„Die Welt ist nicht Ihr Zirkus.“ Bertolt Brechts „Baal“(1922) als Abgesang auf den Ästhetizismus
“The world is not a circus of itself.” Bertolt Brecht’s ''Baal'' (1922) as a farewell of the aestheticism

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the critical depiction of Aestheticism in the 1922 version of Bertolt Brecht’s play ''Baal''. While many scholars argue that Brecht’s 1919 version is to be preferred due to its socio-critical and more ambivalent design, I put forward the hypothesis that the 1922 revision stands out by dismissing a decadent form of Aestheticism as well as the prototypical artist that goes along with it. After a brief introduction concerning the production history of the play, I will define the notions of Aestheticism and decadent Aestheticism to provide a foundation for the following in-depth analysis of the text. The analysis will be concluded by a comparison to the 1919 version of the play. My aim is to point out the important role that the 1922 variant of ''Baal'' played for the artistic development of the young Brecht and to thus highlight the significance of this rather neglected version both for Brecht’s oeuvre and for the ambivalent – and often competing – artistic trends of the Weimar Republic.

• Details
• Contents