This German author was renowned for his antimilitarist and anarchist convictions, which he channeled into essays, poetry, and plays. During the Weimar Republic, he gained international recognition for works that fiercely condemned Nazism and satirized its future dictator, even before Hitler's rise to power. His writing explores themes of social upheaval and resistance, reflecting a deep commitment to fighting oppression. Through his potent literary voice, he offered a powerful critique of his era's political landscape.
The book explores the life and thoughts of Erich Mühsam, a prominent anarchist writer and activist involved in the Munich Soviet Republic. It delves into his political beliefs, including his opposition to militarism, parliamentarism, and state authority, while advocating for freedom and social justice. The collection includes essays and reflections on various topics such as cultural fascism, censorship, the proletarian left, and women's rights. Mühsam's activism led to his imprisonment and eventual murder by the Nazis, making his writings a poignant testament to his ideals and struggles.
With this book, Erich Mühsam made his ironic bid for authorial immortality by announcing his discovery that immortality in fact exists--specifically in the person of the Rich Aunt. By means of twenty-five case studies, arranged alphabetically (from aunt Amalia to Aunt Zerlinde), Mühsam argues his case : the Rich Aunt is able to live forever provided she has a nephew waiting in the wings for her demise and for his inheritance. The corollary revealed in these tales, of course, is that a Rich Aunt's eternal rest is directly tied to her nephew's deprivation of aforementioned inheritance, be it intentional or fortuitous, or the disappearance of any inheritance for her to offer. The pathway to an immortal's demise thus prove to be varied, and can be the result of anything from the vagracies of sexual proclivities or the stock market to the unforeseen expenses of literary ambitions or the whims of personality or punctuation. The Rich Aunt emerges as the enduring fly in the ointment of Church, Family, and State, the undoing of fate personified, as well as the transformation of morality into mortality under the aegis of Capital. Originally published in Germany in 1905, Psychology of the Rich Aunt is a sardonic, caustically tongue-in-cheek portrayal of greed under capitalism in the bourgeois epoch. It also offers the anarchist author's lesser-know roots in existential slapstick , and is an entertaining example of the heretical verve that animated his life and work as a whole. -- Provided bypublisher
Featuring a riveting collection of anarcho-communist poetry, essays, articles, and diary entries, this translation of Erich Mühsam's legendary writings introduces the German revolutionary's ideas to English speakers for the first time. Uniting a burning desire for individual liberation with radical, left-wing convictions and bohemian strains with syndicalist tendencies, this diverse body of work not only includes his main political pamphlet and one of the key texts in the history of German anarchism but also some of his best-known poems, unbending defenses of political prisoners, passionate calls for solidarity among the proletariat, recollections of the utopian community of Monte Verità, debates on the rights of homosexuals and women, and the role of intellectuals in the class struggle. Perfect for anarchists, activists, or those interested in German history, this expansive and enlightening compilation provides a deep understanding of this important historical figure.
