Absurd America: Immigration and Meaninglessness in Werner Herzog‘s Stroszek and Franz Kafka‘s Der Verschollene
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Date
2018-09-11
Authors
Heintz, Jonas
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
In this thesis I compare Franz Kafka‘s novel Der Verschollene with Werner Herzog‘s movie
Stroszek by utilizing Albert Camus‘ philosophy of the absurd as a literary theory. The absurd ad
dresses the problem of meaninglessness with the resulting feeling of disconnect, and the break
down of connections with society, and transforms it into a live-affirming outlook. I will identify
elements of the absurd in the two works and show how much the protagonists are conscious of it,
as well as show their reactions to the absurd. I am doing this by analyzing the authors’ portrayal
of immigration to the USA in regards to the absurd. America is used by the authors as a play
ground to explore the idea of finding meaning and a sense of belonging somewhere through im
migration. But the dream of becoming oneself turns into a nightmare of losing oneself. America
turns out to be a dreadful place where antonomy and chaos reigns. Consequently, the protago
nists fail in every regard, both professionally and in their personal relationships; they are alien
ated from American society and cannot stake out a meaningful existence. The authors show this
mainly through the use of circle motives of repetitions in continuously worsening strorylines. In
the end, Bruno in Stroszek becomes conscious of the absurd, but he is unable to solve it and
chooses suicide to escape his suffering. Karl in Der Verschollene is unable to recognize the ab
surdity of his existence and he does not have to experience Bruno’s pain, yet he also has no
chance of redemption.
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Keywords
Absurd, Immigration, America, Neuer Deutscher Film, Werner Herzog, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Meaninglessness, Identity