Hermann Broch

born Nov. 1, 1886, Vienna, Austria
died May 30, 1951, New Haven, Conn.,
U.S.
Austrian writer who achieved
international recognition for his
multidimensional novels, in which he
used innovative literary techniques to
present a wide range of human
experience.
In 1927 Broch renounced his
inheritance by selling his family’s
textile mill and enrolling in the
University of Vienna in order to pursue
studies in physics, mathematics, and
philosophy. His first major work was the
trilogy Die Schlafwandler (1931–32; The
Sleepwalkers), which traces the
disintegration of European society
between 1888 and 1918, depicting the
triumph of the realist over the
romanticist and the anarchist.
Paralleling the historical process, the
novel moves from a subtle parody of
19th-century realism through
expressionism to a juxtaposition of many
different forms, including poetry,
drama, narrative, and essay.
Between 1934 and 1936 Broch worked on
a novel that was published posthumously
in 1953 as Der Versucher; three versions
of it were later published together as
Bergroman, 4 vol. (1969), and it has
also appeared as Die Verzauberung (1976;
Eng. trans. The Spell). This complex
novel exemplifies his theory of mass
hysteria in its portrayal of a Hitlerian
stranger’s domination of a mountain
village.
In 1938 Broch spent several weeks in
a Nazi prison. His release was obtained
through the international efforts of
friends and fellow artists, including
James Joyce. Later that year he
emigrated to the United States.
One of Broch’s later works, Der Tod
des Vergil (1945; The Death of Virgil),
presents the last 18 hours of Virgil’s
life, in which he reflects on his times,
an age of transition that Broch
considered similar to his own. Broch
later turned from literature to devote
himself to political theory and attempts
to aid European refugees.
His other works include Die
unbekannte Grösse (1933; The Unknown
Quantity), Die Schuldlosen (1950; “The
Innocents”), and numerous essays,
letters, and reviews.