The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts HEINER MÜLLER AND THE GESCHICHTSDRAMA: SEARCHING FOR A NEW GERMAN IDENTITY IN THE POST-WORLD WAR II (GERMANIA TOD IN BERLIN) AND POST-REUNIFICATION ERAS (GERMANIA 3 GESPENSTER AM TOTEN MANN) A Thesis in German by Theresa Marie Ganter © 2005 Theresa Marie Ganter Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2005 COMMITTEE PAGE The thesis of Theresa Marie Ganter was reviewed and approved* by the following: Daniel Purdy Associate Professor of German Thesis Adviser Chair of Committee Cecilia Novero Assistant Professor of German David Pan Associate Professor of German Greg Eghigian Associate Professor of Modern European History Adrian Wanner Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature Head of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates Heiner Müller's search for post-World War II and post- reunification German identity as depicted in his Geschichtsdramen, Germania Tod in Berlin (1956/1971) and Germania 3 Gespenster am Toten Mann (1996), respectively. In my analyses, I demonstrate how Müller exposes the various myths surrounding German identity by combining historical elements with the literary techniques of collage, intertextuality, metaphors, allegorical figures, political songs, ballads, and fairy tales. Germania Tod covers the time spectrum from the first to the mid-twentieth century as the author looks for clues to help explain the evolution of German identity which led to Hitler's reign of terror and Germany’s ultimate defeat by the Allied Forces in 1945, the division of Germany, and the formation of the GDR in 1949. Germania 3 offers a retrospective look at the GDR following reunification with an emphasis on the enduring German-Russian aggression as a remnant of German identity based on the legacies of Hitler and Stalin. Chapter One consists of a presentation of scholarly research on Müller and his works, including a classification of his dramatic oeuvre. In Chapter Two I offer an overview of this literary genre: its development over the centuries, beginning with Goethe and concluding with Brecht; followed by critics' views about the Geschichtsdrama, starting with Friedrich Sengle in the fifties and ending with Jürgen Schröder in the nineties: Schröder's criteria about defining a Geschichtsdrama serve as the basis for my analyses. In Chapter Three I present relevant historical information relating to post-World War II Germany: the social, economic, political, religious, and literary differences; followed by an overview of the political, economic, and literary situation in post-reunification Germany, with an emphasis on the new challenges facing German literature and German identity in post-reunification Germany. In my analysis of Germania Tod in Chapter Four, I offer a classification of the various historical characters Müller chose to represent German identity. In my analysis of Germania 3 in Chapter Five, I present the legacies of various historical characters whom Müller believed continued to influence German identity even after reunification. In Chapter Six, the Conclusion, I present the reception of each play; I compare and contrast how each deals with German identity and; finally, I discuss the challenges facing German identity of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One I. Introduction: Heiner Müller and German Identity..............................................1 I.1 Exposition...................................................................................................................1 I.2 Biographical Aspects................................................................................................. 3 I.3 Müller's Views on History, and the Underlying Theories of Hegel, Marx, and Benjamin........................................................................................................…. 11 I.3.1 Müller's Three Angel Texts and Their Reflection of His Views on German History....................................................................................................................... 15 I.4 Müller's Impressions and Expressions of German Identity....................................... 26 I.5 Müller's Dramatic Texts............................................................................................. 32 I.5.1 Major Themes in Müller's Geschichtsdramen in Previous Scholarly Research........ 39 I.5.2 Selection of Geschichtsdramen for this Study: Germania Tod in Berlin and Germania 3 Gespenster am Toten Mann..................... 50 1.5.3 The Mystery of "Germania 2".................................................................................... 52 I.6 The Structure of My Dissertation.............................................................................. 55 Chapter Two II. The Geschichtsdrama in German Literature........................................................ 61 II.1 Exposition: The Prehistory of the Geschichtsdrama.................................................. 61 II.2 An Ancient Argument: Historian versus Poet........................................................... 65 II.3 Specific Examples from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century............................70 a) Johann Wolfgang Goethe Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (1773) ("Götz of Berlichingen with the Iron Hand")............................................................ 71 b) Friedrich von Schiller Wallenstein: Ein dramatisches Gedicht (1798/99) ("Wallenstein: A dramatic poem")............................................................................. 76 c) Heinrich von Kleist Die Hermannsschlacht (1821) ("Hermann's Battle")................ 79 d) Heinrich von Kleist Prinz Friedrich von Homburg: Die Schlacht von Fehrbellin (1821) ("Prince Friedrich of Homburg: The Battle at Fehrbellin").......... 81 e) Georg Büchner Dantons Tod (1835) ("Danton's Death").......................................... 84 f) Gerhart Hauptmann Die Weber: Schauspiel aus den vierziger Jahren (1892) ("The Weavers: Drama from the Forties")................................................................. 89 g) Gerhart Hauptmann Florian Geyer: Die Tragödie des Bauernkrieges (1896) ("Florian Geyer: The Tragedy of the Peasants' Revolt")........................................... 90 h) Bertolt Brecht Mutter Courage. Eine Chronik aus dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg (1939) ("Mother Courage. A Chronicle from the Thirty Years' War")..................... 92 i) Bertolt Brecht Leben des Galilei (1955) ("Life of Galilei")...................................... 94 II.4 The Views of Modern Critics Concerning the Geschichtsdrama: Defining the Undefinable................................................................................……...98 II.5 Jürgen Schröder's Modified Criteria for the Interpretation of Geschichtsdramen....111 II.6 Heiner Müller and the Politics of Writing....................................................……….113 II.6.1 Müller's Obsession with German History.................................................................115 II.6.2 Müller's Views about the Geschichtsdrama..............................................................120 v Chapter Three III. Origins of Müller's Geschichtsdramen: Germania Tod in Berlin and Germania 3 Gespenster am Toten Mann............. 128 III.1 Exposition...................................................................................................................128 III.2 A New Era Begins with the Division of Germany: Political and Literary Aspects of Life in the GDR.....................................................131 III.3 Origins of Germania Tod in Berlin............................................................................138 III.3.1 Form and Style...........................................................................................................156 III.4 The End of an Era with the Demise of the GDR and Reunification: Political Events and Literary Consequences.............................................................. 167 III.5 Origins of Germania 3 Gespenster am Toten Mann.................................................. 173 III.5.1 Form and Style...........................................................................................................178 III.6 Summary....................................................................................................................180 Chapter Four IV. Analysis of Germania Tod in Berlin.......................................................................183 IV.1 Major Themes and Characters Reflecting German Identity..................................…183 IV.1.1 The Germans and Their Rulers.........................................................................….....185 a) Hitler and the Myths of the Third Reich................................................................…185 b) Germania...………....................................................................….............................188 c) The Myth of Stalingrad: Dictators and Nibelungs.................................................... 209 d) The Prussian Heritage: Frederick II........................................................................... 225 e) Frederick's Legacy and the Proletariat....................................................................... 239 IV.1.2 The Germans and Their Class System......................................................................