HEINRICH BOLL'S EARLY PROSE: A DISCOURSE OF WAR-DAMAGED BODIES by MARGARET HELEN REIMCHEN B.F. A., The University of Alberta, 1969 Dipl.Ed., The University of Western Ontario, 1970 M. A., The University of British Columbia, 1992 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Germanic Studies) We accept this thesis as conforming to the Required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March 2000 © Margaret Helen Reimchen In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date / DE-6 (2/88) 11 ABSTRACT Using insights drawn from research in a variety of disciplines into theories of the body, this dissertation investigates Heinrich Boll's (1917-1985) early prose (1936-1955) as a discourse of war damaged bodies. The "new" texts discussed appeared in Germany between 1982 and 1995. The thesis represents the first attempt to analyse Boll's work from the perspective of the human body. Chapter I briefly outlines the influence sociology has had for a better understanding of the role of the human body in society. This chapter demonstrates that the body can be fruitfully used both as a critical tool and as an interpretative device in discussing literary texts. An elucidation of the methodology and theoretical approach used concludes the chapter. The thesis explores Boll's use of the body not only as aspects of the narrative and also for its ethical implication. According to him, an author's temporality ("Zeitlichkeit") is the first thing to be communicated before embarking on an analysis or interpretation of his work. Chapter II investigates the "Aryan/Nazi" body and refers to other contemporary body discourses. Chapter III, investigating the "Writer's" body, provides insights into Boll's biography. Both chapters shed considerable light on Germany's cultural, social, internal, and external political situation. Chapter IV describes the soldier's 'closed,' "disciplined" body as portrayed in texts such as Das Vermachtnis. Colonel Bressen, a key character in Wo warst du. Adam?, epitomises the "mirroring" body in Chapter V. More "Schein" than "Sein," it reflects an intentionally internalised and acquired "habitus." In Chapter VI, Boll's war story "Der blasse Hund," provides a striking example of a "dominating" body which seeks to preserve its power and to control its fears through committing violent acts against its helpless victims. In contrast, however, a "communicative" body such as Kate Bogner's in Und sagte kein einziges Wort, examined in Chapter VII, is 'open' and caring. Throughout his early prose, Boll's careful use of body language reveals the multi-layered nature of reality. Chapter VIII summarises the thesis and presents its major findings upon which further critical work on the significance of the human body in Boll's later writings might be based. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Preface v Acknowledgements vii Chapter I. Introduction 1 The Emergence of the Body in Sociology 2 The Response of Social Theorists to Feminist Issues 5 Foucault's Influence on Sociologists 6 Social Theories of the Body 6 Critical Theory and Interpretation of Literary Text 8 Body Language in Literature: Toward a Critical Framework 9 Applying Body Theories to Boll's Early Prose 12 The Structure of the Thesis 15 Chapter II. The Aryan/Nazi Body 19 Hitler's Drive to Reconstitute Germany's "Body" 19 Defining German Identity in the Third Reich 21 Origin of The Aryan/Nazi body 22 Nietzsche and the Body 23 Body Culture/Cults and the Question of Beauty, Health, and Racial Purity 24 The Nazi View of Women in Life, Art, and Science 29 The Disease/Race Connection 31 Duelling, Masculinity, Blood, and Honour in the Third Reich 32 "Cultural," Sport and Propaganda Films Aimed at "Shaping" the German Body 34 The "New" Breed of German 37 Chapter III. The Writer's Body: Auto/Biographical Aspects 39 Boll's Family Background 40 Early Signs of Rejection of Nazism 42 Reaction to the Reign of Terror Begins 44 The Young Citizen Considers his "Volk" 46 New Angles on Women 48 The Soldier 51 Avoiding the War 54 War Letters 55 The Writer Emerges 57 Chapter IV. The Disciplined Body 60 The "Making" of a Disciplined German Soldier 60 The General: Wo warst du. Adam? 65 The General: "Der General stand auf einem Hiigel..." 