Literature and boxing in the era of the Weimar Republic

The aim of my thesis is to examine the relationship between literature and boxing, two areas, which, at first glance, have nothing in common: no other sport has in fact ever fascinated as many writers as the punch-up in the quadrangle of ropes. I shall set out to find answers to the following questions: what are the motifs and continuing themes for the close link between fist fighting and writing? Which means are employed, what is the intent and what are the linguistic and formal techniques with which the fist fighting combat sport is translated into literature by the authors Bertolt Brecht, Robert Musil, Ödön von Horvth, Joachim Ringelnatz, Joseph Roth, Vicki Baum, Gottfried Benn, Leonhard Frank, Marieluise Fleißer, Kurt Tucholsky, Hannes Bork, Frank Thiess, Horst Hellwig, Werner Scheff, Victor Witte, Joseph Breitenbach und Adolf Uszarski. Which long lasting and immediate literary consequences are produced by the at times archaic as well as theatrical events in the ring? Which socio-historical implications (boxing as a crossroad fight, as a battle for a better existence; boxing as a sign of the time) which techniques of propaganda (boxing as a military drill) can be recognised? I have chosen the interwar years as the time frame, as the German speaking countries were gripped by a boxing euphoria in this period (boxing became an Olympic sport in 1904). I have included texts written before 1918 and after 1945 if they were significant. In order to carry out my analysis of the motifs and the narrative pattern I shall use a structural-typological method focusing on diachronic processes.