Anti-nazi Writers in Exile

In contrast to the sometimes overly generous treatment of German writers forced into exile by Hitlerrs"s fascist regime,Anti-Nazi Writers in Exileapplies the strict aesthetic and historical standards of literary criticism, putting aside any special pleading for their anti-Nazi political views. This critical approach leads to two important conclusions: that the emigrant writersrs" sacrifices and opposition to Hitlerrs"s Germany, however courageous, were ultimately futile and that the literature they produced was largely an aesthetic failure, due in part to the very nature of the exile experience.Anti-Nazi Writers in Exileincludes a brief description of literary life in the Third Reich, but then concentrates on the United States as the scene of the exilers"s greatest activity after the outbreak of World War II. Krispyn concludes that the exilesrs" failure to achieve their political and artistic aims constitutes an important political case history within the larger history of Nazi Germany. Artistic and intellectual activities seem powerless to oppose terror, and the turn of the creative mind to political ends seemingly undermines the aesthetic force of creation.