Gottfried Benn

Ingo Roland Stoehr
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Gottfried Benn burst onto the literary scene of Expressionism, bent on destroying reality and language and creating monologic, sometimes monstrous, visions. In this sense, he remained true to Expressionism his entire life. His literary career is punctuated by the intersection of the poetic and the political in three main steps: radical Expressionist beginnings, short-lived alliance with Nazi Germany and subsequent silence, and finally his comeback after World War II with a tempered, neo-classical modernism. Benn wrote in a letter after the war that the Nazis had publicly called him a pig; the Communists, an idiot; the democratic parties, a spiritual prostitute; the German exile writers, a renegade; and religious groups, a pathological nihilist. Benn the poet and the man sparked much…

3003 words

Citation: Stoehr, Ingo Roland. "Gottfried Benn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 November 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5440, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5440 Gottfried Benn 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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