Ziektegeschiedenissen als de sprookjes van een nieuwe tijd. De historische werkelijkheid in De gallische ziekte (1979) van Louis Ferron

Samenvatting

This article discusses a historical novel written by Louis Ferron in 1979: De gallische ziekte (The French Disease). This novel deals with German history and describes the last years of the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. The author has not only been inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, but also by Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus. As in the case of the latter novel also De gallische ziekte offers a comment on the political situation. It is shown that the personal life of the protagonist reflects some main developments in German politics during the thirties.