Das Amerikabild Bertolt Brechts by Helfried W. Seliger (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 339 voices as possible, and some material is still not available. Consequently, the theatre historian will not find here all the dates and events which would provide a coherent narrative of the various stages from W. O. Fay's early Comedy Combination to the Irish National Theatre Society Limited, or the complete story of Maud Gonne's, and later AE's, disenchantment with the players' ideals, or the most accurate description of John Synge's introduction to the movement. Occasionally there are errors in dates and settings; footnotes and text do not always conform; the invaluable checklist of productions and publications is not as complete as it might have been; and the editors> own critical biases inevitably intrude. Tired eyes will have difficulty with the minute footnote numbers. But such skilful presentation and interweaving of essential data can only be applauded. ANN SADDLEMYER University of Toronto DAS AMERIKABllD BERTOLT BRECHTS. by Helfried W. Seliger. Bonn: Bouvier, 1974. 297 pp. In this well researched study, Seliger investigates Brecht's changing view of America, from the enthusiastic fascination of the young Brecht with everything American, through the emergence of criticism and doubt, to outright distaste and hostility. Seliger gives us lengthy analyses of finished and unfinished poems and dramatic works which renect Brecht's changing view. He gives lively treatment to Brecht's growing absorption with the economic order of America, traces Brecht's conversion to Marxism, and highlights the role played by his studies of monetary theory, capitalism, and the American economic, social, and cultural scene in that conversion. Seliger makes several important contributions to Brecht-scholarship. He identifies fragments and sketches collected by Brecht and catalogued by the Brecht Archive in East Berlin under the heading "Das StUck vom kalten Chicago" as preliminary work for "In the Jungle of the Cities." He is the first to point out that a scene from Brecht's "St. Joan of the Stockyards" was first published in Der Querschnitl, a journal of the time. Also important is the fact that, as a result of careful examination of sketches, outlines, and notes held by the Brecht Archive, he is able to characterize vividly Brecht's unfinished "American" works "Prarie," "Mann aus Manhattan," "Dan Drew," "Der Untergang der Paradiesstadt Miami," "Die Geschichte der Sintflut," "Joe Fleischhacker," and several others. Seliger advances the view that it was Brecht's growing awareness of the criminal and unsavoury aspects of American economic and political life and of its relatedness to fascism that prompted him to develop his theory of epic theatre; he felt that the old dramatic forms did not suffice for the presentation of such modern struggles. Seliger is also strong on the genesis of several of Brecht's better-known major plays. His excursions into the background and gencsis of "In the Jungle of the Cities," "Mahagonny," "St. Joan," and "Arturo Vi" are particularly valuable. He also highlights the importance of F. D. Pasley's biography of Al Capone for "Arturo Ui." 340 BOOK REVIEWS This study adds new dimensions to the view of Brecht as a voracious reader who was influenced by an exceedingly wide range of thought and writing. Brecht is shown to have read a good deal of American literature, including Walt Whitman, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Frank Norris, Sherwood Anderson , Theodore Dreiser, Ford Maddox Ford, and a considerable number of American studies on the financial world and the underworld. e.g., those of Pasley, Ida Tarbell, Wm. R. Burnett, H. Rugg. Henry Ford. He read biographies of Ford, Capone, and studies of Dan Drew, Ford, John Pierpont Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller as well. Seliger too seems to understand the financial world and handles his economic theory well. As a result of his absorption in the American economic scene, Brecht began to see parallels between struggles in the American underworld and struggles in the fascist camp and Hitler's rise to power. More and more, he saw interrelations between business and politics, politics and crime, religion and business (a matter which he treats in "St. Joao"), and fascism and capitalism (in "Arturo Ui" one finds an equation of reactionary capitalism, fascism, and gangsterism). Seliger sees five major stages in Brecht's...