A 'distant outpost': Images of the body in selected early works of Ernst Juenger

Ernst Junger's early "war" texts appear, at first glance, to be chronicles of engagement with the "enemy". These texts are populated by the obdurate "Stahlnaturen" whose virtues Junger extols in his later essay On Pain. Although one might naturally expect that Junger himself would be such a character, Junger's descriptions of his actions in his diaristic texts prove that this is not the case. By engaging in a "Nahkampf" with Junger's diaristic texts, this thesis examines representations of the body in these texts. Most importantly, this thesis explores the incongruities between Junger's philosophical considerations of the body and the "ideal" soldier and his literary representations of his own body and comportment. The main texts used for this exploration are Der Kampf als inneres Erlebnis and Feuer und Blut. On Pain (Uber den Schmerz) provides a philosophical foil to the diaristic texts. In Stahlgewittern is used as an ancillary text, lending depth to examinations of key passages in the main texts.