Goose-Step of Peace. Texts on Conditioning for War

Germany is in the grip of war fever. From every news broadcast, every editorial, and every stage, we hear how common sense dictates the »we« must arm »ourselves« for war.

In times of social stability, the fact that culture is not merely political but is itself a form of applied politics, rarely forces its way into consciousness. Only when social antagonisms and the conflicts between the various powers’ imperialist robber bands come to a head, does culture shed its cloak of aestheticism to plunge into the battle for the minds, as it is: all or nothing.

How democratic civic duty and loyalty to the Kaiser are eerily alike, and how the highest cultural values always somehow end up commanding that man perforate man with bullets, becomes evident in this literary excursion through more than a hundred years of German war propaganda. Critical voices from the past are also drawn upon – not least to show what sharpness, political foresight, and artistic ability today’s criticism is lacking.

(Luis Löwenstein and Sean Pfeiffer)

A reading and discussion in German.