Barker, Andrew

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     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      Joseph Roth's March into History: From the Early Novels toRadetzkymarsch' and 'Die Kapuzinergruft'Citation for published version:Barker, A 2010, 'Joseph Roth's March into History: From the Early Novels to Radetzkymarsch' and 'DieKapuzinergruft'' Modern Language Review, vol 105, pp. 603-604.Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerDocument Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublished In:Modern Language ReviewPublisher Rights Statement:© Barker, A. (2010). Joseph Roth's March into History: From the Early Novels to Radetzkymarsch' and 'DieKapuzinergruft'. Modern Language Review, 105, 603-604.General rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 28. Apr. 2017Oﬀprinted fromMODERN LANGUAGE REVIEWVOLUME 105, PART 2APRIL 2010© Modern Humanities Research Association MLR, .,  from his true vocation, but his own idea which he pursued with enthusiasm untilit started to go wrong.In contrast to his ﬁrst novel, Der Proceß and Das Schloß are parables of failedJewish assimilation into mainstream, gentile society. One reason that the heroesof both novels are apparently distracted from their trials or quests by women isthat ‘marrying out’ was thought to be one way for a Jewish man to overcome hisnon-acceptance by the majority. Another is the slightly skewed erotic attractionbetween the two on account of their diﬀerence, which Kaa was aware of fromexperience.It is to be hoped that this book will revive debates about Kaa’s literary reactionsto events and developments in the world, in other words the relationship betweenhis writing and society and politics. Recently the emphasis has been on metaphysicsand the presence of the world in his ﬁction has been seen as metaphorical. It ishigh time the pendulum swung back.S U J PJoseph Roth’s March into History: From the Early Novels to ‘Radetzkymarsch’ and ‘DieKapuzinergru’. By K T. (Studies in German Literature, Linguisticsand Culture) Rochester, NY: Camden House. . $; £. ISBN ––––.In this lucid and convincing study Kati Tonkin challenges a long-accepted or-thodoxy in Roth scholarship, according to which his ﬁction can be divided intotwo more or less antithetical halves. Basing their arguments on categories ﬁrstpropounded by Hermann Kesten in , critics have contended that the no-vels up to Hiob () reﬂect the world-view of the generally le-leaning writerwho sometimes presented himself (albeit ironically) as ‘der rote Joseph’. eyhave diﬃculty reconciling the import of these earlier works with the evidenceof the celebrated Radetzkymarsch () and its rather less successful sequel DieKapuzinergru (), novels which, it is claimed, are the ‘manifestations ofthe idealizing nostalgia of an alcoholic monarchist with a decreasing grasp onreality’ (p. ).Referring to texts from both periods of his short and hectic career (–),Tonkin contends that a dualistic appraisal of Roth’s œuvre is not valid. Havinglocated the Galician Jew Roth in the context of the post- settlement, sheselects three texts as examples of the early novels: Das Spinnennetz (), HotelSavoy (), and Die Rebellion (), showing that they oﬀer scant evidence ofRoth propounding the progressive view of history expected of a socialist writer.Rather, his message is pessimistic, even apocalyptic. Eschewing the opportunity todevelop a theory of a ‘middle period’ encompassing Die Flucht ohne Ende, Zipperund sein Vater, and Rechts und Links (–), and simply bypassing Hiob (whichis a shame), Tonkin observes that Roth ‘realized that it is not possible to makesense of the present without writing about the past, and it is for this reason, notin order to take ﬂight from reality, that he turns to the portrayal of the Habsburg ReviewsEmpire in Radetzkymarsch’ (p. ). Whereas her reading of the early novels largelydispels notions of Roth as a socialist writer, Tonkin’s appraisal of Radetzkymarschdoes not reveal a novelist seeking nostalgic succour in the past. Instead she ﬁndsa historical novel in Lukács’s sense, one ‘that makes possible an understanding ofthe present through the portrayal of the past, of the diﬀerent and speciﬁc [. . .]forms that contemporary problems took in earlier times’ (p. ). While in theearlier novels the ‘socialist’ Roth oen observes the cyclical nature of history, thelater, ostensibly ‘conservative’ writer is critical of ﬁgures such as Carl Joseph inRadetzkymarsch who ‘fall prey to the desire to rewrite history’, failing to recognize‘its inexorable forward movement’ (p. ). In Die Büste des Kaisers () thePolish Count Morstin, described as ‘einer der edelsten und reinsten Typen desÖsterreichers schlechthin’, acknowledges the forward momentum of history whenhe literally buries the past by consigning Emperor Franz Joseph’s eﬃgy to thegrave.By stressing the essential wholeness of his œuvre, Tonkin does a signal serviceto Roth scholarship in a book which never outstays its welcome. One small regretis that the author does not discuss Tarabas: Ein Gast auf dieser Erde (), whereRoth’s ‘march into history’ is extended to examine the ﬁgure of a modern militarydespot. is ‘late’ novel about a tyrant who turns his back on power and dies aGod-fearing penitent appears to support the traditional view of Roth as a writerwho, when confronted by a cruel present, retreats into a comforting ﬁction. I wouldenjoy reading Tonkin’s assessment of this gripping and underrated novel, with itsspine-chilling depiction of a Polish/Russian pogrom.U  E A BDas Ideal des schönen Lebens und die Wirklichkeit der Weimarer Republik: Vor-stellungen von Staat und Gemeinscha im George-Kreis. Ed. by RK, W P, B S, and K S.(Wissenskultur und gesellschalicher Wandel, ) Munich: Akademie-Verlag..  pp. €.. ISBN ––––.e title of this edited volume presents two conﬂict lines that the circle aroundStefan George highlighted: between aesthetics (schön) and life (Leben), and betweenideal life and reality. e volume explores how George’s friends negotiated theseconﬂicts in their aesthetic, political, and economic philosophies. e various con-tributions diﬀer drastically in their aims and attitudes.On the one hand, Bertram Schefold’s introduction to George’s poetic world, itssocial context, and its implications, and Wolfgang Vitzthum’s biographical study ofBerthold Graf Stauﬀenberg maintain that George’s ideas should reinform contem-porary scholarship and that Stauﬀenberg is an example of intellectual honesty andpersonal courage for our own times of crisis (pp. , ). Vitzthum analyses howStauﬀenberg, through serving the Republic whose institutions and principles hecriticized, served a larger Reich and Vaterland. At the crucial moment, the negativepole of Auschwitz and the positive example of George came together to inspire the

Joseph Roth's March into History: From the Early Novels to Radetzkymarsch' and 'Die Kapuzinergruft'

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