FORESINGING THE FIRST WORLD WAR: OSCILLATING IMAGE OF WAR IN GERMAN LYRICS OF 1911-1914

Abstract

The article shows that an ambivalent image of war is specific for the German lyrics of 1911-1914. Along with the «terrible» principle, bringing pain, suffering and death, the opposite one may be clearly traced in all sorts of poetic representations of the idea of war as well - almost a joyful anticipation of destruction of all false, useless, obsolete, not allowing «beautiful new» to come. The described dualitу manifests itself most clearly in the lyrics of incipient expressionism. Some model poems of G. Heym, A. Lichtenstein and E. Stadler are here analyzed from the specified point of view.