The literary interpretation of Edwin Erich dwinger’s war experience

Abstract

The present article analyzes how the writer, Edwin Erich Dwinger (1898–1982), the bestselling German author in the Third Reich, collected into his novels experiences of being a prisoner of war in Russia during the First World War. After an overview of current theories of war literature, the author focuses on Dwinger’s principal work, Army behind barbed wire. In this novel, Dwinger’s description of Russia is analyzed by distinguishing fact and fiction and by outlining the perception of the book by contemporary literary critics. The main thesis of the article is that Dwinger’s novel reflected the spirit of the times, especially in his description of Russia, which allowed the book to become a bestseller, in spite of clear inconsistencies and its questionable literary quality.