Modern Language Studies

History and Fiction: The Kaiser in Joseph Roth's "Radetzkymarsch"

Author(s): David Dollenmayer
Source: Modern Language Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Summer, 1986), pp. 302-310
Published by: Modern Language Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194910
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 and Fiction:
History
TheKaiserinJosephRoth'sRadetzkymarsch
David Dollenmayer

The HabsburgMonarchy, especiallysinceitsfall,has presented

Austrianwriterswiththedifficulty-or opportunity-of ideal
reconciling
andreality, andfact,M6glichkeitssinn
possibility andWirklichkeitssinn.1
As ClaudioMagrisshowedtwenty yearsago,thebestofAustrian litera-
turedeals consciously withthe"HabsburgMyth,"neitherexclusively
pilloryingthemonarchy normerely serving as itspiouspropagandist,but
steeringan ironiccourse between thetwo extremes.2 Few have
Austrians
chartedthiscoursewithmoresubtlety thanJosephRothin hisnovel
Radetzkymarsch.
Muchofthecritical ofRadetzkymarsch
discussion hasconcerned
Thereare two questionsin this
itselfwiththequalityof itshistoricity.
regardwhichareinterrelated. The first
is whether theimageofAustria-
Hungary presented inthenovelisanaccurateone;3andthesecond,what
standpoint Rothhimself hastowards hismaterial. GeorgLukacs,inoneof
theearliest reactions
critical toRadetzkymarsch, answersbothquestions
byplacingthemina paradoxical In a devaluation
relationship. ofauthor-
he writes,".. . der
ial intentionwhichanticipatesthe deconstructionists,
groBekiinstlerische WertdiesesWerkesist,wennerauchnichtaus der
ideologischen Schwiche des Autorshervorgeht, so doch damitstark
verbunden.Hitte RothnichtseineIllusionen, so hittees ihmkaum
gelingen kdnnen, so tiefindieWeltseinerBeamtenundOffiziere hinein-
zublicken undsovollundganzundwahrhaftig denProzeBihressittlichen
undsozialenVerfalls darzustellen."4Ithasremained thecriticalconsensus
sinceLukics thatwhileRoth-on theevidenceof hislaterworksand
letters-andhisnarrator-ontheevidenceofhistoneinthenovel-are
bothinclinedtomournthepassingofthevanishedHabsburgworld,the
novelsucceedsinremaining towardtheweaknesses
critical andbrutalities
ofthatworld.FritzHackert, towhosemonograph we owe theGerman
translation of Lukacs'sRussianoriginal,himselfadjudgesRadetzky-
marsch, incontrast toDie hundert Tage,tobe a historical
novelconform-
ingto Lukics'sdefinition in Der historische Roman,sinceitsprincipal
characters are"mittlere Helden"and greathistoric figures-inthiscase
FranzJosephI-appear onlyon theperiphery.5
Anydiscussionof thenovel'shistoricity mustof necessity pay
particular attention to the figureof the Kaiseras the onlyhistorical
character in thenovel.He is theinterface of fictionand history.The
present the
paper,using figure of the Kaiseras evidence,will arguethat
Radetzkymarsch isprimarily neither accuratecritique,
a historically mal-
gresoi,oftheHabsburgmonarchy, nora sentimental celebrationofan
idealizedWeltvongestern. Itisrathera novelinwhichthecharacter ofthe
Kaiser,whilein itsessentialoutlinesremaining faithfulto itshistorical
model,is so integrated intotheaestheticstructure of theworkas to
resistand even to underminethecategoryof historicity.
ultimately

