>1. What are the images you have in mind when thinking of a thunderstorm? >Personally I connect bright flashes and loud thunders to it which fit quite >well to the images of the battles of WW1. With a storm I connect the image >of heavy winds which is quite far away from my image of WW1. Fits well, but as a metaphor as been heavily criticised for naturalising the War. >2. Another reason might be that the word "Stahlsturm" is a composite of two >one-syllable-words both beginning with "st" (therefore building an >alliteration). For me as a German the word "Stahlsturm" has a rather >static, monolithic sound. "Stahlgewitter" has a quite more dynamic melody >and is therefore more fitting to the subject of the book. Another good reason. It is clear that EJ was aiming to produce a literary document, even with the first edition of "In Stahlgewittern". >Finally "Sturm" as well as "Gewitter" are often used metaphors of German >expressionist poetry of that time. So the choice of the title of EJs book cf. the journal "Der Sturm"!! >might also be influenced by that (By the way: are there any statements from >EJ about expressionism?). Jein. Heimo Schwilk maintains that J had extensive contact with writers such as Klabund and Kurt Schwitters in Hannover in 1920. More than this is not known. Do you know EJ's poem "Zu Alfred Kubins Bild: Der Mensch"? (in the Kubin-Jünger Briefwechsel). It's not of the best, but there are definitely elements of Stramm and Benn in there. Somewhere in "Strahlungen" J mentions that he burnt a lot of his early Expressionist(ic) poetry. There are also two contradictory elements in "Der Kampf als inneres Erlebnis" (First edition, 1922). - J suggests that he was reading the "Blätter der neusten Kunst" in the trenches. 'Wenn ich im Unterstande Hefte der jüngsten Kunst durchblättere, finde ich vieles, was auch mich bewegt. Noch ist es ein Stammeln, wenigen verständlich und doch ein fernes Wetterleuchten.' (p. 82) This appears to be a positive reception of writers such as August Stramm. -J attacks vehemently those (Expressionist) artists who had gone into exile and turned to Dada. >From the last chapter, "Vorm Kampf": "Der untrügliche Maßstab dieses Zustandes [die Leere in sich zu tragen] ist die Kunst. Man fröstelt beim Lesen dieser künstlichen Gehirnekstasen, deren Ja und Nein gleich wenig überzeugend klingt. Zuweilen grotesken Gedankenunzucht, Unfruchtbarkeit, zynische Tertiärerscheinungen und das Irrenhaus am Schluß. Manche winden sich im Krampf der Worte und Farben oder schleudern ihr Inneres in Form von butnen Klexen, von Konservenbuchstaben und Straßenbahnbillets auf die Leinwand hinaus. Man muß gestehen, sie wissen sich gut zu treffen. Andere merken, was ihnen fehlt, und greifen zum Infantilen oder zur Kunst der Wilden zurück" This appears to be the complete opposite. Typical early Jünger. And at long last, there is some more discussiong going on the list :-) Beste Grüße an alle aus Hamburg! John King
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