Montage, Realism, and Modernity: An Interpretation of Berlin Alexanderplatz, by Alfred Döblin, in the Light of Walter Benjamin

Abstract

This paper analyses the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, published in 1929 by German author Alfred Döblin, at the light of some considerations proposed by Walter Benjamin in his text “The crisis of the novel (1930)”. We begin with initial comments on the constitution of the book’s storyteller, which are followed by an exam on the role played by montage, understood as a formal tool, in the structure of the novel, mainly when it comes to the establishment of the storyteller. For that purpose, we make a brief introduction of some aspects of the theory of montage, which develop into the suggestion of possible relations between Doblin’s novel and Berlin Dadaism. Therefore, we aim to describe the general contours of the environment in which the novel has been written, shedding light on its relevance regarding, at the same time, the most important debates of that time and the pleadings for a renewal of the novel which took place at the begging of the 20th century. Finally, over the course of this reflection, we will address the complex relation between Berlin Alexanderplatz and the realist tradition in literature.