Overview

The first English-language monograph on Hermann Broch's literary and theoretical work on mass hysteria. Austrian Jewish author Hermann Broch (1886-1951), a leading figure of European Modernism, spent decades attempting to understand the phenomenon of mass hysteria. With his work, he hoped to help protect society from the allure of mass hysteria, embodied in the fanatical appeal of National Socialism. He was torn between two approaches to the problem: using literature to diagnose and expose the irrational knowledge that underpins mass hysteria, and employing theory as a more precise and effective means of doing the same. In this first English-language monograph on the topic, Brett E. Sterling traces the development of Broch's understanding of the mass from an initial confrontation in 1918 to a recurring theme in his fiction and ultimately to the monumental but incomplete Massenwahntheorie (Theory of Mass Hysteria, 1939-48). In thorough readings of Broch's major fictional and theoretical works, the analysis centers on the question of how his literature and theory provide distinct but complementary approaches to conceiving and representing the elusive figure of the mass and the attendant experience of mass hysteria. With political extremism and conspiratorial thinking on the rise, Sterling makes the case that Broch's insights into mass hysteria - literary as well as theoretical - are of renewed relevance to a contemporary audience.

Full Product Details

9781640140042

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is one of the best and clearest investigations of Hermann Broch's work that has appeared in recent years. . . . It is the first monograph devoted to the representation and analysis of the modern mass in Broch's narrative and essayistic works. * Journal of Austrian Studies * Notoriously, Hermann Broch never makes it easy for his readers, be it in the tortuous style or the challenging subjects of his writing. Yet as Sterling shows throughout this lucid and thought-inducing study, everything that so exercised Broch during the 'age of extremes' has, alas, become current again today. -- Andrew Barker * Modern Language Review *

This is one of the best and clearest investigations of Hermann Broch's work that has appeared in recent years. . . . It is the first monograph devoted to the representation and analysis of the modern mass in Broch's narrative and essayistic works. Das ist eine der besten und klarsten Untersuchungen, die in den letzten Jahren über Hermann Brochs Werk erschienen sind. ...Es ist die erste Monografie, die sich der Darstellung bzw. Analyse der modernen Masse sowohl im erzählerischen wie essayistischen Werk Brochs widmet. * Journal of Austrian Studies *

This is one of the best and clearest investigations of Hermann Broch's work that has appeared in recent years. . . . It is the first monograph devoted to the representation and analysis of the modern mass in Broch's narrative and essayistic works. Das ist eine der besten und klarsten Untersuchungen, die in den letzten Jahren über Hermann Brochs Werk erschienen sind. ...Es ist die erste Monografie, die sich der Darstellung bzw. Analyse der modernen Masse sowohl im erzählerischen wie essayistischen Werk Brochs widmet. * Journal of Austrian Studies * Notoriously, Hermann Broch never makes it easy for his readers, be it in the tortuous style or the challenging subjects of his writing. Yet as Stirling shows throughout this lucid and thought-inducing study, everything that so exercised Broch during the 'age of extremes' has, alas, become current again today. -- Andrew Barker * Modern Language Review *

Author Information

BRETT E. STERLING is Associate Professor of German at the University of Arkansas.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available