Christopher Isherwood's novel "Goodbye to Berlin" provides insights into Berlin society in the 1930s through the situations and dialogues described. While some events are not fully explained, literary critical approaches allow readers to construct the social context from representative situations. The narrator's objectivity is partially achieved through describing himself as "a camera" passiveley recording scenes. The novel reveals social discourses and ideologies that shaped the society in which it was written according to theories of sociological novel criticism.

1. Willkommen! Bienvenu(e)! Welcome!

2. Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye to Berlin” Julio Párraga Julián Sánchez [Julián Merchán]

3. Christopher Isherwood Berlin in the 1930’s I Am a camera Theoretical issues Conclusions

5. Attended preparatory school St. Edmund's, and met W. H. Auden.

10. Tomorrow belongs to me The sun on the meadow is summery warm The stag in the forest runs free But gathered together to greet the storm Tomorrow belongs to me. The branch on the linden is leafy and green The Rhine gives its gold to the sea But somewhere a glory awaits unseen Tomorrow belongs to me The babe in his cradle is closing his eyes The blossom embraces the bee But soon says the whisper, arise, arise Tomorrow belongs to me Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign Your children have waited to see The morning will come When the world is mine Tomorrow belongs to me

11. THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC Established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government.

16. In 1935, Germany reacquired control of the Saar and in 1936 military control of the Rhineland, both of which had been lost by the Treaty of Versailles.

18. I am a camera Goodbye to Berlin is, from the point of view of sociological theories of novel, a portrait of the Berlin of the 1930´s which is established through its images and characters. From my window, the deep solemn massive street. Cellar-shops where the lamps burn all day, under the shadow of top-heavy balconied façades, dirty plaster frontages embossed with scrollwork and heraldic devices. The whole district is like this: street leading into street of houses like shabby monumental safes crammed with the tarnished valuables and second-hand furniture of a bankrupt middle class. I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.

19. Theoretical issues Lukács’ sense of aesthetics defines a text (either literary or not) as realist when it represents society or a social event as a whole coherent system from characters and typical action. There was a little domestic argument, because Herr Bernstein didn't want his wife to go shopping in the car that afternoon. During the last few days, there has been a lot of Nazi rioting in the city. "You can go in the tram," said Herr Bernstein. "I will not have them throwing stones at my beautiful car.” "And suppose they throw stones at me?" asked Frau Bernstein good-humouredly. "Ach, what does that matter? If they throw stones at you, I will buy you a sticking-plaster for your head. It will cost me only five groschen. But if they throw stones at my car, it will cost me perhaps five hundred marks.

20. Theoretical issues The fundamental idea of novels derives from Hegel’s theory of history according to which, in modern society, the union between conscience and world (subject – object) has disappeared due to the alienation of the individual;. As soon as I'd got dressed, I went down into the street. Sure enough, there was a crowd outside the branch bank on the Nollendorfplatz corner, (…) Most of the people were staring intently and rather stupidly at the locked door. In the middle of the door was fixed a small notice, beautifully printed in Gothic type, like a page from a classic author. The notice said that the Reichspresident had guaranteed the deposits. Everything was quite all right. Only the bank wasn't going to open.

21. Theoretical issues Lucien Goldmann developed his ideas about novels using as a basis Lukács’ theory and Marx’s critic of politic economy. According to the last one, the essential feature of capitalist society is the fact of being ruled by the exchange-value. The exchange-value has the use-value (or authentic-value) as its semantic opposite. There’s a three-party relationship established between man, world and value. Lukács’ heroes emerge from a degraded cultural reality whose crisis of values is produced by the contradictions between Liberalism and Clericalism, Capitalism and Socialism, Christianity and Atheism, and so forth.

22. Theoretical issues According to Goldmann, in real life and in the novel as well, the authentic values are implicit, since they’re not easily perceptible. The last day or two, I've been sort of feeling what it would be like to be a mother. Do you know, last night, I sat here for a long time by myself and held this cushion in my arms and imagined it was my baby? And I felt a most marvelous sort of shut-off feeling from all the rest of the world. I imagined how it'd grow up and how I'd work for it, and how, after I'd put it to bed at nights, I'd go out and make love to filthy old men to get money to pay for its food and clothes...

23. Theoretical issues Social criticism of novels, as conceived by Duchet, is sociology of the literary text which highlights the importance of its origin and social value. It unveils all sort of social discourses that conforms the novel: sociograms, ideologems, images and ideologies in order to recognize the society in which it was born. Social aspects are not reflected in the piece but reproduced, therefore, the gold rule of social criticism is that the researcher mustn’t add or subtract anything to the text.

24. Conclusions Christopher Isherwood’s writing style permits an inside look at the social context through the situations and dialogues described in Goodbye to Berlin. Although there are many passages in the book that are related to real events that are not very well stated by the author, the social critical approaches to literature allow the reader to make an inductive construction of the social context parting from representative situations. Objectivity of the writer is partially achieved within the “I am a camera” logic though he is the narrator and a character as well.

25. Bibliography DUCHET, Claude (1971). Pour une sociocritique ou variations sur un Incipit EN: Litterature.. París: Larousse. FOSSE, Bob (1977). Cabaret. ABC Pictures GOLDMANN, Lucien (1964). Para una sociología de la novela. Madrid: Ayuso. GUZMÁN, José Manuel (2008). Panorama de las teorías sociológicas de la novela IN Cultura y representaciones sociales Year:3, Number:5. ISHERWOOD, Christopher (1977). Goodbye to Berlin. Washington: Hunter Publishing: LUKÁCS, Gyorgy (1920). La teoría de la novela. Buenos Aires: Siglo XX.