Alfred Döblin

Juan-Fadrique Fernandez (Universidad de Sevilla)
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Alfred Döblin is, without doubt, one of the most unusual writers in the history of modernist literature. His talent is so indefinable that critics have described him in contradictory terms: as a Jew and an anti-Semitic Prussian, as an anarchist and middle-class representative, as a socialist and an individualist. He has been termed an expressionist (and as such characterised by extreme subjectivity) and at the same time a driving force behind the so-called

Neue Sachlichkeit

(New Objectivity). The latter was a new aesthetic movement that emerged as a reaction to expressionism and was characterised by impartiality, technical mastery and the realistic portrayal of everyday reality.

Born in Stettin on 10 August 1878, Alfred Döblin was the son of Jewish merchant who took off for the United

1868 words

Citation: Fernandez, Juan-Fadrique. "Alfred Döblin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5456, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5456 Alfred Döblin 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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