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 Thereisalsotheproblemposedbythefactthatthisnovelissetina
historicalperiodwhichin1932,theyearofitspublication, was gonebut
notforgotten. Roth,likeStefanZweig,Musil,Doderer,Hofmannsthal,
Broch,andthewholepantheon ofAustrian writers inthefirst halfofthe
twentieth is
century,writing ofa world inwhich he grewup whichhas
but
vanished.We mayassumethathe has an especiallyintenseemotional
relationship to hismaterial.In it he recaptures, or recreates, hischild-
hood.6One comesawayfromDavid Bronsen's exhaustivebiography of
Rothwiththeoverwhelming impression ofa writer who,whether play-
fullyorcompulsively, constantly tinkered withthefactsofhisownpast.7
Bronsen's biography was necessaryin partbecauseRothhimself is so
untrustworthy concerning hisownlife.Themorehisattention asa novelist
turned backtowardthevanished worldofAustria-Hungary, themorehe
constructed forhimself a pastconsonant withan idealizedvisionofthe
ancienregime.Thisautobiographical inventiveness shouldserveas fair
warning thatifRothplaysfastandloosewithhisownKakaniancreden-
tials,he maydo thesamewithKakaniaitself.8
The mostsignificant thingabouttheKaiserinRadetzkymarsch is
that,unlikehistorical figuresinothernovels,hedoesnotfunction primar-
ilyas theguarantor ofthehistorical authenticity ofwhatwe arereading.
Weneverseehimintheactofgoverning. He ispresent inthenovelonlyto
impingeon theprivatelivesof thefictional protagonists, theTrottas.9
Whenhemakeshisunmediated appearanceonthebattlefield ofSolferino
onthenovel'sfirst page,itislikethematerialization ofa Homericgodon
thefieldbeforeTroy:"Da erschienzwischendem Leutnantund den
RiickenderSoldatenderKaisermitzweiOffizieren desGeneralstabs."'l
Thenarrator doesnottellustheyearofthebattle(1859),itsimportance in
themodernhistory oftheHabsburgdynasty (thefirstbattlelostto the
principleofnational self-determination),norindeedevenwhotheenemy
is. The Kaiserappearsoutofnowhereforthesolenovelistic purposeof
fatefulintervention inthelifeoftheinfantry lieutenant JosephTrotta.
WhenTrotta,withthegood instincts of an officerof theline,
realizesthattheKaiseris placinghimself inmortaldangerbyraisingthe
binoculars tohiseyes,heimmediately knocksFranzJoseph down,receiv-
inghimself theshotmeantfortheKaiser.Thisdeed,occurring on the
novel'sfirstpage,is itsexemplary action,as theentirefirst chapteris an
exemplum."In a sense,itis theonlyactionin a novelof paralysis and
passivity.Everything thatsubsequently "happens" in thelivesof Joseph,
hisson,andhisgrandson, isonlya re-action,a metonymic approximation
to this-as ittranspires-hopelessly inimitable deed.One couldevengo
further and say thatthelastfifty-nine yearsof theHabsburgdynasty
devolvefromthismoment.JosephTrottahas saved the Kaiser,and
thereby Austria,foranother halfcentury. Ifhisowncentrifugally expand-
ingfearat thecritical momentappearshyperbolic ("[d]ieAngstvorder
unausdenkbaren, dergrenzenlosen Katastrophe, dieihnselbst,das Regi-
ment,dieArmee,denStaat,dieganzeWeltvernichten wfirde"-12),the
enormity of thedangerand of hisdeed are in theend negatively con-
firmedby the Kaiseron his deathbed:"WAir' ich nurbei Solferino
gefallen!"(321).

