Description
Book SynopsisThis remarkable and engaging book examines the intellectual and cultural life of turn--of--the--century Vienna, one of the most important centres of creativity in Europe. Le Rider uses the notion of identity to bring together diverse aspects of the Viennese fin de siecle in a new and illuminating way.
Trade Review'A masterpiece of erudition and imagination, Le Rider's magnum opus is now the work of choice for anyone interested in turn-of-the-century thought.'
American Historical Review 'It is impossible to convey in a few words the richness of this book.' Modern Language Review
'Elegant, challenging and perceptive.' Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsIntroduction.
Part I: Destruction and Reconstruction of Identity. .
1. Reflections on Viennese Modernity.
2. Individualism, Solitude and Identity Crisis.
3. The Mystic and the Genius.
4. Narcissus.
Part II: Crises of Masculine Identity.
5. Weininger, Schreber, Hofmannsthal.
6. The Feminine at Work in (Post)Modernity.
7. Law of the Father, Law of the Mother, and Otto Gross.
8. Electra, Antigone and Ariadne.
Part III: Masculine-Feminine-Jew.
9. A Triangle of the Times.
10. The Assimilated Jews of Vienna.
11. Sigmund Freud and Theodor Herzl, I: in the 'New Ghetto'.
12. Sigmund Freud and Theodor Herzl, II: Two Modern Moses.
13. Karl Kraus: Desperately Seeking a Jewish Identity.
14. The 'Cultural Zionism' of Richard Beer-Hofmann Conclusion:.
The (Post)Modern Indeterminacy of Identity.
Notes.
Select Bibliography.
Index.
