> 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 ausl÷schenden, > > 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 > > I think it was the starkness of soviet technology in a country that was basically still rural plus the conditions of WWII warfare that made him see the whole thing more clearly than he could have down in western europe, where technology had more of a tradition and was invested with a certain "romantic" appeal, something that he attacks fervently in "Der Arbeiter".
Rather than explain my reading of the whole Titanismus-concept I have put up (rather self-consciously actually) my talk on the subject that I held in Heidelberg last September. It is supposed to be published at some point in the future together with all the other papers of that Colloquium, but I haven't heard anything from them yet. It is still without the finishing touches as I haven't had the time to review it yet. So read it, discuss it if you like, but don't abuse it. http://www.snafu.de/~os/juenger/titan.htm I might not leave it there for long coz I feel stupid advertising myself. (At the end of the page there are two links to download the text as a Winword or as a .txt-file, as it might be a little tedious to read on the screen) Greetings from Berlin Olaf If somebody else has something that he wants to publish for the list in the same manner, contact me, you're welcome. =================================================================================== Olaf Schroeter +49-030-621 65 34 [email protected] Ernst Juenger in Medialand http://www.snafu.de/~os/juenger/ ===================================================================================
