Heiner Müller, Der Auftrag [The Mission]

John Milfull (University of New South Wales)
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Der Auftrag

[

The Mission

, 1979] projects the betrayal of revolution in twentieth-century Europe back in time onto the bloody suppression of the “black and white” revolution in the West Indies after its betrayal by the Bonapartist regime in Paris. The regime reversed the decision of the National Assembly to emancipate the blacks and mulattos of the French Antilles – only Haiti was able to withstand the blast of reaction, but never recovered from the punitive measures that followed.

Debuisson, the prodigal son of a Jamaican slaveholder family who has been seduced by the rhetoric of revolution in Paris, Galloudec, a radical French peasant, and Sasportas, an escaped black slave, are commissioned by the French government to form a revolutionary “cell” and further the rebellion of the

1272 words

Citation: Milfull, John. "Der Auftrag". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14472, accessed 19 March 2024.]

14472 Der Auftrag 3 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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