“YOUR P.C.W.” THE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF PAUL SCHEERBART TO ERICH MÜHSAM
Journal Title: Studia Litterarum - Year 2016, Vol 1, Issue 3
Abstract
The archive of a German writer and anarchist Erich Mühsam (1878– 1934) is a signifcant but “unexplored” part of the manuscript collection of the A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I publish three letters of a German science fction writer Paul Scheerbart (1863– 1915) to Mühsam and a postcard that Scheerbart sent to a German writer Hans Heinz Ewers. The letters to Mühsam record negotiations with publishing houses in Munich and Berlin about the publication of Scheerbart’s manuscripts (1909). In the postcard to Ewers, Sheerbart writes about the progress in his work on the perpetual motion machine that he tried to construct in 1908–1909. The letters are published in German with Russian translation and commentary. The introductory article gives an overview of Scheerbart’s life and career, the specifcity of his works, their problematics and poetics and especially focuses on Scheerbart’s epistolary heritage. These letters are the token of friendship and professional collaboration of the two writers that is reflected in their mutual work on the unrealized project of publishing a satirical newspaper “Vaterland.” The IWL archives contain the unpublished manuscripts of Scheerbart and Mühsam related to this project as well. The history and the structure of the Mühsam archive is another aspect covered in the introductory article. Both Erich and Zenzl Mühsam were victims of totalitarian regimes. Erich was killed by the Nazis and his spouse Zenzl spent many years in Soviet labor camps. The history of the Mühsam manuscripts became intertwined with Zenzl’s life. That is why the article devotes space to Zenzl’s biography and attempts to answer the following questions connected to the archive: how did the manuscripts get to the Soviet Union? Why is the archive uncomplete? Finally, I discuss the publication history of Scheerbart letters from the IWL collection.
Authors and Affiliations
Alexander N. Belarev
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP26123
- DOI 10.22455/2500-4247-2016-1-3-4-365-398
- Views 306
- Downloads 15
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SELF-IDENTIFICATION IN SCANDINAVIAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE
The article examines the development of national self-identification in the three main countries of the Scandinavian region — Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. All the three countries have been interconnected for centuries,...
IN SEARCH OF FOLKLORE IMPERATIVE: IVAN A. IL’YIN AND PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT OF THE RUSSIAN IMMIGRATION CIRCLE
This article is part of the larger research project “Philosophical Thought of the Russian ‘Silver Age’ and Folklore.” Its aim is philosophical reflection of the Russian folk culture considering it as living tradition th...
Оn a Poem by Johann Gottfried Gregory
The article examines a little known and understudied Stuttgart poem that belongs to Johann Gottfried Gregory, Russian author of the German origin, author of the first play for the Russian court theatre and a minister o...
PATERNAL CARE: EMPEROR NICOLAS I IN GOGOL’S FATE
The essay for the frst time highlights the history of a long-term attention and patronage that Еmperor Nicholas I as philanthropist, censor, and reader bestowed on Nikolay Gogol. It shows the increasing interest of the...
LERMONTOV ROMANTICISM AND JENA SCHOOL. Part 2
This article examines the understudied subjects of Lermontov life and work: his stay at the Moscow noble boarding school and his direct engagement in Cepheus, a literary annual run by the literary circle of Raich, wher...