Sachlichkeit in Germany and Austria, 1890-1950

The German term Sachlichkeit is central to the development and interpretation of twentieth-century modernism—and yet it is rarely fully understood. In 1936, design historian Nikolaus Pevsner wrote that the “untranslatable word sachlich, meaning at the same time pertinent, matter-of-fact, and objective, became the catchword of the growing Modern Movement.” Though frequently translated as “objectivity” or “functionalism,” Sachlichkeit’s implications for the modern period—in architecture, art, design, photography, literature, sociology, and philosophy—are far more profound and expansive than these English words allow. This course will interrogate the concept of Sachlichkeit through its myriad manifestations, beginning with its roots in common German parlance, the empirical natural and human sciences, and vernacular-modernist architecture of the late nineteenth century, and culminating in its continuing cultural relevance in the aftermath of the Second World War. At the heart of the course is an exploration of Sachlichkeit in the visual and material culture of the German Wilhelmine Empire, Weimar Republic, and Third Reich, as well as in the Austrian “Vienna Circle” of philosophers and social scientists. We will pay close attention to specific cultural moments, particular individuals, materials, processes, images, and objects. Readings will move back and forth between philosophical/sociological contexts and those of aesthetic theory and practical production, challenging received notions of causation. As a result of close work with this pivotal concept, students will leave the course with a deeper, more complex understanding of modernism and its place in the practice of cultural and material history. 3 credits.