Victor Klemperer (1881-1960) was Professor of French Literature at Dresden University. As a Jew, he was removed from his university post in 1935, only surviving thanks to his marriage to an Aryan. From 1933 to 1935, Klemperer kept detailed diaries, which contain in note form some of the raw material for the German edition of "LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii". First published in 1957, "The Language of the Third Reich" arose from Klemperer's conviction that the language of the Third Reich helped to create its culture. As Klemperer writes: 'It isn't only Nazi actions that have to vanish, but also the Nazi cast of mind, the typical Nazi way of thinking, and its breeding ground: the language of Nazism.' This brilliant book is by turns entertaining and profound, saddening and horrifying. It is deservedly one of the great twentieth-century studies of language and its engagement with history.
1. LTI; 2. Prelude; 3. Distinguishing feature: poverty; 4. Partenau; 5. From the diary of the first year; 6. The first three words of the Nazi language; 7. Aufziehen; 8. Ten years of fascism; 9. Fanatical; 10. Autochthonous writing; 11. Blurring the boundaries; 12. Punctuation; 13. Names; 14. Kohlenklau; 15. Knif; 16. On a single working day; 17. System versus organization; 18. I believe in him; 19. Personal pronouncements as an LTI as a revision book; 20. What remains?; 21. German roots; 22. A sunny Weltanschauung; 23. If two people do the same thing...; 24. Cafe Europa; 25. The star; 26. The Jewish war; 27. The Jewish spectacles; 28. The language of the victor; 29. Zion; 30. The curse of the superlative; 31. From the great movement forward...; 32. Boxing; 33. Gefolgschaft; 34. The one syllable; 35. Running hot and cold; 36. Putting the theory to the test.
