Biblical Allusions In Wolfgang Borchert

Abstract

Wolfgang Borchert's complete works comprise just one slim volume and his period of productivity spans just two years. Borchert enjoyed immense success directly after the war probably because there were so many young German soldiers who readily identified with the protagonists in his stories. And probably on account of this very reason, plus a desire to forget the catastrophe of the second World War, his popularity has suffered a decline and little commentary has been made on his works. Whatever commentary exists is a small heap of contradictions. Borchert’s work has been associated with World War One German Expressionism, “nur mit mehr Bitterkeit und Verzweiflung." Another critic has seen Borchert as one who “sees the soul at the nadir of its despair and leads it on the paths of self-recognition to a point of affirmation, where life goes on." That some can find only despair where others see hope expresses in part the complexity of Borchert's short stories.