Citation

Riedl PP. Germanic Rev. 2009; 84(4): 353-380.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00168890903291203

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The history of the twentieth century is characterized by a cruel concatenation of violence. Among German writers the playwright Heiner Müller is one of the most uncompromising analysts, who describes the relation between history and mythology under the sign of omnipresent violence. At first sight, it might seem surprising that the Marxist Müller, who lived in the GDR, intensively read right-wing thinkers and writers like Ernst Jünger and Carl Schmitt. Schmitt's theories on dictatorship, civil war, the state of emergency, and partisans, especially, are very important references that left some traces in the works of Müller. The article discuss the repercussions for Müller of Schmitt's theory on sovereignty and the state of emergency, the impact of Schmitt's interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet on Müller's understanding of tragedy, and the relevance of Schmitt's Theorie des Partisanen for Müller's writing generally. Müller's reading of Schmitt's theories underlines the close connection between political analysis and aesthetic practice.