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 Trotta'sdeedisthewatershed ofhislife.Itsinimitability, whichis
its historicity,
proceeds almost immediately to be negatively demon-
stratedby a first
travesty:the transformation of Joseph and his deed inthe
selectionfromhis son'sschoolreader.By makinghimintoa cavalry
officerandthusa memberofthenobility beforethefact,eliminating the
twogeneralstaffofficers whofoolishly endanger theKaiser'slifeinthe
firstplace,and transforming theoriginalpassivity of theKaiserintoa
daringadvance"imEiferdesGefechts" (17),theLesestiick hasperverted
an actwhichwas a violationoftheritualofrankintoa pieceofpropa-
ganda in supportof rank:"'Ich habe nie bei der Kavalleriegedient',
glaubteHauptmannTrottaam bestenanfangenzu miissen.. ." (18).
Although Trottasucceedsingetting theKaiserto expungetheoffensive
textfromthebook,hehimself cannotreturn tohisahistorical, Slavicpast.
Once he is renamedand committed to theflowof history, thereis no
It is his historical
reversibility. and now travestied personawhichis
memorialized on his gravestone, "Der Held von Solferino" (27). The
second travestyof the deed at Solferino, Carl Joseph'scompulsive
"rescue"oftheKaiser'sflyblown portrait fromTanteResi'sbrothel (80),is
obviousinitsdemonstration ofthegrandson's fecklessinability torepro-
ducetheidealofhisgrandfather.
Thereis howeveranother,moredisguisedtravesty of Trotta's
deedwhichhasnotbeenpreviously commented on.UnliketheLesestiick
andtherescueoftheportrait, itis a purelynarrative travesty ofwhichits
participantsare unaware.It occursat a nodalpointin thenarrative, in
Chapter Fifteen at theend of Part II, justbefore the plunge inthe parallel
fortunesoftheTrottas andofHabsburg.Inthis,theonlychapter devoted
whollyto KaiserFranzJosephI, thenoveldirectly confronts theliving
embodiment of theideologyby whichitsprotagonists live.It is here,
whereheismostfeatured as a historical figure,thattheKaiser'sfictionality
is mostevident.
The chapter, narrated principally fromFranzJoseph's ownper-
spectivein erlebteRede, presentsthereaderthroughout withtwo ir-
reconcilableversionsof the Kaiser,relatedto the two irreconcilable
versionsofJosephTrottalimnedat theendofChapterOne: the"Held
vonSolferino" andthe"Ritter derWahrheit" (27).Onemight callthetwo
versionsof theKaiserthedomesticand thepublic:"SeinK6rperwar
mager,seinRiickenleichtgebeugt.Er gingzu Hause mittrippelnden,
kleinenSchritten umher.Sobalderaberdie Stralebetrat, versuchte er,
seineSchenkelhartzu machen,seineKnieelastisch, seineFiile leicht,
seinenRiickengerade"(212).It couldbe objectedthatthetwoversions
presentedherearenotirreconcilable, butaresimplytwoquiteconscious
standards,onefor"zu Hause"andonefor"dieStral3e" (curiously every-
daylocutions, bytheway,withrespecttoa Kaiser).Yettheproblemgoes
deeperthanthequestion ofprivateandofficial behavior; inthedictionof
thenextsentenceit becomesa problemof languageitselfand of the
oppositionof fictional and historical: "SeineAugenfiillteer mitkiins-
tlicherGCite,mit der wahren Eigenschaft kaiserlicher Augen..." (212).
Thewordskiinstlich andwahraretherealirreconcilables, yetthenarrator
placestheminstraightforward apposition. Thesentence isananticipatory
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modelfortheentire Kaiser
inwhichthe"true"andthe"artificial"
chapter,
emergesidebysideas mutuallydependent functions.
AsFransJosephstandsbeforethewindowofhisbedroom,look-
ingoutintothenighttowardtheinvisible
frontier
withRussia,he identi-
fieshimself
withJosephTrotta-notwiththeHeroofSolferino
tobe sure,
whosenamehe can no longerremember, butwiththeunprepossessing
lieutenant:
infantry

