From Putsch to Purge. A Study of the German Episodes in Richard Hughes’s The Human Predicament and their Sources
(2000)- Abstract
- The two last novels by Richard Hughes (1900-1976), the first in his planned The Human Predicament series, are partly set in Germany in the years between the First and the Second World War. Much of the action in The Fox in the Attic (1961) takes part in and around Munich, culminating in a fictional reconstruction of the so-called Hitler Putsch on November 8-9, 1923, the future dictator's aborted early bid for power. In the sequel, The Wooden Shepherdess (1973), the time-span is wider and the places covered are more numerous. The novel's finale is a reconstruction of the so-called Röhm Purge, the internecine Nazi killings of the SA-leaders on June 30, 1934 and the following days.
The present study, with its focus on... (More) - The two last novels by Richard Hughes (1900-1976), the first in his planned The Human Predicament series, are partly set in Germany in the years between the First and the Second World War. Much of the action in The Fox in the Attic (1961) takes part in and around Munich, culminating in a fictional reconstruction of the so-called Hitler Putsch on November 8-9, 1923, the future dictator's aborted early bid for power. In the sequel, The Wooden Shepherdess (1973), the time-span is wider and the places covered are more numerous. The novel's finale is a reconstruction of the so-called Röhm Purge, the internecine Nazi killings of the SA-leaders on June 30, 1934 and the following days.
The present study, with its focus on Hughes's German episodes and their sources, is based on extensive research into his unpublished papers in the Lilly Library, Bloomington, Indiana, and the Reading University holdings of his correspondence with Chatto & Windus, the London publishers. In two postscripts, Hughes acknowledged some of his sources. The list is considerably extended in this study which singles out fifteen of his providers of historical material, while assessing the impact the borrowings have had on his fiction: the Bavarian von Aretin family, distantly related to him; his Welsh friend Goronwy Rees; the Prussian Ernst von Salomon; a certain Captain F. Götz; August Kubizek, Hitler's friend from their youth; three members of the Munich Hanfstaengl family: Ernst, Helene and Egon; the novelist and travel-writer Sir Philip Gibbs; the historians Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, Elizabeth Wiskemann and William Manchester; and finally three (former) Nazis: Walter Schellenberg, Kurt G. W. Ludecke and Otto Strasser.
The study's narratological considerations of the interplay of fact and fiction in Hughes’s novels make use of some of Gérard Genette's distinctions (intradiegetic focalization, extradiegetic narration, etc), and the question of plagiarism (a term mentioned by Hughes himself) is briefly broached. The final chapters of the study concern Hughes and the German bookmarket, and his unfinished sequel, the torso published as The Twelve Chapters. In conclusion, Hughes's Hitler portrait and the critical response it provoked is discussed. The study quotes liberally from Richard Hughes's hitherto unpublished manuscript material. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Richard Hughes (1900-1976) blev mycket känd genom sin debutroman A High Wind in Jamaica, 1929. Han förhastade sig inte med nästa roman, In Hazard; den kom först 1938. Intervallerna blev allt längre. The Fox in the Attic från 1961 inledde hans romancykel The Human Predicament, och fortsättningen kom med The Wooden Shepherdess 1973. Av en planerad tredje del publicerades tolv kapitel först drygt tjugo år senare. Att han gav ut bara fyra romaner under fyrtiofyra år skulle kunna tyda på att han inte var särskilt flitig vid skrivmaskinen. Så var det inte, tvärtom skrev han ihärdigt dag efter dag, år ut och år in, utan att någonsin slänga något. Hans manuskript och anteckningar finns numera i The Lilly... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Richard Hughes (1900-1976) blev mycket känd genom sin debutroman A High Wind in Jamaica, 1929. Han förhastade sig inte med nästa roman, In Hazard; den kom först 1938. Intervallerna blev allt längre. The Fox in the Attic från 1961 inledde hans romancykel The Human Predicament, och fortsättningen kom med The Wooden Shepherdess 1973. Av en planerad tredje del publicerades tolv kapitel först drygt tjugo år senare. Att han gav ut bara fyra romaner under fyrtiofyra år skulle kunna tyda på att han inte var särskilt flitig vid skrivmaskinen. Så var det inte, tvärtom skrev han ihärdigt dag efter dag, år ut och år in, utan att någonsin slänga något. Hans manuskript och anteckningar finns numera i The Lilly Library, Bloomington, Indiana, en hekatomb av papper. Föreliggande studie grundar sig på djupdykningar i det arkivet, och på forskning i hans korrespondens med londonförlaget Chatto & Windus, som nu förvaras i universitetsbiblioteket i Reading.
