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2023-09-28 23:31:18
2023-02-16 23:31:18
Bertolt Brecht's Paper War Exile In America 1941-1947
In the decade prior to World War II, many members of Germany’s literary and artistic community fled the country for safer havens, where they could freely criticize the Nazi government without fearing reprisals. Playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) left Germany after Hitler came to power, and in 1941 arrived in America, where he became a prominent member of the circle of German-speaking exiles, writing numerous plays that were thinly veiled criticisms of fascism. In late 1947, he returned to Europe following his interrogation by the House Un-American Activities Committee, led by Joseph McCarthy.
Brecht’s Paper War uses a variety of texts and visual material to explore his views on World War II and his exile in the United States. Included here is the USC Libraries’ rare original copy of his 1944 Kriegsfibel (War Primer) project, where Brecht and his collaborator Ruth Berlau assembled by hand 71 photographs culled from magazines and newspapers.
The panels on display mirror Brecht’s use of montage, as seen in his journals held by the Bertolt Brecht Archive in Berlin. They do not reproduce individual montages from his journals (or War Primer) but instead embody his creative spirit and artistic approach. Brecht’s thought and distinctive use of montage techniques have had a lasting influence on contemporary visual artists and global popular culture. The images and texts reproduced in Brecht's Paper War offer his observations about politics, literature, and theater—as well as an outsider’s perspective on the American way of life during a time of enormous social and political upheaval.
DML - Treasure Room
America/Los_Angeles
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