In the following study of the reception of Arthur Schnitzler
in Berlin, I have limited myself to periodical literature. news-
papers have been omitted entirely for two reasons. First, complete
files of all the important owspapers in Berlin are not available
in this country. Secondly, the type of criticism in daily papers
is not always very high. Crities, after witnessing a single per-
formance of a play, hastily dash off their first impressions which
are frequentlyurhierly subjective or superficial. Dramatic reviews
in daily papers are usually inferior to those in periodicale.
After witnessing a drama once,oritics writing for periodical
may, if they so desire, see a second or third performance. They
may even read the drama. Time is allowed them to think over the
work in question before writing about it. Usually, the staff of
a periodical like Die Neue Rundschau or Das Literarische Scho
consists of men who have become more or less punishment in literary
work.qeriodical literature, too, is intended for a higher class
of readers than the ordinary daily newspaper, and so the attempt
to discover the real attitude of Berlin toward Schnitzler is logical-
ly based on this estterature.
In my discussion I have tried to give both the favorable and
unf UyorabIe renctions toward the works and have assumed as far as
possible a non-partisan attitude.