Germanfags get in here. I'm interested in exploring German (language) modernism...

I'm OP and also Austrian. I wouldn't know, because I don't really read contemporary literature, but it certainly feels like it.

>his characters are likable and well-defined but ultimately only serve as "puppets" for some kind of philosophical discourse about society
I'm working my way through Mann's major works, so far I've read his Tod in Venedig, Buddenbrooks, Zauberberg, Faustus, Felix Crull, and I'm on the third volume of his Joseph tetralogy. You're right that his characters fit into a grander, 'metatextual' scheme, but to say that they're ultimately 'only' puppets is disingenuous. If Mann knew one thing, it was writing nuanced and heartfelt characters, and philosophical discourse shouldn't detract from that. I don't see how he can be interpreted as not giving a shit about a guy like Ziemßen in Zauberbeg considering the death he is given, and as for the main character, the whole book is there to truly make him our 'Sorgenkind' and to make his final send-off into world war so heart-wrenching.
You can also consider the third book of Joseph etc., where he devotes only a smaller part of a chapter to a single, relatively minor character, Mont-kaw, and yet by the end of it all you're truly sad for his death, even though Mann also makes the thematic importance of Mont-kaw pretty obvious.

Yeah but it's the Germans that killed it. Petty rude bitches that they are.

You should read Hermann Mann, Professor Unrat in particular is funny as fuck and decadent, Hermann Mann is also less laborious than Thomas.
For the interbellum period, Fallada's (Goebbels-approved) Wolf unter Wölfen is excellent, showcasing both the drug-addled life of inner city Berlin as well as the struggles in the countryside, and it follows a colourful spread of characters that you learn to love and hate.

Which of his works did you like best?

This should give you a good tour through the development and literary trends of Modernism.

Die Weber - Gerhard Hauptmann (1893, Naturalism)
Professor Unrat oder Das Ende eines Tyrannen - H. Mann (1905, Expressionism)
Die Ermordung einer Butterblume - Döblin (1910, Expressionism)
Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge - Rilke (1910, Expressionism)
Der Zauberberg – Mann (1924, Modernism)
Berlin Alexanderplatz - Alfred Döblin (1929, Modernism)
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften – Musil (1930-43, unfinished, Modernism)
Die Schlafwandler - Hermann Brochs (1931–1932, Modernism)

Zauberberg probably, it has the more varied, funny, often clearly crazy characters and the whole setting is wild and almost absurd. I really liked Buddenbrooks as well because I liked the dynamics of their family relations, and most people will find a way to relate to them. Felix Crull is good as an introductory work, though, because it has the same Mann-ish irony and humour but is obviously more condensed, and Felix Crull is one cheeky cunt. Faustus is good but very much a tour de force and you need a good deal of the Faust myth as background to really appreciate it, much of its reflections on musical theory were lost on me as well but that's because I'm a musical illiterate. The Joseph tetralogy has been good so far, in its best moments as good and funny as any core Mann work, but it's just so massive you can't avoid some unnecessarily tedious sections, and it can be pretty disorienting if you, like me, are not well-versed in the Bible as well as its 'real life' settings (Kanaan, Egypt, etc.). Even still, it's probably also his 'deepest book', like when the narrator reflects on God's power here on earth and comes so close to the Hegelian idea of masks that I almost suspect that it's allusion (but only almost): 'Diese innige Verknüpfung der Angelegenheiten aber und daß Gott seine wirkliche Würde nur mit Hilfe des Menschengeistes erlangt, dieser aber wieder nicht würdig wird ohne die Bezugnahme auf sie --...'. It goes on for a bit because it's Mann we're talking but you get the gist of it.

why do german love nudism so much?

why does angela has a picture of her young cunt?

>why do german love nudism so much?

As a German I don't really know where this meme came from, although i know we have nudists here and even beaches for them.

But it's a parallel universe. Like those remaining ancient hippies in America. You know they exist, you know they are part of your culture, yet you cannot understand them, never see them and you hope it's soon over.

Besides the problem will solve itself with our new diversity.

