Between Feuilletonism and Social ReportageHans Ostwald's Literary Journalism in Berlin's Popular Press Around 1900
- Autores: Hendrik Michael
- Localización: The Routledge Companion to World Literary Journalism / John S. Bak (ed. lit.), Bill Reynolds (ed. lit.), 2023, ISBN 978-0-367-35524-1, págs. 29-40
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
-
Resumen
This chapter argues that the evolution of literary journalism in Germany has close ties to the rise of the popular press. Unlike other periodicals, urban dailies provided entryways for untypical agents into journalism. While journalists of previous decades had an academic background and a bourgeois upbringing, this new generation of journalists came from the working class and often lacked higher education. These newcomers explored different styles and methods of reporting on local events and brought new topics to the feuilleton. In this regard, the career of Hans Ostwald (1873–1940) is particularly interesting in that it represents the pioneering phase of the literary journalism genre in Germany around 1900. The chapter discusses Ostwald’s legacy and provides an overview of his journalistic texts by identifying the characteristics of his writing style and working practices. The analysis contrasts Ostwald’s journalistic ethnography with more conventional forms of reporting, especially on the topic of class, and highlights how the commodification of narrative forms in the popular press shaped the more heteronomous field of cultural production in the Wilhelmine Period.
