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Karl Kraus on Stage
Author(s) -
Martens Gunther
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/oli.12093
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , persona , habitus , public speaking , poetics , politics , linguistics , literature , sociology , aesthetics , philosophy , poetry , art , political science , law , humanities , social science , cultural capital
Little attention has been paid to Karl Kraus's performance as a public speaker. While his poetics and his contemporaries tell us wildly divergent stories of how he shaped a larger‐than‐life public persona as a cantankerous and infallible moral authority, this article proposes to take a look at the media that were involved in Kraus's staging of his polemical satires. These media include not only recording techniques, but also a specific rhetorical habitus influenced by traditions of pronunciation. In a second step, we discuss the political and intercultural ramifications of Kraus's spoken‐word performance by comparing it with Thomas Mann's speeches. This double outlook allows us to see to what extent Kraus's strong scenic strategy anticipates anti‐illusionistic directing strategies.[Note 1. I would like to thank Nico Theisen as well ...]