Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
First Advisor
Franz Langhammer
Term of Graduation
Spring 1990
Date of Publication
4-24-1990
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.) in German
Department
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Language
English
Subjects
Wort (Moscow Russia), German literature -- Soviet Union -- 20th century -- History and criticism, Popular fronts -- Europe -- History -- 20th century, Communism -- Europe -- History -- 20th century, Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1936-1953
DOI
10.15760/etd.5988
Physical Description
1 online resource (3, v, 135 pages)
Abstract
Das Wort was a literary journal published by German Communist writers and fellow-travelers exiled in Moscow from 1936 to 1939. It was to be a mouthpiece for German literature in exile and to promote the Popular Front policy, which sought to unite disparate elements in non-Fascist Europe in opposition to the Nazis. Das Wort, under the editorship of German Communist writers whose close association with the Soviet Union had been well established in the previous decade, tried to provide a forum for exiled writers of various political persuasions, but was unwavering in its positive portrayal of Stalin's Soviet Union and the policies of that country. As the level of hysteria grew with the successive purges and public show trials in the Soviet Union, the journal adopted an even more eulogistic and militant attitude: any criticism or expression of doubt about Soviet policy was equated with support for Fascism. Thus the ability of the journal to contribute to the formation of a true common front in Europe to oppose Fascism was compromised from the outset by its total support for the Soviet Union. The Popular Front policy foundered on this issue, and that portion of German literature in exile which was to form the first generation of East German literature was inextricably bound to the Soviet Union well before the German Democratic Republic came in to existence.
Using a complete facsimile edition of Das Wort available in the Portland State University library, and scholarly materials covering both the political and literary history of the German Left in the 1920's and 1930's, my thesis examines the process by which German Communism became subservient to Soviet direction, and the image of the Soviet Union which was presented in Das Wort. Chapter I is a short introduction which presents the general situation and raises the topic of politics and literature, which underlies everything which Das Wort represented and attempted to accomplish. Chapter II presents the political background to the situation of the German Communists in exile, and the origins of the Popular Front policy. Chapter III examines the reasons which motivated the leading Communist writers to publish Das Wort, as well as presenting in some detail the failed attempts by other journals published in Europe to provide a specifically literary journal to promote the Popular Front. Chapter IV concentrates on Das Wort's depiction of the Soviet Union as a new society in which the people have been transformed and the problem of nationalism has been resolved. Chapter V examines the critical role the best elements of the old culture played in the development of a new culture. Soviet culture and literature are also discussed, and some aspects of German culture in its confrontation with both the old and new Russia. In Chapter VI, the Conclusion, I summarize the paradoxical situation in which the German Communist writers found themselves by trying to serve both Germany and the Soviet Union. I conclude by returning to the generaI topic of politics and literature, which is examined in the light of an essay by Hans Magnus Enzensberger.
The image of the Soviet Union presented in Das Wort vas more than the depiction of a society whose humanistic and humane values stood in stark contra.st to those of Nazi Germany; for the German Communist writers and political functionaries, this image was a model for the Germany which was to come into being following the inevitable collapse of Hitler's regime. A Soviet Germany, which was their goal, can be seen in the image of the Soviet Union which vas presented in the pages of the German exile journal Das Wort.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/23669
Recommended Citation
Seward, James Wesley, "The German Exile Journal Das Wort and the Soviet Union" (1990). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4104.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5988
Comments
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