"Brecht and Rilke under one roof?" Reminiscence of R.M. Rilke's poem "Autumn Day" in "Mother Courage and Her Children"

Abstract

The article is about the discovery of unknown and unexpected reminiscences ofthe works of the famous Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke in the works of BertoltBrecht. Despite the emphasis in numerous literary studies, especially in the GDR,on the ostentatious atheism and adherence to Brecht's ideas of Marxism, theauthor's works show traces of perhaps unconscious fascination with the ideasand images of the Christian religion, rooted in the writer's worldview. The articleanalyzes the play "Mother Courage and Her Children" and points to an allusion tothe famous poem by RM Rilke "Autumn Day", as well as the presence of modifiedmotifs from the Christmas story of R.M. Rilke. The influence of FriedrichNietzsche's work on Brecht's work is also depicted.