Hermann Broch, Die Schlafwandler: Revolution and Apocalypse

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 con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PMLA : Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 1971-10, Vol.86 (5), p.946-958
Main Author: Osterle, Heinz D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Christianity
Emperors
Eschatology
Hope
Narrators
Political revolutions
Prophecy
Prophets
Socialism
Symbolism
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Summary: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 œuvre is apocalyptic or chiliastic with several modifications. He shares this tendency with many writers in the twentieth century, the new apocalyptic age.
ISSN:0030-8129
1938-1530
DOI:10.2307/461078