The aesthetics of horror : : the life and thought of Richard von Kralik / / by Richard S. Geehr.

• Superior document: Studies in Central European Histories ; 29
• VerfasserIn: Geehr, Richard S.,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston : : Brill Academic Publishers,, [2003]; ©2003
• Year of Publication: 2003
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Central European Histories ; 29.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

Austrian-born Richard von Kralik (1852-1934), the so-called poet laureate of Christian Socialism, espoused such hauntingly familiar themes as the "Christian-Germanic ideal of beauty" and the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." Kralik wielded the tool of propaganda for the Christian Socialists and realized the powerful draw of nationalism when couched in art, poetry, music, and literature. Although Kralik seems to have had no direct influence upon Adolf Hitler, his quest for "pure" German culture and his use of propaganda to achieve those ends share a marked resemblance to the tactics of the Third Reich. Professor Richard Geehr pays meticulous attention to historical detail, avails himself of all available sources, and assesses judiciously Richard von Kralik's life and influence in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Austria.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Origins and Beginnings -- 2. Kralik vs. the "Modernists" -- 3. "Austria Will Last Forever": Kralik as Protagonist in a Losing Cause -- 4. The Harvest Years: The Cultural Supremacist -- 5. "Anti-Semitism from a Very High Standpoint" -- 6. The Kralik Legacy -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Index -- Illustrations.