Heinrich Boll is West Germany's most controversial author of the post-war period, and Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum is probably his most widely contested work. Readers and literary critics alike have generally misunderstood or only partially understood Boll's purpose in writing this Erzahlung . Many have discounted it as the author's personal revenge against press and police for their mutual attacks on his honor. Others have panned it for its "poor German" and its lack of realism. Such reviews tend to examine only selected formal and thematic aspects of Katharina Blum. In order to fully comprehend any of Boll's works, however, one must adopt a synthetic approach; i.e., one must scrutinize and synthesize all major factors which influenced the composition of the narrative. The author's own background and philosophy, the socio-political realities of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the influence of literary tradition are key elements in the interpretation of Katharina Blum.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-4826 |
| Date | 01 January 1988 |
| Creators | Manicke, Michelle Elizabeth |
| Publisher | PDXScholar |
| Source Sets | Portland State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Dissertations and Theses |
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