Overview

Salomo Friedlaender/Mynona (1871-1946) was a prominent, eccentric and influential figure in late Imperial Germany, Expressionism, Dadaism, and the Weimar Republic who wrote and published works of philosophy, novels, parodies and satirical so called grotesque tales which he wrote under the pseudonym Mynona - the German word for anonymous, anonym, spelt backwards. After fleeing the rise of Nazism, Friedlaender/Mynona died in Paris in obscurity. Friedlaender/Mynona is currently in the process of being re-discovered in his native language, however little of his work generally, and none of the philosophical texts, have been translated. The is the first ever book-length publication in English introducing the philosophical works. It includes three introductory framing chapters explaining the historical context, contemporary relevance and pertinence to performance philosophy of Friedlaender/Mynona; it contains original translations of select passages from his most significant philosophical texts (especially Schöpferische Indifferenz/Creative Indifference, first published in 1918), the later Das magische Ich/The Magic I (1935) and the very last essay Ideenmagie/Idea Magic (1945/46) as well as translations of select letters from his life-time of extensive correspondence to and from well-known cultural personalities of the time. Not only recognised as having inspired Walter Benjamin, and thus arguably an important contributor to the tradition of critical theory to which Benjamin belongs, Friedlaender/Mynona can be counted as forerunner of both performance philosophy and gender theory, and as a major influence in the development of Gestalt therapy. Furthermore, not only did Friedlaender/Mynona belong to the first generation of avid Nietzsche readers, over the course of his life he remained a tireless interpreter of Immanuel Kant. His extraordinary voice is of significant interest to Nietzsche and Kant Studies and sheds light on their respective relevance for a performance-oriented approach to philosophy.

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9781538146132

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Reviews

This volume presents an impressively edited selection of the entire range of Friedlaender/Mynona's writings. Such a careful English translation should find an audience well beyond those already fascinated by F/M's wonderfully refreshing philosophical and literary work. Lagaay and Thiel effectively convey the lively, engaging, and provocative quality of F/M's writings. --Brendan Moran, professor of philosophy, University of Calgary

Author Information

Alice Lagaay is professor of media theory and performative studies in the design department of HAW Hamburg at University of Applied Sciences Hamburg. She is a founding member and core convener of the international performance philosophy network. Besides her interest in Friedlaender/Mynona and the concept of creative indifference, her most recent work has focused on speculative design research and on non-standard formats for generating and communicating philosophical content. Detlef Thiel is an independent philosopher who lives and works in Wiesbaden, Germany. He has held lectureships in philosophy at Trier University and Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences. Editorial activities include Collected Works of Friedlaender/Mynona, Friedlaender/Mynona Studies, Friedlaender/Mynona and Paul Scheerbart in Japanese translation, unknown texts by Paul Scheerbart; books on Jacques Derrida, Plato, Friedlaender/Mynona.; numerous essays and reviews in philosophy.

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