Die bezaubernde Anmut eines chemischen Prozesses—Photography in the Works of Gerhard Roth and W. G. Sebald

Author and Germanist W. G. Sebald wrote two essays on Austrian author Gerhard Roth in which his opinion of Roth's writing radically changes within the space of just a few years. This article examines the role of photography in both authors' work as a means of understanding Sebald's radical reversal of opinion concerning Roth. Although on the surface their use of photography appears very different, a closer investigation reveals a shared thematic concern with the omnipresence of destruction that informs the text/image relationship in both authors' writing.