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e-­‐note:  The  Lost  Honour  of  Katharina  Blum  by  Heinrich  Böll    

Heinrich  Böll’s  The  Lost  Honour  of  Katharine  Blum  was  published  in  1974,  at  a  time  

when  there  was  still  heated  debate  surrounding  the  1968  shooting  of  Rudi  Dutschke,  

a   prominent   young   leader   in   the   APO,   and  widespread   panic   regarding   Red   Army  

Faction   terrorism.   Known   in   its   early   days   as   the   Baader-­‐Meinhof   group,   it   had   a  

legacy  of   political   irrationality,   and  was  one  of   post  WWII  Germany’s  most   violent  

left   wing   groups,   utilising   terrorism   against   a   fascist   German   state.   Of   increasing  

concern  at  the  time  was  the  demagogy  of  the  right  wing  press,  and  these  contextual  

factors  formed  the  basis  of  Böll’s  novel.  

 

Böll’s  claims  in  an  interview  with  Christian  Linder  that  his  intentions  to  write  against  

the  practices  of  ‘yellow’  journalism  were  formed  long  before  1972:  “A  long  time  ago  

I  asked  one  of  my  occasional  collaborators   to  keep  an  eye  on   the  Bild-­‐Zeitung  and  

other   boulevard   newspapers   for   striking   examples   of   defamation   of   known   and  

unknown  persons.”  He  went  on  to  say  his  interest  lay  in  the  role  of  innocent  people  

who  came  into  contact  with  persons  of  interest.  His  point  was  that  an  individual  may  

do  something  “entirely  natural”,  giving  a  person   in  need  a  place  to  stay,  offering  a  

measure  of  support  but  as  a  result,  they  are  destroyed  psychologically  through  the  

media,  and  it  is  here  we  see  both  Dr  Blorna  and  Katharina  as  victims  subject  to  public  

disdain  as  a  result  of  media  coverage.  

 

The  textual   form  of  The  Lost  Honour  of  Katharina  Blum   is  a  key  narrative  decision.  

The  narrator  claims  his  story  is  “a  report”,  and  in  the  opening  lines,  he  informs  the  

reader  of  his  main  sources  of  information  –  the  attorney  for  Blum,  police  transcripts,  

Hubert   Blorna,   and   the   state   prosecutor,   Peter   Hach.   The   tone   and   method   of  

delivery   are   an   attempt   to   present   an   objective   series   of   events,   delivered   by   a  

cautious   narrator   who   strives   to   keep   the   information   uncorrupted   by   emotive  

language,  a  method  Böll  used  previously  in  Group  Portrait.  The  ‘facts’  are  supposed  

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to   speak   for   themselves:   “The   first   facts   to   be   presented   are   brutal.”   The   diction  

employed,   ‘facts’   and   ‘brutal’,   work   together   to   highlight   the   stark   nature   of   the  

situation.  Value-­‐laden  or  emotive  words  are   justified  or  explained  by   the  narrator:  

“Four  days  later,  after  a  dramatic  –  there  is  no  getting  around  that  word  (and  here  

we  have  an  example  of   the  various   levels   that  permit   the  stream  to   flow)  –turn  of  

events”.   The   pedantic   narrative   voice   tries   to   reign   in   any   suggestion   of  

sensationalism,   maintaining   credibility,   in   distinct   contrast   to   the   journalistic  

language  later  employed  in  the  reports:  “Murderer’s  moll  won’t  talk!”  The  effect  of  

this  contrast  is  to  highlight  the  power  of  language  to  strip  individuals  of  their  dignity,  

and  the  notion  that  journalistic  integrity  easily  ‘sells  out’  to  political  and  commercial  

interests