Hughes’ historiska romanserie The Human Predicament utspelar sig i fyra länder under mellankrigstiden: England,Tyskland, USA och Marocko. Enbart de tyska kapitlen behandlas i denna studie som intresserar sig för deras faktiska bakgrund, särskilt de två episoder som de båda romanerna kulminerar i: Hitlers misslyckade Putsch i München den 8-9 november 1923, och De långa knivarnas natt kring 30 juni 1934 då ledarna för SA mördades. Hughes listade kortfattat en del av sina källor, till vetgiriga läsares fromma, men långt ifrån alla. Här har den förteckningen utökats väsentligt. I fjorton kapitel detaljgranskas femton av hans källor: familjen von Aretin i Bayern som han var avlägset släkt med; Goronwy Rees, en av hans walesiska vänner; preussaren Ernst von Salomon; en viss kapten Götz som skymtar i den tidiga nazimens utkant; August Kubizek som var Hitlers ungdomsvän i Linz och Wien; tre medlemmar av münchenfamiljen Hanfstaengl; den engelske journalisten Sir Philip Gibbs; de tre historikerna John Wheeler-Bennett, Elizabeth Wiskemann och William Manchester; samt tre som var aktivt inblandade i det historiska skeendet i Tyskland under dessa år: Walter Schellenberg, Kurt G. W. Ludecke, och Otto Strasser.
Avhandlingens femtonde kapitel handlar om Hughes och den tyska bokmarknaden, och det sextonde om hans planer för fortsatta delar i serien, och om de få avsnitt av fortsättningen som gavs ut posthumt 1995. En exkurs i slutsummeringen berör Hughes’ försök att skapa en övertygande romanfigur av Hitler, och det kritiska gensvar hans ansträngningar väckte. Avhandlingens berättartekniska övervägandena har dragit nytta av några narratologiska begrepp hos Gérard Genette, via Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. Richard Hughes’ dotter Penelope Minney har generöst gett avhandlingsförfattaren lov att citera fritt ur den otryckta litterära kvarlåtenskapen, ett tillstånd som tacksamt utnyttjats. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/19699
- author
- Holmqvist, Ivo LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Firchow, Peter E., University of Minnesota
- organization
- publishing date
- 2000
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Weimar Republic, Documentary novel, English historical fiction, The Wooden Shepherdess, The Fox in the Attic, 1900-1976, Hughes, Richard, Rise of Nazism, Hitler portraits in literature, English language and literature, Engelska (språk och litteratur)
- pages
- 379 pages
- publisher
- English Studies
- defense location
- Lecture room 239 at the Department of English
- defense date
- 1999-11-13 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUHSDF/HSEN--99/1028--SE+379
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9b26fd03-8fae-4e90-aa10-e5a067b17c07 (old id 19699)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 10:36:10
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 20:59:42
@phdthesis{9b26fd03-8fae-4e90-aa10-e5a067b17c07,
abstract = {{The two last novels by Richard Hughes (1900-1976), the first in his planned The Human Predicament series, are partly set in Germany in the years between the First and the Second World War. Much of the action in The Fox in the Attic (1961) takes part in and around Munich, culminating in a fictional reconstruction of the so-called Hitler Putsch on November 8-9, 1923, the future dictator's aborted early bid for power. In the sequel, The Wooden Shepherdess (1973), the time-span is wider and the places covered are more numerous. The novel's finale is a reconstruction of the so-called Röhm Purge, the internecine Nazi killings of the SA-leaders on June 30, 1934 and the following days.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The present study, with its focus on Hughes's German episodes and their sources, is based on extensive research into his unpublished papers in the Lilly Library, Bloomington, Indiana, and the Reading University holdings of his correspondence with Chatto & Windus, the London publishers. In two postscripts, Hughes acknowledged some of his sources. The list is considerably extended in this study which singles out fifteen of his providers of historical material, while assessing the impact the borrowings have had on his fiction: the Bavarian von Aretin family, distantly related to him; his Welsh friend Goronwy Rees; the Prussian Ernst von Salomon; a certain Captain F. Götz; August Kubizek, Hitler's friend from their youth; three members of the Munich Hanfstaengl family: Ernst, Helene and Egon; the novelist and travel-writer Sir Philip Gibbs; the historians Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, Elizabeth Wiskemann and William Manchester; and finally three (former) Nazis: Walter Schellenberg, Kurt G. W. Ludecke and Otto Strasser.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The study's narratological considerations of the interplay of fact and fiction in Hughes’s novels make use of some of Gérard Genette's distinctions (intradiegetic focalization, extradiegetic narration, etc), and the question of plagiarism (a term mentioned by Hughes himself) is briefly broached. The final chapters of the study concern Hughes and the German bookmarket, and his unfinished sequel, the torso published as The Twelve Chapters. In conclusion, Hughes's Hitler portrait and the critical response it provoked is discussed. The study quotes liberally from Richard Hughes's hitherto unpublished manuscript material.}},
author = {{Holmqvist, Ivo}},
keywords = {{Weimar Republic; Documentary novel; English historical fiction; The Wooden Shepherdess; The Fox in the Attic; 1900-1976; Hughes; Richard; Rise of Nazism; Hitler portraits in literature; English language and literature; Engelska (språk och litteratur)}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{English Studies}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{From Putsch to Purge. A Study of the German Episodes in Richard Hughes’s The Human Predicament and their Sources}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5577766/1785037.pdf}},
year = {{2000}},
}