Overseas Debuts of Group 47: Considering the Origins of the Post-War German Literature

Abstract

The article examines the interaction of German literature of the mid-1940s with the politics, culture and literature of the United States and considers the history of the formation and the ideological platform of the future “Group 47” – a large literary association in Germany. Since the end of the 1944, American democracy and freedom were actively promoted among German prisoners of war in the United States. In March 1945 the German-language newspaper Der Ruf was created at Fort Kearny. It was aimed at “re-education” of the German nation and consolidation of the American-style democratic thinking after the defeat of national socialism (such politics was beneficial to the US for strengthening their positions in front of the “communist threat”). Der Ruf united young writers and publicists W. Kolbenhoff, H.W. Richter, W. Schnurre, A. Andersch, F. Minssen, W. Manzen who subsequently formed “Group 47”. The American period of Der Ruf included both changes in its political course (from rigid censorship of materials and neutral attitude towards the fascist ideology to the “anti-German” orientation of some articles) and the development of philosophical and aesthetic views of publishers, a creative rethinking of the American literature experience. After returning to Germany, the young writers continued publishing Der Ruf in Munich in search of a platform for the free expression of their own ideas about the present and future of Germany. Despite the imminent departure from the editorial office of A. Andersch and H.W. Richter, the publication became a major milestone in the creation of the post-war German literature. Der Ruf activity contributed to the development of the anti-fascist and anti-militarist views of the younger generation of writers of the West Germany that reflected in the “Group 47” literature. A study of the newspaper suggests a strong interaction between West German literature and American literature.

Keywords

• post-war literature of west germany
• “group 47”
• american literature
• der ruf
• alfred andersch
• hans werner richter.