LTI von Victor Klemperer

Online-reading group (3/10)

IX-XV with Ken Yamamoto

Language determines how we perceive the world. We encounter it every day: in speech and writing. What we can say within a group or society determines its orientation. The word ‘remigration’, for example, shows that in Germany, after a long time, people are once again openly using völkisch ideas and fascist language.

1947 sees the publication of LTI - Notebook of a Philologist by Victor Klemperer. In this book, the Jewish Romance philologist analyses the language of National Socialism. LTI is the abbreviation for ‘Lingua Tertii Imperii’. Translated from Latin into German, it means ‘Language of the Third Reich’. Klemperer is thus parodying the Nazis with this abbreviation. Because they were obsessed with abbreviations. They abbreviated words and trains of thought. In this way, they turned lies into truths and the murder of millions of people into valid law.

Klemperer's book is a harrowing and yet humorous record. He repeatedly describes everyday experiences and observations. For example, he writes about death notices in newspapers and shows that The dictatorship was contemptuous of people right down to seemingly minor details such as black bars. Klemperer also draws broad lines. He sees anti-Semitism in connection with German Romantic philosophy and literature. In the case of Jews, he observes that they themselves use the language of the Nazis.

This language permeated an entire society. It continues to have an impact far beyond the 12 years of Nazi rule. The texts in LTI therefore have many parallels to the present. Fascism is not a phenomenon of the past. We currently have to deal with the rise of nationalist and fascist politics in Germany, Europe and all over the world. In Klemperer's words, LTI is a ‘knot in the handkerchief’. The book makes us remember the horrors of German fascism and recognise its persistence.

In ten meetings, we will read the 36 chapters of LTI together, as well as the preface and epilogue. Each session comprises around 30 pages (edition: Reclam, 2010). A moderator will accompany each meeting. They will focus on the respective section of the text. A close reading of key passages is part of the programme. The participants also contribute their questions and answers.