„Ein Haus schwankt aus dem Nebelrauch“ : die Darstellung des Ersten Weltkriegs im Werk von Arthur Silbergleit

Abstract

The Upper Silesian author Arthur Silbergleit is less known than his compatriot, Horst Bienek, who immortalized Silbergleit in his Gleiwitzer Tetralogie. Silbergleit was a prolifi c poet: apart from his prose, he wrote about 600 poems. His work is infl uenced by his descent and his personal experience oft the First World War. The following thesis is an attempt at interpretation of the war discourse in his works written during or after the war: in the poetry collections Flandern (1916) and Balalaika (1918), in the story Der Fremde and in the collection of lyrical miniatures Das Füllhorn Gottes. Pastele (1919). My analysis shows, that Silbergleit employs Christian and mythological motifs; his intention is to universalize the experience of the war and to depict it as a complex metaphor.