Er hatteeinmaleinBuchfibersichselbstgelesen,indemderSatzstand:
"FranzJosephderErsteistkeinRomantiker." Sie schreibenfibermich,
dachtederalteMann,ichseikeinRomantiker. Aberichliebedie Lager-
feuer.Erhitteeingewdhnlicher Leutnantseinmigenundjung.Ichbin
vielleicht
keineswegs romantisch,dachteer,aberichm6chtejungsein!
Wennichnichtirre,dachtederKaiserweiter, warichachtzehn Jahrealt,
als ichdenThronbestieg.AlsichdenThronbestieg-dieserSatz kam
demKaisersehrkiihnvor,indieserStundefieles ihmschwer, sichselbst
ffirdenKaiserzu halten.GewiB!Es standindemBuch,dasmanihmmit
einerder fiblichen,ehrfurchtsvollen
Widmungen hatte.Er
fiberreicht
warohneZweifelFranzJosephderErste!VorseinemFensterwolbte
sichdie unendliche, bestirnte
tiefblaue, Nacht.Flachundweitwardas
Land. Man hatteihmgesagt,daB diese Fensternachdem Nordosten
gingen.MansahalsonachRuBlandhintiber. AberdieGrenzewarselbst-
verstandlich UndKaiserFranzJosephhitteindiesem
nichtzu erkennen.
Augenblickgerndie GrenzeseinesReichesgesehen.Sein Reich!Er
lichelte.
(214-215)

The parallelbetweenFranzJosephI and JosephTrottais established

principally character
bytheself-critical ofthelanguageitself.Therepeti-
tionofwordsandphrases, oneofthemostcharacteristic devices
stylistic
ofthenovel,functions hereas a critical
weapon. The languageunmasks
Threetimestheinternal
itself. monologue stumbles which
overlocutions
arebookish.Thenovel'sarchetypical bookistheschoolreaderofChapter
One whichenshrines thehistoricalmythof Habsburgpowerin florid
language to which Joseph Trotta could onlyopposehisoutraged"Es ist
eine Liige!" (17). The books mentionedhere,withtheir"fiblichen,
ehrfurchtsvollen Widmungen," areobviouslyofthesameilk.Whenthe
Kaisercomparestheversionofhimself presented insuchbookswiththe
old manstanding beforethewindowin a nightshirt, thecontradiction
betweenthetwoisso greatthatheevendoubtstheidentity ofwhichthe
booksassurehim.Thebravetoneof"ErwarohneZweifelFranzJoseph
derErste!",especially withitsexclamation toomuch.The
point,protests
Kaiser,likeTrotta, cannolongerthink Hisnamehasbecome
historically.
as foreign tohimas thetitle"HeroofSolferino" becameforTrotta.
Solferinooccurrednear thebeginning of FranzJoseph'slong
reign.Thatitwas a lostbattle,castinga longshadowoverthenexthalf
century, is a factthenarrator concedesonlymuchlater(270).Now,in
Chapter Fifteen, on the eve of WorldWar I, thefeytriviality of the
Habsburgworldis mercilessly exposedin thenovel'smostscurrilous
travestyof Joseph'sdeed:

