A Historiographical Text on Ernst Junger - Essay Example

?A Historiographical Essay on Ernst Junger Ernest Junger, German verteran and one of German’s controversial is one person whose life and literature has influenced German literature and the modern studies of WWI. Junger was born in 1895 in Heildeburg, Germany to a wealthy chemist. At the age of 17 years, Junger ran away from home to become part of a foreign legion. Later on, Junger was brought back by his father but he returned to military service at the outbreak of the World War I where he joined the German Army. While serving at the western front of the German Army, Junger served with distinction and in 1917, he was honored with the Iron Cross First Class. In 1918, he was awarded with Blue Max, the highest military decoration that can be awarded by Prussia. Junger’s experiences during the World War I (WWI) are recorded in his book, Storm of Steel, which was published in 1920. Apart from this book, Junger also wrote other books, novels, essays and articles in many right-winged nationalist journals. From the analysis of his works, various authors have come to view Junger from different perspectives. Some say he is militarist, others a nationalist and others antidemocratic. Still, others argue that he was a fascist while others say he was one of the greatest modern writers of Germany and a celebrity of the conservative revolutionary movement. One author, Nevin describes Junger as one of Europe’s leading and controversial 21st century writers whose remarkable writing career has spanned five periods of the history of modern Germany1. His career as a soldier became the main backbone of his writing career because he wrote out of his experiences in the WWI. Through his book, Ernest Junger and Germany, Nevin brings out the extra ordinary person in Junger, and an important insight into the nature of the history of German and that of the modern world. Those who view Junger has militarist base their arguments on some of his works like the Storm of Steel and the essay entitled On Pain. In his book Storm of Steel, Junger glorified war and this made him so famous. In this book, Junger exalted war as an internal event. He describes it as something that elevates the life of a soldier into a mystical experience. According to him, the life of a soldier is a life that is separated from normal humanity. He also claims that modern military techniques on their extremities have tested the capacity of senses of man2.. The Storm of Steel gives a sharp contrast to some of the famous novels that speak about world war. A good example of this is All Quiet on the Western Front, a book written by the German veteran Maria Remarque. In this book, Remarque gives descriptions of physical injuries and psychological trauma that soldiers go through in war. In effect, it generates in the minds of the readers the sense of horror of war. Although Junger also brings out such for example the terrible killing or wounding of his friends, they are brief and nonchalant3. Eventually, such scenes accumulate and lead to the normalisation of this horror and generate a depression instead of a shocking effect. This has made the book to be criticised as glorifying nationalism and war. From this view, one will not be mistaken to state that Junger as the ability to acknowledge even the most things in human condition and would always get an evidence to contradict the view point of human optimism4. Nationalism and militarism is also evidenced in Junger’s life through his work The Adventurous Heart, a book that was published in 1929 and The Worker published in 1932. In work The Adventurous Heart, he describes the Jews as a threat to unity among the Germans and in the worker, he called for the creation of a society that was totally mobilised and is run by warrior-worker-soldiers. Authors who claim that Junger was a fascist argue that he never showed sympathy to the political style of the native germans that was popular among the Nazis. One of the authors who has described Junger has fascist is Walter Benjamin. Out of a collection of essays entitled War and Warrior that Junger had edited, Benjamin wrote a review that was published in 1930 as Theories of German Fascism. This review is in effect a judgment of Junger’s essays and Benjamin is highly critical of what he observes as the aestheticization of politics, its vehicle being war and its fuel being technology5. Another author, Strathausen, states that from the outset of his work entitled total mobilization, it is clear that to war, according to Junger is “a gripping spectacle to behold.” This war, WWII, is the war of materiel or rather, Materialschlachten. Junger describes it as a spectacle, both grandiose and frightful and yet, it is a war on which the bloody triumph of the human talent of organization is celebrated6. However, author like Benjamin express a lot of criticism of the style and level in which carnage has been glorified and anesthetized. From such criticism, it is clear that such authors have not observed that the material and new warfare technology as the highest revelation of existence as seen by others like Junger. The war and such technologies are signified by the marks of heroism that survived the world war and are there until today. Benjamin notes that technology with its depravity reduced nature to silence and gave it an apocalyptic face. He also wonders how future war, facilitated by technology, will be 5. Junger’s involvement in the World War II furthered the perceptions some people had about him as a fascist and this generated a tradition of hostility towards Junger by the Left. On the contrary, the Right wing saw him as a monument for them. These conflicting perceptions about Junger led to a biased analysis of his work. In his essay entitled the pain, Junger out rightly expressed his rejection of the liberal values of comfort, ease, liberty and security. Instead, he seeks the measure of human beings in their capacity to withstand pain and sacrifice. This gives a picture of Junger as being antidemocratic and his supported by some of his other works like Le Coeur Aventireux, his literary works published in 1942. Other authors like Barnouw have picked out the antidemocratic nature in Junger through his criticism against the unstable and fragile democracy of the Weimer republic. Junger stated that he hated democracy like the plague7. Although he was not part of the national social movement, he never criticized the regime publicly before the war. He is mentioned as an inspiration to the anti-Nazi conservatives who were part of the German Army and while in Paris, he was close to the officers who had attempted to assassinate Hitler8. Conclusion Ernest Junger is one of German’s veteran and one of its leading controversial writers, and many authors have made critical analysis into his life and works. Through his works and actions, Junger expressed his opposing views of the world war and other social systems as would other writers or people in the society. For example, Junger glorifies and exalts war in some of his famous works like the storm of steel and this greatly contradicts to other famous books about war like All Quiet on the Western Front, by a fellow veteran Remarque. The great controversy behind the works of this great German writer has made his works have a great influence and find a special place in the German literature and modern studies of WWI. Bibliography Baird, J. (1990). To Die for Germany: Heroes in the Nazi Pantheon. Bloomington. Indiana. University Press. Barnouw, D. (1988). Weimar Intellectuals and the Threat of Modernity. Bloomington. Indiana University Press. Benjamin, W. (1994). "Theories of German Fascism." in The Weimar Republic Sourcebook. Kaes, Anton; Jay, Martin; Dimendberg, Edward (eds.) Berkeley. University of California Press. Hoffmann, M. (2004). Junger Ernst. Storm of Steel. Translated with an Introduction. London. Penguin. Huyssens, A. (1993). "Fortifying the Heart Totally: Ernst Junger's Armored Texts." New German Critique. (59) pp 3- 23. Nevin,T. (1996). Ernest Junger and Germany: into the Abyss, 1914-1945. Durham, NC, USA. Duke university press. Strathausen, C. (2000). "The Return of the Gaze: Stereoscopic Vision in Junger and Benjamin." New German Critique (80) pp 125. Read More