Zwischen Apokalypse und Arkadien

Summary

Horst Lange (1904–1971) belongs to a generation of writers that has been ignored by historians of literature for a long time. His major works, two novels (Schwarze Weide, 1937; Ulanenpatrouille, 1940) and a number of tales (for example Auf dem östlichen Ufer, 1939; Die Leuchtkugeln, 1944), were published between 1933 and 1945. Recently, some attention was drawn to Lange’s oeuvre which has been labeled as »Magic Realism« or »Late Expressionism«.

The present paper focuses on the relation between these works and the »Third Reich«. Lange uses two different sets of images (antiquity and Christianity) in order to take a stand on his own historical situation, evading a retreat into solipsism as well as genuine political resistance. First, Lange anticipates the historical catastrophe which he interprets as an apocalypse. Later, when he is confronted with the dreadful reality of World War II, ancient myths begin to dominate his oeuvre. The polarity of antiquity and Christianity can be understood as an act of aesthetical opposition beyond the opposite poles of »inner emigration« and »resistance«.