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 Der Kaisererhobsich.SeinFriseur kam.RegelmfBig, jedenMor-
genhielterdas Kinnhin,derBackenbart wurdegestutzt undsaiuberlich
gebfirstet.Anden Ohrmuscheln undvordenNasenlichern kitzelte
das
kiihleMetallder Schere.Manchmalmul3teder Kaiserniesen.Er sa13
heutevoreinemkleinenovalenSpiegelundverfolgte mitheitererSpan-
nungdie Bewegungender magerenHinde des Friseurs.Nach jedem
Harchen,das fiel,nachjedemStrichdes Rasiermessers undjedemZug
des Kammesoder der Biirstesprangder Friseurzurfick undhauchte:
"Majestit!", mit zitterndenLippen.Der Kaiser hortedieses geflfisterte
Wortnicht.Er sahnurdie Lippendes Friseurs instandiger Bewegung,
wagtenichtzu fragenund dachteschlie8llich, der Mannsei einwenig
nerv6s."Wieheil3en S' denn?"fragtederKaiser.Der Friseur-erhatte
die Chargeeines Korporals,obwohler erstein halbesJahrbei der
LandwehrSoldatwar,aber er bedienteseinenOberstentadellosund
erfreutesichallerGunstseinerVorgesetzten-sprang miteinemSatzbis
zurTiir,elegantwie es seinMetiererforderte, aberauchmilitdrisch, es
wareinSprung,eineVerneigung undeineErstarrung und
gleichzeitig,
derKaisernicktewohlgefillig. riefderFriseur."Warum
"Hartenstein!"
springen S' denn so?"fragteFranzJoseph.Aber ererhieltkeineAntwort.
Der Korporalnihertesichwiederzaghaftdem Kaiserundvollendete
seinWerkmiteiligenHinden.Er wfinschte sichweitfortundwiederim
Lagerzu sein."BleibenS' noch!"sagtederKaiser."Ach,Sie sindKor-
poral!DienenS' schonlang?""Ein halbesJahr,Majestit!"hauchteder
Friseur."So, so! SchonKorporal?Zu meinerZeit,"sagtederKaiser,wie
etwaeinVeterangesagthitte,"ist'snieso fixgegangen!Aber,Sie sind
auch ein ganz fescherSoldat.WollenS' beim Militair bleiben?"-Der
FriseurHartenstein besa3 Weib und Kindund einengutenLaden in
Olmiitzundhatteschoneinpaarmalversucht, einenGelenkrheumatis-
muszu simulieren, umrechtbald entlassenzu werden.Abererkonnte
demKaisernichtneinsagen."Jawohl, Majestit,"sagteerundwuftein
diesemAugenblick, daberseinganzesLebenverpatzt hatte.-"Na,dann
is gut.DannsindSie Feldwebel!AbersindS' nichtso nerv6s!"(217-218)
an ordinary
Here,as at Solferino, contact
soldiercomesintofortuitous
withthe Kaiserand findshimselfsuddenlyelevatedin rank.Joseph
Trotta,exemplary infantry has been replacedby Hartenstein,
officer,
exemplarybarber and malingerermanque. The rifleTrottawields so
hasbeentransformed
competently comb,and brush.The
intoscissors,
fallingsoldiershave become fallinghairs.The reflexreactionthatsaved
theKaiser'slifehas become thenervousleaps of a comic-operabuffoon.
In bothscenes,theisolationoftheKaiserand hissoldierfromeach
otheris measuredby a questionwhose ostensiblepurposeis to establish
contactbetween them.In Chapter One, the questionis a comic pointe
ofKleistian
delayeduntiltheendofa sentence "DerKaiser,
elaborateness:
Stelle zu
ungeduldig von seinen Begleiterngemahnt,die gefalhrliche
beugtesichdennochuiber
verlassen, denliegenden undfragte,
Leutnant
eingedenkseinerkaiserlichen
Pflicht, mehr
dernichts
denOhnmichtigen,
hirte,wie erdennheil3e"(12). Trotta,physicallyunabletohearoranswer
the Kaiser'squestion,recoversconsciousnessto findhimselfwitha new
nameand rank.In thetrivializedparodyofhisdeed, thefatefulquestionis
again thefirstone to fall:"Wie hei8enS' denn?"It initiatesdisasterforthe
barberas surelyas it did forJosephTrotta,but now therecipientof the

