Description
Book SynopsisWhy do tyrants - of all people - often have poetic aspirations? Where do terror and prose meet? This book contains nine case studies that compare the cultural history of totalitarian regimes. The essays focus not on the arts, literature or architecture but on the phenomenon that many of history's great despots considered themselves talented writers. By studying the artistic ambitions of Nero, Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Saparmurat Niyazov and Radovan Karadzic, the authors explore the complicated relationship between poetry and political violence, and provide a fascinating look at the aesthetic dimensions of total power. The essays make an important contribution to a number of fields: the study of totalitarian regimes, cultural studies, and biographies of 20th century leaders. They underscore the frequent correlation between tyrannical governance and an excessive passion for language, and demonstrate that the combination of artistic and political charisma is often effective in the quest for absolute power.
Table of ContentsIntroduction Albrecht Koschorke and Konstantin Kaminskij The Tyrant with his Back to the Wall: Nero’s Artistic Self-Expansion Ulrich Gotter Benito Mussolini: “Babeuf” (1902) Poetry and Tyranny: The Case of Benito Mussolini Richard Bosworth Joseph Stalin: “Over this Land” (1895) Stalin’s Writing: From the Romantic Poetry of the Future to the Socialist Realist Prose of the Past Evgeny Dobrenko Adolf Hitler: Excerpt from “My Struggle” (1924) Ideology in Execution: On Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” Albrecht Koschorke Kim Il-sung: “Poem Dedicated to Comrade Kim Jong-il in His 50 th Birthday” (1992) Dead Father’s Living Body: Kim Il-sung’s Seed theory and the North Korean Arts Suk-Young Kim Mao Zedong: “Snow” (1936) Mao Zedong’s Poetry: Form as Statement Karl-Heinz Pohl Muammar al-Gaddafi: Excerpt from “Escape to Hell” (1993) A Poor Despot Descends to Hell: On the Writing and Thinking Styles of Muammar al-Gaddafi Heiner Lohmann Saddam Hussein: “Unbind it” (2007) The Principle of Single-Handed Tyranny: On Saddam Hussein’s Literary Works Burkhard Müller Saparmyrat Niyazov: “You are a Turkman” (2001) ŰSaparmurat Niyazov’s “Ruhnama”: The Invention of Turkmenistan Riccardo Nicolosi Radovan Karadžić: “Sarajevo” (1971) “Nothing is Forbidden in my Faith”: The Metamorphoses of Radovan Karadžić Slavoj Žižek References List of Contributors
