The Last Days of Mankind
A vast satirical drama of the First World War, much of it assembled from newspaper reports of the day.
Kraus assembled this vast satirical drama during the First World War, much of it verbatim from newspapers, official statements and overheard conversation. Hundreds of scenes move between the front and the cafés of Vienna, showing how language was used to make the slaughter sayable. He thought it unplayable, estimating it would take ten evenings, and meant it as a record rather than a play.
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Niall Ferguson
It’s a tremendously modern work in the way that it represents the relationship between the media and warfare. And much of it isn’t written by Kraus at all, but is quotation of articles from the period. So to somebody who was already interested in the First World War, that was a very exciting revelation. I was also excited by Kraus’s language. Even in translation, it is clear that he was an extraordinary writer.
Interview · April 2012
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