The hermeneutic experience of dialogue in Hermann Broch's Der Tod des Vergil

On the 80th anniversary of the publication of the novel

Authors

  • Etna Miró Universitat de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_tropelias/tropelias.20254411396

Keywords:

Hermann Broch, The death of Vergil, dialogue, Gadamer, Szondi

Abstract

This article is a hermeneutic reading of the conversation between Augustus and Virgil in Hermann Broch's novel Der Tod des Vergil (1945) [The Death of Virgil]. Drawing on the hermeneutic conceptions of dialogue put forward by Gadamer and Szondi, we question the nature of the dialogue between the emperor and the poet about the fate of the Aeneid, and whether or not understanding is possible. The dialectical oscillation resulting from the hermeneutic analysis deployed leads us, beyond the two canonically established interpretations (Weigand and Komar), to propose an alternative interpretation of Virgil's final decision to hand over his manuscript. This interpretation illuminates the relationship between literature and power.

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Published

2025-07-26

Issue

Section

Papers

How to Cite

Miró, E. (2025). The hermeneutic experience of dialogue in Hermann Broch’s Der Tod des Vergil: On the 80th anniversary of the publication of the novel. Tropelías: Review of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature, 44, 205-221. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_tropelias/tropelias.20254411396