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Hermann Broch, Die Schlafwandler: Revolution and Apocalypse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2020

Heinz D. Osterle
Heinz D. Osterle*
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
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Abstract

Broch's novel trilogy, The Sleepwalkers, has a pattern of apocalyptici magery and symbolism which appears at all important junctures of the work and permeates much of its texture. This pattern merges with a pessimistic theory of history, entitled “Disintegration of Values,” and it converges on a hostile portrayal of the German revolution of 1918. The essential function of the apocalyptic symbols is to frighten the reader into an attitude of acceptance toward the philosophy of the work. This philosophy contains an embryonic “theory of revolution” whose main thrust is counterrevolutionary because revolutions are viewed as manifestations of irrational impulses directed against rational institutions. The Epilogue, the prophetic message of the work, projects a curious double or triple vision: (1) apocalyptic fear of the destruction of values by Communism, (2) chiliastic hope for the rebirth of values with the coming of a Messiah (Führer), and (3) a Nietzschean faith in the eternal recurrence of history. Broch's entire oeuvre is apocalyptic or chiliastic with several modifications. He shares this tendency with many writers in the twentieth century, the new apocalyptic age.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 86 , Issue 5 , October 1971 , pp. 946 - 958
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1971

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References

Notes

Note 1 in page 956 Friedrich Nietzsche, Zur Généalogie der Moral, No. 16, in Werke in drei Bänden, ed. Karl Schlechta (Munich: C. Hanser, 1954–56), ii, 795–97.—Approx. one-third of this article was présente d as a paper at the MLA Germanic Section, Denver, Col., 28 Dec. 1969.

Note 2 in page 956 Apocalypse (London: M. Seeker, 1932), p. 215.

Note 3 in page 956 Die Schlafwandler, 3 vols. (Zürich: Rhein-Verlag, 1931–32). Quotations are from the second ed., Gesammelte Werke (GW), in 10 vols., ii (Zurich: Rhein-Verlag, 1952).

Note 4 in page 956 Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univ. Press, 1957, p. 141.

Note 5 in page 956 See Pitirim A. Sorokin, Social Philosophies of an Age of Crisis (Boston: Beacon Press, 1950), pp. 297–98.

Note 6 in page 956 Bern: A. Francke, 1966.

Note 7 in page 956 Leipzig: Kurt Wolff, 1913–21.

Note 8 in page 956 New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1967, p. 123.

Note 9 in page 956 Paul Althaus, Die letzten Dinge: Lehrbuch der Eschatologie, 6th ed. (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1956), p. 1.

Note 10 in page 956 Karl Löwith, Meaning in History: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1949), pp. 4, 182–90. See also Rudolf Bultmann, Geschichte und Eschatologie (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1958), and Erich Kahler, The Meaning of History (New York: Braziller, 1964).

Note 11 in page 956 Löwith, pp. 148–54.

Note 12 in page 956 See Walter Nigg, Das ewige Reich: Geschichte einer Sehnsucht und einer Enttauschung (Erlenbach-Zürich: E. Rentsch, 1944), and Norman Conn, The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Messianism in Medieval and Reformation Europe and its Bearing on Modern Totalitarian Movements (Fair Lawn, N. J.: Essential Books, 1957).

Note 13 in page 956 See the works cited in n. 10, but also Julius Petersen, “Die Sehnsucht nach dem Dritten Reich in deutscher Sage und Dichtung,” Dichtung und Volkstum (Euphorion), 35 (1934), 18–40, 145–82, which is written from a National Socialist point of view.

Note 14 in page 956 John T. Marcus, Heaven, Hell & History: A Survey of Man's Faith in History from Antiquity to the Present (New York: Macmillan, 1967), p. 171. See also Jules Monnerot, Sociologie du communisme (Paris: Gallimard, 1949).

Note 15 in page 956 Petersen, pp. 18–19.

Note 16 in page 956 “Les Somnanbules de Hermann Broch: Apocalypse du temps présent,” Le Mois, Paris (June 1932), pp. 198–203. See Broch's letter of 12 July 1932 (GW, viii, 73).

Note 17 in page 956 Karl R. Mandelkow, Hermann Brochs Romantrilogie Die Schlafwandler: Gestaltung und Reflexion im modernen deutschen Roman (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1962); Dorrit C. Cohn, The Sleepwalkers: Elucidations of Hermann Broch's Trilogy (The Hague: Mouton, 1966); Leo Kreutzer, Erkenntnistheorie und Prophétie: Hermann Brochs Romantrilogie Die Schlafwandler (Tübingen: M. Niemeyer, 1966), which has an excellent bibliography. See also Theodore Ziolkowski, Hermann Broch (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1964), Manfred Durzak, Hermann Broch: Der Dichter und seine Zeit (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1968), and James N. Hardin, “The Theme of Salvation in the Novels of Hermann Broch,” PMLA, 85 (1970), 219–27.