69 The Colonel: Wo warst du. Adam? 72 The First Lieutenant: Wo warst du. Adam? 73 The Captain: Wo warst du. Adam? 74 iv The Sergeant Major: Wo warst du. Adam? 75 The Foot Soldier, Feinhals: Wo warst duf Adam? 76 "Die Verwundung" 78 Das Vermachtnis 84 Chapter V. The Mirroring Body 91 Appearance and Reality 91 What's in a Nose? "Todesursache, Hakennase" 94 Der Zug war piinktlich 96 Shattering Colonel Bressen's Mirroring Body and his "Scheinwelt" 97 Chapter VI. The Dominating Body 109 "Der Fluchtling:" Joseph 110 "Der blasse Hund:" Theodor Herold 112 The SS-Elite Organisation: The Black Order 115 Ilona and Filskeit: The Good, the Bad, the Beautiful, and the Ugly 119 Der Engel schwieg. Fischer vs. Gompertz: The Abuse of Power in the Family 128 Chapter VII. The Communicative Body 132 The "Zartlichkeit" / "Gebundenheit" Motif 138 "Der blasse Hund" 138 "Die Brennenden" 140 Und sagte kein einziges Wort , 143 The Hand Motif in Boll's Early Prose 146 The Heideggerian Hand 146 "Mit diesen Handen" 149 Der Zug war piinktlich 150 Und sagte kein einziges Wort 151 Haus ohne Hilter 153 Das Brot der friihen Jahre 156 Chapter VIII. Conclusion 163 Selected Bibliography 168 V PREFACE A comment made by the British Boll scholar Frank Finlay also holds true for me. He writes: "Many students of German have, like the present author, made their first association with German literature through the works of Heinrich Boll" (Finlay, Rationality 240). Twelve years ago, I spent much of two years in an isolated gold mining operation run by my husband in the Costa Rican jungle. Armed with barely more than a beginner's command of the German language and vocabulary, I slowly made my way through Heinrich Boll's short novel Der Zug war piinktlich. a text that I had come across when on a trip to Austria. The themes dealt with in this text and other early writings motivated me to later write a dissertation on Heinrich Boll. It was a goal that would require me to find out more about Germany's literature, people, culture, and role in the Second World War and in the restoration years. Heinrich Boll, of course, is still a towering, internationally recognised figure in post-war German literature. Two recent comments clearly illuminate Boll's literary influence. On January 5, 2000, an interview entitled: "Nenapodobuj muy osud" ["Do not imitate my Fate"] appeared in the Cultural Political Weekly, Literarni noviny. It was a talk with the well-known Czech writer, Alexandr Kliment (1929-) conducted by Jakub Patocka. In it, the writer said that he had been influenced by Chekhov, Camus and Boll. In remembering when Boll's novel Und sagte kein einziges Wort appeared in Prague in 1960, Alexandr Kliment described it as being: "uzasna vec" ["a magnificent work"].1 Boll's name is also mentioned in a January 22,2000, newspaper article in The Vancouver Sun written by the European columnist Stan Persky. In his review of My Century by Gtinter Grass, Persky writes that the author, after hearing that he had won the 1999 Nobel Prize for literature, "[...] wondered what Heinrich would have thought." According to Persky, Grass modestly answered his own question by saying: "I think he would have approved" (Persky, "Reflections" 23). Grass, according to Persky, was clearly referring to his old friend and colleague Heinrich Boll, the last German writer to win the Nobel Prize (1972) before Grass. Almost a decade and a half after his death, the resonance of Boll's literary voice in Germany is undeniable. In addition, his international following also continues to identify his prose as a valued part of the canon. The posthumous publication of several of his early works, especially of his novel Der Engel schwieg (1992), has done much to keep his memory and his convictions alive. Moreover, the devastating ethnic cleansing and wars that dominated the last decade, and continue on into the new century, have also made his writings into an integral part of the contemporary literary scene. Describing the efforts of an international community of scholars who are currently engaged in making Boll's writings even more available to present day and future readers provides a good preface with which to contextualise my dissertation which investigates his early works. In 1996, six international editors were chosen by the Heinrich Boll Archive in Cologne to participate in bringing out, over the next twelve years, a new edition of Boll's collected works, with commentary, in twenty-five volumes.2 The editors are James H. Reid, and Frank Finlay from England; Arpad Bernath from Hungary; Viktor Boll, Karl Heiner Busse, Herbert Hoven, 1 Kliment, "Nenapodobuj muj osud" 7. 2 Robert C. Conard, e-mail to the author, Dec. 11, 1996. vi and Hans Joachim Bernhard from Germany; and Robert C.