The Hungarian-born Arthur Koestler (1905-1983), who came to write in the English language, is regarded as one of the most outstanding political writers of his age. His novel Arrival and Departure (1943), which is informed by his own political activism and work as a journalist in Germany and France in the 1930s, deals with questions of political commitment and offers profound insights into Nazi ideology and persecution.
In class we will explore how Koestler uses the resources of the realist novel for presenting us with a moving story of traumatization and, at the same time, an admirably astute analysis of totalitarianism.
Participants should work with a currently available print edition of the text.
Assessment/requirements: Übung: test, Seminar: 10-12-page research paper; active participation and thorough preparation of the parts of the primary text set for discussion
- Kursleiter/in: Uwe Klawitter
Semester: WT 2023/24