Proust and Karl Kraus are obviously very near to one another in the field of satirical denunciation of war propaganda during the First World War. Both have a particular virtuosity and lucidity in using what is called in German “Sprachkritik”/ Language Criticism. Both show how contradictory and naive was the frame of mind of ordinary people in Vienna or in Paris during this war. A certain number of significant episodes may be fruitfully compared which enlighten, beyond satirical analogies, a cyclic philosophy and something less horrible in the Proustian vision of war. Last, the comparison with the chief targets of Karl Kraus’ bitter satire allows to bring to light the ideological limits that even the most audacious passages in "Time Regained" don’t exceed.
