The reality of society is once again the subject of theater. The end of self-reference in art has come. There is a reality, and we can recognize it. There is a representation of reality, and we can use it to change the world. In his new book "In Praise of Realism," Bernd Stegemann recalls the far-reaching debates surrounding the realistic arts and connects them to current discussions about a new realism. Dialectical thinking, the question of class consciousness, and the hope for a better world are freed from the supposed storage room to which the postmodern worldview has banished them.