Broch's 1903: Esch oder die Anarchie: Desiring the Abject Outside

Abstract

This article focuses on Hermann Broch's 1903: Esch oder die Anarchie, the second part of his 1930 trilogy Die Schlafwandler. Concentrating on the philosophical notion of a “decline of values” that Broch articulates in the text, the analysis reads Esch through the lens of current gender theory, examining the intersection between desire and subjectivity by focusing on the trajectories of desire connecting the protagonist, Esch, with the characters around him, particularly Bertrand, a homosexual character who comes to function as Esch's double. The analysis suggests that, with in the framework of the protagonist's search for direction and stable identity in a society devoid of a stable system of values, homosexual desire becomes representative of an “other” position that, while potentially liberating, is sacrificed in service of the ordering‐though out‐dated‐heterosexual value system.