Kubo, Sakae (1900–1958)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Swain
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
German Literature ◽  
Political Theater ◽  
Japanese Island ◽  
World War ◽  
Socialist Movement

Kubo Sakae was a leading shingeki playwright prior to World War II, and a shingeki socialist hero afterward. His greatest dramatic work is the epic Kazanbai-chi [Land of Volcanic Ash] (1937–1938) about the exploitation of peasant labor on farms in the northernmost-Japanese island of Hokkaido where he was born. His heroic status stems from his arrest in 1940 as a communist, his refusal to recant his socialist beliefs, and his imprisonment until the war’s end. Although Kubo returned to writing and socialist activism after the war, political divisions within the socialist movement and in shingeki stymied his further success. In an act of personal despair and political theater (some say petulance) intended to jolt competing factions within the socialist movement to unite, Kubo committed suicide in 1958. Kubo joined the Tsukiji Shōgekijō in 1926 after graduating from Tokyo University with a degree in German literature. He began translating plays from German. In 1928 Kubo joined Hijikata Yoshi’s new troupe, the New Tsukiji Company, and began writing his own works. The company produced Kubo’s first play of note in 1930. Shinsetsu Kokusenya gassen [The New Tale of the Battle of Coxinga] drew on ancient Chinese and Japanese lore.

Buddhism, Socialism, and Protest in Prewar Japan: The Career of Seno'o Girō

1987 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen S. Large
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Protest ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
Meiji Period ◽  
Buddhist Tradition ◽  
Socialist Movement

The interplay of religion and political protest is a familiar theme in Western studies of Japanese Christians who contributed significantly to the socialist movement in their country from the late Meiji period to World War II. Less well known is the fact that a minority of Japanese Buddhists likewise applied the ideals of their faith to political dissent in the movement. Their defiance of the State and the predominantly conservative Buddhist sects which generally supported Emperor, nation, and Empire in Asia constitutes in effect a modern Japanese Buddhist tradition of protest comparable in kind if not in scale to that found in Japanese Christianity. The purpose of the article in hand is to explore this tradition through a study of the Nichiren priest and Buddhist socialist, Seno'o Girō (1889–1961) whose career provides a striking illustration of the Buddhist dimensions of socialism in prewar Japan.

scholarly journals Frau Ava’s, the first named German female writer’s, poem Jüngstes Gericht ‘The Last Judgement’ and its Lithuanian translation

Literatūra ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-26
Author(s):  
Aleksej Burov ◽  
Ignė Vrubliauskaitė
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Present Article ◽  
German Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
Middle High German ◽  
World War ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Manuscript Dating

The present article offers an overview of several poems written by Frau Ava (1060–1127), a German poetess whose literary works are virtually unknown in Lithuania. Ava, an anchoress in Melk Abbey, is the first named German female writer, who broke ‘the deep silence of German literature’ lasting over a century (Stein 1976, 5). All poems attributed to Frau Ava are of religious character: Johannes ‘John the Baptist’ (446 lines), Leben Jesu ‘Life of Jesus’ (2418 lines), Antichrist (118 lines) and Jüngstes Gericht ‘The Last Judgement’ (406 lines), which make up an impressive biblical epic of 3388 lines. Leben Jesu, Antichrist and Jüngstes Gericht are found in the Vorau Manuscript dating the first half of the 12th century (Codex 276, 115va-125ra), whereas the Görlitz Manuscript (Codex A III. 1. 10), compiled in the 14th century but lost during World War II, contains the poem Johannes as well as the other poems mentioned above, excluding the epilogue of Jüngstes Gericht (lines 393-406).The article presents an overview of Frau Ava’s life and works as well as a Lithuanian translation of her poem Jüngstes Gericht, written in Early Middle High German (Ger. Frümittelhochdeutsch). The translation is based on Maike Glaußnitzer and Kassnadra Sperl’s text, published in 2014.

Germany's Postwar Socialism: Nationalism and Kurt Schumacher (1945–52)

1965 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Stanley Vardys
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socialist Movement

Although the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) did not officially abandon Marxism until the Bad GodesbergParteitagin 1959, both intellectually and politically the party's ideology was revised under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher whose “passion, intellect, and will” dominated the SPD for seven years following World War II (1945–52). The final disintegration of German Marxism under Kurt Schumacher can be demonstrated by examining the three crucial elements of Marxist socialist ideology: (1) motivation for socialism, (2) theory of the socialist movement, and (3) relations between German nationalism and socialism.

