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SOLDIER-AUTHORS and THEIR SOLDIER-CHARACTERS a Study SOLDIER-AUTHORS AND THEIR SOLDIER-CHARACTERS A Study of the Soldier as Central Figure in the Trümmerliteratur of Heinrich Boll and Wolfgang Borchert LARA ELIZABETH MORRISON A thesis submitted to the Department of German Language and Literature in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada January, 1998 copyright O Lara Elizabeth Morrison, 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Sewices services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Sbeet 395. rue Wellington Otbwa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in rnicrofom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fdm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. for Andrew Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge al1 the guidance. inspiration, and sound common sense I received from rny supeMsor, Dr. Florentine Strzelczyk. Despite the difficulties associated with corn m unication over long distances, she has always been readily accessible by telephone, e-mail, fax, or courier, and I am very grateful for her continuous support. I am also indebted to Dr. Paul Dickson for guiding me through some of the intricacies of twentieth-century warfare, and for suggesting some very useful secondary sources. I would like to thank Dr. Bill Reeve for his valuable help, both editorial and administrative, and Dr. Diane Pitts for graciously taking on the task of CO-supervisorin the eleventh hour. Special thanks go to my family, who suffered. uncomplaining, through months of rny absent-rnindedness and fixation on military history. Thank you for your patience. Abstract The twentieth century has witnessed the two rnost costly wars (in terms of both money and hurnan Me) ever experienced, namely. the First and Second World Wars. No other conflict before or since has involved so many of the world's people or has had as great an influence on the development of modern society. This study examines the impact of WWll on two soldier-authors, Heinrich 8011 and Wolfgang Borchert, and how their experiences during the war affected their writing during the late 1940s. An examination of each author's representation of the soldier as character reveals his own opinions cuncerning war, the fate of the individual, and the role of society. There are many sirnilarities between the two writers' styles and choices of content. In using a journalistic approach the authors focus the reader's attention on events as they are presented, without elaborating or explaining. Thus, they draw away from Iiterary tradition and depict war as a harsh reality. Within this reality the individual character, particularly the soldier. serves a def inite purpose: to emphasise the hurnan side of war, to remind the reader of personal suffering. to represent what the authors believed to have been a universal experience during the war (Le. psychological as well as physical trauma). and to act as a social criticism. The soldier is defined in relation to the war and to society. The main differences between the two authors occur at the religious and moral levels. Borchert does not subscribe to traditional religious beliefs, whereas Boll believes in the existence of a Catholic God. As a result, Borchert's characters. concerned with the here and now, search for definite explanations for the war and their role in it. Boll focusses instead on the inhurnanity of war, without examining its cause. Despite their differences. Bo11 and Borchert corne to similar conclusions: the effectç of war are not confined to one set of people, but are universal. affecting al1 members of the nations involved. Through their description of individual experience. they emphasise the inhumanity of war and the importance of preventing its reoccurrence. Table of Contents Acknowledgernents Abstract 1. War and Literary Traditions i. The Emergence of Modern Soldier-Authors ii. The Weimar Years iii. Bol1 and Borchert 2. The Development of the Soldier-Figure i. Langemarck and Verdun ii. The Divine Soldier-Saviour iii. Fall from Grace: the Post-War Years iv. Guilt, Responsibility, and Victimisation Heinrich 6611 i. Trürnmer/iteratur ii. Existentialism iii. The War Machine iv. Heroes / Anti-Heroes v. Alienation and Anonymity vi. Death and Dying vii. Heirnkehr viii. An All-Em bracing Humanism 4. Wolfgang Borchert i. A New National ldentity from the Ruins ii. A New Cosmos out of Chaos M. Nihilism iv. "Deutschland, Kameraden, Deutschland! Darum!"? v. "Jetzt hat uns keiner hingeschickt" vi. Heimkehr a) Problems Fitting In b) Denial vii. Remembering 5. Two Authors, Two Perspectives: One Message 113 i. "Wo 1st denn der alte Mann, der sich Gott nennt?" 114 ii. The Uniting Force of Humanism 120 iii. Contributions to Post-War Society 123 Bibliography Vita The true reaiity of war is to be found in the anguish. confusion, and motivation of ordinary combatants. (Stephen G. Fritz. '. .. ldeology and Motivation in the Wehrmacht. .." 685.) 1. War and Literary Traditions War has been a constant topic in European literature since the first texts were written. It figures in Greek epics and biblical stories, as well as such works as Tolstoy's War and Peace, Remarque's Im Westen Nichts Neues, and Brecht's Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder. As long as war remains a part of civilisation, it will continue to inspire songs. poems, stories, and criticism. Traditionally, war has been glorified as a noble battle, fought for a worthy cause. However, with the advent of the twentieth century and mechanised warfare, people have begun to view it differently, and society now asks questions concerning the effects of prolonged combat on individuals, communities, and countries. Now we are more concerned with the "anguish, confusion, and motivation of ordinary combatants" than with noble societal ideals of patriotism and glory. This cornes from a general societal trend to place more value on individual effort and human rights than ever before, which makes an examination of past wars, especially the two World Wars, difficult but very important. 1997 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Wolfgang Borchert's death, and cornes just two years after renewed celebrations of the end of World War II, fi years after the fact. Recently, interest in the events leading up to and encompassing WWll has resurfaced in the general population, with questions of responsibility at the forefront.' With this revived interest has come a new examination of the effects of such a war on society and on the individual. In Germany. an exhibition an the Wehrmacht renounces the traditional view of the German Armed Forces as "fern von allen Naziverbrechen, nur tapfer und treu das Vaterland verteidig[endIn ("Vernichtungskrieg...") and examines individual participation in the war. This exhibition has been protested by neo-Nazis and rnembers of extreme right organisations. and the debate rages over the identity of Vie soldier as "pure" (right) on the one hand, versus human and therefore responsible (left) on the other. The question of individual participation in war has never been addressed satisfactorily. and remains as pertinent today as it was fifty years ago. As one soldier wrote to Borchert after the end of the war, "'[iln funfzig Jahren ist nicht alles vorbei. In fünfzig Jahren ist ebenso Gegenwart wie heute und gestem war"' (qtd. in Meyer-Marwitz 343). The problems which concerned çoldiers like Wolfgang Borchert (1921 -47) and Heinrich Boll (191 7-85) at the time, questions of alienation, guilt, frustration, heroism. and personal control, still occupy people today. This study will examine a very small part of the literature which addresses these questions. The intricacies of the Second World War, no matter how well examined by historians, remain very difficult to understand, especially for anyone not actually involved in the conflict. It is especially difficult, almost sixty years after the beginning of the war and from a North-American standpoint, to try and ' Inquiries into Nazi bank accounts in Switzerland and art treasure hoards in Austria. for example, have taken place in the past few years and continue to be of concem to the public. 3 define the average experience of a German soldier and the effect which the war would have had on hirn. How do we define this man, after all? Was the common soldier. as Allied propaganda would have it. really a "bloodthirsty Hun" or an innocent victirn of a despotic government. an ordinary man doing his civtc duty? These questions cannot be easily answered, because so many complexities arise that a simplistic response would be both misleading and unfair. The Genan nation, like every other country involved in the war, contained within it many contradictions and differing points of view. and its soldiers' beliefs, experiences, and opinions varied as much as those of their society. Both Heinrich Bo11 and Woîfgang Borchert tried, through writing, to come to terms with the many differing images of the German soldiery which surrounded them during and after the war. Their works attempted to find some meaning in the recent events and at the same time to point out the futility of such an effort.
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