Note 18 in page 956 Löwith, p. 149.

Note 19 in page 956 Ibid.

Note 20 in page 956 In the Revelation the number 18 seems to have an ominous meaning because the total of the digits 666 is 18, which corresponds to the number of the verse containing this information. In the apocalyptic frame of reference this speculation is oddly confirmed by the fact that the total of the digits 1903 is 13, which corresponds to the number of the chapter on the Beasts from the Abyss (Revel, xiii). Fortunately, there seems to be no other number magic in this novel. See also the “cabalistic” number games in Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus, which are analyzed by Fritz Kaufmann, Thomas Mann: The World as Will and Representation (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 226.

Note 21 in page 956 Richard Brinkmann, “Romanform und Werttheorie bei Hermann Broch: Strukturprobleme moderner Dichtung,” Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift, 31 (1957), 169–97.

Note 22 in page 956 This is particularly true of the so-called “dream chapters,” pp. 314–28; cf. GW, viii, 38, 40. See my study “Hermann Broch, Die Schlafwandler: Kritik der zentralen Metapher,” Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift, 44 (1970), 230–68.

Note 23 in page 957 Pp. 62, 118, 121, 135.

Note 24 in page 957 See D. C. Cohn, “The Bertrand Figure,” pp. 61–102, esp. pp. 67 and 74.

Note 25 in page 957 Ernst Morwitz, Kommentar zu dem Werk Stefan Georges (Munich: H. Küpper, 1960), p. 419.

Note 26 in page 957 Apparently Egon Vietta asked Broch about Heidegger's influence on this novel. In his reply, Broch pointed to Kierkegaard as a common intellectual ancestor, but acknowledged that he knew Sein und Zeit very well (letter of 25 Aug. 1933— GW, viii, 84; cf. p. 94). On 30 Nov. 1948 he commended Vietta for having analyzed Die Schlafwandler as a forerunner of the existentialist novel (probably in an unpublished letter); but he also damned Heidegger with faint praise (GW, viii, 310–12). D. C. Cohn has already pointed out some echoes of existentialism (pp. 118, 124–25, 130). Further examples in this novel are on pp. 318, 331, 334, 336, 339, 349, 351, 499, 678, 686.

Note 27 in page 957 Kermode, p. 25. See also Walter Somm, “Apokalypse der Seele,” in Hermann Broch: Geist, Prophétie und Mystik (Freiburg, Schweiz: Universitätsverlag, 1965), pp. 61–85—an attempt to systematize Broch's mystical tendencies.

Note 28 in page 957 P. 80 et passim.

Note 29 in page 957 See Revel, v, xiv, xvii, and Albrecht Diirer's woodcut series for the Apocalypse of 1498.

Note 30 in page 957 Nietzsche, Morgenröte, No. 119 in Werke, i, 1095.

Note 31 in page 957 Matt, xxvii. 45; Revel, viii. 12.

Note 32 in page 957 Manfred Durzak, “Die Wandlung des Huguenau-Bildes in Hermann Brochs Schlafwandlern,” Wirkendes Wort, 17 (Jan./Feb. 1967), 41–47. There is a similar reorientation between the first and the second version of Hofmannsthal's apocalyptic drama Der Turm (1923–27). The chiliastic hope embodied in the King of the Children is eliminated in the second version where Oliver, an evil plebeian usurper, apparently modeled after Lenin, orders the assassination of Prince Sigismund, the main messianic figure, and starts to build a totalitarian state (see William H. Rey, “Hofmannsthal, Der Turm,” in Das deutsche Drama, ed. B. v. Wiese, Düsseldorf: A. Bagel, 1958, ii, 267–85).

Note 33 in page 957 It is surprising that Kreutzer (n. 17) sees in Huguenau's assassination of Esch an affirmation of freedom, which is “evil and sacred at the same time” and “the only ethical aspect in the trilogy from which a new beginning can be made” (p. 178—my trans.). This strange misinterpretation is based on Broch's letter of 19 July 1930 (GW, viii, 24–26), which contains an outline of his work project. However, Broch wrote this letter at a time when he still intended Huguenau to be a more or less positive figure, i.e., before the above-mentioned radical reorientation. In spite of its title, which promises much, Kreutzer's book contains no reference to apocalyptic symbolism.

Note 34 in page 957 Revel, vi and xvi.

Note 35 in page 957 See D. C. Cohn, “The Ahasverus Poem,” pp. 103–36.

Note 36 in page 957 G W, viii, 47.

Note 37 in page 957 Pp. 613, 639, 651, 661.

Note 38 in page 957 See Friedrich Frhr. Hiller v. Gaertringen, “Dolchstoß-Diskussion und Dolchstoßlegende im Wandel von vier Jahrzehnten,” in Geschichte und Gegenwartsbewußtsein: Festschrift für Hans Rothfels, ed. Waldemar Besson and Hiller v. Gaertringen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963), pp. 122–60.

