Der Mythos des Krieges im Roman „Das Salz der Erde“ von Józef Wittlin

Abstract

The article explores Józef Wittlin’s novel “Salt of the Earth” in the light of the mythopoetics of 20th-century literature. It is established that the author refers to classical mythological plots, themes, motives and images, archaic as well as biblical. The main accent is placed on the analysis of the military myth. It is proved that the war is depicted in the novel through the perception of the main character, who is the bearer of mythological consciousness. Peter Niewiadomski’s reflections on the war are based on the main principles of mythological thinking; this concerns primarily his reception of time and space, which has a clearly defined mythological character. The author also creates a number of individual symbolic images (mythologemes), which structure the literary world of the novel, acting as constructs of a new, modern mythology of war. At the same time, the expressive means and stylistic devices of the text aim not only to mythologize the reality but also to demythologize the war, depriving it of its horrifying sacredness.