Our contribution aims at a reflection on one of the literary aspects present in the context of the Weimar Republic and, specifically, the so-called Third Reich: the literature of ideological proximity with Nazism. For this, we chose the following works, which will be the object of analysis of the present study: Ernst Junger’s In Stahlgewittern (1920; Storm of Steel ), Ina Seidel’s Das Wunschkind (1930; The Wanted Child ), and Hans Grimm’s Volk ohne Raum (1926, Nation without Space . While Ernst Junger figures as a representative of writers who, out of the battlefields of World War I, apologized for war, the writer Ina Seidel presents an image of the woman “in the service of the nation”. In turn, Hans Grimm conveys with his work a vision not only colonialist, but also based on the notion of “living space” ( Lebensraum ), one of the dorsal columns of Nazi ideology. Although Junger, Seidel and Grimm were antagonists of Nazism, positioning themselves far or even critically against the regime, no doubt in discursive terms, their works helped pave the way for the rise of Nazism.

The age of romantic ballet – especially in its focal point, the Paris Opéra between 1831 and 1845 – is known for signalling the rise of the ballerina from entertainer to cultural icon. She was the heroine of fantastic stories in which the surface of reality was cracked, allowing a glimpse of other worlds populated by supernatural female characters; an incarnation of the sublime, idolised by audiences and critics. Yet, there was a brutal contrast between the dazzling perception of the stars and the workaday reality of most ballerinas. Romantic ballets often explored the limited possibilities for women in French society, and sometimes even presented otherworldly alternatives through the use of Gothic elements. This article explores how an image of delicate, spectral femininity was constructed on the Parisian stage and press, and to what extent the characters of romantic ballet – and the women portraying them – could be dancing against that same imagery.