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- Title
'ERST KOMMT DAS FRESSEN, DANN KOMMT DIE MORAL': STARVATION WARFARE AND MEDICAL ETHICS IN KARL SCHÖNHERR'S HUNGERBLOCKADE 1919.
- Authors
Harland, Rachel
- Abstract
Karl Schönherr's drama Hungerblockade 1919 (1925) is set against the background of the food shortage that affected Austria during and in the aftermath of the First World War. While it touches critically on the British naval blockade of Germany and the countries associated with her, its main focus is on the abrogation of moral standards in the face of acute hunger, as illuminated by the case of Doktor Glatz, a physician caught between professional responsibilities and concern for his starving daughter. Although Schönherr is regarded as a straightforward moralist by some critics, in Hungerblockade 1919 he presents a number of difficult moral conflicts in the area of medical ethics including the doctor's duty of care and the extent to which it outweighs private responsibilities, distributive justice and the exploitation of professional status for personal gain. This article argues that the play calls for altruism but that its didacticism is tempered by doubt about man's capacity for self-sacrifice in times of great material need.
- Subjects
AUSTRIAN drama; HUNGERBLOCKADE (Play); SCHONHERR, Karl, 1867-1943; FOOD supply; RECONSTRUCTION (1914-1939); HUNGER in literature; ETHICS in literature; 20TH century drama -- History &; criticism
- Publication
German Life & Letters, 2013, Vol 66, Issue 1, p22
- ISSN
0016-8777
- Publication type
Literary Criticism
- DOI
10.1111/glal.12001