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 dubiousdistinction, as thenarrative makesclearbyswitching tohispoint
ofview,isfully awareofthedisaster: he"... wuBteindiesemAugenblick,
da3 erseinganzesLebenverpatzt hatte."
The parodyis double-edged, unlikethatin another novelof the
HabsburgEmpire,The Good SoldierSvejk.The Czech malingerers in
Hasek'scomicepicpresent a contrast toHartenstein.'2Theassumption in
Sveikis thattheAustrian Empireis anabsurdbutdeadlyworld.Halek's
malingerers aredoingprecisely whatreasondictates intrying toevadethe
army.Theirbehaviorbecomestheobjectof humornotbecauseit is
butbecauseitisso endlessly
illogical, inventive butinmostcasesunsuc-
cessful.
Radetzkymarsch presents theEmpirefromtheperspective ofan
itisa worldconsistent
insider: initsideologybuthelplessly weak.Rather
thanbrutalizing itssubjectsas it does in Sveik,itsimpulseis to absorb
themintoitshierarchy. The humorin thepromotion of Hartenstein is
theresultoftheunreconciled perspectives oftheKaiser,whostillbelieves
Hartenstein, whocanperform "ein[en]Sprung, eineVerneigung undeine
Erstarrung gleichzeitig," as at theKaiser.'3
The exaltation ofHartenstein isa laboratory demonstration ofthe
Kaiser'skiinstliche His
Giite. magnanimity isartificial
because itproceeds
fromhisartificial persona,theAllerhoichster Kriegsherr whosesudden
and whimsical favorscan changethecourseofa wholelife.Thisis the
Majestiitbefore whomHartenstein trembles. Yetitisprecisely thatwhis-
peredtitletheKaiserdoesn'thear.He playshispartin thetravesty as
though he weremerelya good-natured old manchatting comfortably in
hisVienneseaccent.In fact,ina finalirony, theKaiseris hereidentified
withtheanonymous, Slovenefather ofJoseph Trottawhorepresented the
pasttowhichhe couldnotreturn. Longago,inthefirst chapter, theold
veteranhas remarkedto hisson,"Zu meinerZeit istes nie so schnell
gegangen!" (15).
Thedisaster whichhasbeenvisiteduponHartenstein isa parodied
glossonthedisaster oftheTrottas. Thenaming ofnamesisa symbolic act,
thesignthatone has been fatallytouchedby history. ChapterFifteen
showsthattheKaiserhimself, thecenterofthatcompleximagewhichis
thenovel,isalsohistory's victim.Herehe emergesas splitwithin himself
intoa historical and a privatepersona.Thosearoundhimsee onlythe
former, whilethenarrator implicitly celebrates thelatter.Itistheprivate
Kaiserwhois"true," thepublicfigure whois"artificial."
Theclashofthese
twoconstitutes thefictional FranzJosephofRadetzkymarsch.
In theparagraphwhichintroduces ChapterFifteenthenarrator
hasmadetwoassertions abouttheKaiser:thathe foresees theinevitable
dissolution ofhisempire,and thathe consciously concealsthatknowl-
edge:"Erhattelangegenuggelebt,umzu wissen,daB es t-richt ist,die
Wahrheit zu sagen.Er gfinnte den Leutenden Irrtum, und er glaubte
wenigerals die Witzbolde, die inseinemweitenReichAnekdoten iiber
ihnerzahlten, an den BestandseinerWelt.Aberes ziemteinemKaiser
nicht,sichmitWitzbolden undWeltklugen zu messen.Alsoschwiegder
Kaiser"(213).The chapter's narrative methodisan analoguetotheKais-
er'ssilence.Once thenarrator has madeclearhissympathy fortheold
manintheopeningparagraph, hisvoiceisreplacedbyerlebteRedeand

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he strictlyrefrainsfromfurther commenton theaction,whichon itsown
revealsboth thedignityand thetriviality of theKaiser.The Hartenstein
episode is on itsface an amusinganecdoteabout thesenileHabsburg,but
if one laughs,thenone is at riskof becoming a "jokester."Indeed, the
whole chapteris framedby such a joke. The Kaiserhas a head cold but
has concealed itinorderto attendthemaneuvers.He shiversand sneezes
throughout the chapter,and by itsend, his sniffleshave become public
knowledge:

