Beyond Nihilism: Gottfried Benn’s Postmodernist Poetics

by Susan Ray

Ray's (German, Fordham University) study of Benn's work emphasizes the parallel between the Ausdruckwelt and current trends in literary criticism. Situating Benn's poetics in the context of the early 20th century's literary crisis and teasing apart his Nietzschean influences, Ray describes Benn as a forerunner of postmodernism. She gives particular scrutiny to the treatment of language, meaning and polysemy, aesthetics, personal identity, authorial intent and reader reception, intertextuality, and the interplay between art and society. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

205 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2003