„[…] warum schläft denn nimmer nur mir in der Brust ein Stachel?” Ernst Wiecherts Prosawerk der 30er Jahre
Streszczenie
Ernst Wiechert’s prose written in the 1930s is best symbolized by Friedrich Hölderlin’s poem
"Abendphantasie" (1799), in which the persona describes his loneliness and resignation, describing
them as a thorn in his chest. The question of the identification of these feelings with the East
Prussian writer is a major problem raised in the article. Wiechert certainly belongs to the group of
writers associated with the so called Inner Emigration, and the studies by Herbert Wiesner, Ralf
Schnell, Reinhold Grimm and Friedrich Denka support this thesis. Also, the method developed by
Hubert Orlowski allows us to include or exclude literary works from inner emigration literature.
This method turns out to be helpful in the interpretation of Wiechert’s works. Moreover, the question
of Wiechert’s position on National Socialism is considered, which is full of contradictions, as well as
his coming close to the Inner Emigration. On the basis of selected prose works created in the 1930s
(e.g. "Die Hirtennovelle", "Die Majorin"), the writer’s evolution from the ‘breakthrough of grace’ to
becoming an inner emigrant will be presented. Particularly noteworthy are some relevant themes in
his works such as World War I, the mother figure as a prefiguration of the ‘Great Mother’ myth, the
writer’s stand on National Socialism or the Mazurian landscape.
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