That Which Is Common

Arcos, René, 1880-1959Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 195K words
Chapters: 20

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Das Gemeinsame by René ArcosAuthor: Arcos, René, 1880-1959,Language: German, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Aug 3, 2015

Editor's review

Das Gemeinsame is a German-language text by the French writer René Arcos (1880–1959), released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain e-book. Arcos was closely associated with the Abbaye de Créteil group, and his writing often carries an idealistic concern for human community; the title points directly to "the common thing," making it suitable for reading within the early twentieth-century European intellectual context of thinking about the relationship between the individual and the collective. The German text preserves the linguistic style of its time; for readers familiar with German, it offers both access to a French writer rarely translated systematically in China and a sense of how reception leaves its traces across languages. Since the available information provides only the author, language, and classification, readers should not presuppose a specific plot; it is better treated as a literary text that requires active contextualization: first learn about the Abbaye de Créteil and the historical background, then proceed to close reading of the language. The electronic edition facilitates searching and comparison and is suitable as supplementary material for comparative literature or translation studies.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century French literature and European intellectual history
Literature enthusiasts with German reading ability who want to encounter obscure public-domain texts
Comparative literature students researching the Abbaye de Créteil or cross-linguistic reception
Students who need a German electronic text for linguistic and stylistic analysis

Not a good fit for

Readers without German reading ability and without a parallel translation to rely on
Casual readers expecting fast-paced plots or a clear story outline
Beginning readers of foreign literature who need detailed annotations and introductions

Reading tips

First look up basic background on the Abbaye de Créteil and Arcos before entering the text, to reduce contextual distance.
Treat the title "the common thing" as a reading clue and note passages about the relationship between the individual and the group.
If German is difficult, first find the French original or related research for comparison, then return to the German text.
Read in excerpt form, recording recurring core words to build your own thematic glossary.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is there a Chinese translation of this book?

The available information provides no information on a Chinese translation, so it cannot be confirmed. Readers may first check library catalogues and academic databases; if there is currently no Chinese translation, readers with German or French can read the public-domain electronic text directly, or use related research literature to aid understanding.

Can I read this book without knowing German?

Direct reading is difficult, because this is a German text and the available information includes no parallel translation. It is advisable to first learn about the author and the Abbaye de Créteil background, then use the French original or research literature to grasp the general meaning; if you only want to understand the intellectual context, related secondary research may be the priority.

Why is a book by a French writer in a German edition?

This involves the history of cross-linguistic publishing and reception. European cultural exchange was frequent in the early twentieth century, and works by French writers often circulated in German translation. This electronic edition preserves the German text and thus provides a searchable sample for studying translation, reception, and circulation.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Arcos, René, 1880-1959 Author · French · 1880–1959

René Arcos (1880–1959) was a French poet, novelist and pacifist. He took part in founding the Abbaye literary group, which had a certain influence in early twentieth-century French letters and promoted a form of literary exploration with an idealistic bent. Arcos's work spans poetry and fiction, and often reflects a concern for peace and for social life in common. The library holds his work Das Gemeinsame, whose title suggests a theme of the common or shared, perhaps reflecting his thinking about collective bonds and human harmony. Overall, Arcos was a writer whose poetry, fiction and pacifist activity remained connected, and whose literary practice echoed the idealistic atmosphere of early twentieth-century French intellectual life. Public information is limited, and details of his life and the full range of his work remain to be further verified.