A. DÖBLIN’S NOVEL “BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ” IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW OBJECTIVITY LITERATURE

The novel “Berlin Alexanderplatz” by A. Döblin in the context of the literature of the New Objectivity is considered. The attitude of A. Döblin towards this movement in the contemporary literature remains quite controversial in both Russian and foreign studies of the novel. The existing opinions on the investigated problem are systematized. The objective is to present, how the principles of factography and documentalism, which are central in the New Objectivity, are used in A. Döblin’s novel. The proximity of the novel to this movement is that it presents many themes and motifs developed in the later social novels of the New Objectivity - unemployment, transport, changing gender roles, the life of a big city. The reflection about creating a novel, that is an important part of its content is studied. The focus of aesthetic reflection of the narrator inevitably refers to the categories important for the New Objectivity: the veracity of the image, the benefit to the reader, relevance and modernity. The author actively involves the reader in the creative process, alerting him of future events, talking about how we should depict a particular phenomenon. The novel combines myth and modernity, comments of the narrator and impersonal document, expressive symbolism and rationality that become equally object of the author’s irony.

A. Döblin, “Berlin Alexanderplatz”, New Objectivity, social novel, documentary, montage