"We are unteachable about progress—it does not exist for us. We believe in the miracle, in the abrupt end to all that flows within us, in our bodies suddenly being consumed by fiery spirit, in eternal fulfillment in a single moment."
The following PDF document is a translation of Ludwig Rubiners manifesto "Der Dichter greift in die Politik" (1912), with a short introduction by the translator (that is — me) regarding Rubiner’s life and work. Forgotten now, I hold the firm belief that this manifesto nevertheless represents the upheavals of expressionism — even if I myself disagree with some points Rubiner makes here. It shows the intensity of its movement, the development from expressionism to Dada, it’s relation to communism, later on culminating in the KAPD and AAUD — as of yet a completely unexplored interface, which the translator seeks to change — and the radicalism of its content that some bourgeois historians conveniently ignore in order to paint narratives that are completely divorced from the concrete.
The German original is entirely available online and can be found here.
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