The Deutsche Tauchnitz

Strange Bird ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele K. Troy
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
German Literature ◽  
Book Trade ◽  
World War ◽  
German Culture ◽  
Foreign Office ◽  
Anglo American

This chapter examines how the Nazi authorities used the Deutsche Tauchnitz series—which consisted of “special editions of modern German novels, to be disseminated for propaganda purposes only in countries outside Germany that Hitler occupies”—in an attempt to make German culture accessible to continental readers. In the early part of World War II, the German book trade had plenty of books to sell. The problem was how to make foreign readers want to read them. To address this issue, Nazi propaganda officials launched what scholars have since called “an international soft power campaign.” Deutsche Tauchnitz was formed based on the model used by Albatross Press and Bernhard Tauchnitz for producing Anglo-American books. This chapter considers how German literature for export became a major agenda at both the Reich Literary Chamber and Foreign Office and the role played by Wolfgang Krause-Brandstetter in this initiative.

scholarly journals Ruch Narodowo-Socjalistyczny NSB w Niderlandach i jego koncepcja polityki zagranicznej w latach 1931–1945

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-57
Author(s):  
Paweł Kołek
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
World War ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Close Cooperation ◽  
Socialist Movement

THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST MOVEMENT NSB IN THE NETHERLANDS AND ITS CONCEPT OF FOREIGN POLICY, 1931–1945The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands NSB, established in 1931, was the most important collaborating political party in that country during World War II. The movement developed its own concept of foreign policy, which differed from the policy of Nazi Germany. The party aimed at upholding Europe’s dominant position in the world. To achieve that, the European system should be reconstructed and Germany’s leading role within it needed to be acknowledged. Close cooperation of nation-states should form the basis of the continental order. The prospective Dutch national state — “Dietsland” — was to be composed not only of the Dutch people, but also of the Flemish and the Afrikaners. This united country was also supposed to secure its colonial possessions overseas. This concept of foreign policy was maintained during the whole period of the movement’s existence, even though some minor modifications did occur in the meantime.

scholarly journals A Lesson Learned? The Image of Poland during World War II Presented by Recent German Literature and Its Perception in Public Discourses

2021 ◽  
pp. 174-193
Author(s):  
Elisa-Maria Hiemer
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
German Literature ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
The Media ◽  
Literary Experiences

Based on Wolf Schmid’s Narratology, this article depicts the influence of the so-called abstract dimension on the reception of Kevin Vennemann’s Nahe Jedenew (Close to Jedenew, 2005) and Matthias Nawrat’s Die vielen Tode unseres Opas Jurek (Numerous Deaths of Grandpa Jurek, 2015). The abstract dimension – being, among others, the result of personal beliefs and individual “literary experiences” – helps to understand contradictory opinions about the same work and depends often (but not exclusively) on different historical knowledge and awareness. The reception in the media and academic discourse reveals schemata that cannot be explained by the text alone. I argue that the recipient is highly influenced by the author’s personal background, although it is not about autobiographies – which clearly reduces options for interpretation.

scholarly journals LACONIA ORDER” AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ADMIRAL DÖNITZ BEFORE THE NUREMBERG MILITARY TRIBUNAL

2017 ◽  
Vol 184 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Konrad GRACZYK
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
German Literature ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
World War ◽  
Rescue Operation ◽  
Military Tribunal ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
The World ◽  
Commander In Chief

The article concerns the theme related to the order of 17 September 1942 issued by Admiral Karl Dönitz, Commander-in Chief of the German submarine fleet during the World War II. In the German literature this order is known as the Laconia Befehl. It was issued in connection with the rescue operation after the sinking of the British ship ‘Laconia’, which was commenced by the crew of a German submarine. Not only weighty military and ethical, but also legal nature issues appear against the background, since in connection with the order issued Admiral Dönitz was charged before the Nuremberg Military Tribunal for war crimes.

The Teahouse Tempest

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-183
Author(s):  
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese Island ◽  
World War ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Theatrical Film ◽  
Media Formats ◽  
Large Sections

The United States occupied the Japanese island of Okinawa as a colony in everything but name for twenty-seven years after World War II ended in August 1945. This action ran counter to the avowed U.S. foreign policy principle of self-determination. Novelist Vern Sneider, a former U.S. Army civil affairs officer who had been stationed on the island during the postwar years, was a critic of the occupation. For that reason he chose to use his first novel The Teahouse of the August Moon, published in 1951, to offer a critique of policies that he believed were ethnocentric and counterproductive to U.S. national interests. Although Teahouse grew in popularity in the United States as it became a play and then a theatrical film, it failed to have any influence on U.S. foreign policy. This was because playwright John Patrick removed the critique as he adapted the story for these different media formats. The Teahouse story does show, however, how world affairs can provide issues that engage large sections of the American public at many different levels.

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