A couple of months ago I was noodling about Hegel, and being stuck when I come across the term “Hegelian“. Today, in one of our occasional Saturday guest posts, we have a post by Brechtian. Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is another lacuna in my knowledge, apart from some titles, snippets of writing and David Bowie’s version of Baal.

The term Brechtian is arguably as broad as Hegelian. Here’s a one sentence summary on Brecht’s legacy from Wikipedia:

“Besides being an influential dramatist and poet, some scholars have stressed the significance of Brecht’s original contributions in political and social philosophy”.

You may also be amused to hear that Brecht wrote a manual of sorts – Manual of Piety (originally published in German as Die Hauspotille, 1927).

There is plenty of social and political interest in this series of reflections by Brechtian. And I love the GANTOBian style of capturing these thoughts in snatched moments, by hand, on found scraps of paper, with interesting objects to provide context.

As you will see, Brechtian also provides answers to a question posed in GANTOB’s November 2023 pamphlet “The Birth of Death”, pamphlet X14 (2023), copies of which were available at November 2023’s Day of the Dead (The Krossing), with the full text also available in the second GANTOB book (GANTOB’s 2023: A trilogy).

I am sure that all GANTOBers will wish Brechtian the best of luck over the coming year.

Read Brechtian’s other GANTOB contributions:

• The Best Weapon (May 2024)
• Lupine (December 2023)

Gillian Finks, 28/9/2024

BRECHTIAN, 28 September 2024

If you would like to be featured in a future Saturday guest slot, please get in touch.