Analysis of Stefan Zweig's 'Erasmus: Grandeur and Decline of an Idea'

Extract

[...] The author will thus transform Erasmus, a symbolic representation of humanism, into a loser by nature. The latter is condemned in advance before the start of his fight. The fanatical theories evoked by the writer through the appearance of the father of Lutheranism are not the essential factor in the opposition with Erasmus. If he only highlighted the modest peasant descent of Luther, the writer would not have vitalistic sayings as a result. He relies on this solid constitution to make it a symptom of his vitality. [...]

[...] The relationships between Stefan Zweig and Erasmus are very enriching but the opposition between Erasmus and Luther is an analysis path that should be considered. Indeed, Erasmus is described as "cosmopolitan", "man of universal thought" while Luther embodies nationalist fanaticism. Humanist values and murderous fanaticism are antagonistic points that the author exposes. The priority importance of this humanism / nationalism antagonism lies in the way the author describes them. Indeed, the sketch of the "hero" (« The rough aspect") is associated with psychological descriptions "passionate", "fanatical", and "combative" character), a look at his political vision of society ("nationalist") and irrational concepts characterizing the character. [...]

[...] The publication of his work 'Erasmus: Grandeur and Decline of an Idea' in 1935, a biographical collection of this Dutch humanist philosopher, takes place at a time when its author has left to exile in the United Kingdom. Before its official publication, the writing was already the subject of a controversy maintained notably by Klaus Mann, a German writer, responsible for an exile magazine 'Die Sammlung' in which he had prevented the publication of an excerpt from the work for too politicized statements. [...]

[...] His words thus legitimized the Nazi doctrine. The philosophical theories defended by Erasmus are not the reasons that led Zweig to be interested in him. The author made this character a perfect intellectual figure and without distinguishing literature and philosophy, he proposed a definition of philosophy, a universal doctrine in which each individual should find themselves. This posture proves to be only intentional because in the reality of the text, his philosophy does not always promote humanist values. His work constitutes a response / reply to his anti-Nazi accusers with a guiding thread of defending humanist values that he has always claimed, as evidenced by the statements of his biography 'The World of Yesterday': it is a 'veiled confession'. [...]

[...] Zweig then presents him as 'too reasonable', 'not passionate enough'; this is a 'weakness'. This 'weakness' is no longer 'mysterious' and its foundation explains the origins of humanism and the reasons for its failure. The triumph of his opponents, and notably Adolf Hitler caricatured as the nationalist Luther, is thus proclaimed at several titles. He affirms the supremacy of the German fanatic and his will to oppose the dictator's doctrine leads him to support Nazi theses by taking over a vitalistic argumentation. [...]