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The Social and Political Philosophy of Bertolt Brecht Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 12-2012 The Social and Political Philosophy of Bertolt Brecht Anthony Squiers Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, German Literature Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Squiers, Anthony, "The Social and Political Philosophy of Bertolt Brecht" (2012). Dissertations. 126. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/126 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF BERTOLT BRECHT by Anthony Squiers A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty ofThe Graduate College in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy Department ofPolitical Science Advisor: Emily Hauptmann, Ph.D. Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 2012 THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF BERTOLT BRECHT Anthony Squiers, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2012 Bertolt Brecht is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in Twentieth Century literature. An acclaimed poet, he is best known as a playwright and director. His 'epic theatre' revolutionized the theatre by creating radical breaks from traditional literary and theatrical form. These radical breaks were done in an effort to facilitate radical social change. Specifically, Brecht designed his epic theatre as a revolutionary aesthetic which would help bring about the advent of a Marxist revolution. There is a broad corpus of academic work which analyzes the formalistic elements of his work. However, this body of work has been severely limited by a formalistic understanding of Brecht's thought and work and neglects his unique philosophical contributions to Marxism. This dissertation serves to remedy this by reconstructing Brecht's social and political philosophy into a single theoretical framework. In doing this, the dissertation presents Brecht's thought in context of a revolutionary Marxist aesthetic and explores his vision of historical materialism, dialectic of enlightenment, social ontology, epistemological foundations and ethics, in an effort to reveal his relevance today. This is accomplished by meticulous readings of his theoretical writings and deep analysis of three ofhis plays, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Life ofGalileo, and his adaption of Coriolanus. Copyright by Anthony Squiers 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the following organizations: The Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University; The Graduate College, Western Michigan University and The Marxist Literary Group. Special thanks would like to be extended to the members of this dissertation committee for their innumerable efforts and indefatigable support and advice: Dr. Emily Hauptmann, Dr. Barbary Foley, Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert and Dr. Jacinda Swanson. In addition the author would like to acknowledge the following colleagues for their help and support as this project developed: Brent Bellamy, Jacques Brouillette, Danielle Verena Kollig, David Takitaki, and John Young. Anthony Squiers 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 The State ofBrechtian Scholarship 9 Formalism 12 Non-formalistic Approaches 22 Post-formalistic Approaches 26 Methodology 29 Objectives 34 Overview 38 II. BRECHT'S ETHICS OF PRAXIS 44 Introduction 44 Marxian Praxis-Theory 46 The Theory ofEpic Theatre as a Praxis Philosophy 48 Brecht's Ethics ofPraxis 62 Conclusion 66 HI. CONSCIOUSNESS, COGNITION AND THE ALTERING OF SOCIO-TEMPORAL ORDER 68 Introduction 68 Previous Research on Estrangement Effects 70 Brecht's Narrative Aesthetics 74 iii Table of Contents—continued CHAPTER Natura Non Facit Saltus 79 The Bad New Things 83 Cognition, Patterns ofData Delivery and Socio-temporal Order 87 Reification of Socio-temporal Order 94 'Dramatic' Plot as Socio-temporal Order 97 'Dramatic' Plot as Reified Structure 99 The Effects ofAltering Socio-temporal Order 102 Penetrating the Veil ofReification 104 IV. EIDETIC REDUCTION AND CONTRADICTION 107 Introduction 107 Hegemony 109 Myth 113 Bourgeois Weltanschauung 120 Epic Theatre and Language 123 Barthes on Brecht 125 Sartre on Brecht 127 Brecht and Phenomenological Reduction 128 Gestus 131 Conclusion 132 V. RETHINKING BRECHT'S SPLIT CHARACTER: DIALECTICS, SOCIAL ONTOLOGY AND LITERARY TECHNIQUE 134 Introduction 134 iv Table of Contents—continued CHAPTER The Split Character 135 Brecht's Social Ontology 138 The Good Woman ofSetzuan 140 Summary 149 VI. BRECHT'S DIALECTICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT 151 Introduction 151 Doubt 154 A New Way of Seeing 156 Fear 161 Fear ofthe State 162 Existential Anxiety 169 The Betrayal ofTruth and Instrumental Reason 173 Conclusion 178 VH. