Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bowden, J

Titel

Auf Den Mund Des Kumpels Schauen, Aus Dem Herzen Des Bergmanns Schreiben’: Realism Debates in the Dortmunder Gruppe 61 and the Werkkreis Literatur Der Arbeitswelt

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

1988

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This study traces the development of `Arbeiterliteratur' in the Federal Republic of Germany, which particular reference to the Dortmunder Gruppe 61 and the Werkkreis Literatur der Arbeitswelt, the two most important groups of working-class authors in the post-war period. It aims to discuss the difficulties, both artistic and political, which have faced these authors, and to evaluate their success in creating an effective contemporary working-class literature. The first chapter deals with the history of Socialist literature in Germany before the Second World War. After an account of literary developments in the Soviet Union, this chapter examines the literary debates in the Bund Proletarisch-Revolutionáer Schriftsteller and illustrates the effect of these debates, in particular the theoretical arguments of Georg Lukacs, in restricting the activities of proletarian authors. Chapter Two is devoted to Gruppe 61. After a brief description of the political background to the Group's formation, the chapter examines the tradition of `Bergmannsliteratur' in the Ruhr, and discusses some basic features of working-class literature. The chapter goes on to describe the alienation of working-class authors in the face of the Group's insistence on artistic quality, and their attempts to organise literary opposition to its elitist literary practices. Chapter Three is concerned with the Werkkreis, and begins by describing its efforts to attract and encourage working-class authors, discussing the results of the Werkkreis' `Reportagewettbewerbe' and its ideal of collective literary production. The chapter examines the features and limitations of documentary literature, in particular the work of Gúter Wallraff, and discusses his suitability as a model for working-class authors. The fourth and final chapter describes the Werkkreis' gradual adoption of fictional forms, and analyses a number of early examples of the `Werkkreis-Roman', discussing the artistic and political progress which they represent.