Note 39 in page 957 Broch restated the cyclical pattern of his philosophy of values in his studies on mass psychology (GW, ix, 85–99, 154–63).

Note 40 in page 957 Lowith, pp. 214–22.

Note 41 in page 957 GW, x, 336.

Note 42 in page 957 GW, x, 337.

Note 43 in page 957 Pp. 673–74. The metaphor of breakthrough also has a crucial function in Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus.

Note 44 in page 957 GW, x, 329.

Note 45 in page 957 This pseudo-dialectic of rationalism versus irrationalism is so basic to Broch's essays of the thirties that Ernst Schönwiese, one of their editors, suggested “Geist und Irrationalität” as a general title (GW, x, 35).

Note 46 in page 957 Egon Vietta found the irrationalism of Broch and D. H. Lawrence comparable, a tendency which he greatly welcomed because he is a Heideggerian: “Hermann Broch,” Neue Rundschau, 45 (1934), 581. D. C. Cohn attempts to protect the trilogy against possible charges of irrationalism (p. 100).

Note 47 in page 957 Durzak (n. 17), p. 120.

Note 48 in page 957 Open letter to Franz Blei in Die Rettung, 1 (20 Dec. 1918), 25–26 (GW, x, 257–60). It should be noted that Ernst Schönwiese, the editor of Vol. x, has a high opinion of this letter, “which, by dint of its prophetic clairvoyance, belongs … to the most significant works before Die Schlafwandler” (GW, x, 28—my trans.).

Note 49 in page 957 DerFriede, 3, No. 64 (11 April 1919), 269–73, re-ed. by Dieter Hildebrandt: H. Broch, Gedanken zur Politik (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1970), pp. 11–23. This essay is given a positive evaluation by Schönwiese (GW, x, 29–31) and Rothe (pp. 180–81; see n. 6). Rothe's tendency shows in a questionable reference to democracy: “Verwirrend auf jeden, der sich heute in den vorgeschriebenen Bahnen einer demokratischen Ideologie bewegt, muß Brochs Postulat der Entpolitisierung wirken, es sei denn, man begreift darunter die uns vertrautere ‘Entideologisierung‘” (p. 181).

Note 50 in page 957 See George L. Mosse, “Introduction: The Genesis of Fascism,” in International Fascism 1920–45, ed. Walter Laqueur and G. L. Mosse (New York: Harper, 1966), p. 20.

Note 51 in page 957 GW, viii, 28.

Note 52 in page 957 Broch claimed in a letter of 19 July 1931 that Die Schlafwandler was at most two years ahead of its time; but this was probably not a political reference. It is significant that his essay “Leben ohne platonische Idee,” the first to be published after the trilogy (Literarische Welt, Berlin, 8, No. 32, 5 Aug. 1932, see GW, x, 276–87), indicates a change in outlook. He attempts to answer the question whether the intellectual and the “hero,” the “heroic dictator,” have a messianic mission in a time of value disintegration. Now the hope for a Messiah is rejected as irrational. However, Broch's own irrationalism is still apparent enough in his terminology.

Note 53 in page 957 London: Gollancz, 1966.

Note 54 in page 957 Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1961.

Note 55 in page 957 GW, viii, 322.

Note 56 in page 958 Letter to Edwin Muir, 24 Oct. 1931 (GW, x, 324).

Note 57 in page 958 See Broch's letter to Wilhelm Emrich of 4 Oct. 1951 (GW, viii, 413–14), which stresses the importance of this philosophy. However, Theodore Ziolkowski insists on the priority of the literary aspects over the philosophical: “Zur Entstehung und Struktur von Hermann Broch's Schlafwandlern,” Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift, 38 (1964), 40–69. Following a suggestion in the above letter, he demonstrates that the greater part of the philosophical essays were written along with the novel, and that the unfolding of their argument was subordinated to the requirements of artistic structure (p. 63). On the other hand, he also states that the core of this philosophy was formed ten years before the novel, and that the inclusion of the essays as such was not really necessary from the point of view of structure, but rather a consequence of the author's philosophical outlook (p. 62). My point is that, in accordance with Broch's view, this philosophy has to be taken seriously in its own right.

Note 58 in page 958 See Karl Menges, Kritische Studien zur Wertphilosophie Hermann Brochs (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1970), which appeared after the completion of my paper.

Note 59 in page 958 GW, iv (1953). The main part was written in 1933–36.

Note 60 in page 958 New York: Pantheon Books, 1945. GW, iii (1952).

Note 61 in page 958 GW, ix, 302.

Note 62 in page 958 Zurich: Rhein-Verlag, 1950. GW, v (1954), 333–34. As for the Beasts from the Abyss see Revel, xi.7; xiii.l, 11; xvii.8; xx.2–3.