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CONTRADICTIONS 182 Introduction 182 Mao's Concept of'Dominant' and 'Secondary' Contradictions 183 'Dominant' and 'Secondary' Contradictions in Brecht's Coriolanus 184 Conclusion 191 VIII. CONCLUSION 192 Summary 192 Critique 196 v Table ofContents—continued CHAPTER Brecht's Estrangement Effects in Practice 202 New Estrangement Effects in Practice 206 Religious Bloodshed in Northeast Egypt Leaves Thousands Dead 206 Discussion 214 Conclusion 215 BIBLIOGRAPHY 217 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION "Brecht is a difficult phenomenon..."1 On February 27, 1933 the Reichstag building, the seat ofthe German parliament in Berlin, was set ablaze in what was alleged to be a Communistic plot to unsettle the German government. Marxist playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, a shrewd political observer, accurately anticipated the violent and repressive response by the Nazis and the following day fled Germany with his wife, Jewish actor Helen Weigel and their two children. Brecht was only thirty-five at the time but had already established himselfas an important literary figure gaining notoriety for widely acclaimed and commercially successful productions like Baal which premiered in 1923 and The Threepenny Opera which premiered in 1928. Brecht's introduction to Marxism came in the middle part ofthe 1920's. In 1926, Brecht wrote, "it was only when I read Lenin's State and Revolution (!) and then Marx's Kapital that I understood, philosophically, where I stood" (Brecht, et. al, 2003, p. 35). By the early 1930's Brecht had established what would become long lasting and intimate friendships with prominent German Marxists. These friendships 1Benjamin, 1973, p. 27. 2 composers, Kurt Weill (who he collaborated with on The Threepenny Opera, The Rise and Fallofthe City ofMahagonny andother projects) and Hanns Eisler (who he collaborated with on The Measures Taken, TheMother, Kuhle Wampe and other projects) and the influential philosopher Karl Korsch whose discussion groups and classes Brecht attended. These associations, along with his theatrical successes and his reputation for keen intellect made Brecht an important and influential left intellectual in Germany at the time and thus a potential target for the Nazi aggression that followed the Reichstag fire. In fear of the Nazis and their designs to eradicate Marxism, Brecht spentfifteen years in exile. He first went to Denmark, then to Sweden, Finland and the US in an attempt to stay ahead of the progressing German military. He spent 1941-47 in Santa Monica where he often associated with other exiled German intellectuals like Thomas Mann, Fritz Lang, Lion Feuchtwanger, Hanns Eisler, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse. He awaited the conclusion of the war in California and in 1947, returned to Europe, living in Switzerland, in preparation for a returnto Germany. In late 1948, Brecht arrived in Berlin and the following year established the Berliner Ensemble with state aid from the newly founded German Democratic Republic. Brecht died in 1956, in the GDR leaving behind a formidable artistic legacy. He is perhaps best known for creating major theatrical works such as: Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Woman ofSzechwan, Life ofGalileo, The Threepenny Opera and his theoretical writings which attempted to create a 3 revolutionary theatre. Brecht began theorizing about theatre and politics in his late teens and early twenties. However, his efforts intensified later in his exile yearswhere he continued to clarify and refine important concepts to his theory of 'epic theatre'. During his short lifetime, Brecht produced copious writings which included more than fifty plays, adaptations, operas and screenplays, several collections of poetry, various works of literary proseand volumes of theoretical writings and musings on the theatre, art, politics, society, history, culture and other topics. The large majority of Brecht's works have been translated into English through a series published by Methuen as well as various other sources. English speakers are greatly indebtedto the translation efforts of National Book Award winner for translation Ralph Manheim as well as those provided by John Willett. Togetherthey are responsible for editing and translating many of Brecht's works into English. In English translation, Brecht's writings consist ofnine volumes of plays containing translations ofBrecht's own notes on the plays, a volume of collected works of poetry
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