Description
(Text)
Im 18. Jahrhundert entstehen rund 300 deutschsprachige Theaterstücke, in denen das Militär und dessen Kontakt- und Reibungspunkte mit der Zivilgesellschaft im Fokus des dramatischen Geschehens stehen. Das immense Interesse der Öffentlichkeit speist sich nicht zuletzt aus dem fundamentalen gesellschaftlichen Strukturwandel im Zuge der Errichtung Stehender Heere. Tilman Venzl zeigt in seiner kulturhistorisch ausgerichteten literaturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchung auf, wie diese Militärdramen komplexe gesellschaftliche Prozesse literarisch zur Darstellung bringen und sich herrschaftsaffirmativ oder herrschaftskritisch auf die neuen Problemlagen einlassen. Erstmals werden dabei die Erkenntnisse der Neuen Militärgeschichte umfassend in die Literaturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts einbezogen. So wird am Beispiel ausgewählter Militärdramen - hierunter auch Lessings Minna von Barnhelm und Lenz' Die Soldaten - die gesamte form- und funktionsgeschichtliche Vielfalt des Sujets sichtbar.In the 18th century, as many as 300 German-language plays were produced with the military and its contact and friction with civil society serving as focus of the dramatic events. The immense public interest these plays attracted feeds not least on the fundamental social structural change that was brought about by the establishment of standing armies. In his historico-cultural literary study, Tilman Venzl shows how these military dramas literarily depict complex social processes and discuss the new problems in an affirmative or critical manner. For the first time, the findings of the New Military History are comprehensively included in the literary history of the 18th century. Thus, the example of selected military dramas - including Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm and Lenz's Die Soldaten - reveals the entire range of variety characterizing the history of both form and function of the subject.
(Text)
In the 18th century, as many as 300 German-language plays were produced with the military and its contact and friction with civil society serving as focus of the dramatic events. The immense public interest these plays attracted feeds not least on the fundamental social structural change that was brought about by the establishment of standing armies. In his historico-cultural literary study, Tilman Venzl shows how these military dramas literarily depict complex social processes and discuss the new problems in an affirmative or critical manner. For the first time, the findings of the New Military History are comprehensively included in the literary history of the 18th century. Thus, the example of selected military dramas - including Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm and Lenz's Die Soldaten - reveals the entire range of variety characterizing the history of both form and function of the subject.
(Author portrait)
Venzl, TilmanTilman Venzl lehrt Germanistische Literaturwissenschaft an der Universität Heidelberg.
