Example Of The Effect Culture Has On Literature Essay

The prevailing culture of a period can have a major impact on literature. Events can both inspire and suppress literature. A great example of this is the Nazi period in German literature. Within Germany itself, books were censored and even burned. The list of banned authors included Berthold Brecht, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Engels, Franz Kafka, Jack London, Thomas Mann, and Erich Maria Remarque. Thus an entire generation of Germans basically grew up without the Theory of Relativity, Freudian theory, an understanding of class struggles, and All Quiet on the Western Front. At the same time, there was a massive “brain drain” in German literature within Germany as authors fled or were imprisoned. Those who did cooperate and author books to the liking of the Nazis are largely forgotten, just like their works, which are generally not of interest to German literature professors- because most of them are not really any good.
At the same time, German literature was thriving- in exile. In exile, Thomas Mann became part of the community of German intellectuals at Princeton that included Albert Einstein, and produced works including Lotte in Weimar and Doctor Faustus during this period, considered among the best German literary works of the 20th century, during this period. Bertolt Brecht, also in exile in the United States, wrote a number of plays during this period in opposition to the Nazis that are considered among the great works in the German language in this period. Anna Seghers, in exile in Mexico, is lesser-known, but would go on to earn literary prizes for her work during this period.
Thus we see, when we compare the literature being produced within oppressed Germany to the literature being produced in exile and relative freedom that this period is much better known in the German language by the works produced outside of Germany than by the works produced within it. This is no coincidence- the prevailing culture of course has an impact upon the literature a society produces. The case of German literature during this period clearly demonstrates this principle.