The Skin of the System: On Germany's Socialist Modernity
Benjamin Robinson
The Skin of the System: On Germany’s Socialist Modernity
Benjamin Robinson
The Skin of the System objects to the idea that there is only one modernity-that of liberal capitalism. Starting from the simple conviction that whatever else East German socialism was, it was real, this book focuses on what made historical socialism different from social systems in the West. In this way, the study elicits the general question: what must we think in order to think an other system at all?
To approach this question, Robinson turns to the remarkable writer Franz Fuhmann, the East German who most single-mindedly dedicated himself to understanding what it means to transform from fascism to socialism. Fuhmann’s own serial loyalties to Hitler and Stalin inform his existential meditations on change and difference. By placing Fuhmann’s politically alert and intensely personal literary inventions in the context of an inquiry into radical social rupture, The Skin of the System wrests the brutal materiality of twentieth-century socialism from attempts to provincialize both its desires and its failures as antimodern ideological follies.
This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in approx 2 weeks
Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.