THE NEGLECTED VOICE OF ALFRED LICHTENSTEIN (1889–1914)

Abstract

Lichtenstein is a largely neglected writer. He was a marginal figure in Berlin’s literary world before his death in September 1914, and neglect continued when, after 1945, Expressionism became a focus of interest. He has suffered particularly from repeated claims that his work derives from van Hoddis, especially the latter’s ‘Weltende’. However, Lichtenstein’s poetry, while owing a formal debt, is very different because of his presentation of new ways of seeing. He wrote in different styles, including parody; humour and self-irony are reflected through an invented persona. His wartime poems are marked by a spare realism. His prose works reveal a similar perspectivism to that in his poetry, which links him to the painting of the period.