The postwar journal 'Die Wandlung': Debates about humanism and effects on democratization between 1945 and 1949.

• Applicant: Dr. Anna Axtner-Borsutzky
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2021 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 464801094

The postwar journal ‘Die Wandlung‘, published in Heidelberg, is core of the project applied for. It is an indicator of the possibilities and limits of cultural-intellectual media in shaping society in the micro-epoch between 1945 and 1949. The journal’s concept and design expresses the concise phenomenon of the will to reshape society after the end of World War II. The study is extraordinarily suitable for depicting the interaction between society and media, not least because the journal had to be discontinued in the wake of the currency reform of 1948 and the shift in social interests.For a long time, journal research was dominated by the – undoubtedly fundamental and necessary – bibliographical examination and indexing of the sources. However, a literary and knowledge-historical study of the selected journal is a desideratum. The journal is particularly suited to be researched from its foundation to its end, taking into account its distribution and social influence. ‘Die Wandlung’ reflects contemporary ‘debates about humanism’ and records the effects of attempts towards democratization – both with regard to German society and from the foreign perspective through American literary and cultural policy and the transatlantic exchange of ideas. In addition to the journal’s high circulation and its unusual conception, the archival location of the complete editorial archive in the German Literature Archive in Marbach and the limited duration of its publication in the micro-epoch between 1945 and 1949 speak particularly in favor of the choice of this research subject. The aim of the proposed project is to develop exemplary insights into the conditions and possibilities of literary and cultural journals in this period via investigating a selected medium in its emergence within a delimited local area (Heidelberg in the American occupation zone) in a micro-epoch of the post-war period – with regard to its emergence, conception, distribution, goals, and societal relevance. In doing so, the project aims to achieve four goals, which include a) the conditions of the book trade between the end of the war and the founding of the young Federal Republic, b) ‘Journalpoetik’, c) the transatlantic exchange of ideas, d) the interaction between literature and socio-critical processes of the postwar period. The results are secured in four articles. A conference on the so-called ‘Heidelberg Humanism’ is planned to round off the program.The Humboldt University of Berlin has been chosen as the research location. The host researcher is Prof. Claudia Stockinger, expert in journal research. This environment is particularly suitable not only because of the expertise of the scientists on site, but also because of the unique institutional possibilities provided by archives, libraries and existing networks for ‘small forms’.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position