Brecht (1898–1956)

Abstract

Bertolt Brecht would have been wary of any introduction that presented him as a fixed monolith, rather than acknowledging that there were ‘almost as many Brechts as there were people who knew him’. This chapter aims to capture the changeful nature of Brecht’s political attitudes and artistic practice and to locate some of its sources. These include his acute responsiveness to Europe’s tumultuous political landscape between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the Cold War. Faced with immense social upheaval, Brecht’s consistent response was to celebrate and attempt to master change. Particular emphasis is placed on that attempt because it seeks to explain why Brecht is still a beacon for political performance makers. Today, after the fall of communism in Europe, Brecht’s Soviet setting in the ‘Prologue’ has become an even more problematic vehicle for his utopian vision of egalitarian law and collective productivity.