Communism and the Avant-Garde in Weimar Germany: A Selection of Documents

504 Pages·2022·2.046 MB·English

by  Ben Fowkes

CommunismandtheAvant-GardeinWeimarGermany
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
LorenBalhorn(Berlin)
DavidBroder(Rome)
SebastianBudgen(Paris)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume 269
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
1 Introduction:TheAvant-GardeandCulturalInnovation 1
2 TheGermanSetting 9
3 TheShockofWarandItsAftermath 57
4 Followingthe‘AlexanderLine’ 91
5 TheRevoltofArtbecomesaRevoltAgainstArt 151
6 ParallelDevelopments:TheWiderEuropeanContext 189
7 TheSovietCulturalBackground:TheDebatesofthe1920sandTheir
Relevance 218
8 TheNewStartof1925inGermany 268
9 NewFormsandNewParticipants:Worker-Correspondentsand
Worker-Photographers 305
10 TheImpactoftheGreatChange:TheAttempttoOrganiseandUnify
ProletarianCulture 344
11 Political,Literary,andArtisticAspectsoftheProletarianCulture
Movement 383
Conclusion:TheEndofWeimarandtheComingofSocialist
Realism 447
Appendix:ListofDocumentsbyChapter 451
NoteonSources 459
Bibliography 460
Index 475

Preface
Thisstudyof communismandtheavant-gardeismainlyconcernedwiththe
relationshipbetweenthecommunistsof Germanyandwhatisoftentermed
‘highculture’–literature,drama,thevisualarts,musicandfilm.Thesubject
hereiscultureinthenarrowsense,inotherwords.Itisperhapsunnecessary
toaddthatcommunistsoftensoughtbothtoabolishthedistinctionbetween
‘high culture’ and other forms of cultural activity, and to establish a unified
‘proletarian’ culture which would be open to all and in which all wouldpar-
ticipate.Attentionwillcertainlybepaidtotheseendeavoursintheselectionof
documentsthatfollows.AlmostallofthemhaveneverappearedbeforeinEng-
lish.Cultureinthebroadsense,includingsuchthingsassportandgymnastics,
thepreparationandcookingoffood,fashioninclothing,generalquestionsof
daily life and the development of social and philosophical attitudes will not
be presented here.These are important topics which deserve separate treat-
ment.Otherlimitshavebeenimposedaswell.IconcentrateonGermanyin
the so-called ‘Weimar period’ between 1918 and 1933.The communist move-
mentwillbethecentreofattention,althoughanarchism,socialismandsocial
democracyalsooftenenterthepictureforpurposesofcomparison.Thechosen
starting-pointof1918doesnotimplyanyunderestimationoftheveryrealele-
mentsofcontinuitywiththeprecedingepoch,andthatiswhy,inChapter2,I
haveprovidedanextendedtreatmentofattitudesamongGermansocialdemo-
cratstoaestheticquestionsastheyweredisplayedintheyearsbeforetheFirst
WorldWar.Thisisfollowedbyadiscussionofthereactionsoftheavant-garde
writersandartiststotheoutbreakof theFirstWorldWarandtheintellectual
transformationtheyunderwentduringthetraumaticeventsof thenextfour
years.Asiswellknown,thewarwasfollowedbyarevolutioninGermany,the
revolution of 1918–19. Its impact on the arts is perhaps the central point of
thisbook.ItisdealtwithinChapters4and5.Thegeographicalperspectiveis
thenbroadenedtoencompassseparatechaptersonbroaderCentralEuropean,
RussianandSovietdevelopments,becausetheinternationalcharacterof the
communistmovementresultedinaconsiderableamountofcross-fertilisation
in the cultural sphere.The final section of the book, covering Chapters 8, 9,
10and11,ismainlydevotedtotheattemptofthecommuniststoachieveacul-
turalrevolutionthroughthestimulationandpromotionofwhattheydescribed
as ‘proletarian-revolutionary’ literature, art and music, which was intended
to emerge from the ranks of the ordinary workers, and the many difficulties
involvedinthis.
viii preface
Finallywecometotheyear1933.Theterminaldateof1933isabrupt(unlike
the starting date), because the end of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi
takeoverofpowerwasarealhistoricalcaesura.Thisappliedasmuchinthecul-
turalasitdidinthepoliticalsphere.Thecommunistleft’sculturaldiscussions,
andeventheprocessofculturalproduction,couldcontinueoutsideGermany,
itistrue,amongtheexiles,buttheywerenowcutofffromtheirroots,andtheir
activitieswerethereforeinevitablyabstractincharacter.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following copyright holders who have kindly given
me permission to translate in part or in whole articles by writers and artists
activeontheleftduringtheWeimarperiod:AndreasW.Mytze,MerilynMoos,
Dr.RainhardMay,Karl-HeinzPiscator,AndreaClos,PeterEngels,ProfessorDr.
HubertusGassner,ProfessorDr.ChryssoulaKambas,JohnJ.Heartfieldandthe
HeartfieldCommunityof HeirsandfinallyAufbauVerlag,Berlin.Despitemy
bestefforts,ithasnotbeenpossibletolocatesomecopyrightholders.Iwel-
comecorrespondencefromanylegitimatecopyrightholder.
Abbreviations
aaud AllgemeineArbeiter-UnionDeutschlands[GeneralWorkers’Unionof
Germany]
aaue Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union. Einheitsorganisation [General Workers’
Union.UnityOrganisation]
A-I-Z Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung(periodical)
AKhR Assotsiatsiia Khudozhnikov Revoliutsii [Association of Artists of the
Revolution]
AKhRR AssotsiatsiiaKhudozhnikovRevoliutsonnoiRossii[Associationof Art-
istsofRevolutionaryRussia]
aks Arbeitsgemeinschaft kommunistischer Journalisten und Schriftsteller
[WorkingAssociationofCommunistJournalistsandWriters]
arbkd Assoziation revolutionärer bildender Künstler Deutschlands [Associa-
tionofRevolutionaryVisualArtistsofGermany]
atbd Arbeiter-Theater-BundDeutschlands[Workers’TheatreAssociationof
Germany]
bprs Bundproletarisch-revolutionärerSchriftsteller[LeagueofProletarian-
RevolutionaryWriters]
ChIP Chitatel’iPisatel’[ReaderandWriter](periodical)
dasb DeutscheArbeiter-SängerBund[GermanFederationofSingingWork-
ers]
DAThB DeutscheArbeiter-Theater-Bund[GermanWorkers’TheatricalAssoci-
ation]
dnvp DeutschnationaleVolkspartei[GermanNationalPeople’sParty]
faud FreieArbeiter-UnionDeutschlands[FreeWorkers’UnionofGermany]
fosp FederatsiiaOrganizatsiiSovetskikhPisatelei [Federationof Organisa-
tionsofSovietWriters]
gitis GosudarstvenniiInstitutTeatral’nogoIskusstva[StateInstituteofThe-
atricalArt]
iah InternationaleArbeiter-Hilfe[Workers’InternationalRelief]
iatb InternationalerArbeiter-Theater-Bund[InternationalLeagueforWork-
ers’Theatre]
ibrl InternationalesBürofürRevolutionäreLiteratur[InternationalOffice
forRevolutionaryLiterature]
ifa InteressengemeinschaftfürArbeiterkultur[AssociationtoPromotethe
InterestsofWorkers’Culture]
INKhUK InstitutKhudozhestvennoiKul’tury[InstituteofArtisticCulture]
Inprekorr InternationalePresse-Korrespondenz(periodical)