<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>The novel <em>Berlin Alexanderplatz</em> by Alfred Döblin was published in 1929. It has subsequently been widely recognized as an important part of German Modernism due to its new conception of the hero, as well as its innovative narrative structure. The aim of this essay is both to determine the innovatory details in the concept of the hero and to describe the narrative structure, which is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the hero Franz Biberkopf. Hence, not only direct utterances by the hero and other narrative techniques are dealt with in the analysis, but also a wider context, including social interaction and the impact of the metropolis. In <em>Berlin Alexanderplatz</em> the concept of the hero is based on a fundamental criticism of the bourgeois view of the human being, a view which derives from the classical Homeric epic, stretching over the Enlightenment and into Döblin's time. However, the narrative innovation in <em>Berlin Alexanderplatz</em> is not only to be seen as the personal result of Döblin's critical reflections on the narrative tradition of the ʻbourgeois epicʼ, but also as one manifestation among others within the framework of Modernist criticism.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:su-28355 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Moldrickx, Christopher |
| Publisher | Stockholm University, Department of German |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | German |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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