Year of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Modern Languages and Literature (German Option)
Department or School/College
Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Committee Chair
Marton Marko
Commitee Members
Hiltrud Arens, Michel Valentin
Keywords
capitalism, Der Mann mit den Messern, Heinrich Böll, humor in German literature, myth, Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit, post-war German litertature, short story, simulacrum, spectacle, structuralism
Publisher
University of Montana
Abstract
German history of the 20th century was marked with unimaginable horrors and hardship. Both the First and Second World Wars left an indelible mark on the German psyche. Most specifically, the consequences of the Second World War were a turning point in German notions of cultural identity. The objective of this thesis is to analyze the various manners by which Heinrich Böll deals with the emerging cultural crisis in the post-war period of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. I have chosen two of his short stories, Der Mann mit den Messern (1948) and Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit (1951), for the purpose of providing a structuralist discussion of Böll’s observations of the rise of Germany’s National Socialism and the Second World War. The structuralist activity emphasizes the use of myth as a social tool for dealing with baneful experiences (i.e. especially in terms of war). Through an examination of these two texts, I call attention to Böll’s use of symbolic meanings, by which he provides the means for understanding how language, individuals, and society can be manipulated in order to correspond to authoritarian aspirations. For Böll, these three elements can create spectacle on the order of mythic connotations. I highlight Böll’s concern with spectacle as an abstract entity that accommodates the development of purposeful ignorance, especially in light of the roles certain individuals played in the rise of German fascism. I posit that Böll uses myth in its most ancient sense – a medium of dissemination through which cultural identity and knowledge can be passed on for posterity’s sake. As a writer, this is the position in which Böll saw himself, for writing functions as myth once had in that it provides a glimpse at the awful realities of war for contemporary and future societies. The lessons, both good and bad, learned in social upheaval can provide future generations with the means to lessen the blow of traumatic experiences, so long as those lessons are passed on.
Recommended Citation
Cardarelli, Marcus James, "Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit through the Medium of Myth in Heinrich Böll's Short Stories Der Mann mit den Messern and Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit" (2012). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 83.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/83
© Copyright 2012 Marcus James Cardarelli