The World of Yesterday
The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European is the memoir of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It has been called the most famous book on the Habsburg Empire. He started writing it in 1934 when, anticipating Anschluss and Nazi persecution, he uprooted himself from Austria to England and later to Brazil. He posted the manuscript, typed by his second wife Lotte Altmann, to the publisher the day before Zweig and Altmann both committed suicide in February 1942. The book was first published in the original German-language by an anti-Nazi Exilliteratur publishing firm based in Stockholm, as Die Welt von Gestern. It was first published in English in April 1943 by Viking Press. In 2011, Plunkett Lake Press reissued it in eBook form. In 2013, the University of Nebraska Press published a translation by the noted British translator Anthea Bell.
The book describes life in Vienna at the start of the 20th century with detailed anecdotes. It depicts the dying days of Austria-Hungary under Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Karl I of Austria, including literature, the arts, the system of education, and the sexual ethics prevalent at the time, the same that provided the backdrop to the emergence of psychoanalysis. Zweig also describes the stability of Viennese society after centuries of Habsburg rule.
Chapters
Detailed summary
Preface
Zweig sets out to write his autobiography following the terrible events and upheavals experienced by his generation. He feels the need to bear witness to the next generation of what his age has gone through. He realizes that his past is "out of reach." Zweig makes it clear that his biography is based entirely on his memories.The world of security
Zweig looks back upon pre-war Austrian and Viennese society, focusing primarily on Viennese. "When I attempt to find a simple formula for the period in which I grew up, before the First World War, I hope that I convey its fullness by calling it the Golden Age of Security." Austria had a stable political system and a currency backed by gold, and everyone could see themselves comfortably into the future. Many inventions revolutionized lives: the telephone, electricity, and the car.Originally from Moravia, Zweig's father made his fortune by running a small weaving factory. Zweig's mother comes from a wealthy Italian banking family born in Ancona. The author's family represents the cosmopolitan "good Jewish bourgeoisie," which had primarily become a patron of Viennese culture. Vienna had become the city of culture, and Zweig states all Viennese had desirable tastes. The artists, especially the theatre actors, were Austria's only significant famous figures.
At school in the 19th century
Zweig's time in school was quite unpleasant. Sport had a minimal place, performed in a dusty gymnasium. Zweig bitterly criticizes the old way of impersonal, cold, and distant teaching.In society, there was a certain distrust of young people. The young tried to appear more mature, for example, by growing a beard. Respect for the elders was vital. Zweig even claims that the school's purpose was to discipline and calm the youth's ardor.
However, in the face of this pressure, the students harbored a deep hatred toward authority. A turning point took place when they reached the age of 14: school no longer satisfied them, and they became entranced by the abundance of art in Vienna. All the pupils turned entirely to art: avid readers of literature and philosophy, listeners to concerts, spectators of plays, etc. Viennese cafés played an essential role in the lives of these young students as a cultural center. Passion gradually shifted away from the classics, and students became more interested in rising stars, especially young artists. A typical example of this interest is the case of Rainer Maria Rilke: a young poet prodigy whose precocity came late enough in his youth that most students could easily identify with him—along with the precocious genius Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who had shown his gifts at an even earlier age—as symbols of a whole movement of rising young artists.
During this time, the first mass movements affected Austria, starting with the socialist movement, then the Christian Democratic Movement, and finally, the German Reich's unification movement. In addition, the anti-Semitic trend began to gain momentum, although it was still relatively moderate in its early stages.
Eros matutinus
In this chapter, Zweig discusses the period of puberty and the transition to adulthood. Earlier European societies, where Christianity had a central role, condemned sexual impulses as diabolical. The late 19th century had abandoned these ideas but was left with no language to describe sexual impulses, which became unmentionable. Prostitution became a more common practice and venereal diseases were both prevalent and horrifying. Young men abandoned the prudery of their elders, seeing it as hypocritical.According to Zweig, fashion contributed to this peculiar oppression by denying the female body and constraining it with corsets, distorting the female figure and breaking its grace. This concealment merely served to draw the thoughts to what was hidden. Young girls were guarded and occupied so that they could never think about sexuality.
Zweig notes that the situation had dramatically improved for both women and men, and the generation after him was much more fortunate. Women now had much more freedom, and men were no longer forced to force their sexuality into the shadows.
