Erich Maria Remarque's (1898–1970) novel Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front, 1929) is certainly one of the most famous, commercially successful, and controversial anti-war novels of recent memory. Although Remarque's novel is still extremely popular with readers and included in many school curricula, literary critics have repeatedly questioned the text's pacifist credentials, along with its aesthetic merits. The novel's publication in 1929 gave rise to a heated public debate in which the Nazi press denounced Remarque's work as malicious slander of the honor of the German soldier, while the political left felt that Remarque's pacifism was too bland and non-committal. To be sure, these evaluations are the results of an overly politicized agenda, but they also point to a contradiction at the heart of this highly ambiguous text. As I will show, Im Westen nichts Neues provides a powerful critique of war and an equally powerful subtext that confounds this critique. In fact, the same elements that allow for the novel's most stringent condemnation of war also present the biggest obstacle to its pacifist agenda.

AUTHENTICITY AND THE “CONTENT OF THE FORM”

Unlike his protagonist Paul Bäumer, Remarque was not a volunteer. He entered the military on November 21, 1916, was wounded in Ypres, and remained in a hospital in Duisburg from August 3, 1917 to October 31, 1918. During his time at the front, he performed support work, such as repairing railroad tracks and telephone lines or erecting barbed wire fences, but also witnessed harrowing scenes.