Egon Erwin Kisch

1
Egon Erwin Kisch

• The Raging Reporter

2
Background

• World War I (19141918) Austria, Hungry and Italy
  (The Triple Alliance) versus Britain, France and
  Russia. Ended with the defeat of Triple Alliance.
  Democratic movements flourished in Russia, Hungry
  and Germany.

• World War II (19391945) China, Soviet Union, the
  U. S. and Britain versus Germany, Italy and
  Japan. The war spread to Europe, Africa and Asia
  Pacific. Ended with the defeat of Germany, Italy
  and Japan. Colonialism broke up. Eastern and
  Western Europe formed separate spheres of
  influence.

3
Highlights

• A writer of reality.
• He became a communist.
• A restless reporter, but firm in his belief.
• Very interested in crime and the underworld.
• Universally recognized as the founder of
  reportageXie Yong, a Chinese critic.

4
On the threshold of life

• 1885, April 29th, Egon Erwin Kisch was born the
  son of a German-Jewish cloth merchant in Prague.
• First language was German and cultural
  identification was wholly German. But privately
  learned Czech.
• Influenced by his father, who liked reading and
  writing.

5
On the threshold of life

• 19031904
• Educated in German-language schools in Prague.
• Studied literature and philosophy in German
  Prague University. Left his studies after a
  semester to volunteer for military service.
• Showed his discomfort with authorityof the 365
  days in service, 147 were spent in the brig (or
  jail).
• 1906
• Briefly attended a private German
  journalism-training school in Berlin.

6
A local reporter in Prague

• 19061913
• Joined Bohemia, Pragues second largest
  German-language paper. Reported on crime. From
  this experience, he developed ability to ferret
  out the quirky and the offbeat.
• Immersed himself in what he reported.
• Showed taste for the sensational.
• Yet, for himthe Prague underworld was never
  the source of only cheap sensations to titillate
  the reader. It was his deep study of real life
  and the social causes of phenomena, which taught
  him how to assess reality from class
  positions.Danica Kozlov

7
Reporter and Fighter

• 1914
• World War I broke out. Kisch joined the army
  and went to the Serbian front.
• Wanted to experience the reality of war
  directly and not as someone who observes from a
  safe distance and enters the trenches after the
  action is over according to his diary on July
  31, 1914
• 19171919
• He was active in anti-war activities. Joined the
  Communist Party in Austria and also later in
  Germany.  

8
Reporter and Fighter

• 19201938
• Traveled through Europe, North Africa, Soviet
  Union, United States, and China (1932).
• Arrested by Nazis and sent back to Prague. His
  book, The Secret China, was burned by Nazis
• Kept on traveling, or as he said, exiling.
• Went to Melbourne (1937, Australia), suffered a
  leg injury and made a famous speech -- Yes my
  English is broken, my leg is broken, but my heart
  is unbroken.

9
Reporter and Fighter

• The places he had been -- all over the world.

10
Reporter and Fighter

• 1938, October
• At the age of 48, married Gisela Lyner, his
  devoted assistant, in Versailles (in northern
  France).
• 1939
• Fled from German-occupied Paris to Mexico.

11
At Home

• 1946
• Kisch returned to Prague. He covered Nazi
  war-crimes trials, the May Day celebration and
  began a book on the new Czechoslovakia.
• 1948, March 31st
• Egon Erwin Kisch died of a heart attack in
  Prague.

12
Works
13
Works

• Reported on and wrote about everywhere he went,
  mostly focusing on people struggling to cope with
  everyday life. Many of his stories are about
  crime and punishment.
• The Pimp, 1912, his first novel.
• The Rampaging Reporter, 1924, collection of
  nonfiction of stories, from which he got his
  occasional nickname, The Raging Reporter.
• The Secret China, 1932, more nonfiction, burned
  by Nazis before publication.
• Sensation Fair, 1942, closest he got to an
  autobiography.

14
Qualities of his work

• Excerpt from the prologue to Journalist and
  Fighter
• A reporters work is of the utmost importance
  because every subject requires a thorough studyA
  reporter may exaggerate and provide unreliable
  information, but in spite of this, he always
  depends on reality, on concrete factsof course,
  reality is only a compass on every journey, but
  he also needs a telescope logical fantasy.
• LOGICAL FANTASY Connecting all phases of events.
  Determining the intermediate points (the key
  moments). Choosing the right colors and
  perspectives. All to create an accusing work of
  art (objective partiality).

15
His view of literature

• Nothing overwhelms us as much as pure truth,
  nothing is more exotic than the world around us,
  nothing is more fantastic than reality. And
  nothing is more sensational than the times in
  which we live.-- Egon Erwin Kisch
• Fiction genres were obsolete and should be
  replaced by the literature of fact. People and
  life are supreme the literature of fact must
  serve them and their awareness.
• Kischs comment should be viewed in the context
  of his times. The turmoil of his era lay behind
  such sweeping statements.

16
The Secret China
17
Background

• 1932, arrived in China
• illegally
• with a German and an American journalist
• amid a chaotic landscapeWestern powers, civil
  war (Kuomintang and the Communist Party), and
  Japanese invasion.