This volume is a collection of articles on the contribution of Heinrich von Kleist's plays, short stories and essays to the conception of ‘modernity’ which were originally presented at a symposium. The material is presented in two parts and is written in English and German. Part I – ‘The Plays’ – contains essays dealing with a wide range of topics. These include what Bernhard Greiner calls ‘ultimative’ or exhaustive writing strategies in Kleist's work; an analysis of the imagery portrayed in The Schroffenstein Family; the notions of gender, power and the performance of justice in The Broken Jug; and the representation of modern state, nationhood and the rule of law in The Prince of Homburg. Also included in this part are essays on female sadism and gender struggle in Penthesilea, and prosodic and dramatic tension in his blank verse plays. Part II – ‘The Stories and Essays’ – touches upon themes such as crisis, denial and outrage in Kleist's short stories; the ghost of poverty in The Beggarwoman of Locarno; a Lacanian interpretation of his The Marquise of O; the enlightened view of religion in St. Cecilia, or The Power of Music, the assertive expressiveness in Kleist's selected works; and his essay on puppet theatre.

The editors are right to point out that Kleist's works are still relevant for the contemporary world, in that they imply ‘a level of ambivalence toward newness that lends urgency to the question of the new, without at the same time providing the grounds on which this question can be resolved’ (p. 4). What they term the ‘modernity’ of Kleist's work relates to his insightful and in-depth experiments with topics such as class, gender, terrorism and ethnic wars, through which he examines the changing social relations associated with the fall of the traditional land-based economic, social and political institutions, and the rise of new industrial ones.

Using several approaches, including the literary, theatrical, philosophical, political, socio-economic, bibliographic and even mathematical, the contributors investigate how Kleist has delved deeply into the conflicts and new possibilities that arose from the revolutions and social transformations of his time, not just exposing the flaws and drawbacks of nineteenth-century institutions, but also examining the reconceptualization of individual and collective identities that ensued later, at the turn of the twentieth century. Kleist's contribution to modern thinking is highlighted here more for the quality of the questions he asked than for that of the answers he was able to offer.

In addition to thorough analyses, the volume contains images, notes, bibliographic information and an index of names and works. It is a welcome contribution to our understanding of the German author, and it constitutes a valuable tool for Kleist students and scholars alike. By examining Kleist's works from these diverse angles, the contributors to this volume convincingly show how Kleist played a prominent role in breaking with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century traditions and venturing into the dawn of modernity.