Wallenstein (novel)

Wallenstein  

Cover of the first edition
Author(s) Alfred Döblin
Country Germany
Language German
Genre(s) Historical novel
Publisher S. Fischer
Publication date 1920
Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback)

Wallenstein is a 1920 historical novel by German author Alfred Döblin. Set in Central Europe during the Thirty Years War, the novel's plot is organized around the polar figures of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, on the one hand, and Albrecht von Wallenstein, on the other. Döblin's approach to narrating the war differed from prevailing historiography in that, rather than interpreting the Thirty Years War primarily as a religious conflict, he portrays it critically as the absurd consequence of a combination of national-political, financial, and individual psychological factors.[1] Döblin saw a strong similarity between the Thirty Years War and the First World War, during which he wrote Wallenstein.[2] The novel is counted among the most innovative and significant historical novels in the German literary tradition.[3]

Contents

Notes

  1. ^ Sander 2001, p. 150
  2. ^ Sander 2001, p. 148
  3. ^ Sander 2001, p. 153

References

  • Sander, Gabriele (2001) (in German). Alfred Döblin. Stuttgart: Reclam. ISBN 3150176328. 

Further reading

  • Hecker, Axel (1986). Geschichte als Fiktion. Alfred Döblins Wallenstein - eine exemplarische Kritik des Realismus.. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann. pp. 431. ISBN 3-88479-248-2. 
  • Donahue, Neil H. "The Fall Of Wallenstein, Or The Collapse Of Narration? The Paradox Of Epic Intensity In Döblin's Wallenstein." A Companion to the Works of Alfred Döblin. 75-92. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2003.
  • Hüppauf, Bernd. "The Historical Novel and a History of Mentalities: Alfred Döblin's Wallenstein as an Historical Novel." In: The Modern German Historical Novel. Ed. by David Roberts and Philip Thomson. New York and Oxford: Berg, 1991. 71-96.
  • Scherpe, Klaus R. "Ein Kolossalgemälde für Kurzsichtige." Das Andere der Geschichte in Alfred Döblins Wallenstein. In: Geschichte als Literatur. Formen und Grenzen der Repräsentation von Vergangenheit. Ed. by Hartmut Eggert et al. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1990. 226-241.

External links