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- Title
Dissent and Cultural Pessimism in Ernst Wiechert's Der weiße Büffel oder Von der großen Gerechtigkeit: Literary 'Inner Emigration' under National Socialism.
- Authors
Klapper, John
- Abstract
The use of Aesopian forms of disguise was a key technique for inner emigrant writers under National Socialism who sought to target nonconformist, 'esoteric' readers through camouflaged literature. Ernst Wiechert's little-known novella Der weiße Büffel oder Von der großen Gerechtigkeit provides an illuminating study of the oppositional potential but also ideological limitations of such dissident writing. Discussion of the writer's development from völkisch nationalist to principled opponent of Nazi injustice is followed by an examination of the novella's genesis, reception, and claim to oppositional status, showing how its affirmation of spiritual values offered sensitized readers reassurance and encouragement but also how the writer's deep-seated cultural pessimism might be misinterpreted as a call to fateful passivity. The work thus illustrates the problematic nature of all writing in Nazi Germany but also the distinctive features that underline the continuing significance for contemporary readers of inner emigrant literary nonconformism.
- Subjects
DER weisse Buffel oder Von der grossen Gerechtigkeit (Book); WIECHERT, Ernst; NATIONAL socialism &; literature; NATIONALISM in literature; PESSIMISM in literature; POLITICAL attitudes; GERMAN authors; NOVELLAS (Literary form); TWENTIETH century
- Publication
German Quarterly, 2017, Vol 90, Issue 1, p19
- ISSN
0016-8831
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/gequ.12019