The thesis elaborates on the theoretical problem: Laying down readability as a criterion, it differentiates between two methods of writing in the German literary modernism, which are exemplified by two typical narratives. The central claim of the thesis is that the experimental prose of the avant-garde blurs or neutralizes the action at all. This general device of blurring the action is realized by special devices. Based on the theory of reading by Roland Barthes I claim the difference in modes of representation between Carl Einstein’s "Bebuquin" and Thomas Mann’s "Doktor Faustus" not in terms of the readability but in terms of the mode of reading.