Ein Freund der leichten Muse. Joseph Roths Feuilletons zu Zirkus, Varieté und Titentangel
A Friend of Light Entertainment. Joseph Roth’s Feature Articles on the Circus, Variety Theatre, and Tingeltangel

Summary/Abstract: In contrast to his novels, in which circus and clowning often appear as metaphors for futile actions, in his essays and journalistic texts, Joseph Roth presents himself not as an elegist mourning the vanished world of old Europe, but rather as a modern citizen actively partaking in the popular entertainments of the time: revue theatre and wax museums, fairs and circuses, variety shows, café chantant, and cabaret. These forms of popular culture represent contact zones of the real that elicit Roth’s distinctive empathy and find expression in snapshots of urban life whose literary quality matches that of his novels and stories.

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