On Robert Musil's Novel Project "Der Spion"

(Part One)

Abstract

From 1918 to 1921, at the beginning of the production process for The Man Without Qualities, Robert Musil actually wanted to write a spy novel. His role as a spy was intended to express the disillusioned protagonist’s hatred of the paternal order of pre-war society. As the novel progressed, the spy motif was gradually pushed back and, in a sense, sublimated. In the never-realized plans of 1936, Ulrich’s spying finally appears elevated to a method of finding the truth or delegated to other characters.