Anna Seghers and Hannah Arendt: A Literary Analysis of "Nebel" in "Das siebte Kreuz" (1941) through "The Origins of Totalitarianism" (1951)

Authors

• Spencer Edward Tessman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Patricia A. Simpson

Committee Members

Jeffrey G. Jarzomb, Gerald J. Steinacher

Date of this Version

6-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Major: Modern Languages and Literatures

Under the supervision of Professor Patricia A. Simpson

Lincoln, Nebraska, June 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Spencer Edward Tessman. Used by permission

Abstract

This paper argues that the Nebel in Seghers’ novel, Das siebte Kreuz (1942), functions as a natural force that subverts the totalitarian pursuit of absolute predictability as theorized by Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). Through an Arendtian close reading of Das siebte Kreuz, this paper identifies the Nebel as a key Leitmotiv. Its inescapability and shapeless ephemerality fundamentally destabilize what Arendt terms “total domination,” a project that seeks to achieve absolute power through complete predictability by abolishing human differentiation, destroying spontaneity, and implementing “political isolation” and “social loneliness.” At critical moments in the narrative, the Nebel’s inherent unpredictability and uncontrollability prevent the full realization of total domination, thereby grounding an inescapable threat to the totalitarian order within nature itself. In particular, the Nebel achieves this by shielding the escapees, obscuring the mechanisms of surveillance, enabling the protagonist’s fleeting reintegration into social life, and through Seghers’ reciprocal metaphorization of the Nebel with a French occupational army.

Advisor: Patricia A. Simpson