The day Helge Schneider dies will be the day we'll collectively realize what a genius we had in our midst.

tfw Helge will die in your lifetime

This is mainly an East-Germany thing, it was really widespread during the GDR.
I don't know a lot of people from West-Germany that were into nudity, and nowadays it is only a niche very few people occupy, although I guess Germans in general don't have such a big problem with being naked in general compared to other countries.

Thanks, I'll add the ones I'm missing. You seem to know your stuff.

Austrianfag here ().

So I guess most feel that the question is useless or too broad?

Schade.

I did not ask (yet) how and if it died.

Why do you think it feels like it?

Yeah because you could ask that question for any European country and there would be some truth for it. But Germany has one central, cultural problem: the Berlin centrism. Berlin is the absolute cultural frontrunner, but the elitism and hermetism has killed anything interesting from invading the mainstream. Also, most Berlin authors just fetishize hipness and some kind of cold, intellectual superiority. But we did have a big Bestseller lauded by the press like Tschick which was pretty unique for Europe.

Well, you asked the question in the wrong thread, but while we're off topic: do you live in Vienna? If yes, do you know a good used book store?

>Why do you think it feels like it?
Before popular music Austria and Germany were the countries that spawned the best composers. Now we're shit, even at pop music. Vienna still has the highest number of opera performances in the world, but the city isn't a cultural capital like it used to be. Everyone consumes so much anglo-culture, there's no reason to make our own anymore.

>Before popular music Austria and Germany were the countries that spawned the best composers.
You consider 19th Century onwards to be the age of "popular" music then.

>But Germany has one central, cultural problem: the Berlin centrism. Berlin is the absolute cultural frontrunner, but the elitism and hermetism has killed anything interesting from invading the mainstream.
There may be some focus towards the capital city, but it's nothing compared to almost any other European country. To me you sound crazy.

>But Germany has one central, cultural problem: the Berlin centrism. Berlin is the absolute cultural frontrunner, but the elitism and hermetism has killed anything interesting from invading the mainstream.

What are you smoking?

Germany isn't France

>You consider 19th Century onwards to be the age of "popular" music then.
The French and the Russians certainly caught up, but Mendelssohn, Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner and Schumann were still among the greatest.
Maybe I'm misreading your post.

>Mendelssohn, Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner and Schumann were still among the greatest.
Yeah, Schumann was alright I guess. I find Germanic composers of that period to really be a bit melodramatic or kitsch tbqh. French and Russian are way better, never mind caught up. Zooming off ahead they were.

How long should I be practicing German before I attempt to read something?

It's supposed to be melodramatic. Melodrama is good.

Boooo.

Fine, I like the melodrama and it doesn't really apply to all of them (Strauss, Mahler). I'm partial to the Russians myself, but the point was that the composers I listed were some of the most important of the 19th century. Not looking to argue about who was better.

ich li bediche

Any great books covering either the Franco-Prussian War or Otto Von Bismarck?

Woher kannst ich finden Deutsche sprache Film mit untertitle im deutschen?

ebenfalls korrekt mein sprache

start with the notebooks. honestly i loved them so much. someone just take me back, please.

oops wrong board

Reading literature is usually the best way to expand your vocabulary when learning a language. How long you have to practice German before you can read it fluently, is up to you. I can't put a number on it.

You should start with some children / young adult literature, something published in the last 50 years preferably. If you have no problems with that, then move on to more complex literature.

>Wo kann ich deutsche Filme mit deutschen Untertiteln finden?
If you have a sentence with a modal verb, you put the other verb in its infinitive form at the end.
Anyway, just torrent whatever movie you want and google for subitles. Or you could make an account on boerse.to (it's a great german site for movies, books, games, newspapers, etc.)

I thought that was with p much everything with two verbs unless you've got clauses going on.

Yeah, pretty much, as long as it's a main sentence or a question. But I was just talking about this particular sentence.

No worries, thought I'd just get clarification. I haven't really studied German for a few years and might pick it up again in a few months, so thought I'd ask. Thanks for the reply.