Sandberg, Glenn Robert
The genealogy of the Massenführer

Hermann Broch's 'Die Verzauberung' as a Religious Novel.

This study is intended to be the first book-length interpretation of 'Die Verzauberung' which incorporates the mythological, religio-historical, political, and religious approach to this work. - In a letter to Daniel Brody, Hermann Broch claims his novel 'Die Verzauberung' to be the first religious novel. Glenn Sandberg's present study is an attempt at interpreting Broch's 'Verzauberung' as a religious novel by tracing the genealogy of the "Massenführer". The mass psychology of Le Bon, Freud and Ortega describes the "Massenführer", whom we meet in the novel in the person of Marius Ratti. Sandberg deals with the relationship between the myths of Demeter, Persephone and Dionysos and the characters of Mother Gisson, Irmgard and Marius. The heretic Marcion, Karl Lueger and Adolf Hitler are also included in the analysis. Sandberg closes with an interpretation of 'Die Verzauberung' in the context of a corrupted history of salvation. 167 Seiten, broschiert (Beiträge zur neueren Literaturgeschichte. Folge 3; Band 153/Universitätsverlag Winter 1997) leichte Lagerspuren/minor shelfwear