The volume provides a history of the genre in the 20th century, covering the entire German-speaking area and extending from prestigious examples all the way down to more trivial instances. Alongside the traditional forms, the study also explores aphoristic phenomena in areas verging on science and philosophy, extending its purview to modern hybrid forms located between aphorism proper and dictionary, essay, poetry, epigram, note, diary, journal, and fragment. The concepts game, image, and insight are drawn upon to trace the main lines in the history of the genre, centering around the figures of Kraus, Kafka, and Hofmannsthal.