''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' () is a 1929 novel by

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of ...

. It is considered one of the most important and innovative works of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

. In a 2002 poll of 100 noted writers the book was named among the top 100 books of all time.

Summary

The story concerns a murderer, Franz Biberkopf, fresh from prison. When his friend murders the prostitute on whom Biberkopf has been relying as an anchor, he realizes that he will be unable to extricate himself from the underworld into which he has sunk. He must deal with misery, lack of opportunities, crime and the imminent ascendency of Nazism. During his struggle to survive against all odds, life rewards him with an unsuspected surprise but his happiness will not last as the story continues.

Focus and narrative technique

The novel is set in the working-class district near

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the no ...

in 1920s Berlin. Although its narrative style is sometimes compared to that of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

's, critics such as

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...

have drawn a distinction between '' Ulysses''’

interior monologue In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...

and ''Berlin Alexanderplatzs use of montage.

Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who is a leader writer and columnist for '' The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Bel ...

, writing in the London ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...

'', says Döblin's methods are more akin to

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typi ...

in his use of "'' erlebte Rede'' (roughly, experienced speech — a blending of first-person and third-person narrative)". The novel is told from multiple points of view, and uses sound effects, newspaper articles, songs, speeches, and other books to propel the plot.

Translations

The novel was translated into English in 1931 by

Eugene Jolas John George Eugène Jolas (October 26, 1894 – May 26, 1952) was a writer, translator and literary critic. Early life John George Eugène Jolas was born October 26, 1894, in Union Hill, New Jersey (what is today Union City, New Jersey). His p ...

, a friend of James Joyce. The translation was not well received; it particularly was criticised for the way in which it rendered everyday working-class speech. A 2018 English translation by

Michael Hofmann Michael Hofmann (born 25 August 1957) is a German-born poet who writes in English and is a translator of texts from German. Biography Hofmann was born in Freiburg into a family with a literary tradition. His father was the German novelist Ger ...

, published by ''

New York Review Books New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, Ne ...

'', was given a starred review from ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', which called it "vigorous and fresh" and a "welcome refurbishing of a masterpiece of literary modernism".Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin, Michael Hofmann

According to Oliver Kamm, "Dialogue is the most difficult thing to get right in translation" which Hofmann has rendered "in cockney dialect. It reads fluently, even at the risk of being possibly obscure to a non-British audience".

Film adaptations

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H0724-501-02, Berlin, Straßenbahnhaltestelle Alexanderstraße

The novel has been adapted three times for film. In 1931 '' Berlin-Alexanderplatz'' was directed by Piel Jutzi. Döblin worked on the adaptation, along with

Karlheinz Martin Karlheinz Martin (May 6, 1886 – January 13, 1948) was a German stage and film director, best known for his expressionist productions. After enjoying success with experimental productions in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg, Martin went to Berlin, ...

and

Hans Wilhelm Hans Wilhelm (born September 21, 1945) is a German-American writer, children's book author and illustrator, and artist. Hans Wilhelm has written and/or illustrated over 200 books – mostly for children. They have been translated in more than t ...

. The film starred

Heinrich George Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz (9 October 1893 – 25 September 1946), better known as Heinrich George (), was a German stage and film actor. Career Weimar Republic George is noted for having spooked the young Bertolt Brecht in his first ...

, Maria Bard,

Margarete Schlegel Margarethe Sylva Elisabeth Wisniewski (né Schlegel, 31 December 1899 – 15 July 1987), known professionally as Margarete Schlegel, was a German theatre and film actress and soprano operetta singer. Early life The sixth of seven children and the ...

Bernhard Minetti Bernhard Theodor Henry Minetti (26 January 1905 – 12 October 1998) was a German actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1931 and 1996 but is mostly known for his distinguished stage career. Selected filmography *''The Murderer Dimitri Kara ...

Gerhard Bienert Gerhard Max Richard Bienert (8 January 1898 – 23 December 1986) was a German stage and film actor. Gerhard Bienert was born in Berlin, Germany and died in the same city in 1986 at age 88. Selected filmography * '' Duke Ferrante's End'' (1922) ...

Albert Florath Albert Peter Adam Florath (7 December 1888, Bielefeld – 11 March 1957, Gaildorf) was a German stage and film actor. Early life and education Born to Joseph Florath, a locksmith, and his wife Matilda, née Burkart, he attended school in Brakel ...

and

Paul Westermeier Paul Westermeier (9 July 1892 – 17 October 1972) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Wedding in the Eccentric Club'' (1917) * ''Agnes Arnau and Her Three Suitors'' (1918) * ''About the Son'' (1921) * '' Memoirs of a Film Actre ...

. The second adaptation, ''

Berlin Alexanderplatz ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' () is a 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin. It is considered one of the most important and innovative works of the Weimar Republic. In a 2002 poll of 100 noted writers the book was named among the top 100 books of all time. ...

'', was directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's mai ...

. Produced for and shown on German television in 1980 as a 14-part miniseries, it also has been shown theatrically. It runs for 15 hours (NTSC and film releases expand the runtime by a half hour). Upon its release in New York City, ticket holders were required to come to the theatre for three consecutive nights to see the entire film. Both films were released in November 2007 by the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

in the US in a multi-disc DVD. A Region 2 edition of the Fassbinder version was released in the UK by Second Sight in October that year.

Burhan Qurbani Burhan Qurbani ( fa, برهان قربانی) (born in Erkelenz on 15 November 1980) is a German film director, writer and actor of Afghan origin. His directing, writing, and acting works include ''Shahada'' (2010), ''20xBrandenburg'' (2010 TV d ...

directed the most recent film adaptation, ''

'', which premiered at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director ...

in 2020. Qurbani's version recontextualised the lead role of Franz as Francis, an

Afro-German Afro-Germans (german: Afrodeutsche) or Black Germans (german: schwarze Deutsche) are people of Sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or residents of Germany. Cities such as Hamburg and Frankfurt, which were formerly centres of occupation ...

refugee from

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Google Books
{{Authority control 1929 German-language novels Novels by Alfred Döblin Novels about cities Novels about German prostitution Novels set in the 1920s Novels set in Berlin Futurist literature Modernist novels Weimar culture German novels adapted into films German novels adapted into television shows Works about criminals S. Fischer Verlag books 1929 German novels