“Und das Geistige, das sehen Sie, das ist nichts.” Collisions with Hegel in Bertolt Brecht’s Early Materialism DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jesse C. Wood, B.A., M.A. Graduate Program in Germanic Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2012 Committee Members: John Davidson, Advisor Bernd Fischer Bernhard Malkmus Copyright by Jesse C. Wood 2012 Abstract Bertolt Brecht began an intense engagement with Marxism in 1928 that would permanently shape his own thought and creative production. Brecht himself maintained that important aspects resonating with Marxist theory had been central, if unwittingly so, to his earlier, pre-1928 works. A careful analysis of his early plays, poetry, prose, essays, and journal entries indeed reveals a unique form of materialism that entails essential components of the dialectical materialism he would later develop through his understanding of Marx; it also invites a similar retroactive application of other ideas that Brecht would only encounter in later readings, namely those of the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Initially a direct result of and component of his discovery of Marx, Brecht’s study of Hegel would last throughout the rest of his career, and the influence of Hegel has been explicitly traced in a number Brecht’s post-1928 works. While scholars have discovered proto-Marxist traces in his early work, the possibilities of the young Brecht’s affinities with the idealist philosopher have not been explored. Although ultimately an opposition between the idealist Hegel and the young Bürgerschreck Brecht is to be expected, one finds a surprising number of instances where the two men share an unlikely commonality of imagery. Sparked by that discovery, this dissertation locates important moments in the young playwright’s work where a reading through and against Hegelian concepts opens not only a better understanding of his early writing but of the materialism that undergirds his entire oeuvre. ii Such moments become particularly apparent upon examination of the young Brecht’s critique of language. I argue that his skepticism of language’s capacity to express material reality, and its corollary tendency to support false idealisms, leads him to develop a metaphorically “material” language that draws on bodily and natural imagery in order to produce a more directly visceral experience on the part of his audience or readers. In tracing the material language of the young Brecht’s work, this study focuses in particular on three of his early plays: Trommeln in der Nacht, Im Dickicht der Städte, and Mann ist Mann. His early works address notions of language, history, selfhood, intersubjectivity, and identity in a way that places Brecht’s approach to these in surprisingly close proximity to Hegel’s thought, although Brecht’s materialism ultimately precludes the progress found in Hegel’s dialectical idealism. In tracing these overlooked connections between Hegel and Brecht, this dissertation gains new insights into the young Brecht’s unique materialism. iii This dissertation is dedicated to my mentor and friend James K. Lyon iv Acknowledgements It is my pleasure to acknowledge a number of individuals whose guidance and support have made this dissertation possible. First, I express gratitude to my advisor John Davidson, whose patience, guidance, and detailed feedback has fundamentally helped shape this study into something better than I alone would have been able to produce. I would also like to express thanks to my committee members, Bernd Fischer and Bernhard Malkmus, for their willingness to serve on this committee. This dissertation is better because of their helpful insight. I am grateful to my wife Melissa and my daughter Charlotte for their love and support and especially for their patience as I have slowly completed this dissertation. They have always provided a relief from the stress of work and they make it easy for me to remember what the most important parts of my life are. I am also indebted to my parents, Mike and Marilyn Wood, for their encouragement and generous support as I have pursued this degree. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues at The Ohio State University, particularly Kristopher Fromm, Kristen Hetrick, Alex Holznienkemper, Jaclyn Kurash, Jennifer Magro-Algarotti, and Kevin Richards, for their friendship, sympathy, and the many enjoyable discussions which have enriched me both academically and personally. I am also grateful to Natascha Miller and Brenda Hosey for their friendship and help on too many occasions to count, as well as the many great baseball conversations. v Lastly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Jamie Lyon, who has given me steady and generous encouragement and guidance in my studies over the last ten years. The countless discussions we have had, whether on Brecht, other scholarly topics, the mundane, or the spiritual, have been invaluable as they have helped me progress as a student of German literature and as a person. vi Vita April 20, 1979 ......................................................................................... Born-San Jose, CA 2004.............................................................................................................. B.A. in German Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 2004-5 ..................................................................................... Graduate Teaching Assistant Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 2007............................................................................................ M.A. in German Literature Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 2006-12 .................................................................................. Graduate Teaching Associate The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Field of Study Major Field: Germanic Languages & Literatures vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ............................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vi Vita ................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: “Das Wort ist am Ende.” Toward a Material Language in Brecht’s Early Work ..................................................................................................27 Chapter 2: “und dahinter die Fleischbank, die allein ist leibhaftig.” History’s schlechte Unendlichkeit in Trommeln in der Nacht ....................................60 Chapter 3: “Alles war so leicht. Sie zerfleischten sich einfach.” Intersubjectivity and Conflict in Im Dickicht der Städte ........................................................94 Chapter 4: “Mich kann man am Arsch lecken mit Charakterköpfen.” The Precarious Dialectic of Identity in Mann ist Mann ...................................141 Conclusion: “Aber das Gesündeste ist doch einfach: lavieren.” A Brechtian Guide to Surviving the Material of History .........................................................180 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................196 viii Introduction Later in his life, Heinrich Heine recorded an encounter he had experienced as a young man with the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Eines schönen hellgestirnten Abends standen wir beide neben einander am Fenster, und ich, ein zweiundzwanzigjähriger junger Mensch, ich hatte eben gut gegessen und Kaffee getrunken, und ich sprach mit Schwärmerei von den Sternen, und nannte sie den Aufenthalt der Seeligen. Der Meister aber brümmelte vor sich hin: „Die Sterne, hum! hum! die Sterne sind nur ein leuchtender Aussatz am Himmel.” (Heine 98-99) Hegel’s glaring derision of nature reflects his idealistic humanism. Spirit, or reason, which exists in human beings, must be imposed on the arbitrary chaos of nature. Mere nature is a disease on the surface of the eternal. In the fourth stanza of his poem “Der 1. Psalm,” a young Bertolt Brecht expresses an opposing standpoint using similar imagery: Immer denke ich: wir werden nicht beobachtet. Der Aussatz des einzigen Sternes in der Nacht, vor er untergeht! (Brecht 11:30) These lines reject the humanistic idealism behind Hegel’s image of the stars as a cosmic leprosy whose chaos must be overcome through the application of reason and order. In Brecht’s poem, humans are the leprosy on the surface of nature. Brecht’s materialism here is as evident as Hegel’s idealism above. Despite this sharp contrast, however, Brecht and Hegel reach their respective conclusions through this common imagery. This brief connection between Hegel and the young Brecht is an indication of much more 1 significant moments of encounter that have been entirely neglected in scholarship on Brecht. In the Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof in former East Berlin, Brecht lies buried across the way from the grave of Hegel. That the graves are situated in this way, in close proximity but across from each other, seems fitting, considering the relationship between their written works;