In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary
This book consists of close readings of four poems illustrating Gottfried Benn's developing conception of stillness or stasis: Trunkene Flut (1927), Wer allein ist— (1936), Statische Gedichte (1944), and Reisen (1950). Mark Roche pays particular attention to the interrelation of form and content, and he uncovers previously overlooked allusions to thinkers such as Aristotle, Seneca, and Meister Eckhart. Benn's supposedly pure poetry of stasis is in reality an expression of opposition to nazi ideology, Roche argues, and should be viewed in the context of inner emigration. Nevertheless, Benn's opposition to nazism unwittingly rests on the same decisionistic foundation as the power positivism he deplores. Benn's well-intentioned critique of nazism is ultimately unsuccessful. The book concludes with a theoretical postscript that suggest ways in which intellectual history could be made productive for literary interpretation and provides arguments in favor of an 'aesthetic' analysis attentive to both formal structures and philosophical coherence.

Table of Contents

Download EPUB Download Full EPUB
  1. Cover
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Half-Title Page
  2. p. i
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Series Page
  2. p. ii
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Title Page
  2. p. iii
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Copyright
  2. pp. iv-vi
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Dedication
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Contents
  2. pp. ix-x
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xi-xii
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Half-Title Page
  2. p. xiii
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-4
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 2. “Trunkene Flut”
  2. pp. 5-14
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 3. “Wer allein ist—”
  2. pp. 15-22
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 4. “Statische Gedichte”
  2. pp. 23-29
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 5. “Reisen”
  2. pp. 30-38
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 6. Statik and Inner Emigration
  2. pp. 39-55
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 7. National Socialism and Transcendental Norms
  2. pp. 56-64
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 8. Critique
  2. pp. 65-74
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 9. Theoretical Postscript
  2. pp. 75-79
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 10. Summary
  2. pp. 80-81
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 83-99
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Works Cited
  2. pp. 107-117
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Index
  2. pp. 119-121
  3. open access
    • HTML icon View
Back To Top