Stille Fragen: ein psychoanalytischer Blick auf die Identitätssuche in Ernst Weiß’ ‚Marengo‘ (1926)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present this short story as a turning point in Weiß’s literary work, as his departure from expressionist influences that ushers in his existential period. The theoretical basis for an analysis of the plot draws from psychoanalytical theories of object relations (e.g. works by Fairbairn, Guntrip, Seinfeld and others), especially in connection with the so-called schizoid personality. It is in the relationality of the disillusioned protagonist that the interpretive key is sought, a key to the departure from the expressionist cult of the individual, replaced in Weiß’s late work by a series of heroes searching for their identity.