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Germany 1919-1947 revisio n
Postfirst world war germany
Literature affected by wars
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Recommended: Germany 1919-1947 revisio n
Due Date: 8th April 2005
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
Long Essay
Question 2: Knowing about the writer of a literary text can shape significantly the way that it is read. Consider the effect of the writer’s context on your understanding of The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum.
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum is the product of a political and social genius: it is a comment on Germany and society in general and is, as its author, Heinrich Boll would have it described, “a pamphlet disguised as a novel” . It was written, not just to entertain, but above all, to criticise the society in which it was produced. It is therefore impossible to fully understand the major ideas and themes of the text, and even, to and extent, the storyline itself without some knowledge of the milieu in which it was composed. Being aware of the context in which The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum was produced intensifies the impact of the major issues which it explores (notably the detrimental effects of power abuse, language abuse, and discrimination on the basis of wealth and social standing) by forcing us to rethink the childish yet widely held belief that a novel is merely a story and inviting us to read the this text not as a fairy tale, but as a excruciatingly honest commentary on humanity and modern social values.
Heinrich Boll was born towards the end of the First World War, and lived his childhood in its shadow. During this time he wrote many short stories with the background of economics and social consequences of the war. These reflected his experiences as a witness to Germany’s defeat in World War One – national humiliation, international debt due to the Treaty of Versailles, which also encompassed loss of land and foreign occupation, the political instability of the Weimar Republic, and the almost inevitable collapse of the German economy resulting in hyperinflation, unemployment and later, Great Depression of the 1930s. The shocking social, economic and political conditions in Germany eventually led to the rise of Hitler, Nazi Germany and later, to the Second World War. As a youth, Boll was conscripted into the army of the Third Rei...
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...Vintage, London
Used for quotes and textual support
Butler, Michael, (N.D.) The Conscience of a Nation: Heinrich Boll, [online], retrieved April 1, 2005, from www.writing.upenn.edu
Helpful information on Bolls life and career as a writer
Class Notes
Useful background information on West Germany and Bolls experiences with the police and press
Corin, Chris, Fiehn, Terry, Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin (2002), John Murray Publishers Ltd, London
Background reading – helpful information on communism and western attitudes towards its rise in Russia
Interwar Years – Economic Recovery, Spark Notes Online Study Guide [online], (2001), Retrieved April 3, 2005, from www.sparknotes.com
Good brief overview of the years between the two World Wars – background information, useful for’ filling in the gaps’
‘Germany’ (2003), Encyclopedia Britannica Online Reference Centre [online], Retrieved March 30, 2005 through MLC school intranet.
Information on Germany in the past and present – interesting to see the positive comments made regarding freedom of the press
Upon analysis of Night, Elie Wiesel’s use of characterization and conflict in the memoir helps to illustrate how oppression and dehumanization can affect one’s identity by describing the actions of the Nazis and
Hagen W (2012). ‘German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation’. Published by Cambridge University Press (13 Feb 2012)
Knowing about the writer of a literary text can shape significantly the way that it is read. Consider the effect of the writer’s context on your understanding of The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum.
Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: a History of Nazi Germany. New York:
The Songerweg emphasizes the particular model of history that Germany, unlike other Western countries, has gone through. Specifically, ‘proponents of this concept emphasize the peculiarities of German history, such as political institutions, social structures, or mentalities and experience, usually in comparison with other Western countries, to demonstrate the unique course of German history’ (Buse & Doerr, 1998, p. 934). Although initially the theory of Sonderweg viewed the characteristics of German historical development as positive, the situation has changed after the World War II. Specifically, in the 19th and early 20th centuries historians applied the Sonderweg model to stress a focus on the role of strong central state and military as the driving force of the development of the country (Buse & Doerr, 1998). In addition to this, historians regarded social reforms in Germany that were made from ‘above’ rather than being the outcomes of revolution to be a positive feature that depicted German state in a favorable way. Finally, the historical school viewed the course of German industrialization and culture as superior to similar processed in the rest of Western European
A. Soviet History. Marxists.org. 2010. Web. The Web. The Web.
Bernhardi, Friedrich von, and Allen H. Powles. Germany and the next war. Authorized ed. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1914.
Böll, Heinrich. And Where Were You, Adam? Trans. Lelila Vennewitz.. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern UP, 1994.
...eeded in putting communism on the political map of the world. Governments across Europe and Latin America emulated Stalin and instituted their own brands of communism within their respective countries. Yet, what was to be the permanent revolution, has infected and affected the world for almost an entire century. Every year since 1917 has seen people in revolt. Economics, austerity, and political corruption have been the common causes of popular uprisings across the world, and whether the revolutions have been peaceful or violent, the result has nearly always been a change in the political structure and the redrawing of boundary lines. The continued presence of Russian-backed revolutions combined with the cries of the European people for independence and security reflect the ongoing influence of the Russian Revolution on the whole of Europe and, possibly, the world.
Simon. T., (1983), Germany 1918-1933 revolution, counterrevolution and the rise of Hitler, Oxford University Press, London.
Feuchtwanger, E. J. From Weimar to Hitler: Germany, 1918-33. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.
Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
The most important book I examined during my research was Stephen J. Lee’s Russia and the USSR 1855-1991 written in 2005 after the soviet archives had been opened. Lee was an A-level teacher making his book more comprehensible and credible as there were pellucid links to my course. Lee’s book is divided into thematic chapters which deal with theories and regimes across both the Tsarist and Communist reigns, which makes it a straightforward way to find selective information. It also gave utilizable interpretation as well as having a range of sources which further increased my knowledge of how the peasantry were treated under the Tsar and Communist reigns. However it lacked the range and scope of someone like Martin McCauley.
Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past in Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964)
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Kitchen, Martin. A History of Modern Germany: 1800-2000. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Sprout, Otto.