Details

Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019
Noon to 2 PM
German-American Heritage Museum
719 6th Street NW 
Washington, DC 20001



Drawing on Mann's concept of "The Great Irritability" from the novel "The Magic Mountain" ("Der Zauberberg"), published in 1924, Braun connects literature with current political issues of importance and creates a bridge from the past to the present. "The Magic Mountain" has been part of the U.S. educational canon for decades, and the late actress Liz Taylor once accused her ex-husband Richard Burton that he forced her "to read this damned book." Perhaps surprisingly, the novel indeed foreshadows the "great irritability" caused by modern populism and protectionism.
Dr. Braun theorizes that literature and film can help understand these politics of indignation, especially in 2019, 30 years after the fall of the iron curtain in Europe, by reviewing the so-called "Erinnerungskultur" or culture of remembrance. Shakespeare's would-be tryants, Michel Houllebecq's passion heroes, and Günter Grass' fallen angels are alerting us about fake news and alternative truths in the age of digital media and the resulting flood of information. They teach us how to deal with an "indifference to the truth, shamelessness and hyper-inflated self-confidence" (Stephen Greenblatt), and they tell us that when building a wall we should ask ourselves "who I was walling in and walling out" (Robert Frost).


RSVP: info@gahmusa.org


A light luncheon is included. This event is free, but RSVPs are required by emailing info@gahmusa.org. Please respond by 5 pm on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.