Universitas vitae
Zweig recounts his transition to university. At this time, the university was crowned with a particular glory inherited from ancient privileges linked to its creation in the Middle Ages. According to Zweig, the ideal student was a scarred brute, often alcoholic, student body member.Zweig went to college for the sole purpose of earning a doctorate in any field—to satisfy his family's aspirations, not to learn. He decides to study philosophy to give himself as much time as possible to discover other things. Therefore, this chapter is mainly devoted to what Zweig did outside the university during his studies.
He began by collecting his first poems and looking for a publishing house to publish them. He enjoyed some success early on, to the point that Max Reger asked him for permission to set some of his poems to music. Later, he offered one of his works to the "Neue Freie Presse"—the cultural pages of reference in Austria-Hungary at that time—and had the honor of being published at only 19 years old. Finally, Zweig met Theodor Herzl, for whom he nourishes a deep admiration. Of Jewish origin, like him, Herzl, who attended the public impeachment of Dreyfus, had published a text promoting the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The text was the object of intense criticism in Western Europe, but was relatively well received in Eastern Europe.
Zweig decided to continue his studies in Berlin to change the atmosphere, escape his young celebrity, and meet people beyond the circle of the Jewish bourgeoisie in Vienna. Berlin began to attract and seek new talent, embracing novelty. Zweig met people from all walks of life, including the poet Peter Hille and anthroposophy's founder Rudolf Steiner. He decided to translate poems and literary texts into his mother tongue to perfect his German.
Émile Verhaeren is the subject of a long digression. Zweig recounts his first meeting with Verhaeren while visiting the studio of Charles van der Stappen. After speaking at great length, Zweig decided to make Verhaeren's work known by translating it, a task he observed as a duty and an opportunity to refine his literary talents.
After these many rich encounters, Zweig presented his thesis in philosophy.
Paris, the city of eternal youth
After finishing his studies, Zweig decides to go to Paris to discover the city. Zweig launches into a lengthy description of the Parisian atmosphere, of the state of mind of Parisians. Paris represents a city where people of all classes, from all walks of life, come together on an equal footing, a city where good humor and joviality reign.Zweig discovers Paris through his friendships, especially with Léon Bazalgette, to whom he became very close with. He admires Bazalgette's sense of service, magnanimity, and simplicity. However, Rilke undoubtedly impressed him the most, by the aura he radiated and for whom he had tremendous respect. Zweig recounts several anecdotes about Rilke, taking it upon himself to paint a portrait of a young man—or somewhat of a genius. He saw Rilke as someone who was compassionate, reserved, and refined.
Zweig's meeting with Auguste Rodin also holds significance. Because of Rodin, Zweig came to understand that creative genius requires total concentration. Rodin gives a tour of his studio and his last still unfinished creation before beginning to retouch his creation, and ends up forgetting Zweig's presence altogether.
Zweig then leaves Paris for London to improve his spoken English. Unfortunately, before leaving for London, he has the misfortune of having his suitcase stolen; the thief is quickly found and arrested. Having pity and a certain sympathy for the thief, Zweig decides not to file a complaint, thus earning for himself the whole neighborhood's antipathy, leading to his leaving rather quickly.
Unfortunately, in London, Zweig does not have the opportunity to meet many people and discover the city. He does, however, attend the very well-organized private reading of poems by William Butler Yeats. On the advice of his friend Archibald GB Russell, Zweig also obtains a portrait of "King John" by William Blake.
Bypaths on the way to myself
Zweig remembers his many travels and says that he has tried never to settle permanently in one place. If he considered this way of doing things as a mistake during his life, with hindsight, he recognizes that it allowed him to let go more quickly and accept losses without difficulty. Therefore, the only valuables he carries with him are autographs and other writings from authors he admires.Zweig nurtures an almost religious devotion to the writings that preceded great artists' masterpieces, notably Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. His obsession is such that he boasts of having been able to meet Goethe's niece—on whom Goethe's gaze has lovingly rested.
He shares his participation in the Insel Verlag Publishing House, whose deep respect and passion for works he admires. With this publishing house, he published his first dramas, notably Thersites, based on the character of the same name in Homer's Iliad. Zweig then recounts the strange twist of fate that has fallen on him and his creations. Four times, the performances that could have quickly propelled him to glory were stopped by the star actor or director's death. Zweig initially thought he was being chased by fate, but he recognizes afterward that very often, chance takes on the appearance of destiny. The title of the chapter then takes on its meaning: it was by chance that he did not enter the golden books of literature for his dramas, but rather his novels. The detours of his life finally brought him back to his first vocation, that of a writer.