#detering

Thinking about them (Tjaden, Westhus and Detering in the 1930 adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front)

Detering is "a peasant, who thinks of nothing but his farm-yard and his wife" (quote). In chapter eleven, Paul (Remarque) describes Detering as follows: "He was one of those who kept himself to himself. His misfortune was that he saw a cherry tree in a garden." His misfortune. Later, the reader sees him desert. Paul recalls that it would have been better to flee through Holland, but Detering went straight to Germany, for what he was captured as a deserter. And if the reader decides to search for the punishment for desertion during World War I (or tries to guess for themselves), they will understand that Detering was most likely shot. And that's exactly what I want to talk about.

Just think about it: people are torn away from their normal lives in various ways — whether through mobilization or propaganda — and sent to fight on the front lines. I won't repeat what happens in war; Herr Remarque has already written about it. And any things from one's "past life" (like the cherry tree in Detering's case) can have a powerful effect on a person in inhuman conditions.

In German, there is the concept of Heimweh — longing for Motherland. And I think this is exactly the case here.

Allow me to quote another passage from the same book, chapter one, my italics: "But for all that we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards—they were very free with all these expressions."

They try to instill in us that a "deserter" is something bad, that he is a traitor to his country. But tell me, please, how can one kill a man for wanting to live!? How can you punish a person for not wanting to take anyone's life!? Is it ethical to kill a person who wants to go home!?

And most importantly... in Remarque's time, people were not stingy with the words "deserter" and "coward"... and what has changed? Nowadays civilians are standing for the war to continue, to "win," to "restore the borders." Propaganda has convinced them that their homeland must "win" the war, that THIS war is "fair" and not a terrible attempt by the rich to make money. The state has always said and will continue to say that "true patriots" must "do their duty to the Motherland," and therefore they introduce compulsory military service (which, in my opinion, is a violation of human rights) and shout about "patriotism."

Was wir von Sprache lernen können

Es gibt viele kluge und einige weniger tiefe Aussagen zu Sprache. Der Sprachgebrauch erlaubt es uns, miteinander zu kommunizieren. Sprache hat eine Symbolebene, die wir an Buchstaben und Wörtern festmachen können. Ergänzt wird diese Ebene durch Bedeutung und Kontext. So erschließt sich uns ein Sinn, der über die Wortbedeutung hinaus geht.

Viktor Klemperer schreibt: “Das ist wohl auch der Sinn…