Writing Between the Lines: René Schickele, ‘Citoyen français, deutscher Dichter’, 1883-1940(11 Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft)

This book is the first major study in English of René Schickele's work. Hailed by his contemporaries as one of the foremost German-language novelists of the inter-war period, and celebrated for his Expressionist poetry and his controversial First World War drama Hans im Schnakenloch, Schickele also produced socio-critical essays and pioneering editorial work for the pacifist journal Die Weißen Blätter. From his literary débuts in fin-de-siècle Strasbourg to the French and German prose fiction of his anti-Nazi exile, Schickele's work reflects his bilingual, bicultural upbringing: his vision of Alsace as a symbolic broker of Franco-German peace finds its clearest expression in the trilogy of novels Das Erbe am Rhein. Schickele remains a paradoxical figure, in his own words, a 'citoyen français und deutscher Dichter' (French citizen and German poet). Through readings of all the major texts, Eric Robertson's study situates Schickele's work within its socio-political and historical context. Particular attention is paid to the personal and political implications of his adoption of German as literary idiom and his reversion to the French mother tongue during the 1930s; Schickele's copious diaries and his correspondence with fellow writers including Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann and Stefan Zweig are shown to be especially revealing. Schickele's œuvre holds a unique and hitherto underrated place in the European writing of his era.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Chapter 1: The role of language in Schickele's early theoretical development in Alsace 1901-1902. Context. Upbringing in Alsace and its influence on Schickele's literary development. Multilingualism in Alsace: language versus dialect. Schickele's literary beginnings in Alsace (1901). Chapter 2: Literary beginnings in Alsace. Jüngstes Elsaß and the Strasbourg Stürmerkreis. 'Die rotweiße Zukunft' and the genesis of Schickele's concept of nationality. Der Stürmer from the inside: a critique of Schickele by Ernst Stadler. Chapter 3: Schickele in Berlin: the role of the city in paving the way towards expressionism. Berlin: Das neue Magazin. Der Fremde. Chapter 4: Weiß und Rot, Meine Freundin Lo and Schreie auf dem Boulevard on the love of politics and the politics of love (Paris 1909-11). From Berlin to Paris. Ideological incentives. Stylistic considerations in the portrayal of politics. Perceptions of the city. Meine Freundin Lo (Leipzig 1911). Chapter 5: Pre-War Expressionism: Benkal, der Frauentröster. Origins of the experimental novel. Forms and functions of art in the novel. Reception. René Schickele and the First World War. Chapter 6: The First World War and the 1918 Socialist Revolution. Die Weißen Blätter - ideology and development. Hans im Schnakenloch. War, peace and revolution (1916-1918). Schickele and the November Revolution (1918-1919). 'Heimweh nach Hause': Schickele's return to Alsace (1919). Clarté (1919-1921). From solidarity to solitude (1921-1922). Chapter 7: The Badenweiler Years. Das Erbe am Rhein: a vision of Europe. Symphonie für Jazz, Himmlische Landschaft and Die Grenze. Chapter 8: Exiled in the Homeland (1932-1940). Sanary-sur-Mer and its colony of writers. René Schickele and Ernst Erich Noth: two Einzelgänger. Chapter 9: Works in Exile. Die Witwe Bosca. Liebe und Ärgernis des D.H. Lawrence. The Language of Exile. Le Retour. Die Flaschenpost. Death of René Schickele and appraisals. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.