Brecht's Journals 1934-1955

1935

by 1918 i was a solider' council delegate and had been in the USPD. but on getting into literature i never progressed beyond rather nihilistic criticism of bourgeois society. not even eisenstein's great films, which had a colossal effect on me, nor the first productions of piscator theatre, which i admired no less, moved me to study marxism. perhaps this was due to my scientific education (i had studies medicine for several years), which strongly immunised me against influence from the emotional side.

then a sort of technical hitch helped me to move forward.

for a certain play i needed the chicago wheat exchange as background. i imagined i would be able to get the necessary information quickly by consulting specialists and practitioners in the field. things turned out differently. nobody, neither a number of well-knowed economic journalists nor any of the businessman - i followed one dealer with long experience of the chicago wheat exchange from berlin to vienna - could adequately explain what went on at the grain exchange. i gained the impression that the dealings were downright inexplicable, that is, not accessible to rational understanding, in other words plainly irrational. the manner in which the world's wheat was distributed was utterly incomprehensible. from any angle, apart form that of a handful of speculators, the market in wheat was one huge swamp.

the project drama was never written. instead i began to read marx, and it was then, and only that i did read marx. and for the first time, my own scattered practical experiences and impressions really came to life.

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芝加哥小麥市場是brecht開始研讀marx的起點。

一般人滿足於老經驗的記者、商人以及各種經驗印象，brecht卻感受不到生氣；一般人鄙視書本、理論，brecht卻說marx使經驗印象活了起來。

為什麼會是這樣？