UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
10 August 2004
I, Jeffrey M. Packer , hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in: German Studies
It is entitled: Negotiating the Borderland: Thresholds in Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Paul Celan, and Peter Handke
This work and its defense approved by:
Chair: Dr. Todd Herzog Dr. Katharina Gerstenberger Dr. Sara Friedrichsmeyer NEGOTIATING THE BORDERLAND: THRESHOLDS IN HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL, PAUL CELAN, AND PETER HANDKE
A dissertation submitted to the
Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.)
in the Department of German Studies of the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
August 2004
by
Jeffrey M. Packer
B.A., Brigham Young University, 1996 M.A., Brigham Young University, 1999
Committee Chair: Dr. Todd Herzog Abstract
My dissertation, Negotiating the Borderland: Thresholds in Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Paul Celan, and Peter Handke, focuses on the threshold imagery of these three writers as a means of approaching the often contradictory issues of modernity in the twentieth century. Thresholds offer a literary means for writers to dwell momentarily in an instant of calm amidst the chaos of the modern world. By setting their works within threshold regions, these authors create new spaces that simultaneously maintain an element of separation from society and reestablish a relationship to it. Threshold metaphors are about transgressing boundaries and pushing the limits, but also about lingering in between them. A threshold functions as a bridge between extremes in which opposite sides of a paradox coexist The thresholds I explore fall into three general categories: thresholds of time, thresholds of place, and thresholds of language. They take such forms as doorways, rivers, the instant between waking and sleeping, or a turn of breath before speaking. These three threshold types correspond to aspects of spatial, temporal, and linguistic fragmentation that are characteristic of the twentieth-century experience. The cause-and-effect relationship between the three becomes blurred as they come to represent a complex of ideas more than a linear progression from one to the next. These different types of thresholds can be combined to explore fragmentation on all levels as individuals negotiate the boundaries of speech and history and their position in them. I contend that the threshold as a metaphor can both define the phenomenon discussed above, and hint at a resolution of the fragmentation resulting from the pressures of modernity. The threshold becomes a symbol for symbolism per se, by standing as a part, or fragment, for the whole. And it is this wholeness informed and given depth by an awareness of fragmentation that can be discovered in the threshold. ©Copyright 2004 Jeffrey M. Packer. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments
This work would not have been possible without the constant help and support of my wife, Harmony Packer. She has been advisor, proofreader, cheerleader, and office manager all in one. Most of all she has been my best friend, providing patient support through long years of schooling and deserves as much credit for the completion of this work as I. Table of Contents
Note on Abbreviations ...... -2-
Introduction ...... -3-
Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the Erhöhte Augenblick ...... -14-
Paul Celan Between Ich and Du ...... -79-
Peter Handke an der Schwelle der Erzählung ...... -134-
Conclusion: Wozu Dichter? ...... -203-
Works Cited ...... -209-
Index ...... -221-
-1- Note on Abbreviations
Hugo von Hofmannsthal: All citations from Hugo von Hofmannsthal are from the Gesammelte Werke in Einzelausgaben. Edited by Herbert Steiner.
A Aufzeichnungen. D I Dramen I. D II Dramen II. D III Dramen III D IV Dramen IV E Die Erzählungen GLD Gedichte und lyrische Dramen. L I Lustpiele I L II Lustpiele II L III Lustpiele III L IV Lustpiele IV P I Prosa I P II Prosa II P III Prosa III P IV Prosa IV
Paul Celan: The works from Paul Celan are from Paul Celan: Gesammelte Werke in fünf Bänden. Edited by Beda Allemann and Stefan Reichert.
GW I Gedichte I GW II Gedichte II GWIII Gedichte III GW IV Übertragungen I GW V Übertragungen II
Peter Handke: AT Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter CS Der Chinese des Schmerzes DN In einer dunklen Nacht ging ich aus meinem stillen Haus FE Die Fahrt im Einbaum oder das Stück zum Film vom Krieg HB Der Himmel über Berlin: Ein Filmbuch Th Noch einmal für Thukydides W Die Wiederholung WR Eine winterliche Reise zu den Flüssen Donau, Save, Morawa und Drina oder Gerechtigkeit für Serbien ZR Aber ich lebe nur von den Zwischenräumen
-2- Introduction: Wozu Schwellen