Distributed for University College Dublin Press
Studies on the Germans
Studies on the Germans, Volume 11 of the Collected Works, was first published in German in 1989, exactly 50 years after Elias’ most famous work, On the Process of Civilisation. The essays in the book were written independently of each other over three decades. In this new edition, Elias’ original English text of the extremely important essay ’The breakdown of civilisation’ is published for the first time. Other essays include those on duelling and its wider social significance, as well as on nationalism, civilisation and violence, and post-war terrorism in the Federal Republic of Germany. All the essays have been newly annotated by the editors, especially to make clear many historical references that Elias, unrealistically, assumed his readers would understand without further explanation.
Table of Contents
Norbert Elias, 1897-1990 Note on the text Introduction Civilisation and informalisation - changes in European standards of behaviour in the twentieth century Honour, duelling and membership of the imperial ruling class - being judged worthy to give satisfaction A digression on nationalism Civilisation and violence - on the state’s monopoly of physical force and its breaking The breakdown of civilisation Terrorism in the Federal Republic of Germany - expression of a conflict between generations Thoughts on the Federal Republic APPENDICES - I The German aristocratic code and ’proof by ancestry’ II On the interpretation of Mozart’s scatological remarks III Why I began to study the problem of ’civilisation’ IV On the relative independence of the high nobility from the imperial court V Sieyes, the Third Estate, and changing feelings of identity VI Machiavelli’s policy prescriptions VII Nationalism and middle-class morality in Victorian Britain VIII Conflicts trigger aggression IX On the ethos of the Wilhelmine bourgeoisie X Pro-war literature during the Weimar Republic (Ernst Junger) XI On the character of conflicts in the early Weimar Republic XII Conditions for the attainment of the domestic and foreign goals of the old elite XIII The decay of the state monopoly of force in the Weimar Republic XIV The stab in the back XV Lucifer upon the ruins of the world XVI The meaning of the word Reich - excerpt from the Fischerlexikon XVII An empire dies XVIII The awareness of powerlessness - note added in 1984 XIX Marxism and terrorism - a terrorist’s explanation XX George Orwell, ’England Your England’ Textual variants Bibliography Index.