From Expressionism to Exile: The Works of Walter Hasenclever (1890-1940) by Walter Hasenclever , Christa Spreizer (review)

Abstract

896 Reviews into English. There isenough inthese two pages tosuggest that Dowden could have penneda riveting chapter on theworkings, andfailings, ofliterary translation. Instead, hisis oneofa group offour essays which tendtorepeat themselves in making points ofa broadly ethical or narrowly comparative nature ('Madame Chauchat hasa lotincommon with Leniof771e Erial'). DavidBlumberg (onmusic) andStephen Meredith (onillness) arebetter attuned tothegeneral reader's needs andyieldvaluableinsights concerning, forexample, thenature and extent of Castorp'sfondness forhis cousin,Joachim Ziemssen. Karla Schultzwrites entertainingly aboutthediscovery andfascination ofX-rays, andrelates this early example of'virtual reality' toCastorp's career as a loverandan engineer. The firework display is savedfortheend:Kenneth Weisinger's inspired foray into 'Asiatic' references to'Distant oilrigs andother erections'. Hisetymological tour de force is,admittedly, marred in placesbyan over-zealous attention to detail, as exemplified bya questionable attribution ofBehrens's casual'Siehda, siehda, Timotheus' toStPaul'sEpistles toTimothy. The editor, assuming heknows his Schiller, might haveintervened at thispointto spareembarrassment, butthe conjectures that Weisinger hascleverly teased outofseveral other proper names should ensure a placefor thecurrent volume inthe reference libraries ofcommitted MagicMountaineers. UNIVERSITY OFKENT OSMAN DURRANI From Expressionism toExile. Whe Works ofWalter Hasenclever (I890-I940). BYCHRISTA SPREIZER. (Studies inGerman Literature, Linguistics andCulture) RochestHr, NY:Camden House. I999.Xii + 202PP. £35. Whereas BertKastiesin hisbookWalter Hasenclever. EineBiographie der deutschen Moderne (Tubingen: Niemeyer, I994)set outtopresent Hasenclever's life asa typical example ofmodernism, Christa Spreizer concentrates onhisworks andfits them intotheir historical and socialcontext. Her introduction on Hasenclever's life justifies this approach andisprobably themost useful section ofthebook.Inthe chapter on lyric poetry hisclinging to 'tried andtruestrategies oftheliterary tradition' (p.30) is seenas surprising, butalso as 'an obligatory stagein his development asa writer' (p.30),setting him offrom the experimental poetry ofthe Sturm andAktion circles. Reference toFranz Werfel, hisfellow poetinLeipzig, is aptly made, butonelooks invainfor a broader contrast with the works ofJohannes Becher orErnst Stadler. Theauthor produces critical synopses ofeachplay orprose work and supports thesewithliberaluse ofgeneral secondary literature and background detail onperformances andtheir critical reception. Yetoften the reader isleft wondering what her ownreactions are. A signoflip-service donetolegend comes inthesection ontheproduction in I9I8 inMannheim ofDerSohn, where thenewlighting techniques ofthedirector Richard Weichert arementioned, whereas the actual artistic achievement should be credited tohisstage-designer Ludwig Sievert, a common error nothelped bythe difficulty ofaccesstorelevant research material. Bycontrast, themany references to the influence onHasenclever ofthe historian KarlLamprecht, his Doktorvater, and emphasis on thecontinuities with literary traditions ofDerSohn (especially with Schiller's DonCarlos) are convincing. However, theconclusion, 'It is doubtful whether theplaydemonstrates a transcendence ofthetraditions, attitudes and preconceptions ofWilhelmine society' (p.7I), iS disappointingly lame.Hasenclever 's other Expressionist plays areanalysed with support from WolEgang Paulsen and Walter Sokel, whereas theso-called 'mystic' dramas andthecomedies ofNeue MLR,96.3,200I 897 Sachlichkeit are givenmorecursory treatment. Ironically, thereal research contribution ofthe bookcomes inthediscussion ofHasenclever's articles andfilms, yet even with these, the reader whohopes for more focus onthe artistic relationship between KurtPinthus and Hasenclever willbe disappointed. Furthermore, the repeated claim-that MunchAausen wasHasenclever's best play, basedonenthusiastic claims byKurtTucholsky (seep. I6I), iSnotcritically justified. Konfikt inAstyr7en, Hasenclever's barelyveiledattackon Nazi anti-Semitism, receives farmore attention, as doesIrrtum und Leridenschaft, 'part novel, part exileautobiography, and partviciousgossipcolumn ofGerman cultural society before and during the Weimaryears'(p. I74). In short, this bookisfarfrom being a definitive study ofHasenclever's works. Researchers willfind almost nothing newhere, most oftheevidence nowbeing available inthefive-volume edition Walter Hasenclever. Samtliche Werke, edited by Dieter Breuer andBernd Witte (Mainz:Hase& Koehler, I990-97).Despite this, wenowhaveaninsight into Hasenclever's works that explains why Kurt Pinthus's description ofhiminhisedition Walter Hasenclever. Gedichte, Dramen, Prosa (Reinbek beiHamburg: Rowohlt, I963)as oneofthe'Unbekanntesten undderVerkanntesten ' (p. 7) among German writers whobetween I9IO and I930achieved fame andfortune, still lingers on. MELLEN UNIVERSITY, IOWA BRIAN KEITH-SMITH Literature at War,I9I4-I940.- Representing the'rimeofGreatness'in Germany. By WOLFGANG G. NATTER. NewHavenand London:Yale University Press. I999.Vi+ 280PP. £25. Study ofthe German literature ofthe First World Warhaspassed through a number ofstages. Attention wasinitially given totexts, suchasArnold Zweig's DerStreit um den Sergeanten Grzscha, which endorsed humanitarian valuesin opposition to the nationalism that hadactivated allthose engaged inpropaganda. Theperspectives ofthecommon soldier orthedisillusioned junior officer inRemarque's ImWesten nichts Aeues andRenn'sKrteg, apartfrom thequestion ofthesenovels'intrinsic literary merit, were presented asnecessary correctives toa consensus with itsroots inthe'ideasofI9I4'. Atthesametime Ernst Junger...