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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. University Microfilm s International 300 N. ZEEB RD„ ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 8222071 Cuomo, Gleun Raymond A STUDY OF GUNTER EICH’S LIFE AND WORK BETWEEN 1933 AND 1945 The Ohio State University PH.D. 1982 University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, M I 48106 Copyright 1982 by Cuomo, Glenn Raymond All Rights Reserved A STUDY OF GUNTER EICH’S LIFE AND WORK BETWEEN 1933 AND 19^5 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Glenn Raymond Cuomo, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1982 Reading Committee: Approved By Prof. Hugo Bekker Prof. Charles W. Hoffmann Prof. Henry J. Schmidt Adv# Department of’ German ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the Graduate School of the Ohio State University for a fellowship which enabled me to conduct research in the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as to U s e Aichinger and to the Deutsches Literaturarchiv/ Schiller Nationalmuseum in Marbach am Neckar for permission to quote from Gttnter Eich's unpublished manuscripts. VITA August 6 , 1952 . B o m - Freeport, New York 197^ . .... B.A., State University of New York College at New Paltz 1974-1976 .... Teaching Assistant, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 1976 . .... M.A., The University of Georgia 1976-1979 Teaching and Research Associate, Depart­ ment of German, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1979-1980 Presidential Fellow, The Ohio State Uni­ versity 1980 . Teaching Associate, The Ohio State Univer­ sity 1981-1982 Acting Assistant Professor of German, Department of Foreign Languages and Lit­ eratures, Rider College, Lawrenceville, New Jersey TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................. ii VITA.................................. lii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .................................. 1 II. 1927-19^5: AN OVERVIEW OF EICH'S LIFE AND WORK. 12 III. A LISTING OF EICH'S RADIO TEXTS FROM 1933 TO 194-5 • .............. A 7 IV. NAZISM AND THE RADIO P L A Y ............... 66 V. THE "ACCEPTABLE" ADAPTATIONS ................... 103 VI. THE KONIGSWUSTERHAUSER LANDBOTE AND ITS PROGENY 12A VII. "WEIZENKANTATE," "FAHRTEN IN DER PRARIE" AND "RADIUM" . 000000.. 0. 00. 0.... 13^ VIII. GUNTER EICH'S POETRY BETWEEN 1933 AND 19^5. ° 207 IX. CONCLUSION........................... 2A0 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................... 251 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION An author*s popular image is often determined by a sin­ gle work which gains great acclaim. Such a work is not al­ ways the author’s best, nor is it necessarily the most repre­ sentative example of his writing. This holds true for Gttnter Eich, who became famous for the controversy created by his radio play "Traume," a series of dream scenes of horror and impending doom linked together by narration and verses aimed at disquieting the audience. The premiere broadcast in 1951 elicited a barrage of protest from outraged listeners, which 1 was unprecedented for any radio play. Due to the very mag­ nitude and the violent nature of this reaction, "Tr&ume" has received the most attention of all Eich’s radio plays, even though critics have pointed out that it lacks the consistency and polish which mark his "classic radio plays" of the same p period. Focussing on the provocative aspects of "Tr&ume," Gerhard Prager heralded its broadcast as the "Geburtsstunde des Horspiels," as the start of a new type of radio play which confronts listeners with controversial issues. There are several ways to understand the essence of the controversy surrounding "Traume." Breuer examines the work and the listeners’ reaction in accordance with reception theory and demonstrates how "TrSume" contravened the prevail­ ing expectations of German listeners, who, as was indicated in a survey conducted in the years 1952-55s wanted to he en­ tertained hy light radio plays that dealt with the "problems of everyday life."^ Discussing the work in its socio-politi­ cal context, Krispyn and Schafroth also show how it failed to conform to prevailing tendencies in postwar German society. They note that much of Eich's provocation is derived from abstract, yet unmistakable allusions to Germany's fascist past, which came in the midst of the country®s "miraculous" economic recovery when Germans had succeeded in suppressing their Nazi legacy.-'’ In the first dream in "Traume" ("dreamt" by a German), there are obvious allusions to Gestapo terror, to deporta­ tion and extermination,, One figure recalls how men in strange uniforms dragged him and his family out of bed in the middle of the night and sent them off in a locked freight £ car (II, 290). Verses following this scene introduce a new concept, that of collective guilts "Denke daran, dafl du schuld bist an allem Entsetzlichen,/ das sich fern von dir abspielt" (II, 290). Eich®s allusions to the Nazi era are more pronounced in the published version of "TrSume," which came out in 1953* 7 than they had been in the original broadcast. The verses he added to its conclusion evoke memories of the concentra­ tion camp and warn against the imminent revival of totalitar­ ianism s 3 Schon lSuft der Strom in den UmzSunungen, und die Posten sind aufgestellt. Nein, schlaft nicht, w&hrend die Ordner der Welt geschkftig sindi Seid miBtrauisch gegen ihre Macht, die sie vorgeben ftlr euch erwerben zu mttssen! (II, 321-22) "Traume" did not contain Eich®s last warning about the abuse of political power. The specters of totalitarianism ("die Ordner der Welt" and "die Macht") appear again six years later in his acceptance speech for the Georg-Bflchner- Preis in 1959» Here he alludes directly to Nazism when voicing his fear that a new form of totalitarianism could evolve; Daf3 die Macht die Sprache fttr ihre Zwecke einrichtet, sollten wir wissen, seitdem es ein Reichsministerium fttr VolksaufklSrung und Propaganda gegeben hat, Leider wissen wir es nicht. Goebbels, die harten Zeiten und die harten Herzen, der Endsieg auf Transparenten, das ist alles schon historisch, 19^-5 war es vorbei, 0 . , (IV, 449) The controversial point of Eich's mention of the dangers of language misuse and cultural manipulation for political pur­ poses lies in his claim that the threat of manipulation had not ended with Nazism®s defeat, but was still a present dan­ ger, even in the current democratic regime. He therefore closes his speech with a call for individual resistance, and emphasizes the necessity that writers maintain an antagonis­ tic relationship to the establishment: Wenn unsere Arbeit nicht als Kritik verstanden werden kann, als Gegnerschaft und Widerstand, als unbequeme Frage und als Herausforderung der Macht, dann schreiben wir umsonst, dann sind wir positiv und schmttcken das Schlachthaus mit Geranien. , , . (IV, 4-54-) By this time the German Federal Republic had existed as a flourishing democracy for some ten years, and Eich's warn­ ing about the re-emergence of fascism must have seemed out of place to many and, at the least, highly provocative,, Like "TrSume," the Bttchner speech was also received unfavor­ ably, though this time rejection came in a more subtle form,, The Frankfurter Allgemeine, which until then had made the practice of publishing all acceptance speeches for the Bttchner Preis, withdrew its offer to publish Eich's speech and re­ placed it with an account of the ceremony by Hans Schwab- Felisch, who downplayed the political implications of Eich's O words. Eich nevertheless continued to practice his form of "linguistic resistance" until his death in 1972, and works such as his enigmatic Maulwttrfe (published in 1968) earned him the reputation of an "anarchistic nonconformist„" The statements just cited represent an important aspect of Eich's writing, but they are only one side of a multi­ faceted oeuvre. It can be argued that by focussing on his postwar preoccupation with the fascist past one overlooks the philosophical essence of Eich's lyrics and radio plays, which 9 frequently treat ontological questions.