MLR, I02.2, 2007 577 and nineteenth-century formulations of his core categories-but just for two pages (pp. 265-67). Above all,Nietzsche andWagner are barelymentioned; yet theExpres sionist sense both of aesthetic redemption and of theprimacy ofmusic/revolutionary sound-all that surely points to the historical originating power ofNietzsche's Die Geburt der Tragodie and the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk. The 'closure' of Krause's structuring argument bears real fruitwhen he arrives at Kafka's animal figures and their embodiment of the very categorical circle that generated modernism's paradoxical energy: 'Kafkas Tiere sind nicht nur Meta phern desemantisierter Leiblichkeit, sondern auch zu einer sprachlich-reflexiven Selbstverstiindigung verurteilt, der sich der Sinn von Prozessen kiinstlerischer Dis semiose entzieht' (p. 222). And when he finally reaches Kurt Pinthus's introduction toMenschheitsdammerung, with its brilliant evocation of radical sounds, the reader almost wishes the book had started there.The categories of theMessianic and the sceptical, which are treated both as a priori and as embedded in the scholarly tradi tion, can become suddenly vivid, even exciting, when shown being acted out in the originating textsof the era. For all thevital literaryvisions he explores and analyses, Krause's insistence on scholarly framing isultimately constricting and devitalizing. DUKE UNIVERSITY JAMES ROLLESTON Sachlichkeit und elegischer Ton: Die spdte Lyrik von Gottfried Benn und Bertolt Brecht- ein Vergleich. By SIMON KARCHER. (Der neue Brecht, 2)Wiirzburg: Konigshausen & Neumann. 2006. 330 pp. ?39.80. ISBN 978-3-8260-3344-5. PaulCelanund GottfriedBenn: ZweiPoetologien nachI945. ByAGISSIDERAS. (Epis temata: Reihe Literaturwissenschaft, 545) Wiirzburg: Konigshausen & Neu mann. 2005. 2i8pp. ?24.80. ISBN978-3-8260-3093-2. In comparing Gottfried Benn's work with thatof two,at firstsight,markedly different poets, these new studies seek toplace it in themainstream ofmodern poetry. Simon Karcher's dissertation is based on detailed research, with 685 footnotes, many cross-references, and informative surveys of secondary literature, thoughmany repeated arguments and extended references could have been pruned. Karcher brings Benn and Brecht together as a 'Dichterpaar' (p. I3) and focuses on Benn's relatively neglected later poems to revise their reception as polar opposites, and the tradi tional labels of 'Artistik' and 'Engagement'. Describing the panorama of German lyricpoetry after I945, he highlights the importance to both poets of the search for new meaning amid the ruins of Berlin. Despite parallels inuse of language, Brecht's insistence on thedialogic character of lyricpoetry separates him fromBenn's theories about monologue and a formof absolutism. Karcher insistson Benn's call forrealism and application to the present, but wrongly suggests that research has ignored his themes of ageing and a definitive 'Alterswerk'. Brecht is cast as a writer of private lyrics,whereas Benn is said to have sought a balance between thewriter and a contemporary world aware of its past. Karcher interpretsBenn's lyrics as Neue Sachlichkeit Phase Two, showing how themodern pessimistic world fascinated him, whereas Brecht believed in a Socialist utopia based on thewisdom of the people. Seeking a formula to unite these contrasting poets, Karcher suggests the 'Riuckzug ins Private' (p. I56) supported by their use of cata logues of simple experiences, despite Benn's cynical tone.Their poems on restaurants, travel, and love in fact reveal strikingdifferences thatKarcher prefers to subsume as 'breitgefachert' (p. 204). After a short excursus on the elegy in general, Karcher shows how both Benn and Brecht adopted an elegiac tone in their late poetry. Stylized autobiography, with 578 Reviews remorse and premonitions of death, characterizes some of Benn's latework, while Brecht's shows the contrast between reality and utopia. Karcher identifies amixture of feelings in both poets, showing how they sought to assuage the sense of ageing with formsof the elegiac song in simple modern styles.Although he wrote in a style close to the Volkslied, Brecht's relatively early death meant that he avoided some of themelancholy found inBenn's works. Drawing a parallel between Benn's estrange ment from theNazis and Brecht's disillusionment in theGDR, Karcher interprets Benn's 'Den jungen Leuten' as a statement of disappointed hopes and an attempt tomislead his critics. Insisting thatBenn's laterworks sprang frompersonal embit terment that theNazis had not honoured his commitment to the regime, he favours Brecht's Buckower...