Olaf Schroeter wrote: > > > What Jünger himself thinks about the whole thing is evident in a lot of > passages in > "Kaukasische Aufzeichnungen" which is among the best things he ever wrote. > His eye here is > stronger than all attempts at making sense of what he sees, somethings that > often limits > the results of his observations. (I hope I do express this comprehensibly).: > > "Man teilte ihm zur Versorgung eine Kolchose zu, auf welcher der russische > Staat bis > dahinachthundert Geisteskranke beschäftigt und ernährt hatte. Die Kranken > werden nun... > durch den Sicherheitsdienst umgebracht... (Woroschilowsk, 1. Dezember 1942) > > "Der Hauch der Schinderwelt wird oft so spürbar, daß jede Lust zur Arbeit, > zur Formung von > Bildern und Gedanken erstirbt. Die Übeltat hat einen auslöschenden, > verstimmenden > Charakter; die Menschenflur wird unwirtlich wie durch ein verborgenes Aas. In > solcher > Nachbarschaft verlieren die Dinge ihren Zauber, ihren Duft und Geschmack... > (Woroschilowsk, 2. Dezember 1942) (p.433 dtv) > > All in all he is simply apalled by what both sides are doing. Only later, > back in Paris, > will he start to put the whole thing together in a "meaningful way", and this > is where the > whole concept of Titanismus as the final weapon against all things > inexplicable in the > 20th century tems from. The seed for it were the weeks in the Kaukasus. > > I hope that anyone can understand what I'm trying to say. "Kaukasische > Aufzeichnungen" is > not in any way a rechtfertigung Jüngers for any kind of terror. > > Greetings from Berlin > > Olaf **************************** Curious that the seeds of EJ's distrust of technology were planted in the Caucasus--not a technologically advanced area at all. Can it be that the contrast between the pre-technical and the future technical was most evident there? Or is the contrast between the German technology (advanced) and Russian (backward)?
GK
