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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.
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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