Death in Rome

Death in Rome () is a 1954 German novel by Wolfgang Koeppen. Koeppen belonged to the literary generation of West Germany, which revived the devastated cultural landscape after twelve years of fascism and the ruin caused by the Second World War. Koeppen was one of the first artists to shine light upon the new social and political realities of the country at a time of chauvinistic and revanchist backlash. The novel explores themes associated with the Holocaust, German guilt, the conflict between the generations, and the silencing of the past.
The novel is the third work of the so-called "Trilogy of Failure" (), about postwar life in West Germany. It succeeds ' (, 1951), which recreates a typical day in Munich in 1948; and ' (, 1953), which deals with the corruption of the Bonn government. With this trilogy, Koeppen established himself as an important figure in German post-war literature.
"Death in Rome" opens with an epigraph from Canto III of Dante Alighieri's "Inferno": "Il mal seme d'Adamo", followed by the last sentence from "Death in Venice": "Und noch desselben Tages empfing eine respektvoll erschütterte Welt die Nachricht von seinem Tode."
Synopsis.
Context.
"Death in Rome" deals with the careers of former National Socialists after World War II. The novel is sharply critical of Germany's past, post-war reality and future, sounding a warning and a prophetic note. Koeppen targets German militarism, revealing the dangerous influence of fascist ideology on certain West German social strata.
The story, of victims and perpetrators from the time of National Socialism meeting during the post-war period, takes place against the backdrop of Rome. The city also functions as a metaphor, its ancient monuments predisposing the reader to reflect on the fate of the world, the nature of good and evil, war and peace, the past and the future, wealth and poverty, justice and social oppression. The author composes new groups from the members of two families and their surroundings, and choreographs their story in several parallel lines of action. Through a network of dialogues and inner monologues, the present is problematized and the past uncovered. The characters embody the opportunism and adaptability of the followers; the unbroken violence of the perpetrators; and the devastation and escapism of the next generation.
In the background is the unresolved problem of overcoming the past of National Socialism in the time of the "Wirtschaftswunder". The novel has a particular connection with Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" (, 1912), most notably in addressing the problems of artistic creativity against a background of moral decay. Stylistically, "Death in Rome" is similar to Koeppen's two other novels, characterized by a mastery of metaphorical, associative prose and use of the devices of cinema. These include the staging, constant changes in point of view and distance to the depicted event, and the simultaneously unfolding action. Epic narrative is coupled with the characters' internal monologue, which, according to the author, "best suits our perception, our consciousness, and our bitter experience".
The author demonstrates his political and social engagement as a writer in "Death in Rome". In his 1962 speech on receiving the Georg Büchner Prize, he said:
But I saw the poet, the writer for those excluded by society, I saw him as a sufferer, compassionate, outraged, a regulator of all secular order, I recognized him as the spokesman of the poor, as the advocate of the oppressed, as the champion of human rights against the tormentors of men, himself railing against the cruelty of nature and an indifferent God. I later heard talk of engaged literature, and was astounded then by the idea of wanting to turn the self-evident, as obvious as breathing, into a special artistic direction or a fashion.
Koeppen does not advocate any particular ideology or political program. The words of one of the heroes of "Death in Rome" describe his works: "I ask questions, yet I do not know the answer, I cannot answer." Koeppen called his works "a monologue attempt against the world". Paradoxically, his protest against existence is also a plea for a new, more humane form of life, leading Alfred Andersch to describe him as a "humanistic pessimist". This hidden humanistic pathos, going beyond resignation, inspired the whole of his literary life. Of "Death in Rome", Koeppen said: "We all live with politics, we are all its subjects or even victims of it... How can the writer behave like the ostrich, and who, if not the writer, should take on the role of Cassandra in our society?"
Influence.
In Marian Dora's 2009 film, "Melancholie der Engel", a dying man, Katze, is shown reading the book, and, upon dying, is buried with it.