Pflichtbegriff im Werk von Siegfried Lenz

Abstract

The present thesis undertakes a comprehensive survey and criticak analysis of the concept of duty and its significance in the prose of Siegfried Lenz (born in 1926). It concentrates on those novels and narratives in which duty is the main motif; these are Schwierige Trauer (1960), Das Feuerschiff (1960), Deutschstunde (1968) and Ein Kriegsende (1984). After an introduction which outlines the development and the influence of the concept of duty in Germany, the thesis deals with Lenz's prose in chronological order. Siegfried Lenz's main motif is the significance of the concept of duty within the moral code of the individual, the specific meaning and influence of which has been developed in Germany. Lenz does not deny that duty is a necessary element of the process of socialization. But he rejects the unreflected and uncritical acceptance of a dubious morality based on a sense of duty, at the expense of individuality and responsibility for oneself. It is a deformed understanding of duty which Lenz exposes and criticizes in his work: a characteristic mark of submissiveness and slavish obedience ("Untertanengeist und Kadavergehorsam"). These distortions are determined by political-historical events, theological dogmas, philosophical theses and an authoritarian upbringing. The reasons for the attitudes and behaviour of Lenz's fictitious characters have their roots in those factors. Lenz always insists on reflection. He refuses the uncritical acceptance of a morality based on duty, which allows a person to avoid his or her responsibility. However, Siegfried Lenz neither attempts to construct a social background nor does he offer recipes for a new social order. Rather he restricts himself to the sceptical questioning of norms and values, which are maintained by authority. The author creates a conflict in a hermetic environment, for example a ship or a small village, in which his fictitious characters have to prove themselves. By confronting his readers with such an extreme situation and the protagonists' questionable decisions, Lenz forces his public to reconsider their own position. The author's aim is to make his readers realize that right and wrong cannot always be distinguished in a clear-cut manner