SOURCE: "Diction in Barlach's Sündflut," in The Germanic Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 4, December, 1958, pp. 243-50.

In the following essay, Chick examines the use Barlach makes of linguistic patterns and plays on words in Sündflut.

In 1924 Barlach won the Kleistpreis for his drama Die Sündflut. Yet to the present time little has been done to show why it deserved this recognition. To be sure, Barlach's literary significance has been acknowledged and at least once denied in several articles and literary histories,¹ but the divergence of opinion as well as the general nature of the criticism demonstrate the need for something more specific.

During his lifetime Barlach had sufficient occasion to complain of misunderstanding and misinterpretation. He comments, for example, in a conversation: "Da lesen schon die Pfarrer und die Leserinnen meine Sündflut mit verteilten Rollen. Der ich doch nichts anderes im Schilde führte als...