Staging Failure? Berta Lask's 'Thomas Münzer' (1925) and the 400th Anniversary of the German Peasants' War

TY - JOUR

T1 - Staging Failure? Berta Lask's 'Thomas Münzer' (1925) and the 400th Anniversary of the German Peasants' War

AU - Smale, Catherine

PY - 2020/7/21

Y1 - 2020/7/21

N2 - This article examines Berta Lask's drama Thomas Münzer (1925), which was commissioned by the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) and staged in Eisleben to mark the 400th anniversary of the German Peasants’ War (1524–5) and the execution of Thomas Müntzer. Drawing on cultural memory theory and reading the play as a multi-layered lieu de mémoire, it argues that Lask attempts to recuperate the revolutionary potential of the failed Peasants’ War and harness it to the agenda of the KPD of the 1920s. The article begins by situating Lask's play in a tradition of leftist writing about the Peasants’ War dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. It then considers the ways in which Lask uses historical analogy to create connections between the sixteenth-century uprising and events in post-World War I German political history. Finally, the article explores the techniques used by Lask to create a sense of revolutionary community among her actors and audience.

AB - This article examines Berta Lask's drama Thomas Münzer (1925), which was commissioned by the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) and staged in Eisleben to mark the 400th anniversary of the German Peasants’ War (1524–5) and the execution of Thomas Müntzer. Drawing on cultural memory theory and reading the play as a multi-layered lieu de mémoire, it argues that Lask attempts to recuperate the revolutionary potential of the failed Peasants’ War and harness it to the agenda of the KPD of the 1920s. The article begins by situating Lask's play in a tradition of leftist writing about the Peasants’ War dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. It then considers the ways in which Lask uses historical analogy to create connections between the sixteenth-century uprising and events in post-World War I German political history. Finally, the article explores the techniques used by Lask to create a sense of revolutionary community among her actors and audience.

KW - Weimar Republic

KW - Weimar Germany

KW - German literature

KW - Revolution

KW - Interwar period

KW - Socialism

KW - Drama

KW - Peasants' War

KW - Communism

KW - Berta Lask

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088312613&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/glal.12272

DO - 10.1111/glal.12272

M3 - Article

SN - 0016-8777

VL - 73

SP - 365

EP - 382

JO - German Life and Letters

JF - German Life and Letters

IS - 3

ER -