... er bemerkte... nicht,dab an seinerNase ein glasklarerTropfen

erschienunddab alleWeltgebanntaufdiesenTropfenstarrte, derend-
lich,endlichin den dichten,silbernenSchnurrbart fielund sichdort
unsichtbareinbettete.
Und allenwardes leichtumsHerz.Und die Defilierung konnte
beginnen.(223)

The cleardrop ofmucusunnoticedby theKaiserbutcloselyfollowedby

"alle Welt,"thefinalimage ofthechapterand oftheentiresecond partof
thenovel,becomes a focal pointfortheperspectivesisolatedwithinthe
chapter.On the one hand, it mocks the Kaiser'sconvictionthathe can
successfullyconceal hiscold-or anythingelse, includingthecollapse of
hisempire(". .. mitderSchlauheitder KinderundderGreiseliebteerdie
Menschenirrezufiihren"-212).On theotherhand,itreflectseven more
mercilesslytheidiotinsoucianceof theofficerswhose majorconcernon
theeve ofthewar inwhichmostofthemwilldie iswhetherthatdropwill
fall.
HermannKestenrecallsthatRoth did not decide to include the
Kaiserin thenoveluntilhe was halffinishedwithit.'4If Kesten'smemory
is correct,itneatlydemonstrates theorderofpriority inthenovel:firstthe
fictionalfamily,and only later the historicalfigureintegratedintothe
fiction.This additionwas probablyone reasonthisnovelcost Rothmore
laborthananyother,15and whyhe continuedtohave doubtsabout itafter
publication: "Ich wei3, wie ich in diesem Roman gefehlthabe, die
Geschichteselbstzu Hilfegerufen,zu schaindlicher Hilfefiirmeine'Kom-
position,'scha~bigwar Das und verlogen."'16
Butdespitethisbitterself-criticism,he managedinhisimageofthe
Kaiserto treadthenarrowpathbetweenthepitfallsofsentimentality and
historicalpositivism,oras Soma Morgenstern once putitina conversation
with Robert Musil,"Anderswohat man [den Kaiser] positivverkitscht
oder gehdissig Roth'sKaiseris,in theend,a fictionalKaiser,
banalisiert."'7
deeply integratedintothenovelisticimagery,connectedon thelevel of
plotand ofsymbolismto thefictionalcharacters.His portraitinthenovel
has itsrootsin Roth'schildhood,in the hope whichthe Habsburg ideal
held out even to the Galician Jews,who also make theirappearance in
ChapterFifteen(218-220).The novel'snarratorknowsthatthathope was
invain. History,as themererecordofpast events,has consignedboththe
Kaiser and the Galician Jews to its ash heap. A Wirklichkeitssinn that
would place supremeimportanceon thatfactleads onlyto triviality. Yet
the inescapable knowledge of the imminentcatastrophe-presentin

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characterslike Count Cojnickiand Doctor Skowronnek-is also a dead
end. Thereis inRadetzkymarsch no MusilianMOglichkeitssinn,
and inthis
sense,thenovelis indeedelegiac.Roth'sKaiserisredeemedneitherby the
historybooks,norby a senseof alternatives thatmighthave led or might
lead to a different
future.He isredeemedonlyby theconnectionsthatthe
fictionweaves between him and othercharactersin the novel: the old
servantJacques,the Galician Rabbi holdingtheTorah scrolls,and four
generationsof Trottas.

