Rilke, Europe, and the English-Speaking World

This 1961 text examines the complex of ambiguous attitudes which Rilke had towards Europe, in particular his hostility towards England and the English language. Professor Mason shows that Rilke identified England with forces which were robbing his Europe of its spiritual significance. The central passages of the Duino Elegies are thus seen from a fresh perspective.

RILKE'S REAL QUARREL WITH THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD But the
English invented political economy, and that is something for which the genius of
humanity will never forgive them. Naphta in THOMAS MANN'S Magic Mountain
the elaborate and far-reaching consequences he derived from it, was, at bottom,
not different from the kind of prejudice that many people of all countries easily
have against a language of which they know very little. Thus English and also
French ...