Nora Ramtke
Adolph Müllner, fictional letters as August Kotzebue
24. Karl Gutzkow, banned from publishing in Prussia, considers a practical
approach to censorship (1837) - Michael Swellander
Karl Gutzkow, "Articles of a Censorship Code"
25. Ludwig Philippson introduces his new newspaper as an impartial organ for
all Jewish interests (1837) - Andreas Brämer
Ludwig Philippson, "On Our Editorial Principles"
26. Louise Aston asserts her "free personality" against the Berlin press
(1846) - Viktorija Bili
Louise Aston, excerpts from My Emancipation, Expulsion, and Defense
V. JOURNALISM AS HISTORY AND THE HISTORY OF JOURNALISM
27. Heinrich Heine begins, and abruptly abandons, a historical writing
project on the origins of the French Revolution (1832) - Michael Swellander
Heinrich Heine, selections from Conditions in France
28. A new works edition presents Friedrich von Gentz, a figurehead of the
Restoration establishment, as a classic German journalist-author (1832) -
Sean Franzel
Gustav Schlesier, "Introduction to the Writings of Gentz"
29. Heinrich Heine eulogizes the German-Jewish writer Ludwig Marcus and the
Society for Jewish Culture and Jewish Studies (1844) - David Meola
Heinrich Heine, "Remembrances"
30. Robert Prutz begins his history of German journalism in search of "the
most obscured veins of our times" (1845) - Johannes F. Lehmann
Robert Prutz, introduction, History of German Journalism
31. Heinrich Börnstein looks back on a journalistic career in Europe and
North America (1881) - Sean Franzel
Heinrich Börnstein, "Journalistic Activities," Memoirs
Index
SEAN FRANZEL is Professor of German at the University of Missouri. MICHAEL SWELLANDER is Assistant Teaching Professor of German at Skidmore College, NY. KARIN BAUMGARTNER is Professor of German at the University of Utah. LYNNE TATLOCK is the Hortense and Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities and Chair of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
