German Exile Biofiction: The Metaphorical Art of Intellectual Activism (Biofiction Studies)

Shows how after the Nazis came to power, prominent exile writers used biofiction to provide readers with a means of identifying root causes of political oppression.There were biofictions before the 20th century, but the literary form surged in the 1930s, especially among writers who fled Europe to escape the Nazis.What would be the best way to challenge and counteract the Nazis’ oppressive political agenda?This was a question those writers sought to answer. And as Michael Lackey argues, one answer revolved around the literary form of biofiction - or literature that fictionalizes and metaphorizes the life of a real person - which allowed exiled writers to identify root causes of political oppression and to propose healthier and more socially just ways of thinking and doing.By charting the rise, evolution, and legitimization of biofiction from Friedrich Nietzsche through Lion Feuchtwanger and Thomas Mann, German Exile Biofiction sets the stage for a more compelling analysis and understan