‘Venturing Beyond’: Ernst Bloch, Bertolt Brecht, and the Utopian Literarization of Production

Abstract

60 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Comparative Literature and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Winter 2014.

This thesis problematizes conceptions of a dialectic utopia and
 revolutionary literature by looking at two German authors of the 20th century:
 Ernst Bloch and Bertolt Brecht I compare and contrast Bloch's and Brecht's
 theories of utopia and assess how each author attempts to create social change
 through their work. Common literary research suggests that Bloch and Brecht
 construct opposing strategies of social change through literature, but in my
 analysis of each author, I explain how their work compliments the other and
 resolutely come to agreeing theoretical outcomes.