"The Zeitgeist Creates Its Vehicle":Musil's Reflections on the Sport Boom in Germany and Austria in the 1920s and 1930s
In the 1920s and 1930s,Germany and Austria experienced a strong surge in sports enthusiasm,which reflected social thoughts and cultural conditions of both countries at the time.Therefore,sports became one topic of public discussion among intellectuals.Musil viewed this sport craze phenomenon as a vehicle for self-presentation of the zeitgeist.He made a lot of observations and reflections on this phenomenon in his novels,plays,newspaper articles,and other works,responding directly or indirectly to various sport discourses prevalent at the time.He held a skeptical attitude towards the progressive and liberating role of sports as advocated in public discourse,and opposed attributing excessive and high value to sports.However,he also acknowledged that individual sports activities had a positive effect,provided that this effect was premised on the existence of"spirit".
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