Der Untertan
.jpg) Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Heinrich Mann |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre | novel |
| Publisher | Kurt Wolff |
Publication date | 1918 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
Der Untertan (German: [dɛɐ̯ ˈʊntɐtaːn]) is the best known novel of German author Heinrich Mann. It has been translated into English under the titles Man of Straw, The Patrioteer, and The Loyal Subject (translation by Helmut Peitsch). Der Untertan literally means "the subject," in the sense of a person who is a subject of a monarch or prince. The novel's title character, Diederich Hessling is an immoral man who is meant to serve as an allegory of both Kaiser Wilhelm II and German society of the time.
Although the novel was completed in July 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, it was not published until 1918 (by Kurt Wolff Verlag of Leipzig). At that time, the novel enjoyed considerable popularity, given its anti-nationalism.
Plot
The novel portrays the life of Diederich Hessling, a slavish and fanatical admirer of Kaiser Wilhelm II, as an archetype of nationalist Wilhelmine Germany. The name "Hessling" alludes to the German word for ugly, "hässlich". Hessling is unthinkingly obedient to authority and maintains a rigid dedication to the nationalist goals of the German state.
As a child he acts as an informer. Later he becomes a member of the Neo-Teuton student fraternity, then a doctor of chemistry, a paper manufacturer, and eventually the most influential man in town.
Throughout the novel, Hessling's inflexible ideals are often contradicted by his actions: he preaches bravery but is a coward; he is the strongest proponent of the military but seeks to be excused from his obligatory military service; his greatest political opponents are the revolutionary Social Democrats, yet he uses his influence to help send his hometown's SPD candidate to the Reichstag to defeat his Liberal competitors in business; he starts vicious rumors against the latter and then dissociates himself from them; he preaches and enforces Christian virtues upon others but lies, cheats, and regularly commits infidelity.
Themes
Diederich's ideals: blood and iron, and the might of opulent power, are exposed as hollowness and weakness. He is a critical allegory depicting German society's increasing susceptibility to chauvinism, jingoism, ultra-nationalism, anti-Semitism, and proto-fascism. His character is often juxtaposed, in both words and appearance to Kaiser Wilhelm II. In one instance, Hessling's behavior and outward appearance move an observer to stammer, 'It almost seems to me...You look so very much like His ...' , meaning the Kaiser.
Mann uses the moral bankruptcy and shallow ridiculousness of Hessling's life to critique Wilhelmine German society generally. Like other novels of the period, such as Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, or even his brother Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, the principal target is the hypocrisy of bourgeois society and the risk of social collapse in a nation of loyal 'Untertan' citizens.
Adaptation
In East Germany, the book was made into the 1951 film Der Untertan (released in English as The Kaiser's Lackey), directed by Wolfgang Staudte and starring Werner Peters as Diederich Hessling.
The BBC adapted the book for a six-part TV mini-series Man of Straw, broadcast in 1972, with Derek Jacobi as Hessling.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Der Untertan (Heinrich Mann). |
- The Patrioteer. Full 1921 English translation at Google Books
- Man of Straw. Penguin Books, London, 1984, c1918. (ISBN 0-14-006584-9)
- Der Untertan (1951) at the Internet Movie Database
- Man of Straw (1972) at the Internet Movie Database