The Problem of Genre Classification of Erich Maria Remarque’s Novel “Life on Loan, or Heaven Has No Favorites”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2073-6681-2026-3-99-107Keywords:
German literature; Erich Maria Remarque; “Life on Loan, or Heaven Has No Favorites”; genre classification; dystopia; chronotope; existential dystopia; conflict; motif; hero.Abstract
The article is devoted to the problem of the literary genre and its modifications in the poetic practice of the 20th century. The authors highlight the ongoing scholarly debate regarding the insufficient development of genre theory: the diversity and intersection of classification principles (noted by B. V. Tomashevsky and V. V. Kozhinov) give rise to discrepancies in the approaches to the systematization of poetic forms. The category of genre is considered based on the ideas of M. M. Bakhtin. Therefore, the genre is interpreted not only as a formal model, but also as a “form of world vision,” a carrier of “creative memory” capable of renewal while maintaining continuity. Drawing on the works of B. A. Lanin and S. G. Shishkina, the authors identify the key features of the genre of dystopia: anthropocentricity, the conflict between the individual and the system, the atmosphere of fear, the ritualization of life, a closed chronotope, and the hero’s tragic doom. The main part of the article presents an analysis of E. M. Remarque’s novel Life on Loan, or Heaven Has No Favorites (1956–1961). The analysis demonstrates that, while the work is traditionally classified as a love-story novel, it possesses implicit features of dystopian discourse. The repressive system is represented not by a totalitarian state, but by existential forces – a disease, medical norms, social conventions, and the inevitability of death. The closed chronotope of the sanatorium simulates the effect of “frozen time,” while the symbolism (orchids, images of hell) and ambivalence of the characters’ experiences enhance the existential conflict, which unfolds as the individual’s rebellion against the predestination of fate. It is concluded that the genre of the novel can be defined as “existential dystopia,” where the central conflict shifts to the sphere of a person’s struggle for the right to the fullness of life in the face of non-existence.
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