Attention and Distraction in Modern German Literature, Thought, and Culture

Duttlinger's central claim that attention is itself inattentive, unpredictable, uncontrollable, that it is inseparable from distraction, guides her incisive readings, which emphasize the inconsistencies of attention's theorization and practical application. In this way, the book also adopts the dialectical thinking of Benjamin and Adorno. The result is a magnificent historical study, that will no doubt become a touchstone of future scholarship. * Samuel Frederick, Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies * Carolin Duttlinger must be admired for the originality and creativity of her approach, and for its learned execution. Attention and Distraction in Modern German Literature, Culture, and Thought could very well mark the beginning of an epoch in which one reads books and cultures through the lens of attention and distraction, and such linked phenomena as contemplation and diversion, literalness and allegory, teleology and digression, and melancholy and agitation. * Stanley Corngold, Times Literary Supplement * Duttlinger's book offers a profound overview not only of the debates of the time, but also of their concrete form in literary texts, photo books or scientific apparatus. * Bernd Stiegler, H/soz/kult * Duttlinger's book is a milestone publication which has set new standards for cultural and intellectual history. * Anne Fuchs, Modern Language Review * Duttlinger unearths in Attention and Distraction provide an exciting new direction for interdisciplinary modernist studies and make for an engaging and accessible reading experience that would, for student readers, double as an excellent introductory course in German modernism in context. * Paul Buchholz, Monatshefte *