Original scientific paper
Contradictions in the Representation of Revolution in Joseph Roth’s Early Novels
Jelena Spreicer
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Abstract
Research on the work of the Austrian author Joseph Roth (1894–1939) indicates great differences in political attitudes in different stages of his literary career. While at the beginning Roth is labelled a socialist, an ardent advocate of the proletariat, towards the end of his life he develops completely opposing political views, nostalgically evoking the failed Habsburg Empire as the ideal social order, thus becoming synonymous with the notion of “the Habsburg myth in Austrian literature” (Magris 1966). The article challenges the thesis that the mentioned political attitudes are completely contradictory and mutually irreconcilable by analyzing Roth’s perspective on Austro-Marxism and the representation of the revolution in his first three novels (The Spider’s Web, 1923; Hotel Savoy, 1924; Rebellion, 1924) in order to determine whether the inclination to socialism earlier works can be related to criticism of modernity dominant in the later ones.
Keywords
socialism; Austro-Marxism; revolution; Joseph Roth
Hrčak ID:
244993
URI
Publication date:
17.10.2020.
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