Stefan George’s Poetry Cycle ‘The Star of the Covenant’ as a Product and Instrument of Networking

Abstract

The poetic cycle of the German symbolist poet Stefan George (1868–1933) ‘The Star of the Covenant’ (Der Stern des Bundes, 1914) is his eighth poetic book, which was originally addressed to the poet’s closest entourage – the so-called George-Kreis, the ‘George Circle’. In this article, Stefan George’s poetic cycle ‘The Star of the Covenant’ will be considered, on the one hand, as a product of social (personal) networking, on the other hand, as an instrument of the latter, actively and successfully used by the ‘leader’ or ‘Master’ George to strengthen and expand the public relations of the association. Using elements of social network analysis combined with historical-literary method and close reading, we cover such aspects as Strong Ties and the integration of the paradigms represented by key members of the association into the poetic cycle, personalities and myths of the Circle, and their reflection in the thematic-figurative content of the cycle. In particular, we show how symbolic schemes of interaction between participants of the George Circle are ‘ciphered’ in the poetic book and in the contemporary comments on it written by Ernst Morwitz and Friedrich Gundolf.