Critical views and unpublished letters by Ernst Jünger
Even as a grammar school pupil, Heinz Ludwig Arnold started writing to Ernst Jünger. A short time later, he turned to Wilflingen for advice on whether he should do military service in the Federal Armed Forces, which had just been founded at the time. The slant of the reply, written by Greta Jünger on behalf of her husband, is not particularly surprising. An exchange of letters follows, which soon results in Arnold being taken on as »secretarius«. From this position he gains an insight into Jünger’s standpoint on the literary affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, his opinion of emigrants and his view of politics in Germany, Europe and the world.
During the course of the years, the view of the literary critic and journal editor undergoes several changes, becoming critical towards the »warrior, Waldgänger and anarch«, then more conciliatory during Jünger’s last years.
Along with the essay, written in memorium by the critic Heinz Ludwig Arnold who died on 1. November 2011, the volume includes 35 extremely revealing letters written by Ernst Jünger, printed here for the first time.
The Author
Heinz Ludwig Arnold (1940-2011) lived in Göttingen and worked as a publicist and honorary professor. He was the editor of the journal »TEXT + KRITIK«, the »Kritische Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur« (Critical Encyclopaedia of Contemporary German-Speaking Literature, KLG), the »Kritische Lexikon zur fremdsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur« (Critical Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Foreign-Language Literature, KLfG) and the 3rd edition of “Kindlers Literatur Lexikon” (Kindler’s Literary Encyclopaedia).
