Salaried Masses - Duty and Distraction in Weimar Germany

Zusatztext “Well before the current vogue of cultural studies! Siegfried Kracauer pioneered a method of ethnographic critique that allowed him to reveal his society’s deepest secrets by decoding its surface manifestations. Perhaps its most stunning fruit was his classic study of the spiritual and material crisis of Weimar Republic’s salaried employees! now happily available in English for the first time. It was this work that earned Kracauer the celebrated sobriquet ‘a ragpicker at daybreak’ from his friend Walter Benjamin! who may have been wrong about the revolutionary day he thought was dawning! but who correctly saw the value in sifting through the remains of the long night that came before and was! alas! to darken still further in the years to come.”—Martin Jay Informationen zum Autor Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) was one of Germany's leading cultural commentators and essayists. Quintin Hoare is the director of the Bosnian Institute and has translated numerous works by Sartre, Antonio Gramsci, and other French authors. He lives in the United Kingdom. Klappentext Germany's Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) provided a fascinating study--first published in 1930--of German society on the eve of Nazism. The focus of Kracauer's inquiry was the new class of salaried employees who populated the cities of Weimar Germany. Drawing on conversations, newspapers, ads and personal correspondence, Kracauer revealed a down-spiraling of culture which has sharp relevance for today. Zusammenfassung First published in 1930! this work has as its subject of inquiry the new class of salaried employees who populated the cities of Weimar Germany. Drawing on conversations! newspapers! adverts and personal correspondence! it charts the bland horror of the everyday.

Product details

• Authors: Quintin Hoare, Siegfried Kracauer, Kracauer Siegfried
• Assisted by: Inka Mülder-Bach (Introduction), Quintin Hoare (Translation), Hoare Quintin (Translation)
• Publisher: Verso
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.09.1998
• EAN: 9781859841877
• ISBN: 978-1-85984-187-7
• No. of pages: 128
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Germany, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Holidays (non-religious), Sociology: sport & leisure, Sociology: sport and leisure, Social and cultural history, Sociology: work & labour, Social classes, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), Sociology: work and labour, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Labor / General