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GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY (RALLGLOS)

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THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

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Originally published in German, All Quiet on the Western Front was

quickly translated into English. At times, however, the English is

distinctly British. While the words are not difficult to understand,

you may feel more at home if you scan the American equivalents:

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British English American English

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aeroplane airplane

civil life civilian life

garden fete garden party

in fine trim in fine shape

mess-tin mess kit

Mind! Watch out! Be careful!

motor lorries trucks

munition-column ammunition convoy

pub bar, tavern

queue line

wireless men radio operators

wiring fatigue wiring duty or detail

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IN THE ARMY

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DIXIE Oval-shaped British army cooking kettle (from the Hindi

degshi, a pot or vessel). The navy equivalent is a fanny.

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FROGS, FROGGIES The French, from an ancient heraldic device (symbol

for a shield or coat of arms) consisting of three frogs.

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JOHNNY As used in context in Chapter 7 it refers to a Russian. This

is similar to an American's referring to Russians as Ivans. Ivan,

Johann, and John are the same name in three different languages-

Russian, German, and English.

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SKAT A German card game played by three players using 32 cards.

Bids are expressed in numbers. The winning bidder becomes the player

and names the exact variant of the game to be played.

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TOMMY, TOMMY ATKINS Similar to G.I. Joe for an American soldier,

Tommy means a British private soldier. (A Jack Tar is a British

sailor.) At one time all recruits were given manuals in which they

were to enter name, date, etc. The model used the fictitious name

Thomas Atkins.

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GERMAN NAMES: PRONUNCIATION

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Feel free to pronounce the names in this novel as they appear. You

will have a problem being more precise, since English consonant and

vowel sounds are not identical with those in German. For instance, the

German sound for the ch spelling in the middle of a word is our k or h

after a guttural sound we do not have in English. At the end of a

word, ch is more like our sh. Also, the two dots over a vowel

(called an umlaut) indicate a vowel sound we do not have in English.

"Baumer," for example, would be pronounced BOW-mer, but "Baumer,"

(with an umlaut over the a) is pronounced BOY-mer. Therefore these are

approximate pronunciations of some of the less obvious names.

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Baumer BOY-mer

Behm BAYM

Boettcher BERT-cher

Detering DET-er-ing

Franz Kemmerich frahnz KIM-er-ish

Franz Wachter frahnz VEK-ter

Haie Westhus hi VEST-hews

Hamacher HAHM-ock-er

Himmelstoss HIM-mel-shtos

Katczinsky ku-CHIN-ski

Mittelstaedt MIT-el-shteht

Muller MEW-ler

Oellrich ERL-rish

Tjaden CHAW-den

THE_CRITICS

THE CRITICS (RALLCRIT)

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Many critics have hailed Remarque for writing All Quiet on the

Western Front so objectively, without a trace of nationalism,

political ill will, or even personal feelings. Even when a character's

inner world is revealed, it always seems to be that person's inner

life- not the author's. In 1929, as noted in this guidebook in The

Author and His Times, the Nazis attacked the book not on literary

but on political grounds, and a few reviewers accused Remarque of

sensationalism. In America, magazine and newspaper reviews immediately

hailed Remarque as the new Stephen Crane and his novel as an updated

Red Badge of Courage.

Academic critics, however, have paid little attention to All

Quiet. German critics were displeased at Remarque's departure from the

intellectualism of traditional German fiction, and European and

American critics were put off by its being a bestseller- how could

anything so popular possibly be worthwhile?

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Remarque succeeded in transcending his own personal situation; he

touched on a nerve of his time, reflecting the experiences of a

whole generation of young men on whom the war had left an indelible

mark.

-Christine R. Barker and R. W. Last,

Erich Maria Remarque, 1979.

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Im Westen nichts Neues is close to him [Remarque]. It appears to

be permeated with sincerity and true compassion. Its tremendous

success can hardly be explained otherwise.

-Wilhelm J. Schwarz, War and the Mind of Germany, I, 1975.

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...this book is an accusation of the older generation who let

loose this terrible catastrophe, this monstrous war. It is an

accusation of the generation that preached that service to the state

was the highest aim in life.

-Wilhelm J. Schwarz, War and the Mind of Germany, I, 1975.

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Anyone who was sufficiently in the thick of it for a long period, on

one side or the other, might have written this grim, monotonous

record, if he had the gift, which the author has, of remembering

clearly, and setting down his memories truly, in naked and violent

words.

-"All Quiet on the Western Front"

[book review], New Statesman, vol. 25, no. 5, 1929;

quoted in Barker and Last, Erich Maria Remarque, 1979.

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This particular scene [the Kantorek incident], told with the

malicious glee of an adolescent, is typical of the immature and

sophomoric attitude of the heroes.

-W.K. Pfeiler, quoted in Schwarz,

War and the Mind of Germany, I, 1975.

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Remarque is proposing the view that human existence can no longer be

regarded as having any ultimate meaning. Baumer and his comrades

cannot make sense of the world at large for the simple reason that

it is no longer possible to do so, not just for this group of ordinary

soldiers, but for a substantial proportion of his entire generation.

Remarque refuses to lull his reader into a false sense of security,

into thinking that God is in his heaven and all is right with the

world.

-Christine R. Barker and R. W. Last,

Erich Maria Remarque, 1979.

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[Lewis Milestone's 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front] was one

of the few serious attempts at a realistic approach to the World

War.... The drama was kept within the bounds of its theme: a

critical recapitulation of the slaughter of innocents.... Many

instances were eloquent and moving indictments of the emotional and

physical destructiveness of war: the sequence of the dead boy's

cherished boots being taken over by his comrade, and the celebrated

closing scene of the hand of the young soldier reaching out from the

trenches for a butterfly only to fall limp on being shot."

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-Lewis Jacobs, The Rise of the American Film.

ADVISORY_BOARD

ADVISORY BOARD (RALLADVB)

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We wish to thank the following educators who helped us focus our

Book Notes series to meet student needs and critiqued our

manuscripts to provide quality materials.

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Murray Bromberg, Principal

Wang High School of Queens, Holliswood, New York

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Sandra Dunn, English Teacher

Hempstead High School, Hempstead, New York

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Lawrence J. Epstein, Associate Professor of English

Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York

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Leonard Gardner, Lecturer, English Department

State University of New York at Stony Brook

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Beverly A. Haley, Member, Advisory Committee

National Council of Teachers of English Student Guide Series

Fort Morgan, Colorado

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Elaine C. Johnson, English Teacher

Tamalpais Union High School District

Mill Valley, California

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Marvin J. LaHood, Professor of English

State University of New York College at Buffalo

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Robert Lecker, Associate Professor of English

McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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David E. Manly, Professor of Educational Studies

State University of New York College at Geneseo

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