MassachusettsInstituteof Technology

NOTES
1. Robert Musil, GesammelteWerke (Reinbekbei Hamburg:Rowohlt
Taschenbuch, 1978),I, 16.
2. Claudio Magris,Der habsburgische Mythosin derosterreichischen Lite-
ratur(Salzburg:OttoMfiller, 1966).
3. Hansjiirgen B16ning, JosephRoths'Radetzkymarsch': Thematik, Struktur,
Sprache(Munich:Fink,1968),includessevenpagesofexcerpts fromnon-
fiction
sourcestodemonstrate howtrue-to-lifeRoth'sKaiseris,pp. 194-200.
Thereare,however,dissenting opinions:"Ein spezifischRoth'scher und
beileibenichthistorischer KaiserFranzJoseph," HelmutFamira-Parcsetich,
Die Erziihlsituation in den RomanenJosephRoths(Bernand Frankfurt:
HerbertLang,1971),p. 92.
4. Georg Lukaics,"Radetzkymarsch," Literaturnaiagazeta (Moscow), 8
August1939.QuotedfromtheGermantranslation inFritzHackert, Kultur-
pessimismus undErziahlform: Studienzu JosephRothsLeben undWerk
(Bern:HerbertLang,1967),p. 148.
5. Hackert,p. 85 and GeorgLukhcs,Der historische Roman(Berlin:Aufbau
Verlag,1955),pp. 27-33.
6. In thefeuilleton "Die k. undk. Veteranen," Frankfurter Zeitung,18June
1929,now inJosephRoth,WerkeIV, ed. HermannKesten(n.p.:Kiepen-
heuer& Witsch, 1976),p. 709,Rothanticipates theatmosphere ofa "kleine
mahrische Provinzstadt" whichprevailsinthesecondchapterofRadetz-
kymarsch. In the personalizedperspectiveof the feuilleton, he makes
explicittheconnection betweenthelostempireand"diearmselige mitdem
Imperium nichtzu vergleichende Kindheit einesUntertanen."
7. David Bronsen, JosephRoth:Eine Biographie(Cologne:Kiepenheuer &
Witsch,1974),p. 13 etpassim.
8. BothMagris,Der habsburgische Mythos,p. 262,and HartmutScheible,
JosephRoth(Stuttgart, Cologne,Mainz:Kohlhammer,
Berlin, 1971),locate
Radetzkymarsch at theturning pointbetweenRoth'searlyand latework
and rateitmorehighlythanthelaterKapuzinergruft becauseitmaintains
morecriticaldistanceto theHabsburgMonarchy. In thelatterwork,and
evenmoreinthelatespeech"Rede fiberdenaltenKaiser,"WerkeIV, pp.
771-777,Rothhasbecomean unabashedapologistfortheHabsburgs.
9. cf.Bdning, p. 81,andJosephRoth,Briefe1911-1939, ed. HermannKesten
(Cologne,Berlin:Kiepenheuer & Witsch,1970),p. 192: "Es gibtnichts
Wichtigeres, als PRIVATMENSCH sein ... AllesOffentliche ist einen
Dreck wert, das Land, die Politik,die Ztg, das Hakenkreuz,die
Demokratie."

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10. JosephRoth,WerkeII, ed. HermannKesten (n.p.: Kiepenheuer& Witsch,
1975), p. 11. All further
referencesto thisvolume will be givenin thetextin
bracketsfollowingthe quote.
11. See David Dollenmayer,"The Novel and History:Roth-Musil-Doderer,"
Diss. Princeton1977,pp. 41-45.
12. Jaroslav
Halek,TheGoodSoldierSveikandHisFortunes
intheWorldWar,
trans.Cecil Parrott(New York: Crowell, 1974), pp. 62-78et passim.
13. For Roth's aristophilehatredof the bourgeoisie,see Claudio Magris,Weit
von wo: VerloreneWeltdes Ostjudentums(Vienna: Europa Verlag, 1974),
p. 187.
14. HermannKesten,"Der Mensch JosephRoth,"in JosephRoth: Leben und
Werk.Ein Geddiichtnisbuch, ed. HermannLinden (Cologne: Kiepenheuer,
1949), p. 22.
15. Bronsen,op. cit.,pp. 394-395.
16. Roth,Briefe,p. 228.
17. Soma Morgenstern,"Dichten, Denken, Berichten:Gesprache zwischen
Roth und Musil,"Musil Forum 2 (1976), p. 17.
18. Musil,GesammelteWerkeI, p. 195.
19. Morgenstern,p. 17.

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