Modernist Imaginaries of Crisis: The Function of Crisis in Weimar

Abstract

The term crisis often designates something that is objective and ‘out there’ in the world. Indeed, historians often utilize the term crisis to bring attention to an important event or they uncritically use the term when it is found in the historical record. However, crisis is not something that is ‘out there’ but rather a narrative that is imposed on the world. To have crisis you must also have catharsis, and this points to moral and political values. Crisis is not a value neutral term, but something is embedded in moral and political values. Using the Weimar Republic, my project shows the different meanings crisis had and its implications.