Lecture “The Impostor: A Social Archetype of the 1920s”
With 2026 Max Kade Visiting Professor, Nicola Gess.
This lecture explores literature as a laboratory of the social imaginary, taking the con man as its central case study. Across novels, self-help manuals, daily newspapers, psychology, sociology, and criminology, the figure of the con man emerges as a pervasive presence in the Weimar Republic, ranging from the charming rogue to the cynical power-player of emerging fascism. Tracing the conditions that enabled this proliferation, the lecture examines the role literature played in shaping and disseminating the figure of the con man and explores its broader significance for the interwar period — a social archetype through which a crisis-ridden society came to recognize itself.
Time: 6:00 pm EST
Free!
