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As the bourgeois concept of "home" became problematic after important changes in German-speaking society during the 19th century, many fiction writers chose the literary setting of the hotel to explore the status of the individual and the notions of public and private. As social microcosms, hotels are fitting experimental settings for literary inquiries into the tension between the individual's quest for a place in the world and the technocratic rationalism of modern life. The book has two parts, the first establishing the cultural and theoretical context and the second providing analyses of literary works set in hotels. A brief history of commercial hospitality and a chapter establishing the theoretical framework of the hotel as a paradigmatic, ambivalent, semi-public, and stage-like modern space lead to readings of texts by Schnitzler, Zweig, Werfel, Kafka, Thomas Mann, Joseph Roth, and Vicki Baum. BETTINA MATTHIAS is associate professor of German at Middlebury College.
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The Hotel as Setting in Early Twentieth-Century German and Austrian Literature
Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture
The Hotel as Setting in Early Twentieth-Century German and Austrian Literature Checking in to Tell a Story
Bettina Matthias
CAMDEN HOUSE
Copyright © 2006 Bettina Matthias All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. First published 2006 by Camden House Camden House is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA www.camden-house.com and of Boydell & Brewer Limited PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK www.boydellandbrewer.com ISBN: 1–57113–321–6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Matthias, Bettina. The hotel as setting in early twentieth-century German and Austrian literature: checking in to tell a story / Bettina Matthias. p. cm. — (Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–57113–321–6 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. German literature — 19th century — History and criticism. 2. German literature — 20th century — History and criticism. 3. Austrian literature — 19th century — History and criticism. 4. Austrian literature — 20th century — History and criticism. 5. Hotels in literature. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture (Unnumbered) PT345.M324 2006 830.9’.3559—dc22 2006009904 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America.
For my parents — and to Roman
Contents Acknowledgments Introduction
vii 1
1: The History of European Commercial Hospitality
17
2: The Hotel and Hotel Culture in Modernism — Some Critical Thoughts
27
3: Players and Places: Stock Elements of Hotel Culture and Fiction
53
4: Women in Hotels
67
5: Men in Hotels
118
6: Menschen im Hotel
173
Epilogue
199
Bibliography
203
Index
215
Acknowledgments
N
O BOOK IS REALLY the product of one person’s efforts, and this is especially true for the one you are holding in your hands, considering its long genesis and the various linguistic environments in which I wrote it. I am therefore most indebted to the support of a number of institutions and people who helped me realize my project, which I could not have done without their help. First of all, I would like to express my deepest g