Bertolt Brecht’s Buckow Elegien: dark times after the war

Abstract

This article deals with the Buckow Elegies [Buckower Elegien], which Brecht began to write in mid-1953. Eight of these elegies have been selected for analysis and commentary. The investigation is focused on the author’s criticism of the social and political situation of former East Germany at that time, a moment when fascist elements were still in place in a society whose main goal was supposed to be the attainment of socialism. In terms of form, this article seeks to demonstrate, also by tackling poems from the period of the war, the way in which Brecht, in these elegies, changes the perspective on regret by considering historically configured needs.