Deutschland als Schiffbruch: Der „Robinson“-Topos in deutschen Tagebüchern, 1943–1946

Drawing on unpublished diaries from the period 1943–46, this article shows how the “Robinson” trope of shipwreck and survival provided German civilians with a language to describe the transition from National Socialism to a radically open and anxiety-producing future. The identification with Robinson and his story makes the writers into agentic protagonists, at the same time that the metaphor of the “island” reflects an ambiguous position of isolation. Excerpts from diaries show how the “Robinson” trope combines dichotomies crucial to this period of turmoil: civilization and the primitive, individual and society, victimhood and agency, and how diarists rework this language to explore their place in a changing world.