Surrealistische Spuren in Walter Serners Kriminalgeschichten. Beispiele aus dem Band “Zum blauen Affen (1921)”

Abstract

This paper examines surrealist traces in selected stories from Walter Serner's Zum blauen Affen (1921). The first section addresses humor as a core feature of Serner's narrative strategy, while the second explores Eros as a central motif. The final section engages with the theoretical perspectives of Walter Benjamin and the French surrealists, probing whether Serner’s use of surrealist elements serves merely as a critique of dada or extends to challenge the avant-garde more broadly—including surrealism itself—by counterposing his own vision of the relationship between reality and fiction, a vision that Serner consistently grounds in parody.